Day of Arafat and Eid-ul-Adha

Peace and blessings upon you all on this Day of Arafat. As the Hajjis pray on the Mount of Mercy, may He spread His Mercy and Blessings upon the Earth. 

Wish everyone a happy EID tomorrow.

Yamin

Burning the Quran and the Satanic Verses: Is there a difference?

Whilst some Muslims around the world demonstrate with rage, others find this cheap media stunt by the US Pastor, Terry Jones, rather amusing; he appears like the typical ignorant rugged hillbilly with a tiny band of followers. From his interviews, he fits the profile of those ignorant Americans raised on a diet of Zionist Fox News and baseball, who would struggle to comment on the US history and geography, let alone the rest of the world.

His interview on CNN bought a smile to my face, as it did to the CNN Presenter who was trying to clarify the justification for burning the Quran; it is obvious that he lacks ability to articulate his case, compounded by the fact that he has not even read the Quran or any scholarly literature that elaborates on the subject. Indeed, he sounds like a man who does not read much.

His allegations that Quran advocates violence is laughable, as the same teachings can be found in the Bible, some of the laws derived from the Old Testament are much harsher than the Quranic laws. It seems the pastor is also unfamiliar with the Bible. If we talk about the actions or reactions of some Muslims, that needs to be assessed against the actions of violent Christian-America. I am not talking about the daily shootings at schools and shopping malls, rape, bombings, and the high level crime rate inside America, but the killing of innocent people in distant land.

Nationalism and the long road to the Caliphate

Almost 70 years has elapsed, since the last major conflict erupted in the West, which ended in 1945. All the signs indicate peace is likely to continue, as ties between the Western nations are strengthened through various treaties, reinforcing their allegiance to a common set of values. Europe in particular, there exists is a momentum towards greater unification; the European Union (EU) has evolved from the European Economic Community (EEC) that was formed back in 1957. After the recent ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU has passed another milestone.

Note the pace of unity in Europe has taken into account the desire of each nation to maintain its national identity; without coercion or any form of threat or intimidation, they relinquish part of their sovereignty, for the greater good. This notion issue of pooling some national sovereignty for benefit was raised by former Conservative foreign secretary, Francis Pym, a proponent for European Union. In his book, “The Politics of Consent”, he argued national sovereignty was less about territorial or national integrity, much more about the ability of a nation to determine the welfare of its own citizen.

After the demise of the Iron Curtain, the EU has continued to expand to incorporate the former Eastern European block countries. In addition to economic benefits, such expansion ensures the old fault lines of religion and ethnicity does not cause instability, which happened after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The West ended the conflict in 1995 through the Dayton peace accord. Now, Croatia and Macedonia are set to become part of the EU, for sure, Bosnia and Serbia will follow in the future.  Germany has also signed a historic peace accord with Russia, turning a new chapter as they look to end the historic animosity between the two nations.

From Napoleon to Hitler, history tells us nationalism is the fuel of nation states, and one of the primary factors for causing numerous bloody wars. Yet, the nation states of Europe, USA, Canada, Russia and others have managed to maintain close ties, and avoid conflicts.  Therefore, what has changed over the last 70 years in the West? This paradoxical behaviour can be attributed to the following reasons:

American Independence Day: A Cause for Celebration or Mourning?

"How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?" - Dr. Samuel Johnson

The Declaration of Independence in 1776 was composed by a committee consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson did most of the writing, with input from the committee. This was followed by the formation of the US constitution in 1789 and the first 10 amendments to it, collectively known as the “Bill of Rights”, passed in 1791. All these sets of documents have contributed significantly towards shaping the political history of the US. The core principles embedded in those documents form the basis of US-democracy; hence, the political institutions (Congress, Supreme Court and the President) should be functioning in accordance with those principles.

No matter how well intended and clearly worded the principles laid down are, what really matters is how those principle have been interpreted and applied. Just as the best judge is the deeds of an individual rather than the words uttered. Therefore, let us examine how the Declaration of Independence was applied by the founding fathers and the successive generations. Thomas Jefferson wrote the famous words in the declaration of independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

Palestine: Two-State solution of Hamas or wait for the Caliphate

Hamas, the elected government of Palestine recently stated that it is prepared to accept the two-state solution[1], according to the UN resolution, which demands total withdrawal of Israeli troops to the 1967 borders, and the implementation of resolution 194, meaning repatriation of the Palestinian refugees. East Jerusalem with the holy cites of Masjid Al-Aqsa would be under the control of Hamas. The other major party, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), also concurs on this viewpoint; thus, a two-state solution seems to be representative of the vast majority of Palestinians living in the occupied territories.

The US Foreign Policy: Disarm the Muslim World and Arm the Israelis

By disarming the Muslim countries one by one, the neo-conservative US policy serves the Israeli objective of ‘securing’ its expanding borders, which at present is confined to building settlements (land theft) in the occupied territories. When this episode is forgotten, Israel will try to occupy another piece of land using the pretext of security, no doubt the world will be told, Israel was compelled to act in self-defence; thus, creeping towards its ultimate dream of creating Eretz (greater) Israel that runs from the Nile, to the Euphrates. The latest attempts to intimidate nuclear-free Iran by nuclear Israel, reflects that long term Israeli ambition.

Twelve Reasons for the International Community to Bomb Israel

“Maybe because we all grew used to seeing the Israelis kill Arabs, maybe the Israelis grew used to killing Arabs. Now they kill Turks”

– (Robert Fisk)

1. Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction; Iran or any of the other peaceful countries in the region does not have any nuclear weapons, except Israel.
   
   
2. Israel refuses to become a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and denies international inspection of its nuclear weapons; the recent declassified documents shows Israel offered nuclear weapons to the old apartheid regime of South Africa. One can see Israel’s natural affinity towards another racist regime; it is a clear threat to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
3. Iran has not attacked any of its neighbours, whereas Israel has constantly attacked its neighbour, and repeatedly in some cases, killing thousands of innocent civilians. It has now sent two of its submarine equipped with nuclear weapons to the coast of Iran. In the words of Norman Finkelstein, Israel is a lunatic state, armed with nuclear weapons, constitutes a real threat to the peace and security in the region.