South Sudan witnesses since 15/12/2013 fierce battles that are feared to turn into a civil war, which began after Salva Kiir accused his deputy Machar of launching a coup against him... The question is: What is behind all this? Is it to do with the colonial rivalry between America and Europe on the region? Or is it a local tribal rivalry?
Sheikh Abu Talha expounds on the meanings of Surah Al Sharh. This is the next surah revealed after Surah ad-Dhuha by Allah (swt) to his Prophet (saw). In his unique style and presentation he links the message of the Quran into our current scenario and the oppression and obstacles faced by the Islamic dawah carriers which are similar to those faced by the Prophet Mohammed (saw) and the Sahaba (ra). He also extracts the method to carry the dawah from the way of the Prophet Mohammed (saw) and his Companions' actions in Makkah.
Under presure, answer questions about Islam honestly.
[Part of a khutbah on the hadith about tests (fitan) and holding onto hot coals.]
News:
The Star Newspaper on 1st January 2014 reported that high cost of living, insecurity and an increasingly bad political situation has made majority of Kenyans less optimistic as they prepare to welcome in the new year. According to a Synovate poll released on 31st December 2013, 70% of Kenyans are worried about the cost of living as being one of their greatest concerns. Another 49% cite insecurity as their major worries for 2014. But the levels of optimism have slumped compared to 2012 when Synovate conducted other similar poll just months before the general elections. During that survey, more than half - 54% - of the people interviewed were full of optimism that 2013 would be a better year than 2012. They were convinced that the political climate - despite it being quite turbulent due to the then election campaigns - was going to be better. Only 17% said the situation would not change while 16% were pessimistic that things would get worse. The number of those pessimistic about the country's political future is double that indicated in the 2012 poll. This is despite the peaceful elections held in March this year and smooth transfer of power from Mwai Kibaki to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Comment:
Kenyans were in 2002 regarded as the most optimistic people in the world after removing the dictatorship of Moi and banking their high hopes on Mwai Kibaki to deliver them from the misery the Moi regime had visited upon them. No sooner had the dust settled than it dawned on Kenyans of the stack reality of democratic politics as squabbles engulfed the new government and mega scandals surfaced. All their hopes were dashed but they were to be re-awakened in the subsequent election of 2007 which resulted in violence never witnessed in Kenya before.
The poll report stated that "With all the presidential aspirants promising to reduce unemployment if elected, it is not surprising that many Kenyans had high expectations for 2013. With the election behind us, Kenyans looking out for visible signs of employment opportunities in line with the ‘KusemanaKutenda' (Talk and Action) - a Jubilee Alliance slogan - pledge and evidence of these are yet to be seen," explained Margret Ireri, the CEO of Ipsos Synovate. It is quite clear the presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta has since the election been jumping from one crisis to another. Currently, the government is battling rebellion in its ranks following the recent appointments of parastatal chiefs. Kenyans had been promised during the campaigns that the Jubilee government will comprise the youth as they were repeatedly told to vote out the old guard. It is a surprise to many Kenyans that the old guard that was anathema during the campaigns is now being rewarded with plum jobs! There have also been claims of unfair distribution of government jobs and corrupt deals in the award of tenders for multi-billion projects in the government. While Kenyans expected politicking to end after the March elections and the country would focus on development agenda, this has not been the case. In fact, the high cost of living has made the number of those intending to invest drop to zero!
The art of giving people false hope is characteristic of all systems that adhere to the Capitalistic ideology. The industrial revolution gave the poor hope for a brighter future which was nipped in the bud by the greedy rich who used them to further their objectives. This has been the case in Kenya since ‘independence' in 1963 where promises to fight poverty, illiteracy and diseases were given. The country recently spent millions to celebrate 50 years of independence yet poverty ravages half the population, illiteracy levels are still high and the healthcare system is in a mess as we are just smarting from a doctor's strike. To be diplomatic, it is actually a crime to be sick in Kenya as in many cases, it is a death sentence! Kenyans will continue to have endless hopes as long as Capitalism continues to promise economic development and democracy promises change of leadership. Islam actually exhorts us to be hopeful and not despair with the mercies of Allah. However, we are not allowed to have endless hopes based on promises made by people who thrive on a system whose objective is to serve the elite. Islam puts a system of checks and balances to account those in authority for each and every promise made to the public and guides the public on what to bank their hopes on. Those in authority are also keenly aware that it is not only the accounting by the public that they face but also by the Creator which makes them more accountable. That system, which is the Khilafah "Caliphate" state, was in place and delivered for over 1,400 years! Its return will be the only savior for Kenya and the whole world leading to realistic hopes which can be fulfilled.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Kasim Agesa
Member of the Media Office of the Hizb ut Tahrir in East Africa.
News have been outpouring in succession regarding the victories of the armed forces in the battlefields in South Kordofan, and others, and most recently in the words of the spokesman of the Armed Forces, where he said: "The armed forces managed to liberate 17 areas of South Kordofan, most notably the area of Abu al-Hasan; which represents a stronghold of tactical leadership and management, and main operations for the Revolutionary Forces Front...
Population statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office confirmed that Islam is now Ireland's fastest-growing religion and, at its current rate of expansion, it is set to become the second religion in the State after Catholicism by 2043. The latest Census figures also revealed that 84pc of the Irish population describe themselves as Catholic, down from 91.6pc in the 1991 census. The second fastest growing religion in Ireland is Orthodox Christianity, where numbers have doubled in the space of five years, rising to 45,223 in 2011. This is almost entirely down to immigration from the former Soviet bloc states where Orthodox Christianity is dominant. The Protestant religions accounted for some 5pc of the population, dramatically down on figures from 1900-1920. The number of Irish people with no religion, atheists and agnostics, increased by 400pc in Ireland between 1991 and 2011 to a total of 277,237. [Source: FrontPage Magazine]
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
ليبلغن هذا الأمر ما بلغ الليل والنهار، ولا يترك الله بيت مدر ولا وبر إلا أدخله الله هذا الدين بعز عزيز أو بذل ذليل، عزاً يعز الله به الإسلام وذلاً يذل الله به الكفر
"This matter (Islam) will reach where the night and day reach, and Allah will enter it into every home, even if they were made from mud or hair by the might of those who are mighty and the disgrace of those who are disgraced; with glory that Allah glorifies Islam, and disgrace that He will disgrace disbelief with."
Amid recent terrorist attacks in Volgograd, a city of one million in southern Russia, a leading Russian Orthodox Church official has called upon the nation to do more to combat radical Islam. The Reuters News Agency reported that militants are seeking to establish an Islamist state near Volgograd. "If the circulation of Nazi ideological clichés has been strictly limited or banned in certain cases, why not apply the same scheme to the radical interpretation of Islam rejected by most Muslims themselves?" said Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, according to an Interfax news agency report. "By saying that some casual people without a certain face, clan, tribe, convictions, or membership of this or that organization commit something, we, on the one hand, surely try to evade tough questions, not to sow panic, and not to split society," he added. "This is all understandable. But if we ignore the problem, it can very easily bury us in five or seven years." [Source: CatholicCulture.org]
Has it escaped the attention of Archpriest Vsevolod the atrocities committed by Russia over the past 20 years in Caucasus, especially in Chechnya and Dagestan? The notorious oppression of Muslim populations in the Russian federation together with Russia's support for Assad's brutal war machine in Syria is the real reason behind Muslims revolting against Russian authority and not radical Islam.
President Hamid Karzai's spokesman dismissed the US forecast, reported by The Washington Post over the weekend, and suggested there was an ulterior motive for it. "We strongly reject that as baseless, as they have in the past been proved inaccurate," Aimal Faizi told Reuters. Relations between Afghanistan and the United States have grown seriously strained recently by Karzai's refusal to sign the security pact that would permit some US forces to stay. US officials have said that unless a deal is reached to keep perhaps 8,000 US troops, the Taliban might stage a major comeback and al-Qaeda could regain safe havens. The pact must also be signed for the United States and its allies to provide billions more dollars in aid. Without a deal, the United States could pull out all troops - the zero option - leaving Afghan forces to battle the Taliban on their own. The United States has set Jan 1st 2014 as deadline for Afghanistan to sign the pact, but the White House has said it is prepared to let the deadline slip until early January. The US intelligence estimate predicted setbacks even if some US troops remained. But some US officials felt the forecast was overly pessimistic, The Post said. [Source: Washington Post]
The truth of the matter is that Afghanistan is source of failure and humiliation for both America and its agent Karzai. Whether the security pact is signed or not the prospects for American hegemony are extremely bleak in Afghanistan and beyond.
China Strengthens Pakistan Ties with $6.5bn Loan for Nuclear Power
China has agreed to provide Pakistan with a $6.5bn loan to construct twin nuclear power stations in the southern port city of Karachi, the largest ever Chinese financing deal for a single project in the country. The Karachi facilities will add 15 per cent to the energy-starved nation's generation capacity. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hailed the project as "a big source of electricity supply" during a media briefing on the economy at his office in Islamabad. The deal follows a series of other Chinese financing arrangements in Pakistan, including a $600m loan from the People's Bank of China last May, deepening ties between the two Asian nations. Analysts familiar with the growth in China's links with Pakistan say its support for the Karachi plants signifies an escalation in Beijing's involvement in the country. "This is a very important signal. The Chinese seem to be saying they stand on the side of Pakistani people and want to help ease their misery," said a senior western diplomat in Islamabad, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The $6.5bn loan also follows a pattern of China's growing presence in South Asia, including the building or financing of infrastructure projects elsewhere in Pakistan and in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. [Source: Financial Times]
Pakistan needs to develop political acumen that enables it use China to shut down America's war against Pakistan. But this cannot be achieved by the present political leadership whose souls are tied to serving American interests. Only under the caliphate major powers will be played against each other to not only protect the Ummah but to further advance the Islamic dawah in the world.
On 28th December 2013, the Associated Press and other media reported that female students at Al-Azhar University, protesting against the oppressive rule of Egypt's brutal military regime were assaulted by Egyptian security forces. Riot police raided the prestigious Islamic institution on Saturday to break up protests and fired teargas at the crowd, turning the centre of Islamic learning into a battlefield. In one incident...
The outcry that was unleashed within the media, and by politicians including even Prime Minister David Cameron, about gender segregation of Muslims could have been seen as surprising, to say the least. The segregation took place in University Islamic society events, organised by Muslim students. However the outcry made it appear as though Muslims were enforcing their practices across the country.
What the entire debacle of bashing Muslims showed was the reality of the perception of Islam in Britain, and the position of the Muslim community. With the ink not even drying from the elongated attack on the niqab, the Muslim community faced another bashing and have been forced to realise that Islam will continue to face heat and fierce scrutiny in this secular society. With all the violent extremism policy by Government, deeming normative Islamic practices as ‘extremist' such as views towards Shariah, homosexuality and even Palestine, Muslims must be prepared. Prepared for what lies ahead. And how?
1. To keep holding onto Islam for no other than Allah
Despite the pressure we face to abandon segregation, or niqab or whatever else they attack from Islam, if the Quran has not changed, the Sunnah has not changed then our practice of this Deen must not change. Every Islamic practice we undertake is for no other than Allah, and this be remembered however difficult things get. Because Allah (swt) has laid out the very purpose of our existence when He said:
(قُلْ إِنَّ صَلاَتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ)
"Indeed my prayer, my acts of worship, my living and my dying are for Allah Lord of the worlds." [Anam162].
And the Prophet (saw) gave us advice even for this time, when he (swt) said:
«يأتي على الناس زمان القابض على دينه كالقابض على الجمر»
"There will come a time when holding on to your Iman (belief) will be like holding on to hot coals" [Tirmidhi]
2. To speak out against the attack
We need to speak and raise a debate of how this gender segregation attack exposes the absolutely double standards of the secular liberal system, who attack a practice that they carry themselves in every single public building - in gender segregated public toilets.
They talk about secularism being the only system to cater for every religious group and minority, claiming religious rule can't. Yet they forcefully want to remove basic religious practices of one community. Pluralism is a lie when practices of Muslims which have no impact in the lives of wider society are hounded one after another.
So really secularism has proved itself unable to cater for a minority however different they may be to the dominant majority. It proved this inability in the last century with a minority of Jews in Germany. And we have to ask how much has really changed since then.
3. To raise the discussion about the practice of segregation within Islam, and what it actually seeks to achieve
We must explain how segregation is one rule as part of an entire social system which aims at regulating the relationship between men and women, so that the sexual instinct doesn't dominate and taint relationships in society. These rules aim to take the focus away from this instinct so real focus can be given to productive relationship between men and women in work, education and across society. This in actual fact can liberate women and enable them to participate more in society.
Umm Abdullah Khan
Women's Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain
