Headlines:

• Obama Plans Visit to the Jewish State
• Iran: Syria's Assad Regime Ready to Negotiate
• Saudi Arabia Aid American Drone Attacks in Yemen
• US Supports Pak-Afghan Deadline for Taliban Deal
• China, Japan on the Brink

Details:

Obama Plans Visit to the Jewish State:

President Barack Obama will arrive in the Jewish State with a public agenda of restarting the Middle East peace talks but his private discussions will be dominated by the issue of preventing a nuclear Iran, Israeli officials have told the Daily Telegraph. While the US ambassador to the Jewish entity said today that Mr Obama would visit the country with an "urgent" mission to revive peace negotiations, Israeli diplomats said talks with Benjamin Netanyahu would focus on Iran. "The peace process may be the subject that is initially emphasised in public but there are other issues on the table that must be addressed before the summer," one diplomat said, alluding to Israel's spring deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium. "The deal they will have done may be on the subject of war, not of peace." Israeli officials also said Mr Netanyahu would look for reassurances that the US would prevent Syria's extensive stocks of chemical weapons - nicknamed "Arms R' Us" by their intelligence - from falling into the hands of al-Qaeda or Hezbollah. "There are currently bigger and much more urgent issues to address than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," one Israeli official said. John Kerry, the new US Secretary of State, will also travel to Jewish Statein coming weeks, having promised a renewed American diplomatic effort in the region. Dan Shaprio, the US ambassador to Israel, said that the President would stress "the need to Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table" during the trip, which will also include visits to the West Bank and to Jordan. The trip will also give both Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu a chance for public reconciliation after four years after four years in which they have repeatedly clashed over Iran and Jewish settlement building. "Both Obama and Netanyahu have been criticised by their constituents for failing to build a better relations," one Jewish official said. "They will no doubt revel in a love fest of photo opportunities and joint press conferences."

Iran: Syria's Assad Regime Ready to Negotiate:

Syria's government is ready to sit down with the opposition to bring a two-year uprising against the regime to an end, Iran's foreign minister believes. Ali Akbar Salehi told the Egyptian state news agency MENA: "I think that the Syrian government is ready to negotiate with the opposition." Opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib has offered to talk to Syria's rulers about trying to end the conflict - subject to conditions including the release of 160,000 detainees. But President Bashar al Assad has not yet commented on the offer and a key opposing faction flatly rejected the initiative. The Syrian National Council, the main component of the opposition, has dismissed the possibility of any negotiations. It said it was committed to ousting the Assad regime, rejecting dialogue with it, and protecting the revolution. But Mr Alkhatib, who called on Mr Assad to agree to let Vice President Faruq al Sharaa open peace talks with his coalition, appealed for the opposition to "declare our willingness to negotiate" the regime's departure. However, he also set a deadline of Sunday for the government to release all women detainees; otherwise he would regard his offer of dialogue as rejected by the president. The Assad regime has signalled it believes it can still break the military stalemate, as its forces relentlessly pounded rebel lines around Damascus.

Saudi Arabia Aid American Drone Attacks in Yemen:

The CIA is secretly using an airbase in Saudi Arabia to conduct its controversial drone assassination campaign in neighbouring Yemen, according to reports in the US media. Neither the Saudi government nor the country's media have responded to the reports revealing that the drones that killed the US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and his son in September 2011 and Said al-Shehri, a senior al-Qaida commander who died from his injuries last month, were launched from the unnamed base. Iranian state media highlighted the story, which is also likely to be seized upon by jihadi groups. Saudi Arabia has previously publicly denied co-operating with the US to target al-Qaida in Yemen. Evidence of Saudi involvement risks complicating its relationship with the government in Sana'a and with Yemeni tribal leaders who control large parts of the country. The drone issue is sensitive in Saudi Arabia because of the unpopularity of US military bases, which were thought to have been largely removed after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "These planes are unmanned so there will not be the same impact as when American planes were flying from the Prince Sultan base," Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai told The Guardian newspaper. He added, "It has been rumoured for years that drones were taking off from the Arabian peninsula so this is not shocking news except for the Iranians and jihadis. Otherwise it is not going register in public opinion." US government requests to American media to refrain from disclosing the location of the CIA base were made in part because it could potentially damage counter-terrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

US Supports Pak-Afghan Deadline for Taliban Deal:

The United States supports a Pak-Afghan deadline for finalising a peace deal with the Taliban and urges insurgents to open a reconciliation post in Qatar as soon as possible, says the US State Department. The Afghan and Pakistani presidents told a news briefing in London on Monday that they have set an optimistic target of six months to reach a peace deal with the Taliban. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who hosted the trilateral meeting, played a key role in setting the first timeframe for a deal with the insurgents. "We fully endorse the contents of the joint statement that those three governments came forward with, and we are committed ourselves to support an Afghan-led process," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told a briefing in Washington. She recalled that last month US President Barack Obama had met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington where the two leaders reaffirmed their faith in an Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process. Such a process was "the surest way to end the violence and ensure lasting stability in Afghanistan and in the region," Ms Nuland added. The United States has remained engaged with the Afghan and Pakistani governments to support this process, said Ms Nuland, noting that talks have been held separately with each of the two governments as well as within the core group, which includes the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Our goal here has been to support the creation of a process to make it possible ... for willing Taliban participants to talk directly to the Afghan High Peace Council," she said. And that's why the United States also supported the opening of the Taliban office in Qatar, she added.

China, Japan on the Brink:

Chinese warships have pointed missile radars at Japanese military targets and taken the two regional powers to the brink of "a dangerous situation," say Japanese officials. The news marks a dangerous escalation of a four-month diplomatic and military stand-off between Australia's two largest trading partners, involving disputed islets in the East China Sea. Japan's defence minister, Itsunori Onodera, told reporters on Wednesday that a Chinese frigate pointed missile control radar at the Japanese destroyer Yuudachi on January 30. "Something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defense Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea," Mr Onodera told reporters in Tokyo. He also said a Chinese vessel had similarly targeted a Japanese ship-based helicopter two weeks earlier. "This is extremely abnormal behaviour," Mr Onodera said. "One step in the wrong direction could have pushed things into a dangerous situation," he said. China called for calm. In a statement issued ahead of Japan's accusation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman urged Japan "to stop all provocative actions" including sending vessels and planes to the Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese. "We hope Japan can take actions to show sincerity and willingness to work with China through talks and negotiations to control and manage the current situation," said spokesman Hua Chunying. Diplomats and military officials in the United States, Japan and China had previously warned that the dispute was only one accident away from open military conflict.

Abu Hashim

On 24 January 2013, Attorney-General of Pakistan Mr. Irfan Qadir admitted in front of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that more then seven hundred people from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, have been detained illegally by intelligence agencies and security forces. These people have been denied their basic right of self defense for years now. 

Addressing a large crowd in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, the third most populated city in the world, Saad Jegranvi delivered a powerful and moving message on the occasion of Kashmir Day. Mr. Jegranvi, the Head of Hizb ut Tahrir's Central Contact Committee in Pakistan, condemned the policies of the traitors in the military and political leadership that has bolstered the Hindu state's aggression against the Muslims.

Allah (swt) says in the Quran:

((وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ))

"And we have not sent you (O Muhammad) except as a mercy to the all the worlds." [Surah 21:107].

When Muslims around the world reflect upon the life of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) this month, we look at his mercy manifest in his noble birth, his personal qualities, his noble appearance, and his life of sacrifice, simplicity, zuhd and piety - a grateful servant of Allah (swt).  We also look at the status that Allah (swt) has given him in this world - Khairu-Khalqihi (the best of creation), the master of Messengers - and in the Akhira, the one given the right of intercession with Allah (swt) on the Last Day.

However, can we do justice to remembering his life by reducing his (salallahu alaihi wasallam) mercy to just individual acts of ‘ibadah? Surely his (salallahu alaihi wasallam) life encompasses his message and mission, which were central to why Allah Ta'ala sent him (salallahu alaihi wasallam) as a Messenger to humanity.

((يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًا .وَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا))

‘O Prophet. We have you sent as a witness, as a bearer of good news and as a Warner. And as one to calls to Allah, by His Permission, and as a lamp spreading light.' [Surah 33:45-46].

His (salallahu alaihi wasallam) message was a mercy that defined a distinct way of life - a set of ideas of why we exist, what our purpose of life is, where we will go after this life and who should be the source of all values, laws and systems in society. Rasool Allah (salallahu alaihi wasallam) came in a society that was steeped in jahilliyah- a society where the rulers oppressed the ruled, where corruption and cheating was rife, women were treated as objects, the orphan's wealth was taken illegally and people were valued by the colour of their skin and class. Rasool Allah (salallahu alaihi wasallam) launched a mighty struggle against these man-made practices and led a struggle to uproot the darkness of jahillyah and establish a society based on the values, laws and systems revealed by Allah (swt).

((الَر.كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ))

Allah Ta'ala says: ‘Alif, Lam, Ra. [This is] a Book which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad) so that you might bring mankind out of darkness into the light by permission of their Lord - to the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy'. [Surah 14:1]

Rabi' ibn Amr, was sent as an envoy to the Persian leader Rustom in the time of the Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashida. He told Rustom "Allah sent us to deliver you from the servitude of man to the servitude of the Lord of man and from the unjust nature of other religions to the justice of Islam and from the constriction of this Dunya to the vast life of the Hereafter."

People who do not submit to Allah (swt) will naturally end up submitting to something else from the creation of Allah. In previous generations, people submitted to other men like tribal leaders, emperors and kings.

Nothing has changed today! Today people submit to the laws and rules made by men in the form of dictators and ‘democrats'. Today it is the politicians in collusion with the high priests of capitalism - bankers and big business that are subjugating the people. The result is a world dominated by a way of life that keeps people consumed in darkness chasing nothing other than material desires. A world where women are used as sexual objects in the name of ‘liberation', where the poorest three billion people in the world live on less than $2 a day and where the evil of racism still persists and Muslims and others live in fear of being bombed and killed every day.

The Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) held on to Quran & Sunnah and worshipped Allah (swt) alone - and Allah (swt) made him victorious, establishing his authority in Madinah al Munnawwara and the whole Arabian Peninsula. His (salallahu alaihi wasallam) successors the righteous guided Khulafa, did the same, implementing Quran and Sunnah in reality - and Allah (swt) made them victorious spreading the light of Islam from modern day Persia in the east to Egypt in the west.

Islam spread its light to the world from what is now called Morocco to South Asia - unifying the people. Allah ‘Azza wa Jal brought millions of people out of lives of war and conflict, poverty and tyrannical rule to the peace, justice and mercy of Islam - a golden age when education, scholarship, healthcare and technology flourished.

Today Muslims across the world commemorate the life of the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alaihi wasallam),but as an Ummah we do not implement his message nor continue his noble mission. Our countries are dominated by much of the same jahillyah that was in Makkah 1400 years ago. What makes it still worse is that all Muslim countries today surrender their political and economic will to the colonial powers; a matter that the Arab Peninsula never experienced even in the time of jahiliyyah. The Ummah today is living under the darkness of corrupt and oppressive rulers - divided into numerous weak national identities and states - and defying his (salallahu alaihi wasallam) Sunnah in governance, economy, law and order, relations between men and women in society and international affairs. The state and government that was the Sunnah of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) - the Khilafah "Caliphate" - has been replaced by secular man-made laws and rules.

Across the Muslim world, increasing numbers of Muslims are struggling to see Islam as a way of life implemented in a state, which will then carry the message and mercy of Islam to the whole of mankind. It is for this reason that the West mock and ridicule the personality and mission of Rasool Allah (salallahu alaihi wasallam) to prevent people seeing the true Message of Islam that Rasool Allah (salallahu alaihi wasallam) brought as a ‘Mercy for mankind'. Islam is depicted as backward and medieval, oppressive to women, violent and barbaric. This at a time when humanity can see how western man-made systems of secularism and democracy have brought chaos to the world - third world poverty, wars for grabbing resources, cozying up to tyrants by western governments for their interests and now austerity cuts paid for by the masses to keep the corrupt capitalist system afloat.

The Quraysh used the same propaganda tactics when Rasool Allah (salallahu alaihi wasallam) launched his call in Makkah. But the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) was never deterred in his mission to establish this Deen. He (salallahu alaihi wasallam) persevered with patience depending on Allah (swt) and never allowed any of the difficulties he (salallahu alaihi wasallam) faced to slow him down in his mission or shy away from speaking about the truth of this Deen.

This is the struggle that is taking place between Islam and Secularism - between the system revealed by Allah (swt) and the system made by man's own hands, which has now gone bust.

As we commemorate the life of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) let us enthuse ourselves with the same zeal and determination of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) and his (salallahu alaihi wasallam) beloved Companions (ra). Let us rise to the challenge of carrying this Dawah to the people of the West, presenting Islam as an alternative for humanity and the Khilafah "Caliphate" State as the State that will stand up against the atrocities of man-made systems we see in the world today.

لَقَدْ جَاءكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ . فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَقُلْ حَسْبِيَ اللّهُ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ

‘There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Your suffering is distressing to him. He is deeply concerned for you. He is gentle and merciful towards the believers. But if they turn away, say "Allah is enough for me. There is no god but Him. I put my trust in Him. He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne."' [Surah 9:128-129].

www.hizb.org.uk
www.knowmuhammad.co.uk