Politics in Islam

Recently there have been a number of high-profile cases of social injustice involving Shia clerics residing in the West. Sadly, these events have been largely ignored by the wider Muslim and humanitarian community. Ya Baqiyatullah summarieses three of the most important cases in recent times.

"Sheikh Safdar Razi, a prominent member of the Shia Community in the US was accused of 'charges' relating to immigration. After having more than 3 appearances in the court without any charges being related to him and being denied any form of bail the Scholar remained under arrest for more than 3 months after which he decided to leave US voluntarily upon which the authorities decided to drop their proceedings. It is quite saddening to see that it came to this that a preacher who has served the community for more than a decade had to leave voluntarily from a country when there were no clear charges against him. While the team who represented him and kept a close eye on the proceedings of his case did a commendable job however a lot remains regarding the communities whom he had served in his time in US. Certain communities where he was a regular speaker have very good relations to the Government and in the past have used favours from the Government for their own purposes yet when a person whose work in the same community remains unmatched in terms of hardwork, passion and sincerity was left with no hope from these people. We should constantly remind ourselves that when we see an injustice take place and do not speak up against it then our fate is no different than those oppressors.

Seyed Mahmood Mousavi, a scholar and the head of Al Hejerat organisation was arrested in August 2007 and convicted in April 2008 the jury found him guilty on all counts of 'charges' against him. His story is quite sad and it will shake you completely. After living in US for so long and working for more than two decades in establishing a core network of Islamic programs and arranging a foundation to tackle the social problems of the youths in the west it is a great injustice that this man who did so much for the community has been sidelined and possibly facing a life sentence in prison after being convicted of a crime which he himself is not aware of. There are so many discrepancies in his case that I cannot delve into them to show how unjustly he has been treated.

To put it simply his charges were making a loss in his organization by putting his own money to help the youths and other Shias alike to go on Hajj Pilgrimage. His charges were carrying an Iranian identity card explaining that he is disabled and lastly to reject or rather explain to the Kuwaitis that they can never enter in a business with the Iranians due to red-tapes, not to mention the fiasco of a trial that the Government had put up in order to convict him. It seems that the Government would do anything to remove a personnel regardless of how much positive attitude he/she has created in their community with relations of other faith and communities or how much they have tried to bridge the gap of removing ignorance and enlightening others about the true nature of Islam.

Lastly, the case of Sheikh Mansur Leghaei. A man of great status in my eyes for his activities in and all over Australia. A man who has been subjected to harassment from the Government for more than 12 years has never decided to back down on his path of preaching the truth to the masses. He has not been given the right to appeal against the decision set against him and his case has been dismissed by the High Court. He is considered a threat to the national security as well as seen as a spy for Iran, both claims are absurd and dubious. He is a person who has changed the outlook of the Australian Shia Community in his 14 years of being there. His work in terms of youth activities, inter-faith dialogue and social aspects is a glowing feat of achievement.

In the end, above are three cases of three outstanding individuals who have done immensely for the Shia communities in their respective places of residence. Unfortunately they have been met with obstacles and restrictions on every turn yet they have never lost hope and continued to spread the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt [a] even when subjected to imprisonment. Our duty should be to learn from these individuals in terms of their patience, their wisdom, their character. They were subjected to injustice for being on the path of truth just like the Shias have been for a long time now. May Allah give them the ability to be successful in their tests and may He give them the strength to counter any obstacles and may He bless them for their hard work."

Labels: america, australia, imprisonment, injustice, Seyed Mahmood Mousavi, sheikh mansur leghaei, Sheikh Safdar Razi, Shia

Today the Metro newspaper (www.metro.co.uk) published an article entitled "Police apologise over "offensive" puppy ad" . This article is not only completely devoid of any newsworthy material, but portrays Muslims as difficult, backwards people who actively alienate themselves from society and force apologies from British people for behaving in a manner which is perfectly socially acceptable in Britain.

The non-event which made this national paper is nothing more than a few shopkeepers who preferred not to display the picture of an Alsatian puppy in their shop windows, and the subsequent volunteered apology from the police for not considering the fact that some people may not like dogs.

The only possible result of this article can be seen in many of the online comments which follow it; namely pretty much unquestioning acceptance of this completely inaccurate negative stereotyping and sweeping generalisation as fact, and reactions of great hostility towards Muslims and Islam; with a few dotted apologetic comments from actual Muslims in an attempt to explain their views.

"If you don't like things in this country then go home" writes Tanya. "The response to this advert is petty, pathetic and quite frankly another typical rresponse from the muslim community whenever they come across anything in this country that doesn`t whole heartedly agree with them." writes Geoff. "We pander to every whim and complaint of people who have chosen to come and live in England a FREE CHRISTIAN country, not an INTOLERANT ISLAMIC state" an anonymous reader states. Given the content of the article, is it any wonder we see such reactions? The opinions of a few isolated individuals with regard to an insignificant issue is passed off as not only the belief of all Muslims without exception, but also as a matter so important to Muslims that we would claim massive offense at it.

One has to wonder at the motivation of a so-called newspaper for printing such pointless material. The only consolation I take is in reading some of the comments from more enlightened Metro readers, which give me hope for the future of Britain and remind me of what truly makes Britain great.

In the words of Liam from Manchester,

"So, at first it was funny then I came on here and read everyone slating Muslims, it's not acceptable to make sweeping generalisations about whole communities or groups, you can't say that every Muslim was offended by the postcard, that's simply not true. Generalisations are used to demonise whole groups and splinter communities. Divide and rule anyone?

This is a non issue.

Shame on Metro for giving the racists a platform to spit their vile from."


Write to the Letters page of Metro at mail@ukmetro.co.uk . Let them know such irresponsible reporting is not acceptable!

Labels: apology, Britain, complaints, dogs, Islam, Metro, Muslims, police, racism, uk

Alert: Denmark Lost With your Efforts
Great news


Hope you all know about the Denmark newspaper who made fun upon our beloved Prophet and till now they never regret… let us make them
regret for all time…

The Denmark ambassador, prime minister and Denmark channel they all
try to do something just to stop the boycott made by Muslims last
month, by which their losses has reached to 2 billion Euro. If we
continue to boycott Denmark products after 7 months it could reach
around 40 billion Euro's destruction.

Dear brothers, if you love your Prophet please spread the news to all your friends you know in order to rise up our spirit and warning Denmark and other hostile nations towards Islam, we Muslim are united and not easy to break against any one who think to harm or insult Almighty's messenger peace be upon him.

Believers do not let this message stop in your PC.

I want you to be one of the first people in the world to see a new film. It's called Stuff of Life (cert 15). It was specially commissioned by Amnesty and it launched online today. Watch it now

Get angry

Like our first film, Waiting for the Guards, it's short, sharp and sure to be controversial. But what's really shocking is the truth that it reveals: that the US administration are authorising torture in the name of the 'war on terror'.

Do something about it

When you watch Stuff of Life you will be offered to join Amnesty International.

Amnesty is the world's most influential human rights organisation. We get listened to. And we make things happen. Why? Because of our members. The more members we have, the more influence we have. It really is that simple.

So please, Watch the film. Join us. And together we'll stop torture.

Thank you.

Sara Mac Neice
Terror and Security Campaigner
Amnesty International

Labels: america, amnesty international, Guantanamo Bay, politics, torture, waterboarding

"In December of 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army marched into China's capital city of Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city. The six weeks of carnage would become known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war."

In 1937 Japan decided to invade China, boasting that the country would be conquered in 3 months. The Japanese forces attacked under the orders of their prince -- kill all, burn all and pillage all. If there were no survivors there would be none left to take revenge. The atrocities committed by the Japanese disgusted even the Nazi's. The Chinese were under a commander that wasn't particularly loyal to the crown, and who was ordered to stay at Nanking even until death. At the last minute he was ordered to flee, and having left no means for retreat, chaos ensued. The Chinese soldiers dropped their weapons and almost trampled each other to death trying to get out, climbing the walls and plummeting to their deaths. The Chinese surrendered in flocks and herds to the Japanese, who viewed a nation so eager to give in to the enemy as sub-human.

The carnage that followed cannot be described. No one was spared - all were burnt or thrown into trenches. When there weren't enough corpses to fill a trench, nearby settlers were shot indiscriminately. The Japanese were proud and happy in their deeds, the war criminals earning medals for their actions. Current Japanese politicians deny the Rape, unable to believe such events took place.

The end of the attack was an orgy of torture, rape and murder. Rows of people were beheaded in turn, each victim forced to push the headless corpse before him into the river, which ran crimson with blood, before their own death. Hordes of the Japanese men went through the streets in search of women to attack. Old women, young women, even children.

The West remained ignorant of the masacre, which spanned two months. Over 300,000 people were killed in this period of only a few weeks.

Eventually an International Rescue Zone was set up, to keep the Japanese out. A handful of Western volunteers committed feats of bravery every day to keep the Zone safe. The simple defenses of barbed wire and fences were tirelessly defended by the small band of rescue workers. The Japanese soldiers would break in periodically, looking for women to rape or Chinese soldiers to kill. A few missionaries smuggled a tape of the atrocities to Hitler, convinced he would be forced to take action. He did. He forced the missionaries never to mention Nanking again.

The Japanese celebrated their victory, just as the horrors of Nazi Germany were becoming known in the West.

6 weeks of occupation; legions of women forced into prostitution for the Japanese army; and Nanking faded before the turmoil of the Second World War -- but nothing of the West, nothing of Europe and nothing of the Nazi's could compare to the suffering of the ravaged town.

The Japanese war crimes trial (1946-8) carried a hidden agenda. The bribery of America with the lives of their soldiers meant that the Emperor of Japan was not to be prosecuted. The atrocities of Nanking were not probed into.

In Germany today, people are ashamed of the war crimes of their nation. The Japanese however, still revere their "war heroes". They visit their shrines akin to pilgrimage, and worship them. This has been described as the equivalent of moving statues of Hitler into the Vatican and worshipping them.

The group of Westerners who defended the Rescue Zone and held out at great cost to themselves were happy to be forgotten about, if what they wanted for mankind was remembered. It would be comforting to say that the events and horrors of Nanking were never repeated. But they were. In Africa, in Cambodia, in Bosnia, in Kosovo and more.

In Nanking today, the memories are still raw.

http://www.nanking-massacre.com/
http://www.gotrain.com/dan/nanking1.htm
http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/nanking_massacre.htm

Labels: america, china, human rights, japan, justice, nanking, rape of nanking

Labels: arms deal, bae, saudi arabia, tony blair, uk, uk foreign policy, weapons

Previously, we discussed Politics in the world before Islam - the dominance of the Roman and Persian Empires, and the lands of Arabia lost between them. This article focuses on the religious influences dominant in the world before the advent of the Last Prophet (saw) and the final revealed religion to mankind.

By far the largest detriment to society in Rome, Iran and Arabia was the effect of the religious and moral ideas present at the time.

In the Roman Empire, religion was originally adopted from ancient Greece and beyond, and developed into a bizarre mythology centred around figures who were as fallible and selfish as any human but had superhuman powers. Later on, the Roman state adopted Christianity, but this didn’t really change the moral structure of society since it had been already defined by the pagan practices before it. In fact, instead of Christianity improving the pagan religious views held by the population, the ideas of Christianity became polluted with concepts like the trinity, which had filtered through from the previous faith. When Rome first adopted Christianity, the Emperor chose the four gospels of the Bible that most appealed to him from around 300 books and burnt the rest, effectively editing the religion to make it more suitable to the tastes of Rome. In other words the church had been drawn away from the original faith, becoming polluted and losing a large part of its ideology, and worse, violently oppressing those that stood against it, leaving the people without religious guidance or even the freedom to seek it.

The Sassanid (Persian) Empire was in a slightly different situation to Rome; a Zoroastrian priest initially founded it. Zoroastrianism, considered by many to have once been a revealed religion, was supposed to have been a beautiful, simple faith with logical beliefs. However, the position of the clergy in founding the empire and their influence upon rulers led them to deviate from the faith, most notably with the introduction of fire-worship. Over time the religion was altered and edited, just as Christianity was in Rome, to suit the purposes of the priests and nobles, who neglected the spiritual and instead looked for material wealth. In this way the Sassanid Empire’s state religion, as with Rome, had ceased to be a source of religious guidance to the people, who had become spiritually stranded as various groups fought over power or money.

Religion in Arabia was defined by the historical and spiritual influence of Hijaz. The most highly populated city in Hijaz was Mecca, founded centuries earlier by the Prophet Abraham (as) who built the Ka’bah and brought a pure and monotheistic faith to the region. Over time, as with faith in the Sassanid Empire, this pure religion was lost with the introduction of idols - first as intercessors then later as deities to be worshipped - until the Ka’bah had become filled by them and there were more than enough for one for each day of the year. The morals and collective intellect of the Arabs was overshadowed by the meaningless superstitious rituals in their religion - in which animals were tortured and mutilated, and people were humiliated to the extent that they would wear dirty rags and bones, or even bray like a donkey before entering a village to repel ‘evil spirits’. These pointless practices only served to stamp out the spirit of logic and reason within the people, depriving them of any mental development, and confining them to the prison of ignorance.

In Hijaz there was no system of law in place, and no government like Rome had, so the deterioration in morality seemed to have a greater effect. The decay was so strong that all kinds of awful rituals worked their way into common practice, such as the killing of baby girls at birth, and the treatment of women like possessions, or cattle to be abused and inherited against their will. Matters worsened until bloodshed, murder and pillage were considered worthy of praise. The good traits possessed by the pre-Islamic Arabs such as generosity, devotion, eloquence, sharp memory and bravery were brought to nothing before the overwhelming ignorance and immorality that ruled in their society.

The state of affairs before Islam was this: two faded superpowers locked in struggle over neighbouring lands, with all civilisation and progress present in them and in Arabia being blocked by political, moral and spiritual corruption. There was widespread disharmony and oppression as groups warred over wealth and power, and almost all faith (although initially pure and revealed) had become corrupted, and only made the situation worse.

The world was like a barren desert, dry, with barely any traces of life, but deep within its heart was the potential to bloom with the first coming of the rain. Allah sent his Last Prophet, the first of His creatures, the Best of His Creation and most beloved of His servants, may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, to the world at its darkest hour. When the meaning of religion had been all but lost, Allah, the Most Merciful, illuminated the world with His complete guidance in a perfect faith, revealed through a perfect man. And at the moment of the final prophet’s (saw) birth the whole world felt reverberations, spreading across the heavens and earth like great waves, indicating the great changes that were about to come.


www.al-rasool.co.uk

Labels: arabia, Christianity, history, idolatry, Islam, Jesus, judaism, Persia, Rome, Zoroastrianism