Every person who believes in God would also accept that fact that he would give those means to recognize the truth and gave them the understanding that will enable them to follow the truth. Based on this each human being is really one of two: a person who recognizes the truth and then follows the truth, and a person who recognizes the truth and rejects it.  Literally there is no person who actually cannot understand the truth, although they may have problems when trying to learn Islam.

People generally get doubts about the truth after they initially reject the Message of God. But inevitably at one point in every person’s life, he is confronted with this truth and then they will either accept it may be gradually to a certain extent in the beginning then continue to grow and learn more or they will accept all at once, as you may have seen in your life or  they might reject it although you know you have delivered the message and you have clarified it.

When we learn Islam, we come to know that the Arabic word Tawheed has a large meaning, but to summarize it then it basically means the oneness and the uniqueness of God, i.e. Allah. Everything and everyone understands Tawheed but people will either accept it or people will reject it. Tawheed is really the essence of the message of every Prophet and Messenger of God.

This concept of Tawheed is what every Prophet and Messenger called his people to. Allah (‘azza wa jall) quoted them in the Qur’an. For example Noah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said, “Verily We have sent Noah to his people that warn them, you shall warn them before a severe punishment comes upon them. So he turned around  and said O my people verily I am to you a clear messenger a Prophet a Warner that you shall worship Allaah and have Taqwa of Him and that you shall obey me.”

A similar incident was also reported for the Prophets Ibrahim, Musa, Yahya, Zakariyyah (peace be on them all). Every Prophet and Messenger came with the very message that,“O our people worship Allah you have no other God worthy of worship but He.”

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After the controversial sign he posted in front of Domenico's Ristorante in Cranberry caused a stir in the community (including on the Cranberry Patch site), owner Michael Pollice has had a change of heart. "I like to push stuff as far as it can go," he said. "I will never do that again, because it hurts people."

Pollice, who is known in the community for his thought-provoking – and sometimes controversial – signs, erected a sign last week that said "Flying Remote Control Airplanes into Muslim People at the Mall is My Thing."

The sign, which received local – and even national – media coverage ignited a firestorm of responses that ranged from support of Pollice's message – which he said was a joke – to defense of First Amendment rights to downright outrage and disgust.

In just a few days time, Cranberry Patch received close 100 responses from readers giving their opinion on the issue. Many threatened to boycott the restaurant.

According to Pollice – who said business at the restaurant actually increased – the responses at first inspired him to poke back (which he did in the comment section of the Cranberry Patch article) and to push the envelope even further. By Saturday, a new sign he posted in front of the restaurant read, "If This Sign Offends You, Call a Dead Soldier's Parents to Complain."

Then a phone call changed his mind.

Pollice said Asim Kokan, a board member of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asked him Wednesday for a face-to-face get together to talk about the sign.

Pollice agreed to the meeting, which also was attended by Kazim Reza, a member of the Muslim Association of Greater Pittsburgh and a local realtor, Scott Rudolph, a pastor with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Franklin Park and Donna McNamara, an active member with the North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition.

Pollice said he had never before spent time with Muslims, and doing so changed his attitude. After explaining he thought of the sign as a joke, he and the visitors got along fine. "Those guys were great," he said. "They could have been jerks to me."

Pollice added he apologized numerous times to the group – and even offered to hold a fundraiser at the restaurant to benefit a new mosque for the Muslim Association of Greater Pittsburgh. The association currently rents a space in Wexford.

"I think it was good thing for me," Pollice said of the meeting. "I'm better for the experience."

Unsure at first of what to expect, Reza said he also was pleasantly surprised at the meeting. "He was very calm and very apologetic for hurting the feelings of Muslims and others," he said of Pollice.

The McCandless resident – who moved from India to the United States in 1954 to attend college – said the group learned about the Domenico's sign from an email a woman originally sent to the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh that was forwarded to other mosques around the area. "She felt is was very, very inappropriate," Reza said of the emailer. "She felt hurt. She felt it was totally uncalled for."

Part of CAIR's mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, which is why the group – which meets up for North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition events – scheduled the meeting with Pollice. Reza also invited anyone with an interest in learning more about Islam to attend prayers at MAP's mosque in Wexford.

"We do not stop anybody. Anybody can come," he said. "You only have to follow the basic disciplines of the mosque."

As for Pollice, he said the incident wouldn't deter him from posting quirky signs in the future. By Thursday, he had a new sign up that he said shouldn't offend anyone – except maybe marine life. It reads, "Dolphins are Just Sharks Who Watch Glee."

Cranberry Patch, 1 June 2012

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There is no doubt that every human being is a traveler, and somehow he is an emigrant as well. Man’s journey starts from his mother’s womb and ends at the grave. I must say that emigration is an important phenomenon in human history. Basically, emigration is the act of leaving one’s country or region to settle in another region or country. It is the same as the immigration but different in some perspective such as from the perspective of a country or region. In other words the relocation of people from one country to reside another is called emigration.

People might emigrate for many different reasons; some people emigrate for religious, political or even economic reasons. Some times seeking freedom could be enough for someone to emigrate. These are all important or basic reasons for emigration but some people do it because of the climatic condition and change.

In  history, we can find many examples of emigration that had a profound influence on the world. Emigration can only be understood in the material sense. In the spiritual sense, a man experiences emigration throughout his life. In the movement of revival, we can easily observe the two stages of emigration which are seem to be important. In the first stage, a man develops himself as a responsible member of society, while in the other stage he does more struggle and takes every step for his betterment including emigration.

If we talk about the sacred emigration, holiness or sanctity is in general the state of being Holy. It is also a fact that emigration and holy struggle are the three pillars of a sacred truth. Emigration first took place in the European countries, US and then in the Holy period. The last prophet, in the Holy period emigration for the sake of those beliefs in which he believed, and wanted to make people according to that believe. On the other hand this is also a point that, people of other periods and ages leaved their resident countries and regions for the sake of their lives, ethnicity, cultures and religions.

Emigration generally has two dimensions and these are spiritual and material emigration. In the process of emigration, people generally move from one country to another. Emigration is a result of people’s journey because every individual is a traveler in this world. Undoubtedly, every individual comes alone in this world, and his own life in spite of having millions of people around him. Usually, he has a sacred mission in his life, and to fulfill this mission he needs to emigrate as well.

If we look through history then we will find a lot of examples for people from different eras who struggled throughout their lives. In fact some people emigrated from their own place, and left their whole property and everything just to get freedom and for the sake of their lives.

The concluding point is that every individual emigrates for the sake of his sublime ideas. However, he has his ideal as well, and he wants to live his life according to the lifestyle of that ideal, so he emigrated. But, it is the duty of the society consults that they should seek the young ones from being addicted to different ideals and by doing emigration.

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We still have not forgotten the attack on Pearl Harbor US by Japan on 7th December 1941. The operation was given the name “Hawaii Operation”. The entire operation was kept secret. The target was the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. 353 Japanese fighters participated in the operation with bombers and torpedo planes. This attack and assault gave the American people a shock and paved their path to enter in the World War 2.

September 11, 2001 attacks, also referred to as 9/11 attacks, by the Islamic Al-Qaeda group on twin towers of world trade center moved the Americans again. It is a wise saying that history repeats itself. These attacks took the people of America in the history…the terrible Hawaii operation. More than 3,000 people died in the 9/11 twin tower attacks. It is said that the world has completely changed after 9/11.The attacks caused serious damage to the economy of the world as a whole. The next day, US print and electronic media was flooded with the headlines like “Day of terror”, “War on terror has begun”, “Acts of War”, “Darkest hour”, “Our nation saw evil”, America’s bloodiest day” and many more like that. This event changed the perception of Islam to the new horizon.

Two years later, reason being given September 11 attacks, US invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 claiming that Iraq had the weapons of mass destruction. United States alleged these weapons a great threat to the security of people of America. By this, a never ending WAR ON TERROR by United States had started which is still continuing even after the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

After this incident, the perception of Islam and soft image of Muslims damaged badly just because of the few militant Muslims. They put the Muslims of all over the world in an unending problematic, awkward, tough and challenging situation. Muslims were treated like terrorists in the western world especially in America after 9/11. Muslim community there could not even feel sorry and express their grief to the frightened Americans just because they were Muslims. They faced the hardest time of their lives over there.

The circumstances are almost same even today. US Muslims are still striving to get their image back. The psychological and emotional trauma led the Americans to develop the hatred feelings for Muslims. Muslims are still paying for few terrorist acts. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan suffered a lot during this era. Pakistan is also in state of fear and misery after announcing itself a strategic partner of US against terrorists. This war on terror took millions of lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Every Muslim in the America was asked as if he/she was associated with Al-Qaeda or had links with Osama Bin Laden. Muslims living there for even years and decades were seen as aliens. The same was the case with the Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor attacks. They were misunderstood, disgraced and treated as strangers. They had to show their identity when asked anywhere anytime. Same happened after twin tower attacks. The people of Muslim communities had to register themselves. Many American-Muslims were taken by FBI after 9/11 for no reason just on the basis of doubt and were kept not for days or months but for years. This is how the perception of Islam distorted negatively.

But not to forget, American Japanese united together and strive a lot to recoup their image and status in America. They condemned against the unfair treatment by the government and people of America at every forum and defended their civil rights. They realized that they need to speak out and become more vigorous to defend themselves. Many Muslim communities, organizations and associations in America have also taken steps to get back their identity. They voice their opinion in the media, politics and social forums to reclaim their positive representation and to participate in the society for a better future of America and to make world believe that they are the peace lovers.

Time will tell that will they succeed to change the perception of Islam as a religion of peace and harmony in the western society or not?

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Protesters hurled bins and metal barriers at a Brussels police station on Thursday night after a Muslim woman was arrested for refusing to remove a face veil, Belgian media reported.

"They tried to enter by force, but they were not able to," a spokesman for Brussels police told broadcaster RTL. "So instead they threw metal barriers and bins." Six protesters were arrested, according to state broadcaster VRT. The woman was released and expected to be questioned later.

Belgium and France both banned people from wearing full face veils in public last year.

Belgian state broadcaster VRT and newspapers said the woman had scuffled with officers trying to arrest her at a bus stop and that a policewoman was injured.

"Finally, the woman's veil was removed and she was taken to hospital with mild concussion," the police spokesman told Le Soir newspaper.

The woman's husband went to the police station later that day to complain, accompanied by about 20 others.

Reuters, 1 June 2012

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President Joachim Gauck has said in a newspaper interview that Muslims living in Germany are more definitively a part of the country than the religion of Islam, a slight change from the stance of his predecessor.

When asked about a quote from the previous president, Christian Wulff – who had said that "Islam is now also a part of Germany" – Gauck told the newspaper Die Zeit that he would not have used this particular sentence, adding "but I do welcome the intent behind it."

"I would have simply said that the Muslims who are living here are a part of Germany," Gauck said in an interview published in the current edition of the weekly paper. He elaborated further, defining what he considers the most important factor for people with immigrant roots to be part of Germany.

"Anybody who has come here and doesn't just pay their taxes, but also likes to be here, partly because there's a level of justice and freedom not available in their country of origin, they are all one of us; so long as they adhere to our basic rules," Gauck said.

But more generally, the president said he thought "one-sentence formulations on belonging" were problematic, "and especially when they concern something as delicate as religion."

The co-leader of the Green Party, Cem Özdemir, said in the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper on Friday that he "can not understand this differentiation between Islam and practicing Muslims," adding that if Gauck considers Muslims a part of Germany, "then of course Islam is part of Germany too."

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2012

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The proposed "burkha ban" in the Netherlands could go ahead before September's election after MPs declared the proposal was not politically controversial.

It had been thought that any legislation would be delayed following the collapse of Mark Rutte's cabinet last month. Since then the country has been run by a "demissionary" or caretaker government. Interim governments are limited by law to policy areas that are deemed non-controversial by a majority of members of Parliament.

The burkha ban and a proposal to abolish dual nationality were both policies included in the coalition agreement drawn up when Rutte's cabinet took office. They were among the measures that Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders insisted on as conditions of his party's support for the minority centre-right administration.

After Wilders withdrew his support for the cabinet many of his party's policies, such as the "animal cops" plan to give 500 police officers responsibility for the welfare of domestic pets, were dropped from the agenda. Many Dutch political observers expected the burkha ban and dual nationality proposals to go the same way.

However, members of the Lower House (Tweede Kamer) decided in a vote on Wednesday that they were non-controversial, thus authorising the caretaker government to press ahead with them.

Four weeks ago interior minister Liesbeth Spies, a member of the Christian Democrat party, said she no longer supported the burkha ban. She said: "In politics you sometimes have to do damage to your own principles because other issues are at stake. Your head says yes, but your heart doesn't necessarily go with it."

Amsterdam Herald, 1 June 2012

See also Dutch News, 31 May 2012

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A leading figure from Redditch Mosque has praised residents for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the town's Asian community following a demonstration by the English Defence League.

Hafiz Ghulam Rasool, head of education at Central Jamia Masjid-E-Noor (Redditch Mosque Trust), expressed pride in the Redditch community, particularly the hundreds of people from all faiths and sections of society who joined a counter-demonstration against the 40 or so EDL members police estimate turned up to protest in Church Green on Saturday (May 26).

"We know Redditch is a diverse community both cohesive and integrated with no racial tensions. Our Mosque members feel the people in Redditch generally are friendly, co-operative and supportive, making it a fabulous part of the United Kingdom to live in.

"Together we need to unite against and resist, counter and refute these mongers of hate to maintain our exemplary social cohesion and keep our town free from their hatred and their scare mongering tactics," he said.

"Our appreciation goes out to all the people of Redditch community for their thoughtfulness and for many of them partaking in the much larger and peaceful counter demonstration with the most respectful and highly dignified conduct that is a tribute to all of us."

He added with the Diamond Jubilee, European Championships, Olympics and the month of Ramadhan coming up he hoped it would provide an "arc of unity". An event to celebrate Redditch's diversity is also being planned.

Kevin Dicks, chief executive of Redditch Borough Council who watched the largely peaceful protest unfold from West Mercia Police headquarters, said: "We have a really diverse community here in Redditch and one we are proud of. We want to work with the community over the coming weeks and months to organise something that is a celebration of Redditch."

The statement in full:

We primarily thank the West Mercia Police, local authority and partner agencies for ensuring that the EDL March came to pass with only a handful of low level of isolated incidents. This was due to the success of the controls and security put in place by the timely strategic planning, public consultations and effective running of operations on the day.

We know that Redditch is a diverse community both cohesive and integrated with no racial tensions. Our Mosque members feel that the people in Redditch generally are friendly, cooperative and supportive and making it a fabulous part of the United Kingdom to live in. Together we need to unite against and resist, counter and refute these mongers of hate to maintain our exemplary social cohesion and keep our town free from their hatred and their scare mongering tactics.

Our appreciation goes out to all the people of Redditch community for their thoughtfulness and for many of them partaking in the much larger and peaceful counter demonstration with the most respectful and highly dignified conduct that is a tribute to all of us.

The Redditch community has always done us proud and truly celebrates our diversity by recently twinning Redditch with the city of Gujar Khan in Pakistan.

Hopefully the forthcoming Queens Golden Jubilee, the European Cup, Olympics and the month of Ramadhan with its many Eid festivals will universally cascade an arc of unity highlighting a rainbow of nations and races in peaceful existence that reflect the true spirit of Britain and the global world we live in today. Many of us will be planning our holidays to the very countries of origin of the many minority communities residents of Redditch that contribute towards its diversity. All divine faiths preach a message of tolerance, peace and harmony with universal human values especially safeguarding the honour and dignity of our neighbours and communities.

Finally we continue to feel proud of our town particularly its social administration and residents that reinforces a positive sense of community that we are committed to pass onto our future generations.

Hafiz Ghulam Rasool

Head Of Education

Central Jamia Masjid-E-Noor (Redditch Mosque Trust)

Redditch Standard, 1 June 2012

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