 |
| A Free Syrian Army fighter runs to take cover from snipers loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's Al-Amiriya district November 26, 2012. Picture taken November 26, 2012.
BEIRUT: President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly relying on militiamen and members of the Alawite community to defend his regime as rebels advance in Syria's north and east and inevitably towards a final showdown in Damascus, analysts say.
As the conflict becomes more drawn out, greater numbers of recruits from a massive pool of Sunni Muslims -- 70 percent of the country's population -- are joining the insurgency, which enjoys backing from Turkey and Gulf countries.
At the same time, the army is facing difficulties in attracting new recruits, says Aram Nerguizian, visiting fellow at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
"The regime is ... working to better organise Alawite and other militias, like the shabiha, into more capable forces," Nerguizian told AFP.
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Syrian regime draws battle lines as rebels advance
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Smoking gun
Smoking gun |
By Syed Nazakat/Malegaon &New Delhi |
Approver alleges that ATS officers asked him to implicate innocent people in Malegaon blasts, allowing real bombers to strike elsewhere.
Abrar Ahmad, the sole approver in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case, was released in 2011, after five years in jail. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, his first since then, he tells a damning story of the shadowy investigation, allurement and intimidation. Excerpts: |
What Every Muslim Should Know About Christmas?
Al-Hamdulillah, All praise be to Allah alone, for making us Muslims and bestowing us the Deen of Islam to distinguish right and wrong. The holiday season is upon us again, and the ugly head of Satan is rising again to inspire people to indulge in innovation and shirk.
What proceeds is an analytical view of Christmas and appropriate Muslim conduct during the Christmas season.
Any belief system or ritual (Christmas or otherwise) in any religion should satisfy each of the following criteria to be labeled as authentic:
1. It should have its evidence from the scriptures or from the authentic sayings of the Messenger.
2. The Messenger himself and his companions should practice and propagate it.
3. The Scripture or the Messenger’s sayings in which this belief system is present should be preserved from alterations or perishment.
Does Christmas have Biblical Evidence?
The word ‘Christmas’ is not even present in the entire Bible. The Bible has closed lips on the entire feast of Christmas with one exception, the decoration of tree. Fortunately, for the Christians, the Bible does has a word or two to say on the decoration of the Christmas tree, but unfortunately for them, their own Bible criticizes the use of decorating tree:
“The customs of the people are worthless, they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel, they adore it with silver and gold, they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter” (Jeremiah 10:3,4).
Pre-Christian pagans superstitiously believed that the evergreen tree has special power of protection. In fact, the use of Christmas tree began in the 17th century, in Strasbourg, France and from there it spread to Germany, Britain and then to the U.S. “Tree worship was a common feature of religion among the Teutonic and Scandinavian peoples of northern Europe before their conversion to Christianity…German settlers brought the Christmas tree custom to the American colonies in the 17th century. By the 19th century its use was quite widespread”. (Compton’s Encyclopedia, 1998 Edition)
Was Jesus Born on Dec. 25th?
Neither the date 25th Dec. nor any other date on Jesus’ birth is mentioned in the Bible. Not until the year 530 C.E., that a monk, Dionysus Exigus, fixed the date of the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25th. “He wrongly dated the birth of Christ according to the Roman system (i.e., 754 years after the founding of Rome) as Dec. 25, 753″. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998 ed.) This date was chosen perhaps in keeping with the holidays already indoctrinated into pagans.
Roman pagans celebrated Dec. 25th as the birth of their ‘god’ of light, Mithra. “In the 2nd century A..D., it (Mithraism) was more general in the Roman Empire than Christianity, to which it bore many similarities” (The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 ed.)
“The reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25 remains uncertain, but most probably the reason is that early Christians wished the date to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the “birthday of the unconquered sun” (natalis solis invicti); this festival celebrated the winter solstice, when the days again begin to lengthen and the sun begins to climb higher in the sky”. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998 Ed.)
Other pagan ‘gods’ born on Dec. 25th are: Hercules, the son of Zeus (Greeks) Bacchus, god of wind, (Romans),Adenis god of Greeks Freyr the Greek-Roman god.
What about Santa Claus?
Once again the word ‘Santa Claus’ appears no where in the bible. However Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) was a real person, bishop, who was born 300 years after Jesus (pbuh). According to legend he was extremely kind and went out at night to distribute presents to the needy. After his death on the 6th of Dec., school boys in Europe celebrated a feast day every year on the anniversary of his death. Queen Victoria later changed the celebration date from Dec. 6th to Dec. 24th eve.
Thus Christmas is an innovation (bidah) in their religion, associating it with Santa Claus, and changing the original date of death anniversary of Saint Nicholas are further deviations.
Did Jesus or his companions celebrated Christmas?
Of course not. If Jesus meant his ‘Ummah’ to celebrate Christmas, he would have practiced it himself and enjoined it on his followers. Even the ‘supposed pseudo-companions’ of Jesus (and not the companions of Jesus mentioned in the Quran who called themselves as Muslims) mentioned in the bible made many innovations in their religion, but celebrating Christmas was not their endeavor.
“In fact, the church did not observe a festival for the celebration of the event until the 4th century” (Grolier’s Encyclopedia).
Even if Christianity passed the above two test, they still have to prove that their Bible have remained unaltered since its revelation. A whole separate article could be written on this topic.
We’ll mention three brief points, insha Allah. (1) Bible, unlike our Quran, was not written down during Jesus’ lifetime and no evidence of it ever being memorized. (2) The oldest bible (Codex Siniticas) in possession of Christendom is only from the 4th century C.E. (3) verses are missing or added as to the Bible throughout the centuries. Compare different Bible versions (eg. compare the King James Version with Revised Standard Version. For verse: 1 John 5:7, this verse is missing in Revised Standard Version published in 1952).
How unfortunate and pitiful: parts of the original Bible has been lost. Part surviving has been corrupted and the corrupted parts has been misinterpreted.
How should Muslims React to Christmas?
Being the custodians of Truth and the ‘Best Ummah created for mankind” and “witnesses unto Mankind”, we Muslims just can’t stay still as the society around us is entrapped by Satan. Enjoining good and forbidding evil should be our theme.
The foremost thing to realize is that Christmas is a big innovation which is leading a big part of humanity to shirk (associating partners with God). Christianity has transgressed the limits set by Allah; therefore showing happiness and joy on Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Good Friday is like shaking hands with Satan and telling him to carry on the good work.
Remember Allah commandment to us in the Quran:
“Help you one another in virtue and righteousness, but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah, verily Allah is severe in punishment”. (The Holy Quran, 5:2)
Therefore, a Muslim can’t enjoin in any aspect of Christmas in the disguise that Jesus is our Prophet too, we are just honoring him by celebrating Christmas. We should recognize the bidah of Christmas and the Prophet’s warning that all bidah should be rejected. Therefore, accepting Christmas invitations, attending Christmas parties, buying small plastic Christmas trees to please the kids (some Muslims actually do) should be avoided.
By greeting Christians with ‘merry Christmas’ we are legitimizing Christmas, by driving out on Christmas eve to witness the decoration of houses, we are appreciating bidah with our eyes, by placing our kids on the laps of Santa in the malls we are handing them in the hands of a fiend, by closing our Islamic Schools or shops during Christmas we are giving it our silent approval, by selling Christmas items in our shops, we are strengthening the pillars of Kufr.
By purchasing for children books with Christmas themes (‘The Night before Christmas’), by watching Christmas movies and by giving holidays to our regular Islamic schools or weekend schools, we are passing them a misguided message.
Indeed Islam came to tear down the pillars of kufr and replace them with the pillars of Islam. Armed with facts on Christmas and eloquent words of Islam, the door of Dawah to the Christians should be wisely open.
When the Christians see us restraining from observing Christmas, they will curiously ask us for the reason. This opportunity should be used by each single Muslim to discuss Islam and invite non-Muslims to Islam.
It is highly recommended for all Muslims to carry brochures on Islam with them to pass on to non-Muslim classmates, co-workers, neighbors etc. after discussing Islam.
2. The Messenger himself and his companions should practice and propagate it.
3. The Scripture or the Messenger’s sayings in which this belief system is present should be preserved from alterations or perishment.
Does Christmas have Biblical Evidence?
Was Jesus Born on Dec. 25th?
What about Santa Claus?
Did Jesus or his companions celebrated Christmas?
How should Muslims React to Christmas?
The Month of Muharram and Its First Ten Days
Muslim reported from Abu Hurayra (ALLAH be pleased with him), that the Prophet (pbuh) said , “The best of fasts after the month of Ramadan are in the Month of ALLAH, which you call Muharram. And the best of prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.” [Sahih Muslim, 1163]
The Prophet (pbuh) used to fast this day (Ashura i-e 10th of Muharram) even in Mecca, though he had not yet ordered others to do so, as mentioned in both Bukhari and Muslim. [Sahih Bukhari (2002), Muslim (1125)]
It has been reported in both Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Abbas (r.a), that, “When the Messenger of ALLAH (pbuh) reached Medina, he found the Jews fasting the Day of `Ashura’, so he asked them, ‘What is this day you are fasting?’ They said, ‘This is a tremendous day. ALLAH saved Musa and his people on this day and drowned Pharaoh and his people. Musa fasted it out of thanks, so we fast it too.’ The Messenger of ALLAH (pbuh) said, ‘And we are more deserving of Musa than you are.’ So he fasted this day, and ordered that it be fasted.”[Sahih Bukhari (2004) and Muslim (1130)]
It has been reported in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, also from Ibn Abbas (r.a) that, “When the Messenger of ALLAH (pbuh) fasted the Day of `Ashura’ and ordered his companions to fast it, they said, ‘O Messenger of ALLAH! This is a day that the Jews and Christians venerate.’ So the Messenger of ALLAH (pbuh) said, ‘When next year comes – if ALLAH wills – we will fast the Ninth [of Muharram with it].’ But the next year did not come before the Messenger of ALLAH (pbuh) passed away.” [Sahih Muslim (1134), Abu Dawud (2445)]
And it is reported in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (r.a), from Ibn Abbas (r.a) that the Prophet (pbuh) said, “Fast the Day of `Ashura’ and be different from the Jews by fasting a day before it or a day after it.” [Ahmad]
Hassan Al Banna
Early life
Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmoudiyah,
Egypt (north-west of Cairo in the Nile delta).[1]His father, Sheikh Ahmad 'Abd
al-Rahman al-Banna al-Sa'ati, was a local imam (prayer leader) and masjid teacher of the Hanbali rite. His brother is Gamal
al-Banna.
He was educated at Dar Al-Uloum school in Cairo.[2] He wrote and collaborated
on books onMuslim traditions, and also had a
shop where he repaired watches and sold gramophones. Though Sheikh Ahmad
al-Banna and his wife owned some property, they were not wealthy and struggled
to make ends meet, particularly after they moved to Cairo in 1924. Like many others,
they found that Islamic learning and piety were no longer as highly valued in
the capital, and that craftsmanship could not compete with large-scale
industry.
When Hasan al-Banna was twelve years old, he
became involved in a Sufi order, and became a fully
initiated member in 1922. At the age of thirteen, he participated in demonstrations during the revolution of 1919 against British
rule.
The Muslim Brothers
It was to spread this message that Al-Banna
launched the society of the Muslim Brothers in March 1928. At first,
the society was only one of the numerous small Islamic associations that
existed at the time. Similar to those that Al-Banna himself had joined since he
was 12, these associations aimed to promote personal piety and engaged in
charitable activities. By the late 1930s, it had established branches in every
Egyptian province.
A decade later, it had 500,000 active members
and as many sympathizers in Egypt alone, while its appeal was now felt in
several other countries as well. The society's growth was particularly
pronounced after Al-Banna relocated its headquarters to Cairo in 1932. The single most
important factor that made this dramatic expansion possible was the
organizational and ideological leadership provided by Al-Banna.
In Ismaïlia, he preached in the
mosque, and even in coffee houses, which were then a novelty and were generally
viewed as morally suspect. At first, some of his views on relatively minor
points of Islamic practice led to strong disagreements with the local religious
élite, and he adopted the policy of avoiding religious controversies.
He was appalled by the many conspicuous signs
of foreign military and economic domination in Isma'iliyya: the British military camps, the public
utilities owned by foreign interests, and the luxurious residences of the
foreign employees of the Suez Canal Company, next to the squalid
dwellings of the Egyptian workers.
Political Activity
He endeavored to bring about the changes he
hoped for through institution-building, relentless activism at the grassroots
level, and a reliance on mass communication. He proceeded to build a complex
mass movement that featured sophisticated governance structures; sections in
charge of furthering the society's values among peasants, workers, and
professionals; units entrusted with key functions, including propagation of the
message, liaison with the Islamic world, and press and translation; and
specialized committees for finances and legal affairs.
In anchoring this organization into Egyptian
society, Al-Banna relied on pre-existing social networks, in particular those
built around mosques, Islamic welfare associations, and neighborhood groups.
This weaving of traditional ties into a distinctively modern structure was at
the root of his success. Directly attached to the brotherhood, and feeding its
expansion, were numerous businesses, clinics, and schools. In addition, members
were affiliated to the movement through a series of cells, revealingly called usar (families. singular:usrah).
The material, social and psychological
support thus provided were instrumental to the movement's ability to generate
enormous loyalty among its members and to attract new recruits. The services
and organizational structure around which the society was built were intended
to enable individuals to reintegrate into a distinctly Islamic setting, shaped
by the society's own principles.
Rooted in Islam, Al-Banna's message
tackled issues including colonialism, public
health, educational policy, natural
resourcesmanagement,social
inequalities, Arab
nationalism,
the weakness of the Islamic world on the international scene, and the growing
conflict in Palestine. By emphasizing concerns that appealed to a
variety of constituencies, Al-Banna was able to recruit from among a
cross-section of Egyptian society — though modern-educated civil servants,
office employees, and professionals remained dominant among the organization's
activists and decisionmakers. Al-Banna was also active in resisting British
rule in Egypt.
Between 1948 and 1949, shortly after the
society sent volunteers to fight against Israel in the 1948
Arab-Israeli War,
the conflict between the monarchy and the society reached its
climax. Concerned with the increasing assertiveness and popularity of the
brotherhood, as well as with rumors that it was plotting a coup, Prime
Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha disbanded it in December 1948. The
organization's assets were impounded and scores of its members sent to jail.
Following Pasha's assassination, Al-Banna promptly released a statement
condemning the assassination, stating that terror is not an acceptable way in
Islam.
On February 12, 1949 in Cairo, Al-Banna was at the
Jamiyyah al-Shubban al-Muslimeen headquarters with his brother in-law Abdul
Karim Mansur to negotiate with Minister Zaki Ali Basha who represented the
government side. Minister Zaki Ali Basha never arrived. By 5 p.m., Al-Banna and
his brother-in-law decided to leave. As they stood waiting for a taxi, they
were shot by two men. He eventually died from his wounds.
In honor of his death in 1949, he was often
referred to as "As-Shaheed Imam Hassan Al-Banna" (Martyr Imam Hassan
Al-Banna).
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
Bediuzzaman's Life
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi was born in 1877 in
eastern Turkey and died in 1960 in Urfa in Turkey. Readers may refer to his
biography for details of his long and exemplary life, which spanned the last
decades of the Ottoman Empire, its collapse after the First World War and the
setting up of the Republic, then the twenty-five years of Republican Peoples'
Party rule, well-known for the measures taken against Islam, followed by the
ten years of Democrat rule, when conditions eased a little for Bediuzzaman.
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