Mshukiwa mkuu wa mripuko wa Kenya atiwa nguvuni nchini Tanzania

Mshukiwa mkuu wa ugaidi raia wa Ujerumani mwenye asili ya Uturuki ambaye amekuwa akisakwa na polisi ya Kenya kufuatia mripuko wa mwezi uliopita mjini Nairobi ametiwa mbaroni katika nchi jirani ya Tanzania.

Mwezi uliopita polisi ya Kenya ilitoa picha ya mwanamme mmoja aliyetambuliwa kwa jina la Emrah Erdogan Mjerumani mwenye asili ya Uturuki ambaye pia anafahamika kwa jina Salahuddin al Kurdi.

 Polisi ya Kenya imesema mshukiwa huyo wa ugaidi aliingia nchini humo mwezi Mei akitokea Somalia. Emrah Erdogan ambaye anatuhumiwa kuhusika na mripuko wa Nairobi ulioua mtu mmoja na kuwajeruhi wengine zaidi ya 30 hivi sasa anashikiliwa katika korokoro za polisi mjini Dar es Salaam Tanzania huku akiendelea kuhojiwa.

Is it permissable ot have surgery in order to lose excess weight?

Praise be to Allaah.

We have previously explained on our site that some kinds of cosmetic surgery are permissible, namely that which is done to treat a fault, remove a deformity and so on, which comes under the heading of medical treatment. And some kinds are haraam and are not allowed, namely that which is done for the purpose of beautification, because it is changing the creation of Allah.

It was narrated from Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: May Allaah curse the one who does tattoos and the one who has a tattoo done, the one who plucks eyebrows and the one who has her eyebrows plucked, and those who file teeth for the purpose of beautification, changing the creation of Allaah. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5931) and Muslim (2125).

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
From this it may be understood that the one who is blameworthy is the one who does that for the sake of beauty; if she needs to do that for the purpose of medical treatment, for example, it is permissible. End quote.

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:
What is the ruling on cosmetic surgery, which is doing surgery by means of which the patient may get rid of a specific deformity, and the doctor may change some of the physical features of the patient. Is this changing the creation of Allah?

They replied: It is permissible to do the surgery mentioned and it is not regarded as changing the creation of Allah. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (25/55).

According to medical reports, excess weight and obesity affect one’s health and put one at risk of disease. We ask Allah to grant well-being to us and you and all the Muslims.

If it is not possible to treat this excess weight by regular means, such as reducing food intake or following a healthy diet program or beneficial medicines or exercise and the like, then surgical intervention may be the last resort in treating it. If a trustworthy Muslim doctor who is skilled in weight reduction surgery has advised it, then there is nothing wrong with your doing that surgery as has become essential due to your circumstances and need.

And Allah knows best.

Nine Muslims killed by Buddhists in Myanmar’s communal violence

A scene of the site of Bus attack

Nine Muslims were killed earlier this week in the western state of Myanmar, Rakhine, as the Buddhist vigilantes attacked a passenger bus and targeted only Muslim passengers.

 

 

According to the police, a passenger bus was besieged near Taunggoke town in Rakhine state by the Buddhist vigilantes and they opened fire on the Muslim travelers only. One of the deceased Muslim was traveling in a separate car.

As per local residents and politicians, the Buddhist vigilantes targeted the Muslims only as they believed that some of the passengers were involved in the murder of a Buddhist woman a week ago after being gang-raped.

 

 

The recent attack of communal nature is the deadliest since a reformist government took power a year ago in the region which is already a home of communal and sectarian violence.

The largest population of Muslims in Myanmar lives in Rakhine state but they frequently experience resentment from the Buddhist majority. Especially, Rohingya Muslims are the targets of Buddhist’s hatred who have been living in the region for generations since 1820s when then colonial power, Britain, brought them in Myanmar as laborers.

 

 

A Muslim human rights activist who belongs to an opposition party, Ko Kyaw Lay, claimed that there was no member of Rohingya Muslims in the killed ones.

 

 

However, Police was unable to immediately confirm all the details of the sad incident.

 

 

A police official on the condition of anonymity stated, “An investigation is underway but I can’t give you any further details.”

 

 

A resident of Taunggoke, Kyaw Min, commented on the bus attack case that the Buddhists “were angered by the authorities’ handling” of an attack on a woman who, as per locals, was raped by several men before being killed.

On request of anonymity, several residents mentioned that the Muslims targeted in the bus attack were not locals but they were on a visit to Rakhine state. They believed that those killed may not have been involved in the alleged gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

In a separate incident, 10 people were killed and wounded in a protest rally in the Rakhine capital, Sittwe.

According to the witnesses, the riot police tried to break up the protest and opened fire on them. There were around 200 protestors in the rally but it was not related to the attack on bus in another town of the same state, they added.

The witnesses informed that the police opened aerial firing when the protestors pelted stones on them. A 13-year-old novice monk was also wounded by the aerial firing.

Myanmar is one of Southeast Asia’s most ethnically diverse countries, where sectarian and ethnic tensions still persist, despite a new political climate and broad reforms by a civilian-led government that says it has made peace and national unity a priority since it replaced a military junta 15 months ago.

Tennessee Mosque’s construction stopped by judge’s ruling

Protestors holding banners against Islam and construction of Tennessee Mosque

The judge’s ruling has stopped the construction of a mosque in Tennessee as he announced that local officials did not publicize the notice adequately before the meeting in which the mosque’s construction was approved.

The mosque in Tennessee, one of the several projects of Muslims in the USA, has drawn severe criticism by the critics of Islam at the same time when a plan to build a Muslim community center near New York's ground zero has also become a controversy in the USA and even in its political circles.

According to the judge’s finding, the Rutherford County Planning Commission, a local authority, failed to inform the public at large scale about the meeting held in May 2010 where the site plan for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tennessee Mosque, was approved.

Chancellor Robert Corlew observed that his ruling voids the approval, however, the commission can reconsider the issue and conduct poll for the mosque plan again as long as any action they take is for “non-discriminatory reasons.”

A spokesman for Tennessee mosque, Saleh Sbenaty, termed the ruling disappointing but, he said, his companions are still committed to building the Islamic centre. Muslims have been worshipping for many years at a smaller site in Murfreesboro, a city of about 100,000 people in southeast of Nashville.

“Justice is served,” was the comment by a leading petitioner, Kevin Fisher.

It took two years for the rivals to stop the mosque’s construction and they even brought Islam on trial as the witnesses asked if Islam is a legitimate religion and promoted a theory that American Muslims want to replace the constitution with extremist Islamic laws and the mosque was a part of that plot.

However, all the baseless allegations by the opponents were rejected by the judge but he found that public meeting law was violated as the meeting notice was not spread in an adequate manner. The meeting notice was published in a free weekly newspaper, Murfreesboro Post, that had a circulation of about 21,000 at the time of the legal advertisement was placed.

The judge based his ruling that only about 196 papers were placed in racks in unincorporated areas of the county, neglecting the fact that over 250,000 people, making one-third of the county, live in those areas.

Local governments, under the state law, are required to circulate “adequate public notice” for meetings; however, the law does not define what it means by “adequate.”

The county, however, defended the local officials that they fully obeyed the law by placing a notice in the print and Web editions of the newspaper, the same procedure they opt for advertising all public meetings but agenda of the meeting was missing in the notice.

Corlew wrote in his ruling, “Without publication of the issues of business to be discussed at an otherwise routine meeting, citizens may be lulled into the mindset that only routine matters will be raised at a meeting, when suddenly a matter which is to them of earthshaking importance suddenly comes forth.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the US Justice Department after the ruling to protect the rights of Muslims in Tennessee if the Planning Commission does not immediately issue new construction approvals.

Staff Attorney, Gadeir Abbas, stated, “The judge's ruling is apparently based on a fictitious heightened standard for public notice when Muslims are involved.”

Leicester's first Muslim mayor sworn in

Abdul Razak Osman, an Indian-origin Muslim who was born in Kenya and who immigrated to Britain in 1971, was sworn into office during an elaborate investiture ceremony at the Leicester City Hall on May 18.

Osman’s election reflects the growing influence of Muslims on local politics in Leicester. At his swearing-in ceremony, Osman declared: “I’m proud to be the first Muslim councillor to hold the position. We’ve had Christian, Hindu, and Sikh and now I’m able to bring the Islamic faith to the office, which is a great honor.”

In a traditional inauguration, Councillor Abdul Osman was officially made Lord Mayor of Leicester at Leicester City Council's annual meeting, held in the Town Hall's chambers.

Coun Osman, who joined the city council in 1996, takes over from Councillor Rob Wann.

Coun Osman said: "It's an important year, with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, so it's a privilege for me to hold office with everything that's going on.

"I want to focus on visiting the communities and raising the profile of the office of Lord Mayor. I'm proud to be the first Muslim councillor to hold the position – we've had Christian, Hindu, Sikh and now I'm able to bring the Islamic faith to the office which is a great honour."

Each year, the new mayor nominates a charity which he will raise money for.

Coun Osman has chosen the stroke unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and is aiming to raise £60,000 for the cause.

He said: "I feel as if it's quite a symbolic issue because it affects everyone regardless of their age, colour or background – and our city is one of the most diverse communities in the country."

Leicester: The Most Islamic City In Europe

Masjid Umar, Evington Drive, Leicester


By Soeren Kern, written on March 24, 2011. 

Leicester, an industrial city in central England, is home to the most conservative Islamic population anywhere in Europe, according to American diplomatic cables that were obtained and recently released by the website, Wikileaks. Leicester is also on track to become the first majority non-white city in British history.

The politically incorrect observation was made by a senior US State Department official who visited the city as part of an effort to engage Muslim communities in Europe. It reflects how Leicester's long-ballyhooed experiment with multiculturalism is being challenged by Muslim separatism and assertiveness.

A leaked diplomatic cable recounts the October 2007 visit of Farah Pandith, the US State Department's Senior Advisor for Muslim Engagement, to Leicester, a mid-sized city some 70 minutes north of London. The stated purpose of the visit was for the US government to find ways to help Britain "update and improve" its approach to stopping "home-grown" Islamic extremists. The document says Pandith found the lack of integration of the Muslim community in Leicester to be "striking."


Leicester Central Mosque Corner of Conduit Street and Sparkenhoe Street.

The cable says, among other observations, Pandith was shocked to find "girls as young as four years old were completely covered." The document continues: "At a local book store, texts… seemed designed to segregate Muslims from their wider community, urging women to cover themselves and remain in their homes, playing up the differences between Islam and other religions, seeking to isolate Muslims from community, and feeding hate of Jews to the young."

The cable also recounts a discussion Pandith had with religious and community leaders at an Ahmadiyya [an Asian Islamic sect] mosque: "Yaqub Khan, General Secretary of a local organization called the Pakistan Association, insisted that he had to teach young people in Urdu. When Pandith challenged him as to why he would use Urdu with children who were growing up with English as their first language, Khan insisted that there were no good books on the Koran in English."

After World War II, the British government encouraged immigration to the country to alleviate an economic crisis, and that trend accelerated dramatically in recent years due to left-wing immigration policies seeking to foster multiculturalism. A new study by the think-tank Migration Watch UK shows that during the thirteen years that the last Labour government was in power (1997-2010), immigrants arrived in Britain at a rate of almost one a minute .

A fair number of those immigrants settled in Leicester -- once known as a center for manufacturing shoes and textiles -- where immigrant groups now make up nearly half that city's total population of 280,000. Many of the immigrants are of South Asian origin; the city is now known for its many Hindu, Sikh and Muslim places of worship.


Muslim women rest during shopping in the centre of Leicester City, UK

The sharp rise in Muslim immigration, however, is upsetting Leicester's ethnic balance, and casting doubt upon the city's multicultural future. After Christians and Hindus, Muslims are the third-largest faith group in Leicester. The city's Muslim population is estimated at between 11% and 14% (or somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 Muslims), which is well above the percentage (4.6) of Muslims in Britain as a whole. The Muslim population in Leicester is made up mainly of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, as well as Turks, Somalis, Kenyans and Ugandans. According to the Ummah Forum , "you'd really like Leicester if you want to be around a large population of Muslims."

Muslim immigration has led to the proliferation of mosques in Leicester, which now has more than 200 mosques and madrassas [Islamic religious schools]. The city is also home to several mega-mosques. The Leicester Central Mosque complex has a capacity for nearly 3,000 worshippers. It also has a school, a community hall, a residence hall for imams, a mortuary and a guest house. The huge Masjid Umar mosque has four towering minarets and a grand dome that displays Arabic calligraphy from the Koran.

The most influential Muslim in Leicester is Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh-ul-Haq , a hard-line Muslim cleric who runs the Al Kawthar Academy , an Islamic school in the city. Ul-Haq, 40, is also the leader of a new generation of "home-grown" British Islamists who loathe Western values, support armed jihad and preach contempt for Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Ul-Haq, who preaches in mosques across Britain, outlaws television and music, and says football is "a cancer that has infected our youth." He is appalled by young women who want to get educated and go to university. He regularly praises the work of the Taliban and their attacks against British troops in Afghanistan.

In a typical sermon entitled " Imitating the Disbelievers ," ul-Haq warns British Muslims of the danger of being corrupted by the "evil influence" of Western culture. He also heaps scorn on Muslims who say they are "proud to be British," and argues that friendship with a Christian or a Jew makes "a mockery of Allah's religion." Ul-Haq sermons are broadcast on Radio Ramadhan Leicester in Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Somali, Arabic and English.

Other Islamic separatists have been linked to the University of Leicester, according to the recent report, " Radical Islam on UK Campuses ".

In 2002, British police initiated a crackdown on supporters of Osama bin Laden's terror network in Leicester. A police swoop on predominantly Muslim areas of the city led to the arrest of eight Islamic jihadists, who were accused of belonging to al-Qaeda and conspiring to raise money to fund terrorism.

Meanwhile, Leicester has the fourth-highest rate of unemployment in Britain. The city also has very high rates of illiteracy, and ranks as one of the worst five municipalities in England for education.
An April 2010 survey titled " Muslims in Leicester " says that Muslims in the city are especially prone to underachievement and unemployment. The report says the inner city Spinney Hills neighbourhood, which has the highest percentage of Muslims in the city, is also the ward with the lowest rate of full-time employment, the highest rate of unemployment, the highest level of economic inactivity, the highest percentage of "no qualifications" for work and the highest level of social housing.



Muslims are now demanding political power within the Leicester city council, as well as the freedom to wear their religious dress at work and to have halal food in the city hospitals. They are also seeking their own faith-based schools.

One such school, the Leicester Islamic Academy -- where female students wear the full-length dress and head-covering and the boys wear black robes and skullcaps -- has been accused by the British government of promoting Islamic separatism. Another state-run Islamic school in Leicester, the Madani High School , has run afoul of government regulators for reneging on its promise that 10% of its pupils would be non-Muslim. A government official has warned that Britain is "sleepwalking to segregation." He said: "Segregation is now so extreme in some schools that there is not much farther it can go. It does not help to prepare children in these schools for the real world."

The British government has tried -- unsuccessfully -- to reverse the tide of Islamic separatism in Leicester. In June 2008, for example, the city hosted the first in a series of road shows designed to tackle the problem of honour-based violence . Leicester has been plagued by forced marriages, kidnappings, physical and mental abuse of women, and other honour-based violence crimes against those who have not, according to family and local community members, conformed to religious or cultural expectations.

Muslim assertiveness is also turning Leicester into a lightening rod for those who oppose radical Islam. In October 2010, for example, Leicester was the site of a demonstration organized by the English Defense League, a far-right group which emerged after Muslim extremists disrupted a homecoming parade in Luton in March 2009 for British soldiers returning from Iraq. EDL protesters in Leicester carried banners with slogans such as, "Sharia laws will destroy Britain and all our British values."

Alluding to the transformation of cities like Leicester, Michael Nazir-Ali, a bishop of the Church of England, has lamented that Islamic extremists have turned parts of Britain into no-go areas for non-Muslims . Lashing out at the spread of religious separatism and the damage caused by the doctrine of multiculturalism, Nazir-Ali warned against the acceptance of Islamic Sharia law in Britain, and added that amplified calls to prayer from mosques are imposing an Islamic character on many British towns and cities.

It is a rather strange irony that Leicester's motto is Semper Eadem : "Always the Same"

Turkish pianist charged with insulting Islam

Iinternationally acclaimed Turkish pianist Fazil Say has served as a cultural ambassador to the European Union

A Turkish court Friday formally charged an internationally known pianist and composer with insulting Islamic religious values in comments he made on Twitter.

The court in Istanbul voted to approve an indictment against Fazil Say, who has played piano with the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, National Orchestra of France and Tokyo Symphony.

The 42-year-old Turk faces charges of inciting hatred and public enmity, and insulting "religious values." Say, who has served as a culture ambassador for the European Union, allegedly mocked Islamic beliefs about paradise in April.

Meltem Akyol, a lawyer for Say, said the pianist has denied the charges. The trial will be held Oct. 18, she said.

"We certainly do not accept the charges," Akyol said by telephone Friday. "He has stated in his initial testimony during the probe that he had no intention to humiliate any religion. He was basically criticizing those who are exploiting religion for profit."

Akyol said Say's tweets and retweets on social media cannot be considered as public remarks because only people who follow him can see them. In one tweet cited in the indictment, Say said: "What if there is raki [traditional anisette drink] in paradise but not in hell, while there is Chivas Regal [scotch] in hell and not in paradise? What will happen then? This is the most important question!!"

Islam forbids alcohol and many Islamists might consider such remarks unacceptable. In one of the pianist's retweets, one excerpt questioned whether paradise was a "brothel?" according to the indictment.

Akyol claimed that line belonged to the wine-loving 11th century Persian poet Omar Khayyam, most known for his work the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam." But Murat Bardakci, a historian, wrote in HaberTurk newspaper in April that the alleged line did not belong to Khayyam.

"He was merely expressing his ideas within free speech," said Akyol, adding that the renowned artist was not seeking any privileges or immunity from prosecution.

Akyol, meanwhile, confirmed that Say closed his Twitter account before the court decision Friday, because he was annoyed with messages.

"He has lately incurred the wrath of some people," Akyol said. "He has even been receiving death threats."

Say had floated the idea of leaving Turkey and moving to Japan earlier this year, his lawyer said. The pianist was abroad and not available for comment. He was expected to return to Istanbul this weekend following a concert in Slovenia on Friday.

Say was the latest prominent Turk to run into trouble in the country for expressing his views. He could face a maximum 1 1/2 years in prison if he is convicted.

The European Union has long encouraged Turkey to improve freedom of speech if it wants to become a member one day.

Turkey's Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has been prosecuted for his comments about the mass killings of Armenians under a law that made it a crime to insult the Turkish identity before the government eased that law in an amendment in 2008.

In 2007, ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who received death threats because of his comments about the killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915, was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul.

Historia ya tarehe ya leo kiislamu (13 Rajab 1433)

Leo ni Jumatatu tarehe 13 Rajab mwaka 1433 Hijiria inayosadifina na tarehe 4 Juni 2012 Miladia
Siku kama ya leo miaka 1456 iliyopita alizaliwa Ali bin Abi Twalib katika nyumba tukufu ya al Kaaba, ambaye ni binamu, mkwe na Khalifa wa Mtume Muhammad (saw).

Mama wa mtukufu huyo ni Bibi Fatima bint Assad na baba yake ni Abu Talib. Katika kipindi chake cha utotoni, Ali bin Abi Talib alilelewa na kupata elimu na mafunzo kutoka kwa Mtume Mtukufu SAW, na alikuwa mwanaume wa kwanza baada ya Mtume SAW kuukubali Uislamu.

Mwishoni mwa mwaka wa Pili Hijria, Imam Ali AS alimuoa Bibi Fatimatul Zahra binti ya Mtume Mtukufu SAW. Imam Ali AS alishiriki kwenye vita vyote bega kwa bega na Mtume Mtukufu SAW isipokuwa vita vya Tabouk, na alikuwa msaidizi wa karibu wa Mtume Mtukufu katika hali zote za shida na matatizo.

Licha ya kuwa shujaa na mpiganaji mashuhuri, lakini Imam Ali bin Abi Twalib alikuwa mpole kwa watu wa kawaida, mwingi wa huruma na upendo na mtetezi wa wanyonge na wanaodhulumiwa. Imam Ali AS aliishi kwa muda wa miaka 63 na kwa muda wa miaka mitano ya uhai wake aliuongoza umma wa Kiislamu kama khalifa. Imam Ali AS aliuawa shahidi mwezi wa Ramadhan, baada ya kupigwa dharuba ya upanga akiwa anaswali sala ya alfajiri msikitini mjini Kufa nchini Iraq.

 Idhaa ya Kiswahili Redio Tehran inatoa mkono wa baraka na fanaka kwa Waislamu wote duniani kwa mnasaba huu adhimu wa kuadhimishwa siku ya kuzaliwa Simba wa Mungu, Imam wa Mashariki na Magharibi, Amirul Muuminin Ali bin Abi Twalib (as).

Siku kama ya leo miaka 49 iliyopita, sawa na tarehe 15 Khordad 1342 Hijria Shamsia, wananchi katika pembe mbalimbali nchini Iran walifanya maandamano makubwa dhidi ya utawala wa kifalme hapa nchini, baada ya kusambaa habari za kutiwa mbaroni Imam Khomeini. Vikosi vya usalama vya utawala wa kifalme hapa nchini vilimtia mbaroni Imam Khomeini zikiwa zimepita siku chache tu tokea alipotoa hotuba kali na ya kihistoria katika Madrasa ya Faidhiyyah mjini Qum. Harakati ya tarehe 15 Khordad inahesabiwa kuwa ndiyo chachu ya kujiri mapinduzi ya Kiislamu yaliyopelekea kuangushwa utawala wa Kipahlavi.

Na miaka 23 iliyopita katika siku kama ya leo, sawa na tarehe 4 Juni mwaka 1989, wanafunzi kadhaa wa vyuo vikuu vya China waliuawa na wengine wengi kujeruhiwa na polisi katika mji mkuu wa nchi hiyo Beijing. Siku hiyo maelefu ya wanafunzi wa vyuo vikuu vya China walikuwa wamejikusanya katika mzunguko wa Tiananmen mjini Beijing, wenye maana ya 'Amani ya Mbinguni" wakitaka kuwepo mazingira ya wazi ya kisiasa nchini humo, kupunguzwa uwezo wa chama cha kisoshalisti, kuongezwa uwezo wa bunge na kuchaguliwa wawakilishi wake. Ingawa serikali ya China ilipinga maandamano hayo lakini wanafunzi waliendela kukusanyika na mwishowe askari polisi na vikosi vya jeshi kutumia silaha kuwakandamiza wanafunzi hao waliokuwa wakiandamana ambapo baadhi waliuawa na kujeruhiwa.