14th of August, 2013 was a terror day for Egypt. Egypt has declared a month long emergency after 421 people were killed as there was a sheer fight between the security forces and Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in all governorates.

Thousands of supporters for President Mohammed Morsi have stayed in camps for 47 days causing damages and harming the neighborhood where their camps were built which led the people ask the army to evacuate those pro Morsi camps. 14th of August was the chosen day; neither the police nor the army arrested any of the peaceful civilians protesting in those camps.

According to the ministry of health, exactly 421 were killed. However, the Muslim Brotherhood says that the count of causalities is more than 2,000.

The US has appealed for calm and condemned the emergency law. The country is in emergency, and there is curfew being setup in 14 governorates where violence took place from the angry Muslims Brotherhood members after evacuating their camps and leaving them free on the streets. The curfew can last up till a month.

The President said the action was taken as there was a threat to the society, locals and the private buildings. However, Vice President Mohammed ElBaradei has put down his papers in the wake of the violence. His statements were:

“I cannot support the decision of the government bodies and share the responsibility for killings”

The Bloodshed:

On Wednesday, early morning, there was smoke all around the area as the operation began and security forces fired tear gas helped by helicopters circling above. The protesters responded by throwing stones and burning tires. At the end of the evacuation, the Muslim Brotherhood members set Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque on fire!

The major clash raged for almost a day nearby Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. The reports from Egyptian media are that the security forces have taken full control of the situation and is now allowing the surviving protesters to leave. However, the destiny of many Muslim brotherhood leaders is still unknown. Nobody knows is they are in custody or simply escaped, including Mohamed El-Beltagy and Essam El-Erian. Unfortunately, Mohamed El-Beltagy 17-year daughter was killed.

It is still unannounced whether most of the people who were killed were supporters of Mr. Morsi; however, It was announced that about 55 officers from the security forces were killed.

Supporters of Mr. Morsi have been on protest since he was thrown out on 3rd July, many of them are members of Mr. Morsi’s Muslim brotherhood movement who want him to be back in power.

The Voices:

There are many voices from the international community. US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the event were “shocking” and “a blow to reconciliation efforts”. He further added that the turbulence “ran counter to Egyptians’ aspirations to democracy and peace”.

More of his strong statements were:

“Violence will only tear the economy into pieces and is no solution”. It is certainly not a roadmap for the Egyptian future.

A statement on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton stated “We believe that the violence is not the solution, and we appeal to Egyptian authorities to think and find a better way out”

Other voices were from Turkey and the UK. Turkish PM reacted immediately and has called for UN and Arab League to have a discussion on the same urgently.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has also shown his deep sorrow for the unfortunate incident.

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Muslims attending morning prayers Wednesday were confronted by two pigs' heads in the entrance to their mosque in a French town where an Islamist gunman killed two paratroopers in March.

The incident in Montauban was described as a "racist provocation" by a watchdog which monitors anti-Islamic actions in France and as an "odious and blasphemous act" by the Montauban mayor, Brigitte Bareges.

It was the first of its kind in the southern Tarn-et-Garonne region but officials refused to speculate on a possible link to the March tragedy.

The paratroopers killed in March were two of the seven victims of Mohamed Merah, who also shot dead three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and another soldier in nearby Toulouse before being killed himself in a police siege of his apartment.

Hajii Mohamed, the imam at the mosque, told AFP the people who had left the pigs' heads had also spilled a large amount of blood on the floor of the entrance to the mosque, which is located in a town house that has been converted to a place of worship.

"It is contemptible," the imam told AFP. "To attack a religion like this, I don't know what is happening. People lose their heads, especially during Ramadan."

Abdallah Zekri, the chairman of France's Islamophobia Observatory, said Wednesday's outrage occurred against the background of an increase in anti-Muslim actions in the first half of 2012. "For this to occur during the holy month of Ramadan, it's unspeakable," he said. "It is racist provocation."

AFP, 1 August 2012

See also Le Monde, 1 August 2012

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If you are looking to learn Islam and its various principles then you will love to learn about the concept of Blood Money or Diya in Islam. It is a typical Islamic terminology that refers to monetary compensation, which is paid by the offender i.e murderer etc., or members of his family to the kin group or family of a sufferer. The Holy Qur’an explains the law of Qisas that is retaliation in detail however, advises that the family of the sufferer should prefer compensation that is Diyya instead of Qisas or retaliation.

The holy Quran directs paying Diyyat or blood money strictly in accordance with the law mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. The law of blood money or Diyya is same in both the unintentional as well as intentional murder. The similar concept of Diyyat or blood money was also present in the pre-Islamic era. At that time the diyya was only paid in the form of animals as well as goods instead of cash.  However, the Islam recommended minor changes in the form of diyya that is after the arrival of Islam, the blood money or diyya can only be paid in the form of cash in order to avoid any frauds.

Those looking to learn Islam would also be interested to know the amount of Diyya or Blood money.  Well, no exact amount of blood money or diya is mentioned in the holy scriptures of Islam that are the Holy Qur’an as well as the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. Similarly, the amount of Diya does not vary based on gender, freedom state of the sufferer or ethnicity of the sufferer.

The holy Qur’an leaves the matter of Diya or blood money amount to the family of the sufferer as well the customs of a particular society. The family of the sufferer can demand as much amount as they desire from the offender or the family of the offender. However, if the family of the victim or sufferer forgives the offender, in that case the offender or the family of the offender is not liable to pay any blood money or diya.

The amount of diya or blood money in case of any non-Muslim involvement would also be a matter of great interest for those looking to learn Islam. Well, there is a minor difference of opinion in the four schools of thought. According to the Shafi school of thought, the amount of diya or blood money would be about one third in case of any non-Muslim that is a Jew or Christian if he was Dhimmi. Similarly, according to the Malki school of thought the amount of blood money or diya would be about half in case of Dhimmi non-Muslim. Likewise, according to the Hanfi school of thought the amount of blood money would be the same as for Muslims. Here it is worthwhile to mention that in Yemen the amount of diya or blood money is comparatively higher in case of non Muslims Dhimmi.

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