Russia police force three Muslim men to trim their beards at gunpoint

on Thursday, March 28, 2013

Police officers in Russia forced three men in a Muslim cafe to cut their beards at gunpoint, it has been claimed.  

During an inspection of a Muslim cafe in the Russian city of Surgut police officers apparently threatened some visitors with automatic weapons and with a lighter. 

One of the men claims an officer held a lighter to his chin and told him 'cut it off or I will burn it off'.

Police officers in Russia forced three men in a Muslim cafe to cut their beards at gunpoint, it has been claimed.  During an inspection of a Muslim cafe in the Russian city of Surgut police officers apparently threatened some visitors with automatic weapons and with a lighter. One of the men claims an officer held a lighter to his chin and told him 'cut it off or I will burn it off'.

Daily Mail story reported by Muslimophobia



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Women In The Japanese Mosque

on Wednesday, March 27, 2013

muslim-women

Women in Japan have been playing an increasingly important role in the Japanese Mosques.  They have been quite active in helping propagate Islam to not-yet-Muslims and guide new converts in the ways unique to them. How can we, the Muslim men, help make the Japanese mosques become more women-friendly?

Most of the Japanese Muslim women converted to Islam because they had to embrace the religion before getting married with their mostly foreign-born  Muslim migrant husbands.

With the passage of time, these women have become increasingly vocal in their roles in the Mosques in organizing many Islamic studies and other community and cultural activities.

Indeed, there are many aspects of the role of Muslim women in Japan. However, in this article, we will Inshallah, discuss their role with a special reference to the Mosques in the country.

  • Women`s participation on the Mosque boards. Although, they are not directly a part of the board in their local mosques, they have taken on various important roles to handle many dawah and other cultural activities
  • Female attendance at Friday prayers and other events related to Mosques is still limited in most of the Masajid in Japan.  In fact, most of the mosques do not have a separate place for Muslim women to pray or perform other activities independently according to their own free will
  • Women-only programs at Mosques. Some mosques have started organizing women-only study programs specifically targeted to the Japanese Muslim women.  These events are mainly organized by relatively more knowledgable Japanese women who, in most cases, converted to Islam relatively long time ago, trained themselves via self-study programs or other similar means and, now, are ready to pass on the acquired knowledge to other aspirant women leaders in the Muslim community in the country.
  • Many of the Muslim women are not trained to perform dawah and other related activities. However, they can easily organize other cultural activities quite effectively.
  • A possible reason why more women are not very active in the Muslim community is that their husbands either do not encourage them to be a dynamic part of the Muslim community due to their own lack of Islamic knowledge
  • Unfortunately, many women became Muslims because they had to get married to a Muslim. . So, they do not take their religion too seriously and keep on indulging in many of the activities which they had been doing before entering Islam

How can we make women better trained to serve the cause of the Muslim community in their respective locations?

  1. One way could be to organize tarbiyat or training programs for women specifically,
  2. Encourage their husbands to bring women to the masajid
  3. Educate their husbands about the true and vibrant role of the Muslim women in a growing Islamic society
  4. Make partitions or arrange separate rooms for the women to perform their activities. However, many of the mosques are too small to accommodate Muslim women separately on various occasions including Friday prayers, Saturday study programs etc.


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International Women Day

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International women’s day is observed on every 8th of March. This is a day which is first known as international working women`s day. You can see that all countries and regions have celebrated this day according to their own culture and views. The celebrations in general are focused on appreciation, respect, love and freedom of women to take steps and actions in her own life. This day also refers to the appreciation of women in different fields like in economy, social sector and politics.

Nowadays, you can see that this day just became an occasion like the valentines day and the mother`s day and it lost its political touch. On the other hand, you can see that there are countries which follow the theme allotted by the United Nations, and they run this slogan strongly, and take measures for making people aware about the contribution of women and their rights. It is very much important to show the struggle of women to the society so that they can also feel confident, and know how important is their role in the development of a strong economic and political system in any region.

Women day was celebrated for the first time in 28 Feb 1909, in the United States of America. It was observed as a national women’s day. The reason for this day is that in year 1908, about 15000 women came on the road, and marched through New York City demanding for better pays, working for short hours and voting rights. Those women had reservations on the treatment that men carry towards them, so they came out to claim their rights.

Today, Women’s day is celebrated with the theme of the United Nations. The United Nations offered different slogan each year on which women work. The United Nations slogan for women in year 2013 is “A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence against Women” So know all the NGOs and organizations that are working for the women rights have to follow this slogan and work on violence against women. They will arrange different seminars and workshops to make the society aware more about the right treatment for women.

The situation is improved as compare to earlier times but still there are lots of steps to be taken to fully ensure that women will not get any harsh treatment from the opposite sex, or even there should not be any discrimination between two women.

According to Islamic point of view, Muslim women are highly regarded and she is appointed as the queen of the house. The women in Islam are viewed as one who cannot be treated harshly unless she goes against the teachings of Islam. Islam also asked the women to stay in the house rather than going to the offices to earn money. All the responsibilities of women are given to men to whom she married.This way the Muslim women feel more protected and safe.



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Role of Journalists in Shaping Muslim Stereotyping

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Although a number of media documentaries and movies are being made, most of which denigrate the Arab Muslims in a number of different ways, still the media syndicators of Muslim countries do not try to get in touch with the movie makers in order to discuss the ridicule against the Muslims which is being done. Now here I would like to share a saying of Martin Luther King Jr. in which he said in order to shape public opinion, we all need to be movers and earth shakers. In this saying he did not mean that one needs to commit violent acts in order to force the world to accept their existence and respect them. The real purpose behind this saying is to mobilize ourselves in a manner that the whole world would eventually change its views towards you. Islam is indeed what we present to others in our character.

Another prime reason for the stereotyping is that most of the European and American Journalists ignore the importance of religion, all because they have no understanding about it. Moreover, they also do this in line to their false interpretations. There are also a number of journalists who prefer to make delineating remarks against Islam just to generate a huge fan following including the ones whose views are similar to theirs. It is also a fact that the relationship of the media and religion has always been weak and there are not chances of improvement in the upcoming years. Furthermore, it is also an alarming fact that people these days get influenced by media and journalists quite easily. In other words, the one reason for which the journalists have been able to shape the views of the people about Islam is because of the people’s lack of knowledge about the religion.

On the other hand, even if some journalists who prefer to write in favor of Islam, in their reports, they are labeled as “Anti-Israel” and Anti-Americans due to which they are forced to change their views. Europeans are now convinced that Islam is nothing more than an irrational religion and that the religions they follow, if any, are far more superior and rational. Peter Arnett, who worked for CNN, said in this regard that the media and journalist elites prefer to follow the policies of their governments, so it is right to assume that the media has certain limits to its freedom of expression. In other words, European media is under the control of their government in terms of all religious matters, especially when these matters and issues are linked to Islam.

Yet another reason for which most of the European citizens hold negative views of Islam lies in the stereotypical pictures about Muslims which have been waxed in their minds from the side of the media elites. When Oklahoma City had been bombed than in a matter of a few hours, the government officials had started making claims that Arab Terrorists had been involved. What’s really deplorable here is that a number of Muslims had been arrested without any sort of evidence. So, you know you all know, how the media functions and how the government plays its role in shaping the public opinion through the use of the enslaved journalists.



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الفرق بين الدين والتدين

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واستكمالا لسلسلة مقالتنا عن المسائل الخلافية أو المثيرة دائما لدوامات الجدال والسؤال، وتسببت كثيرا في تفكك حضارات اما لعدم نضج الناس والمفكرين أو لعدم استيعابهم لما جاء به الدين الاسلامي الحنيف. هناك دائما فارق شاسع بين الدين وبين خبرات التدين ، وهذا سيكون باذن الله الموضوع الذي نناقشه الان. سنبدأ بالتعرف علي الفارق الذي يقول به العلماء والفقهاء والمفكرين في كل زمان منذ نزول الوحي علي سيدنا محمد صلي الله عليه وسلم وحتي الان. الدين في المفهوم الاسلامي هو دين واحد سماه الله بالاسلام، وبالدين الحنيف، وبدين القيمة. أهبط الله بأياته ملكا هو جبريل عليه السلام وهو المسمي بالروح القدس عند أهل الكتاب اليهود والنصاري. والقران هو الكتاب الوحيد الذي تكلف الله بحفظه وعندما يتكلم المشككين في عدم حفظ الله للتوراة والانجيل فالاجابة ببساطة لأن اهل الكتاب سواء اليهود او النصاري لم يقولوا اصلا بأن كتابهم المقدس جاء بوحي من السماء او يجزمون بأنه كلام الله بل هم يقولون فعلا ان عزرا الراهب هو من كتب التوراة وكان ذلك بعد وفاة النبي موسي عليه السلام بخمسمائة عام تقريبا، وتراهم يقدسون التلمود اكثر ففيه تعاليمهم وتشريعاتهم. كذلك النصاري يقولون بأن الاناجيل كتبها الرسل من تلاميذ المسيح (وهم من نسميهم نحن المسلمين بالحواريين وتلاميذ السيد المسيح عليه السلام). اذن فالدين عند الله واحد والاسلام لمن يفهمه حتي لو لم يكن من المسلمين سيجده دين عالمي يخاطب الجميع بدون تفرقة، يكمل كل ما نقص، يراعي ابسط واعقد الحقوق الانسانية وينظمها ويضبطها. القران الذي تقرأه في الهند واندونيسيا هو نفسه ما تقرأه في مصر وتونس وهو نفسه ما تقرأه في واشنطن ومونتريال.

 لكن طالما الاسلام هو دين واحد وكتاب الله بين يدي المسلمين منذ الف واربعمائة عام واكثر كتاب واحد تكلف الله بحفظه، وطالما اورثنا الرسول الكريم صلي الله عليه وسلم سنة نبوية مطهرة من يتبعها لا يضله الله ابدا….لماذا الاختلاف اذن بين المسلمين؟ لماذا اختلفنا بين شيعة وسنة؟ ولماذا اصبح الانتماء للمذهب اكثر التصاقا للمسلم من الدين نفسه؟ لماذا يتشدد البعض في الفروع بالرغم من رحابة الاختيار في الاسلام؟ لماذا تفرق المسلمين شيعا وطوائف بين سنة وشيعة ،وكل طائفة انقسمت علي نفسها لعدة فرق بالرغم من نهي الرسول صلوات الله وسلامه عليه عن التحزب والتشرذم وامرنا ان نتوحد ونكون في دين الله اخوانا؟ الامر اذن يتعلق بسبب اخر غير الدين، ألا وهو خبرات التدين.

 خبرات التدين يا سادة هي عبارة عن فهم واستيعاب وقبول أمة من الامم ،او شعب من الشعوب، او بعض من الناس المنتظمين في جماعة او فرقة للدين. المعني هنا هو ماذا يفهمون هم من الدين، وبالتالي تتشكل رؤيتهم للحياة، ويتشكل مفهومهم عن الشريعة الاسلامية التي تنضبط بها حياتهم. من الامثلة علي ذلك ستجد الفارق الشاسع بين مافهمته جماعات طالبان في افغانستان عن الاسل ام والشرع وبين ما فهمه المسلمون في ماليزيا عن الاسلام والشرع. ستكون حجتك امام من يهجو الاسلام بدين عنف ان تقول له اخطأت فالاسلام دين سلام ومودة والعنف خصلة بشرية تخص اهلها اي كانت ديانتهم ،والاسلام من يعمل به ويستوعبه بشكل صحيح يستطيع من خلاله النهوض بالمجتمع واللحاق بركب الحضارة والدليل ان ماليزيا تنتظرها الفرصة الكبيرة ان تكون من افضل واعظم اقتصاديات العالم بحلول العام 2020 ميلادية أي بعد سبعة سنوات فقط. نختتم هذه المقالة بالتأمل في رواية عن سيدنا عمر بن الخطاب عندما قرر امرا فكتبه الكاتب “هذا ما اراه الله عمر” فنهره عمر رضي الله عنه وقال له امحها واكتب “هذا ما رأه عمر”. امير المؤمنين الفطن ادرك ما نحن فيه حتي الان مختلفون ،ادرك الفارق بين الدولة الدينية والمدنية فقرر ان تكون دولة المسلمين دولة مدنية يحاسب من يحكمها ويكون مسئولا عن احكامه ولا يحصنها بالدين.

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Pentingnya Mengenal Allah Sejak Usia Belia

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Terlahir menjadi seorang Muslim ( kedua orangtuanya adalah pemeluk Islam) merupakan nikmat yang tak terkira. Inilah salah satu nikmat yang diberikan oleh Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala kepada umat manusia. Sedangkan bagi yang terlahir belum sebagai Muslim, banyak dari mereka berusaha untuk mencari petunjuk dan mendapat hidayah untuk memeluk agama Islam. Namun banyak juga diantara mereka yang masih dalam keadaan kufur. Maka sudah semestinya sebagai umat Muslim mengenal penciptanya, yaitu Allah.

Sejauh mana kita mengenal Allah?  Sebagaimana kita tahu bahwa di alam kubur nanti kita akan ditanya “Siapa Rabb-mu, siapakah sesembahanmu ?”. Jika sekarang  disaat kita masih hidup dengan mudah menjawabnya dengan “Allah adalah Tuhanku”, tapi, nanti ketika dinginnya liang kubur menjadi satu-satunya teman, apakah juga sedemikian mudahnya kita menjawabnya?

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala menciptakan  manusia untuk beribadah hanya kepada- Nya sebagaimana tercantum dalam firman Allah:

“Dan aku tidak menciptakan jin dan manusia melainkan supaya mereka mengabdi kepada-Ku.” (Q.S. Adz-Dzaariyat: 56)

Bentuk pengabdian kepada Allah adalah dengan bertaqwa dan diwujudkan dalam beribadah dan akhlak yang santun sesuai dengan tuntunan yang telah dicontohkan oleh Rasulullah. Sebagai contoh, ketika masih kanak-kanak adalah tugas orang tua untuk memperkenalkan lebih jauh mengenai tata cara beribadah sebagai bentuk ketaqwaan kepada Allah. Jika sudah lebih dari umur 7 tahun dan anak-anak tidak mau mengerjakan sholat, maka orangtua berhak untuk memukulnya–dengan catatan tidak menimbulkan luka-sebagai bentuk kedisiplinan.

Sebagaimana Rasulullah bersabda:

“Perintahlah anak-anakmu untuk (mengerjakan) shalat ketika mereka (berusia) tujuh tahun, dan pukullah mereka jika mereka meninggalkan shalat, padahal mereka sudah (berusia) sepuluh tahun. Lalu, pisahkanlah tempat tidur mereka (antara laki-laki dan perempuan).” (HR al-Hakim dan Abu Dawud )

Suatu kebutuhan bagi umat Muslim untuk tidak lalai dan selalu berpegang teguh dengan agamanya, karena itu nilai- nilai akidah harus disampaikan meski di usia yang belia. Sudah merupakan tugas bagi para orang tua untuk mengenalkan Allah kepada anak-anaknya. Dengan mengenal Allah sejak dini, maka akan tumbuh generasi Muslim yang berkarakter, berguna bagi keluarga, agama, dan bangsanya.

Dengan meyakini akan ke-Esa-an Allah Subhanahuwata`ala dalam mencipta semesta alam, Dialah Pemilik, Penguasa, dan Pengatur dari segala yang diciptakan-Nya, maka manusia terlihat sangat kecil di hadapanNya.

Rasulllah pernah menyampaikan wasiat yang sangat mulia kepada Ibnu Abbas ketika masih anak-anak sekitar usia 10 tahun, sebagaimana telah diriwayatkan oleh Ibu Abbas ra.sendiri:

“Wahai anak kecil, sesungguhnya aku akan mengajarimu beberapa kalimat: Jagalah Allah niscaya Dia akan menjagamu, jagalah Allah niscaya kau akan menemui-Nya berada di hadapanmu. Bila kau meminta maka mintalah pada Allah dan bila kau meminta pertolongan maka mintalah kepada Allah. Ketahuilah sesungguhnya seandainya seluruh manusia bersatu untuk memberimu manfaat, niscaya mereka tidak akan memberi manfaat apa pun kepadamu selain yang telah ditakdirkan Allah untukmu. Dan seandainya mereka bersatu untuk membahayakanmu, niscaya mereka tidak akan membahayakanmu sama sekali kecuali yang telah ditakdirkan Allah atasmu. Pena-pena (penulis takdir) telah diangkat dan lembaran-lembaran (tempat menulis takdir) telah kering.” (HR. At-Tirmizi no. 2516)

Di hadist diatas adalah tugas setiap Muslim–pun ketika masih di usia belia atau belum dibebani syariat-untuk menjaga Allah dengan melaksanakan setiap perintah-Nya dan akan diganti dengan dijaga oleh Allah di dunia dan akhirat.

Hanya Allah lah tempat kita meminta, berdoa, dan memohon sesuatu. Segala hal yang terjadi di dunia ini adalah kehedak dari Allah Subhanahuwata`ala. Maka sudah sepantasnya untuk meningkatkan  keimanan dan selalu berada di jalan yang diridhoi-Nya.

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Right of Minorities in Islam

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Islam is a religion of peace and harmony. Islam emphasis on equality and justice. In Islam you will see non Muslims have same rights that Muslims have under the Islamic laws. This can only be found in Islam as Islam doesn’t restrict people of other religion to practice their religion in Islamic states. It is said in the holy Quran in Surat Al-Mumtahanah that Allah orders to be kind and just to those who don’t fight Islam nor drive Muslims out of their homes: for Allah loves those who are just.

The Islamic sharia doesn’t allow Muslim society to stop people of other religions to practice their belief and religion. In another verse of Quran, you can clearly understand the stance of Islam about other religions.

“There is no coercion in religion “{Al-Baqarah: 256}

It has been clearly written in Quran that it is the responsibility of the Muslim state to provide non Muslims with an environment, where they can practice their religion without any fear. It is strictly prohibited in Islam to force non-Muslims to convert to Islam. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “Whoever kills a contracting (a non Muslim protected by the state) he will not smell the paradise”.

We can see the example of Fateh-e-Makkah, when prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his troops won the battle; the prophet entered in the city of Makkah and ordered the Muslims not to kill any innocent people (men, women and kids). He further ordered the Muslims to allow non Muslims to practice their religion freely. This act of kindness impressed a lot of non Muslims, and they converted to Islam.

Now, we can see the impact of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the modern society. People who are living in Muslim societies are free to practice their religion. When talking about Pakistan, India and Bangladesh people have their own churches and temples everywhere. The governments have provided them with security. Islamic sharia and federal courts are there to help the people who feel any injustice. In Pakistan, as an example, there are many institutes and schools that offer separate education to Hindu’s and Christian kids. They are not forced to read Islamic studies, and they can choose subjects of their own religion if they don’t want to read Islam as a subject. This reflects that non Muslims enjoy full rights.

Islam has guaranteed for non Muslims to get funds for their religious affairs. It is strictly prohibited in Islam to seize the funds of non Muslims. Moreover, the non-Muslims have full rights to claim funds from Bait-ul-Mall. Moreover, it is the duty of the Muslim state to provide people with all sorts of protection and security being a Muslim or not.

In short, it is the responsibility of Islamic state to respect every single person and provide them with justice and equality.



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The Aftermath of Priests Corsi’s Claim

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It was a few months ago in December; there was a sudden outrage across Italy. What was the reason behind that? Why did the women go against the priest? Well, the priest said that the reason for all the violence and sexual abuse was the women themselves. He said that women should be asked about it, and they would realize that it is their dressing and their lifestyle that has caused all this. The condition of houses, with children doing things themselves, and dishes and clothes left unclean all owes to women, who have not fulfilled their responsibility properly.

As soon as the priest said these things, he attracted a lot of condemn. His idea was disliked by many and provoked a lot of voices everywhere. In fact, the bishop of the area also asked the priest to stay away from all this, and fired him from his position. However, Corsi, the priest had no intentions of provoking so much dislike and anger. He soon apologized and eventually got back to his position in the church. However, his apology was not enough. It did not bring things to peace. The activists who have taken action against his words do not consider his apology as enough. They cannot just sit down like that. The priest’s words attracted a lot of discussions, and his message for the women of Italy was titled as Women and femminicidio. The latter word means the killing of women by men as the result of backward attitude.

In Italy, the condition has risen, and it is seen that a number of women have been killed, either by their husbands or their partners. Many even suffered from abuse. This is a result of men showing a sense of ownership over their women. This is sometimes as a result of jealousy, as well. A case was heard of a man who killed his wife only because she refused to come to him. In case of jealousy, it was heard that when a man saw his wife with another man, he killed her. Not just that, looking into the past, it was also seen that women were being killed by their brothers or fathers. It is not always the husband, who kills his wife, but sometime fathers also kill their daughters and brothers kill their sisters. All this is done to protect their honor. Although actions were taken, but the women right issue doesn’t seem to have been solved up till now.

Thus, even thought the priest has apologized for his saying, as he had never thought of such a reaction from the public, but still the discussions are not over. Meetings are going on, and activists are working. In fact, the priest’s words have provoked the people and reminded them of the past of the women. It has reminded them of the women rights that still need to be considered in Italy. Some say that domestic violence is something that must be solved by family, as it is a personal problem. However, when it gets to such a large scale, it does not stay personal.



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