History of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat

• Born in the Surat district of India in 1918, Ahmed Hoosen Deedat had no recollection of his father untill 1926. His father a tailor by profession had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the birth of Ahmed Deedat.

• With no formal education and fighting off the extreme pangs of poverty, he went to South Africa in 1927 to be with his father. His farewell to his mother in India in 1927 was the last time he saw her alive for she passed away a few months later.

• In a foreign land, a boy of nine with no formal schooling nor any command of the English language he began preparing for the role he was to play decades later without realizing it.

• Applying himself with diligence to his studies, the little boy not only was able to overcome the language barrier but excelled in school. His avid passion for reading helped him gain promotions until he completed standard 6. Lack of finance interrupted his schooling and at the early age of about 16 he took on the first of many jobs in retailing.

• The most significant of these was in 1936 where he worked at a Muslim owned store near a Christian seminary on the Natal South Coast. The incessant insults of the trainee missionaries hurled against Islam during their brief visits to the store infused a stubborn flame of desire within the young man to counteract their false propaganda.

• As fate would have it, Ahmad Deedat discovered by pure chance a book entitled Izharal-Haq, meaning the Truth revealed. This book recorded the techniques and enormous success of the efforts of Muslims in India in turning the tables against Christian missionary harassment during the British subjugation and rule of India. In particular the idea of holding debates had a profound effect on Ahmed Deedat.

• Armed with this new found zeal, Ahmed Deedat purchased his first Bible and began holding debates and discussions with the trainee missionaries. When they beat a hasty retreat in the face of his incisive counter arguments, he personally called on their teachers and even priests in the surrounding areas to discuss and debate topical issues of the day.

• These successes spurred Ahmed Deedat in the direction of Da’wah. Not even his marriage, birth of Children and a 3 year sohourn to Pakistan after its independence dampened his enthusiasm or dulled his desire to defend Islam .

• With missionary zeal to project the truth and the pure clinical beauty of Islam, Ahmed Deedat immersed hiself into a host of activities over the next three decades. He conducted classes on Bible studies and gave numerous lectures. He established the As-Salaam, an institute to train propagators of Islam. He, together with his family, almost single-handedly erected the buildings including the masjid which is still a landmark today.

• He was a founder member of the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) and became its President. He has published over 20 books and distributed milions of copies free of charge. He has delivered thousand of lectures all over the world and successfully engaged Christian Evangelists in public debates. Several thousand people have come into the fold of Islam as a result of these efforts.

• In a fitting tribute to this monumental achievement, he was awarded the King Faisal International award in 1986, a prestigious recognition of enormous value in the world of Islam.

• No number of awards and honours can truly capture the man’s essence and zeal for Islam. This anthology of books is no exception. It demonstrates Sheikh Deedat’s analytical compilations drawn from personal encounters and experiences against many prevailing distortions.

• In 1996 Shaikh Ahmed Deedat suffered from a serious stroke and remained paralysed and bedridden for 9 years. On 8th August, 2005 he passed away. May Allah (swt) bless his soul with Jannatul Firdous for his path-breaking and excellent efforts for Daw’ah of Islam worldwide as well as reigniting the spirit of self-esteem and renaissance amongst millions of Muslims the world over.

• Books by Shaikh Ahmed Deedat: The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity - Volume I The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity - Volume II Is the Bible God’s Word? Al Qur’an the Miracle of Miracles What is His Name? Christ in Islam What was the sign of Jonah? What the Bible says about Muhammed (pbuh)? Resurrection or Resuscitation? Arabs and Israel – Conflict or Conciliation? Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction?

Pictures: Fundraisng dinner Leicester

 Some of the committee members

 Preparation

 Sharif was there

 Ustadh Khamis with team from Slough

 Preparation

 Committee members working hard to make sure every one gets good service

 Visitors arriving at the event

 Hamad Car park attendant

 Young Omar recite Quran

 Attendees

 Sheikh Khalil, MC of the day

 Deputy Mayor Abdul Osman

 The security was very tight, thanks to Mreh, Meja and Abdillah

 An Noor Community members

 Cameraman Nassor Hemed

 Concentration

 Discussion going on on the high table

 Some of the attendees from Slough

From left, Committee Chairman Mohamed Omar, Sheikh Kamil, Asaa, Ustadh Saleh and Abdillah

 Dinner served

 Dr Jamal Juma and Mr Ali "Meja"

 Ali and Jaffar

 Ustadh Khamis and Zubeir

 Sheikh is giving a lacture

 Ustadh Jamal giving a lacture

Sheikh Saleh Juma talk to the some of the attendees

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For those who will not be able to attend but they would like to donate, then they can use our following Bank account:

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Name: Madrassatul Noor Leicester

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Video: Hindu became atheist then converted to islam!

Blame “US against Islam” hurts Clinton

The Secretary of the States, Hillary Clinton

By Farhan Iqbal

The charges that the United States of America is against the Muslims and their religion Islam have deeply hurt the Secretary of the States, Hillary Clinton.

The Secretary of the States, Hillary Clinton, has recently visited the third largest Muslim-majority country in the world, Bangladesh, where she was stunned by a student who asked her a question at a public forum regarding a general perception in the Muslim world about the United States that if the super power of the world is against Islam.

The feelings of Clinton remained no more unharmed when she listened to the question as she has always been a loyal ambassador of the US during the incumbent Obama-led regime defending her country’s reputation as a state “protecting the rights of minorities.”

She has always struggled to wipe out the general perception sticking to minds of the Muslims across the globe that the United States is biased against Islam and its followers.

"That hurts me so much," the Secretary of the States, Hilary Clinton remarked.

She continued, "It is a painful perception to hear about and I deeply regret that anyone believes that or propagates it."

The Secretary of the States clarified that the “war on terror,” being fought by the US and its allies for over a decade, is actually a “self-defense” as the terrorists of Al-Qaeda attacked the building of World Trade Center in the US on September 11, 2001, killing thousands of American people.

She added that the terrorists distorted the teachings of Islam and waged war against the innocent Americans.

She said that human nature is same everywhere and it does not change all of a sudden. Discrimination exists in all countries of the world and, unfortunately, the US is no exception, she added.

Clinton commented, "Is there discrimination or prejudice in the United States like in every society and country in the world? Unfortunately yes. Human nature has not changed dramatically."

She had a view that there are people in every corner of the world who carry feelings of hatred against specific religious groups, sects, races and ethnicities. For this, she added, alone USA cannot be blamed for this act as it is not done intentionally.

She commented, “There is discrimination against people of different religions, of different races, of different ethnic groups all over the world... but I don't think that it is at all fair to hold up the United States over discrimination.”

The Secretary of the States commended US laws saying, "I believe that the United States through our laws and through our constant political dialogue has gone probably farther than anywhere else in the world in trying to guarantee legal protections for people. I would like to see more countries do more to protect the rights of minorities."

The visit to Bangladesh by Clinton is a symbol of friendly ties between the two countries as the US has always recognized Bangladesh as a Muslim country promoting moderate brand of Islam having a significant population of religious minorities. Hillary Clinton happens to be the first US Secretary of State who has visited Bangladesh since 2003.

Conversion to Islam growing dramatically in Austria

Official records suggest a dramatic growth in conversions from Christianity to Islam, in the predominantly Christian European country of Austria, Press TV reports.

“We see that people have spiritual longing that they feel there is something missing in their lives, if there is no dimension, no horizon as to the hereafter, or where am I? Why am I here?” Says Mr. Bagajati, an Austrian convert to Islam.

Austria is a predominantly Catholic Christian European country of over eight million people with strong and deep historical roots in Christianity.

Many Christians express that they were disillusioned and had lost their faith in Christianity, and of course the recent recurring sexual scandals of Catholic Church has played a major role in their exodus, which at the end led to many of them convert to Islam, where they could find comfort.

Most non-Muslim, European citizens have always been presented with an ugly and awful image of Islam, linked mainly to extremism and fundamentalism, by the Western culture.

Meanwhile, Ms. Bagajati believes that it is the “perfect time” for Islam to show its “peaceful nature” to non-Muslims, in a time when the United Nations has expressed concerns over growing religious discrimination and violence against religious groups.

Estimations show that almost half a million Austrian Christians have converted to Islam since roughly two years ago, with the numbers of conversions keeping thriving.

Video:

Turkish beauty magazine ties Muslim veil to glamour

Ala is the first fashion magazine dedicated to Turkish women wearing headscarves

 

Can the Muslim headscarf be synonymous with glamour?

 

Turkey's first fashion magazine for conservative Islamic women looks set to win the challenge.
In less than a year since it was launched last June, the monthly Ala -- meaning "beauty" -- has become a mainstream glossy.

With a circulation of 20,000, it is only slightly behind the Turkish versions of Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Elle magazines.

Ala's pages are splashed with models reflecting a conservative Islamic style, all wearing headscarves and long dresses, with their arms and necks covered.

Ala's editor, 24-year-old Hulya Aslan, has first-hand experience with Turkey's headscarf troubles. Because she insisted on wearing one, she had to give up a university education, instead finding work at a bank.

"Now there is normalisation, an improvement. Now our veiled comrades can enter university and have more professional opportunities," she told AFP. "For the last five or six years we can say we have turned the corner."

Ala, created by two advertisers, offers the usual fare of health tips, travel pages and celebrity interviews, supplemented by a strong dose of loud and clear Islamic activism.

"Veiled Is Beautiful" proclaims one advertisement, driving home the point with the words: "My way, my choice, my life, my truth, my right."

But such slogans sound more like a reference to the struggles of the past, when secularism monopolised the social scene and the Islamic headscarf, often viewed as a political symbol, met hostile reactions.

The struggle continues despite the 2002 poll victory of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has Islamist roots and many of whose members have spouses who wear headscarves, including Erdogan's wife Emine.

Although the strict application of secularism has been loosened under AKP rule, headscarves are still off-limits for civil servants. It is now allowed in some universities, while many others ban them.

In Turkey, 60 percent of women wear some type of hair covering -- sometimes also hiding their necks and ears -- according to a 2006 survey conducted by the Istanbul-based Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation.

The fashion world now sees a growing demand from conservative Turkish women who are keen to assert themselves.

"There are now much prettier things than before," said Merve Buyuk, a 22-year-old trainee at Ala. "Designers have now understood that we exist. They've started making clothes that are not necessarily black or brown. ... I'm pretty happy with this change."

Hulya Aslan, editor of Ala Magazine, at her office in Istanbul

Ala is hoping to influence conservative women's fashion and cash in on it with advertising revenue.
"With this magazine, we are changing trends. We say that women in headscarves can follow trends. There are more and more products on the market they can access," Aslan said.

Communication scientist Nilgun Tutal of Istanbul's Galatasaray University said Ala attests to the rise of middle- and upper-class Muslims who are adapting to the consumer society, thanks to almost 10 years of AKP rule and Turkey's sustained economic growth.

"At one time, Islam, to distinguish itself from the West, took a position hostile to consumer society. But today, these people, to express their success, can only do that through consumer society," Tutal said.

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The Social Aspect of Women in Islam

As a Mother:

(1) The Quran elevates kindness to parents (especially mothers) to a status second to the worship of God:

{Your Lord has commanded that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to your parents. If one of them or both of them reach old age with you, do not say to them a word of disrespect, or scold them, but say a generous word to them. And act humbly to them in mercy, and say, “My Lord, have mercy on them, since they cared for me when I was small.” } (Quran, 17:23-24, see also 31:14, 46:15, and 29:8)

(2) Naturally, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) specified this behavior for his followers, rendering to mothers an unequalled status in human relationships. A man came to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and said, “O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship?” The Prophet (pbuh) said: {Your mother.} The man said, “Then who?” The Prophet (pbuh) said: {Then your mother.} The man further asked, “Then who?” The Prophet (pbuh) said: {Then your mother.} The man asked again, “Then who?” The Prophet (pbuh) said: {Then your father.}

As a Sister in Faith (In General):

(1) According to the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) sayings: {women are but shaqa’iq (twin halves or sisters) of men.} This saying is a profound statement that directly relates to the issue of human equality between the genders. If the first meaning of the Arabic word shaqa’iq, “twin halves,” is adopted, it means that the male is worth one half (of society), while the female is worth the other half. If the second meaning, “sisters,” is adopted, it implies the same.

(2) The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) taught kindness, care, and respect toward women in general: {I commend you to be good to women.} It is significant that such instruction of the Prophet was among his final instructions and reminders in the farewell pilgrimage address given shortly before his passing away.

(3) Modesty and social interaction: The parameters of proper modesty for males and females (dress and behavior) are based on revelatory sources (the Quran and prophetic sayings) and, as such, are regarded by believing men and women as divinely-based guidelines with legitimate aims and divine wisdom behind them. They are not male-imposed or socially imposed restrictions. It is interesting to know that even the Bible encourages women to cover their head: “If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.” (1 Corinthians 11:6).

Rights of a Muslim Wife

Mahr (Dowry)

In Islam the man presents his wife with a dowry they have mutually agreed upon, at the time of marriage. The amount varies according to his means and generosity, and his wife has the right to spend, save or remit any part of it. Allah (SWT) says in the Quran:

"And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful). (An-Nisa’ 4:4)

Maintenance

Women have been entrusted by Allah (SWT) with the task of providing a peaceful, comfortable home environment for the breadwinner who works for their provisions outside the home all day long.

It is one of the extraordinary beauties of Islam that by entrusting the male to the position of protector and provider, it frees the woman, who is burdened with the long cycle of bearing, giving birth to, nursing and raising children, from having to assume the extra burden of her own and her children’s support, which is unjust and a tremendous hardship.

While a woman must obey her husband, as long as he does not ask anything forbidden of her, and guard his possessions while he is away from the house, and handle his money as he wishes, she must also be faithful, trustworthy and honest.

A wife is regarded as a source of love, peace and compassion, as stated in the Quran:

"And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them , and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect." (Ar-Rum 30:21)

"…But the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing on a reasonable basis. No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear…" (Al-Baqarah 2:233)

"’O Messenger of Allah (SAW), what right can a wife demand of her husband?’ He replied, ‘that you should give her food when you eat, clothe her when you clothe yourself, not strike her on the face, and do not insult her or separate form her except in the house.’" (Reported by Ahmad, Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud)

"A woman came to the Prophet (SAW) complaining of her husband, ‘Messenger of Allah (SAW), Abu Sufyan is a niggardly man who does not give me and my son enough; except what I take from him without his knowledge.’ He replied, ‘Take what is enough for you and your son according to what is ma’roof (well-known in your society).’" (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Good Treatment, Condideration and Companionship

Allah (SWT) instructs men that they must be compassionate and kind to their wives:

"…They are Libas [i.e. body cover, or screen or Sakah, (i.e. you enjoy the pleasure of living with her as in Verse 7:189) Tafsir At-Tabari], for you and your are the same for them…" (Al Baqarah 2:187)

"It is He Who has created you from a single person (Adam), and (then) He has created form him his wife (Eve), in order that he might enjoy the pleasure of living with her…" (Al-A’raf 7:189)

This meaning that a wife and a husband are meant for mutual support, mutual comfort, and mutual protection of each other.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also emphasized the importance of this compassionate treatment:

"I command you to treat women kindly. Woman has been created from a rib (the rib is crooked), and the most crooked part of the rib is the upper region. If you try to make it straight you will break it, and if you leave it as it is, it will remain curved. So treat women kindly." (Reported by Al-Bukhari)

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also said:

"The best of you are those who are best to the women." (Sahih At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Al-Jami Al-Saker)

The best husband is one who provides her with true leadership without harshness, or laxness, and who does not misuse his authority and strength. Even if the behavior of a wife should become hard to live with (for she may not always be in strong health and of cheery disposition), the man is asked to be patient and kind to her. Allah (SWT) says:

"O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the Mahr (dowry, bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) you have given them, unless they commit open illegal sexual intercourse. And live with them honorably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good." (An-Nisa’ 4:19)

A wife has the right to her husband’s attention, companionship and time. The husband should try to please and make her happy, taking into consideration her needs, wishes, likes and dislikes, and making time for relaxation and recreation together.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said,

"Among the Muslims, the most perfect as regards his faith is the one whose character is most excellent, and the best among you are those who treat their wives well." (At-Tirmidhi)

"A believer must not hate a believing woman; if he dislikes one of her characteristics he will be pleased with another." (Sahih Muslim)

"Woman has been created from a rib and in no way will be straight for you; so if you enjoy her you will do so while crookedness remains in her; but if you try to straighten her you will break her; breaking her being divorcing her." (Sahih Muslim)

The Right to Adequate Sexual Relations

Since the purpose of marriage is to be a mutual source of comfort, peace, and enjoyment for each other, like a garment that protects and cover, the sexual aspect of marriage is an extension of this. The husband is asked to be gentle, considerate and loving with his wife, and to try to satisfy her needs. The wife must reserve herself exclusively for her husband, and make efforts to be attractive, as well as making herself available to him whenever he is in need of her. This latter obligation also applies to the husband. In Islam, any sexual relations are reserved EXCLUSIVELY for the confines of marriage. Both husband and wife are also obligated to honor the privacy of the intimate relations between them, and should not speak of them to anyone. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:

"Verily among the worst people before Allah on the Day of Judgment is a man who approaches his wife sexually and she responds and then he spreads her secrets." (Sahih Muslim)

Allah (SWT) says in the Quran:

"…And live with them honorably…" (An-Nisa’ 4:19)

The wife has right over her husband. The husband should play with his wife.

"The Prophet (SAW) was told about one of his Sahaba (Companions) that he fasts in the daytime and prays at night, the Prophet (SAW) told him that his family has right over him, his body has right over him, pray and sleep, fast and then break the fast." (Ibn Hibban)

The Prophet (SAW) also declared that having sexual intercourse with one’s wife is like giving charity. It is very important to play and sport with one’s wife before having sex, as the Prophet (SAW) told Jabir,

"Why did you not marry a virgin, with whom you could play and who would play with you?" (Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

The Right Not To Be Beaten

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) specifically said,

"Do not beat the female servants of Allah." (Abu Dawud)

Allah (SWT) says in the Quran:

"…As to those women on whose part you see ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful), but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance). Surely, Allah is Ever Most High, Most Great." (An-Nisa’ 4:34)

The Prophet (SAW) said:

"When one of you inflicts a beating, he should avoid striking the face."

The Right to Be Just With All the Wives

The Prophet (SAW) said,

"When a man has two wives and does not treat them equally he will come on the Day of Resurrection with a side hanging down." (At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud)

The wives have the right to equal number of nights and equal amount of wealth.

The Right to Learning Matters of the Deen

A husband’s duty is to teach his wife the essential knowledge of Islam, in particular matters pertaining to women. If he does not know himself, then he must buy her books and tapes that would teach her or let her go to study circles where she can acquire that knowledge. She can not leave the house without his permission, but she can go to the Masjid (Mosque) without his permission. He has no right to stop her from that. Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said,

"Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from visiting the mosques of Allah, but they may go out (to the mosque) having not perfumed themselves." (Ahmad and Abu Dawud)

"…Their houses are better for them." (Abu Dawud)

The Right to Be Jealously Defended

This includes not letting her leave the house without proper hijab, or not letting her freely intermingle with men. The Prophet (SAW) has said that a ‘dayooth’ (a man who is not jealous about his honor) will not enter Paradise.

Now this does not mean that the husband is permitted to go to the extreme in this matter. Such matters may be as follows:

· Not letting one’s wife go out of the house EVEN when it is safe to do so.

· Not letting one’s wife answer the phone.

· Not allowing wife to go to hospital when she is sick.

Conclusion

Allah (SWT) says in the Quran: 

"Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard in the husband’s absence what Allah orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity, their husband’s property, etc)…" (An-Nisa’ 4:34)

Iraqi Christians seek safe haven in Jordan

Iraqi Assyrian Catholic Sister Basma speaks to Iraqi Christian refugee children

A spate of attacks targeting Christians in Iraq has forced many to flee to neighbouring Jordan which many see as a stepping stone to a new life as far away as possible from the violence-ridden country.

On Sundays families gather at the Syriac Orthodox church in Jordan's capital Amman to pray, socialise and mull over the best ways of securing a visa to enable them emigrate to the United States, Canada, Australia or Europe.

There are always new faces in the crowd, like Suzanne Jilliani, her husband Hani Daniel and their year-old baby who fled after the October 31 attack on Baghdad's Syriac Catholic cathedral that left 46 worshippers dead.

The couple, who now live in a furnished flat provided by the Syriac church in Jordan, dream of joining Jilliani's family in the United States.

"Do you think they will give us visas to go to the United States?" Jilliani asked a fellow Iraqi after a recent Sunday mass.

"Never," said Moayed, who declined to give his first name. "Try Canada. This is what I did."

Moayed said his request to travel to the United States was rejected because he had served in the army of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Like some Christians, Moayed said he fled Iraq after being threatened by the Mahdi Army militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Moayed managed a supermarket in Iraq but one day it blew up. He said it happened after the Mahdi Army had ordered him to pack up and leave the country because "there is no room here for Christians."

George Hazou, who heads a Syriac charity organisation in Jordan and is an official with the Middle East Council of Churches, estimates that 120,000 Iraqi Christians have fled to Jordan since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

"There are 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis left in Jordan," he told AFP, adding that the rest have left to start new lives in North America, Australia and Europe.

Uday Hikmat worries about the future.

Three days after the church massacre he and his parents packed and left Iraq. "We did not want to wait our turn to die," said the 33-year-old.

An Iraqi Christian woman holds a picture of her husband killed in a church in Baghdad

Now he hopes that his birth certificate will serve as a central element in the documentation he needs to submit to secure an emigration visa.

Fellow worshipper Mohannad Najem said Hikmat was "lucky" to have his birth certificate.

"Churches in Iraq no longer issue birth certificates in order to contain the exile of Christians," said Najem, a 33-year-old car mechanic who fled Iraq in October with his wife and four small children.

"The Mahdi Army told me I had to pay them 1,000 dollars each month or they would kill my children one by one.

"Two days after that threat we were gone," he said.

They got out 10 days before the massacre at the Baghdad Syriac cathedral where they worshipped on Sundays.

"We would probably be dead now," said Najem. His cousin Nadia and nephew Fadi were among the victims.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the church massacre and warned that it would step up attacks on Christians.

Earlier this month a senior Iraqi clergyman said Iraq's Christians should leave the country or face being killed at the hands of Al-Qaeda.

"If they stay they will be finished, one by one," the London-based Archbishop Athanasios Dawood told the BBC.

But Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on November 9 that Christians should not be encouraged to leave their homeland.

An estimated 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq before the 2003 US-led invasion, but their number has since shrunk to around 500,000 in the face of repeated attacks against their community and churches.

Altogether an estimated two million refugees from Iraq, mostly Muslim, have fled to Jordan and Syria since the invasion.

Muslim mob burns Catholic church in Sudan capital

People cheer during President Omar al-Bashir's speech in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, April 20, 2012. Sudan said Friday its forces drove South Sudanese troops from a contested oil town near the countries' ill-defined border while the south tried to put a good face on events, saying it was withdrawing.
A Muslim mob set ablaze a Catholic church frequented by Southern Sudanese in the capital Khartoum, witnesses and media reports said on Sunday.

The church in Khartoum's Al-Jiraif district was built on a disputed plot of land, but the Saturday night incident appeared to be part of the fallout from ongoing hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan over control of an oil town on their ill-defined border.

Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent months over the unresolved issues of sharing oil revenues and the disputed border.

Last week, South Sudanese troops seized Heglig, which the southerners call Panthou, sending Sudanese troops fleeing. The Khartoum government later claimed to have regained control of the town.

The witnesses and several newspapers said a mob of several hundred shouting insults at southerners torched the church. Fire engines could not put out the fire, they said.

One newspaper, Al-Sahafah, said the church was part of a complex that included a school and dormitories. Ethiopian refugees living in the Sudanese capital also used the church.

The mostly Christian and animist South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011, some six years after a peace deal ended more than two decades of war between the two sides. Tens of thousands of southerners remain in Sudan, a legacy of the civil war that drove hundreds of thousands to seek relative safety in the north of what was then a single Sudanese nation.

Vice President Ali Osman Taha rejected suggestions by South Sudan for the deployment of international forces in Heglig, saying in a television interview that the area was internationally recognized as Sudanese territory.

He also said that Khartoum would shortly announce the monetary value of what he said was the destruction caused by Southern Sudanese troops in Heglig and that his government would demand compensation.

Sudanese army spokesman Col. Sawarmy Khaled said that government forces have repulsed an attack by Southern Sudanese forces in the area around the town of Talode in South Kordofan, the same region where Heglig is located. He said the southerners suffered unspecified casualties but did not say when the fighting took place.

In neighboring Blue Nile state, a Sudan military official said his forces have killed 50 rebels linked to the south.

Maj. Gen. Murtada Warraq said his forces will continue to "liberate" territories from rebels linked to the northern wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. His comments were carried by Sudan's official news agency SUNA.

Clashes in Blue Nile state broke out in September, driving many of the area's residents to seek refuge in the south.