Chicago: Bus converts 14 people to Islam.

14 people have accepted Islam while a bus - with a simple sign: "ISLAM" Got Questions? Get Answers! are going around Chicago to inform about Islam. The bus dawah project aims at combating Islamaphobia and prejudices against Islam by encouraging non-Muslims to ask questions. For example, Leslie C. Toole was thinking about becoming a Muslim for 10 years - but he needed something to "push him along". Mr. Toole, the new Muslim, believes that the simple yet stark advert which merely says "Got Questions? Get Answers" is a brilliant way to draw people's attention. "I thought it was a neat idea...I had never seen that before." The bus dawah project also provides every new Muslim with the Shahada package, which includes: A How to Pray DVD, a Help Yourself in Reading the Qur'an book, and brochures on various topics about Islam.

US presidential candidates keep their distance from Muslims

By all accounts Muslims are following the presidential race and planning to vote. That means a good many of approximately 7 million U.S. Muslims - many of whom live in battleground states - will turn out to cast their ballots. But many say they feel disenchanted with both candidates. Neither presidential candidate has made any real efforts to reach out to Muslim and Arab Americans. "The Obama campaign has kept Muslim Americans at arms-length for obvious reasons," says Dr. Moustafa Bayoumi, an associate professor of English at City University of New York-Brooklyn College and author of the recently released book How Does It Feel to Be a Problem: Being Young and Arab in America. The reasons include the distrust and prejudice some Americans feel toward Muslims and Arabs. But while the Obama campaign might try to side-step the Muslim community, the McCain camp is using Islam "as a very destructive and hate-filled way to promote their campaign," says Bayoumi. McCain has said the Constitution established the United States as a Christian nation. Bayoumi says this type of rhetoric alienates anyone belonging to a non-Christian faith: "It's meant to say that there's an ‘us' and there's a ‘them.' At the core of the ‘us' is the Christian Evangelical movement. At the core of the ‘them' are the Muslims." The behavior of both candidates should spur Muslims in America to realize that voting for either candidate is a futile exercise and will not halt America's war against Islam.

UK: Beating radicalization will take 30 years

Recently, Britain's terrorism minister said that it would take 30 years to fully solve problems with the radicalization of young Muslims. Lord Alan West told a committee at London's House of Commons that the U.K. government had a growing understanding of how extremists target teenagers. He also told lawmakers that work to stop young people falling prey to extremists would take around three decades. It is interesting to note that across the world the West is either inflating its estimates to combat Islam or in some cases like Afghanistan has already conceded defeat. Muslims should be buoyed by such developments and should redouble their efforts to re-establish the Khilafah "Caliphate".

Swiss court rejects mixed swimming case

Last week, a Swiss court turned down a request by a Swiss Muslim father to exempt his two sons from attending mixed swimming classes. It argued that exempting students from mixed swimming classes for religious reasons must be very restricted. Equality between the two sexes and the success of the integration process should be given priority over religious considerations, argued the court. The verdict runs counter to a 1993 court ruling which allowed the exemption of a Muslim schoolgirl from attending mixed swimming lessons that violate her religious tents. There are more than 340,000 Muslims in Switzerland, which has a population of 7.4 million.

Exploring cultural heritage with Turkey will not protect Balkan Muslims

This week the future of Balkan Muslims was discussed during Balkan Symposium that was held at Istanbul Grand Cevahir Hotel. For the first time in many years, Chief muftis of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece gathered together at the IHH-organized symposium. Delivering the opening speech, IHH President Bülent Yıldırım said Turkey should strengthen its historical and cultural relations with Muslims in the Balkans again to reassert itself in the region. Yıldırım stated Balkan Muslims have long been neglected and said the symposium aimed to bring up the situation of the Balkans and Balkan Muslims. Global actors are trying to carry out various scenarios in the Balkans, Yıldırım said, adding "Turkey has the potential to prevent global games being played in the Balkans. It could contribute to peace in the region. This is what 12 million Muslims in the Balkans want." On their part the Chief muftis of Balkan countries agreed that Balkan Muslims were made orphans after the retreat of the Ottomans. To redress this situation they suggested that a joint council should be established to probe Ottoman cultural legacy and problems of Balkan Muslims. Only the Khilafah "Caliphate" can protect the Muslims of the Balkans. The messenger (s.a.w) said, "The Imam is a shield behind which the people are protected and behind whom they fight."

Thai Muslims oppressed by the government

Recently, leading a leading human rights group stated that the abuses by the Thai military are forcing Muslims to live in fear in Thailand's Narathiwat province. "Muslims in southern Thailand live in fear of the army storming in to take their men away to be tortured," said Brad Adams, Asia director at the Human Rights Watch. The HRW has recently accused the army and police of using forced disappearances to intimidate Muslims, urging a public government's renunciation of the standard policy. "The army is fighting an insurgency but that doesn't mean soldiers can abuse people," said Adams. "And prosecuting troops for mistreatment could actually help calm the situation and rebuild trust with the Muslim community." Thai Muslims, who make up five percent of the predominantly Buddhist kingdom's population, have long complained of heavy-handed practices by the military in the South. Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala are the only Muslim-majority provinces in Thailand and were an independent Muslim sultanate until annexed officially a century ago.

Hizb ut-Tahrir/ Britain's Global Financial Crisis Seminar

On the 19th of October 2008 a women's conference was held in Ukraine. It was attended by over 800 women and the press were also in attendance. The lectures examined the role of women in bringing about revival, the empty slogans of women's rights and freedom and the role of women as ordained by Islam.

Powell's comments sway Muslims

Stressing that Obama was a lifelong Christian, Powell denounced Republican tactics that he said were insulting not only to Obama but also to Muslims. "The really right answer is what if he is?" Powell said, praising the contributions of millions of Muslim citizens to American society. He further added:" We can't allow ourselves to become a society where "Muslim" or "Arab" is a dirty word." Whilst his comments have infuriated those on the right of American politics, many Muslims have been swayed to vote for Obama. Muslims in America must realize that whether the president is republican or democrat, black or white America's foreign policy towards fighting Islam is not going to change. The messenger (s.a.w) said, "The Muslim should be sharp so that he is not stung from the same hole twice."

Germany' spy chief reveals that Islamists think the West can be beaten

Ernst Uhrlau, the head of the BND, the German equivalent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), told Reuters it was too early to judge whether recent financial woes would help militants recruit new adherents, but suggested it had become a topic of debate in Islamist forums. He said, "We're hearing some first voices on this. Some see the fact that the United States has been so shattered by the financial crisis, and that its dominant role in the world is shaken, as confirmation the West can be beaten." Communism is dead and capitalism is on life-support. In fact, if it was not for the rulers of the Muslim world, capitalism would have died long ago.

Another video game vilifying Islam

The release of a video game has been delayed amid fears that lyrics in a song for the background music could offend Muslims. Sony's LittleBigPlanet (LBP) was held back after it was discovered that one of the background music tracks to the game included expressions from the Qur'an. Sony is recalling all copies of LBP that had been sent to retailers and is manufacturing new discs of the PlayStation 3 blockbuster, removing the music track by the Mali-born singer Toumani Diabate. The game allows players to design their own level in detail and share it with friends over the internet. A post on the official PlayStation forum from a gaming enthusiast identifying himself as Yasser explained that the offending musical track was in the first level of the third world in the game. The level is known as Swinging Safari. The track featured Arabic words from the Qur'an translated as "Every soul shall have the taste of death" and "All that is on earth will perish". He went on to say that "we Muslims consider the mixing of music and words from our Holy Qur'an deeply offending" and said it was not the first time games had contained material offensive to Muslims. The unprecedented level of attack against Islam by the West is a direct result of inaction by the rulers of the Muslim world. Their inability to cut oil supplies, withdraw money from Western banks and cease support of America's war against ‘terrorism' has emboldened the kuffar and resulted in a barrage of insults. The only way to minimize the insults is to re-establish of the Khilafah "Caliphate".

Humiliated, Zardari takes his begging bowl to IMF

Earlier this week, Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid in India, sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the current state of affairs of Muslims in India, especially the targeting of Muslims in the name of countering terrorism."Muslims are severely offended at the indiscriminate arrests of the Muslim youths in the name of investigating bomb blasts and terrorist activities in different parts of the country, particularly in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Azamgarh and Delhi," Bukhari said in his letter to the prime minister. "We will wait for some time and if our demands will not be accepted then we will launch door to door campaign against the government. We are planning a massive rally in the last week of January 2009," Bukhari said. It is pointless to engage with the Hindu leadership over the plight of Muslims of India. Rather, the Imam of Jama Masjid should urge Muslims of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to take it upon themselves to re-establish the Khilafah "Caliphate", where their rights will be protected. How is it that the Sub-continent's 450,000 Muslims cannot overcome 900,000 Hindus. In the past, a minority of Muslims ruled over a Hindu majority through the justice of Islam for a thousand years