Abrar A bi-monthly newsletter published by the Abrar Islamic Foundation

45 CrawfordEdior: Place, DrLondon Saeed W!H Shehabi 4LP A bi-monthly newsletter Abrar Tel:Published 020 7724 by the 3033 45Fax: Crawford 020 7724 Place, 7219 LondonEmail: W1H 4LP Vol 16, No 14 (398) 16th –31st January 2021 [email protected] Tel: 020Website: 7724 3033 End of Trumpism is the only good news from Washington www.abrar.org.uk Where is the US heading to? What is its politi- can argue that without deep faith politicians Email: cal ideology? And have the recent elections will not adhere to the ethics of the political abrarhouse been a wake-up call or a symphony that encour- play. The presence of God in the hearts and @hotmail.com ages deep sleep? What happened on 6th January minds of people is necessary to secure good Website 2021 was a unique event in the US. It reminded governance. Exploitation of laws, looking for www.abraronline.net the people only of one major incident that led to loopholes and using concessionary powers are Charity no. 293802 the burning of the cradle of American democra- not compatible with deep faith. The person at cy. The “Washington Fire” of 1814 that was the helm of power must feel that he/she is in started by the British forces destroyed the service of the people, protects the spirit and White House and Congress and forced officials letter of law and is equal in rights duties with to flee the city. That sour experience confirmed others. The political position or status must not We stand for: the need to defend democratic institutions and be used to enjoy extraordinary privileges not prevent further attacks on a way of life that had available to the rest. Faith is the protector of • Inter-faith and inter- been adopted by the “enlightened” Americans. law. This is why oaths are used in courts or civilisational dialogue Thus for Donald Trump to challenge this histor- upon holding a public office. What does it ical narrative is a great gamble. Many see mean? What is invoking God necessary in these • Respect for the human Trump’s attempt as a failure that could eventu- situations? Real faith is that which tames evil race and rights ally lead to his prosecution. But others see it as desires in people. Without it evil can find its an irreversible damage that the US establish- way to the human souls. • Cooperation for the ment could not put right. There is a lack of will The next few months are crucial for a return to good of people due to lack of vision. These are cemented by normal politics free from the Trump’s leader- hunger for material wealth even at the expense ship style that had made the world less safe. • Moderation of the needy, the dispossessed and the hungry. People of faith must continue to remind people • Modernity Can the US reform its experience? And, moreo- of the power of the divine in public life. The ver, can it overcome the tragic Trump experi- loud anti-religion slogans must not be allowed • High standards of ence? The disavowing of the president by sen- to blur the natural vision of men and women. spirituality ior figures like the Vice President are not indic- While the rule of law must be held, it is also ative of the willingness to reform or turn the necessary to encourage people to embrace faith, noose tight around his neck. Instead the Ameri- love and virtue ethics to prevent corruption, can establishment is expected to resort to its old dictatorship, immoral behaviour and oppres- style policies that can only exacerbate the suf- sion. The world is disappointed by the events In this issue fering and downturn plunge of the democratic that happened in Washington, but it will still wagon. For a president to fan outrageous feel- have the will to adopt divine guidance in its Local Events 2 ings among the crowd who were ready to com- struggle to overcome the disappointment. In the mit violence is an unwarranted experience with court of God there is only hope, love and truth. Muslim Affairs 3 devastating consequences. The loss of life that We aspire to be part of that. occurred on that fateful day with five people dead and many injured or de- Ayatullah Mesbah Yazdi 4 tained was a serious breach of trust in the person of the President who will Al Aqsa threatened with leave the White House accused of destruction 5 “blood-stained hands”. The way he has dealt with the election results was not Twitter urged to act on dignified or civlised. It is clear such Chinese Muslims people pay only lip service to democra- 6 cy. They embrace it only when it serves their personal ambitions. If it turns Story: Blue cheese 8 against them it becomes an enemy that must be destroyed. The Western world needs a moral com- pass to lead it to safety. It is clear that the political ideology which in circula- tion is incapable of providing that. We Page 2 Local Events

Seminar: Embrace divine nected with different levels of exist- not adopt individualism, fame, power, teachings to change life ence. This imposes a duty on us to limit dominance. How does one attain the the damae. freedom? Prophet Mohammad said that An online seminar was held on Tues- We have to abandon the illusion of con- I have come to perfect the character day 12th January 2021, organized trol as we ask: Is it allowed or banned? and free human being from his desires. jointly by The Gulf Cultural Club and Is it correct or wrong? Am I being hum- Character is a set of traits when proper- The Open Discussion. It was titled: ble or arrogant? Am I accountable or ly groomed, moral autonomy is Achieving inner satisfaction and outer totally free from it? If you do not be- achieved. It allows us to understand the peace, Embrace divine teachings to lieve in the hereafter then it does not rights of others. We have to accommo- change life, chaired by Mohsin Abbas work. It is time for us to look into the date social life around us. But we have and addressed by two speakers; horizon to see the greatness of the di- biases. Unless I have strong character I Sheikh Fadhlullah al Ha’eri and Ali vine. Once you have connected with won’t be able to act rationally How can Azam. Sheikh Fadhlullah al Ha’eri soul then there is no loss or gain. You we live honourably? We have to free is a renounced scholar and Sufi mystic will then think of how to survive as a our character. We have to live with residing in South Africa. He said that person who has been touched by the what we believe and be loyal to it. human human beings are surviving soul. It is damage limitation. We caused Islam provided ways of training. If you between the unseen and the physical, so much damage to the earth, the sea teach student mathematicss and physics material world which we can share and the air, yet God’s mercy pre- do not expect them to be doctors. We together. The soul is a divine entity vails. Patience knows no time or space. do not really have character education. with no beginning or end. We have Go to patience for two days. Winter is It is not theoretical education. It is the been given a treasure beyond measure. coming. You do not plant flowers in mid methodology that transforms the per- While the soul takes us towards divin- -season, but you ask yourself: Is it the son. We have to go through this char- ity, the ego side of us (the self) makes right time and space? Guilt emerges acter education. Human beings are us act us like animals. The nature of because I did something without God in essentially self-interested and self- animal is in me. We have created lead- it. This is where confusion comes. It is a centred. We must have social-contracts ers who are mis-leaders. I will die but deficiency and illness. We have not co- to fulfil our duties. Once humans un- the light in me is timeless. We have to ordinated between our physical and spir- derstand freedom then they respect maintain the balance between the hu- itual existence. If we do not do our du- each other’s dignity. In this environ- man and the animal in us. The past ties we live in misery. The least we do is ment we can uphold our values and centuries have gone but are we happi- to reduce the misery of others help raise divine principles. er? Is it the case that when death Ali Azam: How can we have the inner comes we are truly in cheerfulness? and outer peace? We need to understand At Abrar’s weekly We have carried mischief in this uni- the essence of human being existence. meeting on Thurs- verse. We filled the oceans with rub- Humanity is at loss, Why is that? Man is day 31st December, bish. We created pollution in the air, greedy, hasty and not thinking wisely. Dr Khalid Al Shafi, our minds and bodies. I have deep Man is driven by utility. The physical talked about the trust in the unseen (ghayb) which is laws of nature governs mankind also. Vaccines that were vast and boundless. What we see is that man is driven by his introduced against You have to recognise the animal in desires, trying to live his moment. How Cofid-19. He is a you, unify yourself with life itself and can man be free from this? What is the specialist in Infec- know that your life is from the eternal freedom that man needs? Man has to be tious Diseases. He (God). Then you will be relaxed and the author of his life and not just an in- urged people to have the vaccination enjoy the moment and tomorrow. I strument. Opportunism prevails when when it is available and discussed the will then feel I am servant of God. we are using ourselves and others con- mutation of the virus and the difficul- The past will subside. The anxiety will stantly. We are unable to administer ties this presents to the vaccination. He neutralize. I need to enter the zone of justice. So what is justice? Where do we said highlighted the complications of silence. Nowadays we are celebrating find justice? If we live our lives in our the vaccination processes in light of rubbish instead of what God gave us. I own way then we are exceeding the lim- those mutations but expressed confi- have to look for the eternal life al- its of what we are allowed to do. We are dence in the effectiveness of the pro- ways, feel gratitude towards God and wishing ourselves the best but not for gramme. be in ecstatic owe. The spirit will con- the others. Injustices are everywhere. tinue. Allah has enabled us to enjoy God has bestowed dignity on us and this * The Abrar’s week- life and discover amazing things. We is the basis of freedom in Islam. Once ly programme on are part of a whole ecology and con- we have attained that freedom, we will Thursday 7th Janu- ary, the issue of mar- tyrs and their impact on the community was discussed by two speakers; Dr Fuad Ebrahim, from Qatif, Saudi Arabia and Mohammad Sadiq Al Hussaini, a journalist residing in Lebanon. Contempo- rary events involving martyrdom were discussed, analyesd and debated . Muslim affairs Page 3

Estimated the looted funds in all his legal team’s arguments but said ord his message. “We are trying to run Iraq at around $450 billion she could not approve his extradition as out all the evil people and RINOs that there was a real risk he would commit have betrayed our president,” said Sac- An Iraqi parliamentary committee has suicide. cone, using a term to disparage moder- estimated that around 350 trillion dinars Assange, she said, suffered from at ate Republicans as Republicans In ($239.7 billion) have been smuggled times severe depression and had been Name Only. outside Iraq since 2003. “The amount diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome “We are going to run them out of their was smuggled in and autism, albeit he was “a high func- offices,” he said and posted the video to the form of fake tioning autistic case”. his Facebook page without giving it a receipts and a lot Half a razor blade was found in his Lon- second thought. The next day, he was of commissions don prison cell in May 2019 and he had forced to quit his job. were paid to offi- told medical staff about his suicidal Saccone, 63, resigned as a political cials,” Taha al- thoughts. science adjunct professor at Saint Vin- Difai, a member of “I find that Mr. Assange’s risk of com- cent College in Pennsylvania where he the Integrity Com- mitting suicide, if an extradition order taught for 21 years, after the video was mittee, told the were to be made, to be substantial,” Bar- widely condemned. official Iraqi News aitser said in her ruling. In an interview with Reuters, he said he Agency . “Faced with conditions of near total regretted making the video, but said his The MP cited political pressure on an isolation ... I am satisfied that the proce- message was taken too seriously. anti-corruption committee formed by the dures (outlined by U.S. authorities) will “We were just playing, having fun,” government to look into allegations of not prevent Mr. Assange from finding a said Saccone, who has removed the graft in the country. way to commit suicide.” video from his social media account. “Around $1,000 trillion dinars ($685 “I’ve been making Facebook Live vide- billion) have been disbursed since 2003,” Iran refuses sanctions os for years. They’re meant to be light- he said, adding that this amount was 'snapback' in new nuclear talks hearted.” “wasted in contracting and rampant cor- ruption”. Iran demands the removal of the so- Pope decrees more roles Last year, Rahim al-Darraji, a former called snapback mechanism in its nucle- for women in Church member of the Finance Committee in ar accord, which could revive all U.N. parliament, estimated the looted funds in sanctions against Tehran, in the event of Pope Francis, in another step towards Iraq at around $450 billion. new talks with world powers, a senior greater equality for women in the Ro- Iraq is witnessing a fiscal deficit of 58 aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali man Catholic Church, on Monday trillion dinars ($43.9 billion) in the 2021 Khamenei said. changed its law to formally allow them budget – almost 38.6 percent of the total Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to curb to serve as readers at liturgies, altar budget of $102 billion, due to the decline its nuclear work in return for relief from servers and distributors of communion. in crude oil prices. U.S. and other sanctions. The accord In a decree, the pope formalised what Last month, Iraq’s Central Bank deval- includes the option of a snapback of already has been happening in many ued the national currency against the US U.N. sanctions if Iran breaches the deal, developed countries for years. But by dollar by almost 20 percent. requiring Tehran to suspend all nuclear introducing the change in the Code of enrichment-related and reprocessing Canon Law, it will be impossible for UK judge rejects extraditing activities, including research develop- conservative bishops to block women Assange to US citing suicide risk ment. in their diocese from having those “This (trigger) mechanism must be roles. A British judge ruled abandoned as an irrational principle in But the Vatican stressed that these roles that WikiLeaks the event of further negotiations,” Ali were “essentially distinct from the or- founder Julian Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Khame- dained ministry”, meaning that they Assange should not nei, said in an interview posted on the should not be seen as an automatic pre- be extradited to the Supreme Leader’s website. cursor to women one day being allowed United States to face “From the beginning, the Supreme to be ordained priests. criminal charges Leader was not satisfied with the issue “The pontiff, therefore, has established including breaking a of the trigger mechanism and this was that women can accede to these minis- spying law, saying done against his will,” said Velayati, a tries and they are attributed by a liturgi- his mental health former foreign minister. cal function that institutionalises them,” problems meant he Iran has rejected Western calls for wider the Vatican said in an explanatory note. would be at risk of suicide. international talks over its nuclear and In the decree, called “Spiritus Domi- U.S. authorities accuse Australian-born military ambitions after U.S. President ni” (The Spirit of the Lord), Francis Assange, 49, of 18 counts relating to the Donald Trump withdrew from the deal said he had taken his decision after the- release by WikiLeaks of vast troves of in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. ological reflection. confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables which they said had Trump supporters at Capitol put lives in danger. riot face consequences at home His lawyers had argued the entire prose- cution was politically motivated, pow- Standing amid a throng of flag-waving ered by U.S. President Donald Trump, supporters of President Donald Trump and that Assange’s extradition would in front of the U.S. Capitol last Wednes- pose a severe threat to the work of jour- day, Rick Saccone decided to capture nalists. the historic moment. At a hearing at London’s Old Bailey, The former Pennsylvania state lawmaker Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected nearly handed his cell phone to his wife to rec- Page 4 Open Forum

Mesbah Yazdi; the jurist, ideologue and author Influential Iranian cleric Ayatollah in Qom in the early 1960s with a two- Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, an fold purpose: first, to define the role ultraconservative figure close to su- and promote the implementation of preme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, religion against the increasingly pow- died in Tehran on Friday 1st January erful and aggressively hostile secular 2021. The 85-year-old was under med- trends that appeared to threaten the ical care and hospitalized days earlier fabric of Islamic society and margin- due to a “digestive disease” at a Teh- alize religious institutions as far as ran hospital, possible; and second, to serve as a A veteran revolutionary close to bridgehead between the range of sub- Ayatullah Khamenei, Mesbah-Yazdi jects taught in the universities and the was also known as a staunch supporter religious sciences of the traditional of former president Mahmoud Ahmad- seminaries. In this latter function, it inejad. However, he lifted his support could be regarded as part of a wider for him during his second term due to movement spearheaded by Ayatollah his “deviation” after Ahmadinejad had Borujerdi (d. 1961), the generally a falling out with the supreme leader. acknowledged supreme religious au- At the time of his death, Mesbah- thority at the time, to reform, stand- Yazdi was the head of the of Imam ardize, and revitalize the curriculum Khomeini Education and Research in religious schools. The project in- Institute and a long-time member of cluded, for example, the instruction of the Assembly of Experts, the body that English and of Sunni law and the oversees the works of the supreme training of religious scholars in a rig- leader and is tasked with choosing his orous manner so that they would be successor. on a par with academics in the field of He could not secure a seat in the assem- Dialogues and Debates Islamic studies in well-established uni- bly in the 2016 elections amid a surge versities and institutions of higher learn- by reformists and moderates, whom he In 1981 when Marxist groups had in- ing. The principal organizer and manag- fiercely opposed, but managed to regain creased their propagations and cultural er of the Haqqani school was Ayatollah the position in a by-election two years activities, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi par- Mohammad Hossain Beheshti (d. 1981), later. ticipated a debate with Ehsan Tabari, who was, similar to Mesbah Yazdi, com- Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Farrokh Negahdar, and Abdolkarim mitted to the active involvement of reli- parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Soroush. In this debate, Misbah Yazdi gion in all spheres of life and especially Ghalibaf in separate statements offered and Soroush criticized Marxist views. the inclusion of the doctrine of the custo- their condolences on Mesbah-Yazdi’s The debate was broadcast on IRIB TV. dianship of the jurist (velayat-e faqih) as death to the nation of Iran, his family Ayatollah Misbah continued to criticize espoused by Ayatollah Khomeini. How- and the supreme leader. Marxism, which cultivated in writing ever, Beheshti found Mesbah Yazdi an Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi was born in the six volumes under Pasdari az sangarha- awkward colleague to work with, and town of Yazd in central Iran in 1934. yi idi'uluzhik (protecting ideological consequently Mesbah Yazdi's role was According to his official autobiograph- trenches). The volumes consist of his limited to an advisory capacity in the ical account he studied in Qom from critiques of Marxist views, the first vol- two decades prior to the Iranian Revolu- 1952 to 1960 with some of the most ume of which was published in 1981 tion. The fecundity of the activities of prominent religious scholars of the time. and the other five volumes were pub- the Haqqani school to the revolutionary As well as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomei- lished in later years. project is illustrated in the prominent ni (d. 1989), these included Allama Mo- After May 23, 1997 (Khordad 2, 1376 posts assumed by its former teachers and hammad Hossain Tabataba'i (d. 1981), Sh), Misbah Yazdi attended a TV debate administrators. That circle of clerics in- regarded by many as the most signifi- with Muhammad Jawad Hujjati Kirma- cluded Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who cant Shi'ite thinker and exegete of the ni. The debate was centered on the cul- was appointed to the Council of Guardi- twentieth century, and Ayatollah Mo- tural policies of the government at the ans (Shuwra-yi negahban) by Imam hammad Taqi Bahjat, an expert on time (the government of Seyyed Mo- Khomeini himself and has been serving Shi'ite law. From the outset, Ayatollah hammad Khatami). Ayatollah Misbah as its chairman since 1988; and Ayatol- Mesbah Yazdi was interested, similar to attended the debate as a critic of the lah Ali Qoddusi (d. 1981), Tabataba'i's Imam Khomeini himself, in the tran- governmental policies. son-in-law, who headed the Haqqani scendental philosophic dimension of School from 1968 to 1979. Shi'ism as an essential part of a religious Teaching Mesbah Yazdi has written more than one curriculum. Some forty years later, he hundred publications on Islamic philoso- still contributes articles and essays on Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi began teach- phy, ethics, exegesis, and theology, sev- the history of Shi'ite thought and philos- ing Qur'anic exegesis, as well as ethical eral of which have been translated into ophy. He has served as a member of the and training issues in Haqqani Semi- German, French, Arabic, English, and powerful Majlis-i Khibrigan (Assembly nary, where he taught Ayatollah Sayyid other languages. Mesbah Yazdi has also of Experts) since 1990. Muhammad Baqir al- embarked on several foreign trips in the Mesbah Yazdi's political activities began Sadr's Falsafatuna (in Islamic philoso- past twenty years to give lectures and to in the 1950s. Among his most lasting phy) and Iqtisaduna (in Islamic econo- visit academic centers for Islamic stud- contributions to the gradual formation of my). In the next years, he taught al- ies. These included a trip to the United a structured religious opposition to the Asfar al-arba'a and al-Shifa' in Dar Rah- States in 1991, Spain and Latin Ameri- Pahlavi regime was his cooperation with i Haqq, Baqir al-'Ulum, and Imam Kho- ca in 1997, and Syria and Lebanon in the Haqqani school, a seminary founded meini Institutes 2004. Open Forum Page 5 After normalization, Al-Aqsa is in danger of destruction Following the signing of the ment. This agreement normalization agreements fundamentally adopts the with Israel, brokered by the religious Zionist narrative United States, the United Ar- with all its components, ab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan with regards to Jerusalem and Morocco have witnessed (al-Quds) and al-Aqsa the rapid increase in the de- Mosque, and thus creat- molishing of Palestinian ing conditions under homes in Jerusalem (al- which Israeli control over Quds). The home demolitions al-Aqsa Mosque can be also coupled with an increase established. in deportations of Palestinians Trump had stated on the from the city, expulsion from agreement that “‘The al-Aqsa Mosque and the daily Abraham Accords’ also storming of al-Aqsa Mosque opens the door for Mus- compound by hundreds of lims around the world to Jewish Israeli settlers. visit the historic sites in Most of the violations and Israel and to peacefully settler incursions are on the al pray at al-Aqsa Mosque -Aqsa ‘Gate of Mercy’ towards the east- MCB rejects Cremation in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in ern region of al-Aqsa Mosque, which of Muslims in Sri Lanka Islam.” constitutes one-third of the area of the al- Shua'eb Abu Snaina, ‘Al-Quds Interna- Aqsa compound. The aim of the settlers In response to the ongoing 'forced tional Institution’ coordinator, ex- is to establish a huge synagogue that is cremations' policy by the Sri Lankan plained that al-Aqsa Mosque (which is entered from the door of Al-Rahma after Government of COVID-19 deceased, exclusively for Muslims, with its the seizure of part of the Bab Al-Rahma the Muslim Council of Britain has set known area of 144 dunums) is only the cemetery and part of the Yusufiya ceme- up a Task Force headed by Assistant "al-Qibli Mosque" (with the lead tery that houses the graves of the Jordani- Secretary-General, Zara Mohammed, dome), which is the Islamic sanctuary, an army martyrs and scholars. and made up of Sri Lankan repre- while the rest of the squares, terraces, Bab al-Rahma cemetery is planned to be sentative bodies, lawyers, medical domes and schools are "other religious re-constructed into a Talmudic garden experts, and senior community lead- places" are open to all religions. and “biblical paths”, so that the entire ers. The remit of this work includes The provisions of the agreement also area is linked with the seized Umayyad International coordination, legal rem- include "restricting Muslim prayer on palaces in the direction of the Al-Burag edies, community, engagement, and the condition that it is only for the or Wailing Wall. The plan also includes medical response. peaceful ones, who will be allowed to the excavation of concrete bases for thir- It has been reported that around 100 pray. As for the rest of the religions, teen columns, with a height of 26 meters, Muslim bodies have been cremated, they do not have this condition.” in order to form a path for the flying including a 20-day old baby. Abu Snaina further added that this “cable car” which will be used to bring In view of the seriousness of this is- clause "will restrict the entry of Mus- Talmudic groups, Biblical groups and sue, the MCB has agreed to take un- lims, so that the Israeli occupation au- tourists in large numbers. precedented action and issue a com- thorities have the right to monitor Mus- This cable car will enable the monitoring plaint to the United Nations. This lims' behaviour in al-Aqsa Mosque, so of movement and all other happenings complaint will be led by a team of the issue of their deportation becomes taking place inside al-Aqsa Mosque, in expert lawyers with the aim of getting legitimate, as well as their arrest if the addition, to change the overall scene and the Sri Lankan Government to reverse Israeli authorities deem it necessary." to cover and block the domes of al-Aqsa its cremation policy. According to the accords of the United Mosque. How you can support? Nations, the Arab League, and the Or- Large numbers of Talmudic and biblical 1. Write to your local MP ganization of Islamic Cooperation, synagogues and buildings have been It is important to create awareness East Jerusalem (al-Quds), where al- erected around al-Aqsa Mosque, perhaps about what the Sri Lankan Govern- Aqsa Mosque is located, is an occupied the largest of which is the establishment ment is doing and encourage political Palestinian Arab city and an integral of the Judaization project named "the representatives to raise this issue to part of the lands that Israel occupied in jewel of Israel", which aims to expand the UK Government. 1967. synagogue, sitting on an ‘Islamic endow- 2. Write to interfaith organisations Several Emirati and Bahraini delega- ment’ land and a historical Islamic build- you know tions visited al-Aqsa Mosque following ing, taking up an area of 1400 meters. This is a human rights issue that im- the normalization deal. They entered Building two floors underground and four pacts Muslim and Christain minority Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under the floors above the ground, 23 meters high communities so it is fundamental to protection of the Israeli forces, through from the street, at a cost of 48 million encourage all faith communities to Almaghariba gate, which only the oc- Israeli Shekels, are all actions which may come together and express solidarity. cupation authorities have keys to. lead to a radical change in the status quo 3. Support the complaint to the United Khaled Hamada, 66 years of age, from of Occupied Jerusalem (al-Quds) and it Nations Human Rights Committee Jerusalem (al-Quds) says to us that may have far-reaching and potentially We must work together to have this those who normalize with Israel help in explosive ramifications. policy reversed. The MCB has oppressing us more so they are not The normalization agreements that have launched a legal and advocacy fund in welcome here. He added that they were taken place in recent months fall within which we humbly request donations considered invaders of al-Aqsa the framework of the Abraham Agre- from you to aid this critical work. Mosque like the Israeli settlers. Page 6 Women issues Attack on two Black Muslim women prompts calls for political action Jordan Omstead, CBC News·6Jan 2021 police. None of the allegations have plan to stop street harassment and The family of two Black Muslim wom- been proven in court. racist violence in Alberta. en who were assaulted in a hate- The two women have since struggled to Sameha Omer, director of legal affairs motivated attack last month spoke pub- navigate the complexity of victim ser- for the National Council of Canadian licly for the first time , amid calls for vices and support in Alberta, the family Muslims, called on the federal govern- political leaders to take stronger actions member said. ment to establish a national action to dismantle white supremacist groups. "Meeting person after person who was plan to dismantle white supremacist The women, a mother and daughter, ill-equipped to deal with hate crimes has groups. (Zoom/National Council of were assaulted outside the Southgate been disheartening and disenchanting," Canadian Muslims) Centre early last month, police say, the she said. "We hope the city's law en- Last year, Edmonton police reported first of three reported hate-motivated forcement will do everything they can to 64 hate-motivated crimes. Over the incidents in the span of eight days. bring both men to justice." past four years, the number of hate- At a virtual news conference Wednes- The family member was joined on the motivated crimes has fluctuated be- day a family member said the attack has video call by several Black and Muslim tween a high of 68 in 2018 to a low of left them traumatized. community organizations, including the 56 in 2019, according to data provided "The strongest women I know were National Council of Canadian Muslims by police. violated, dehumanized, for being Black (NCCM) and the Alberta Muslim Public Muslim women," the family member Affairs Council. said, speaking anonymously for fear of Sameha Omer, NCCM director of legal retribution. "They shattered the illusion affairs, called on the federal government of our safety. They made us feel like to establish a national plan to dismantle strangers in the only place we have ever white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. known." "It is time that we go beyond platitudes," The woman said her mother and sister Omer said. "We cannot allow this kind went to Southgate mall on Dec. 8 to of white supremacist violence to contin- pick up supplies before a slate of new ue in Canada." COVID-19 public health orders came The group is also calling for Alberta into effect in Alberta. Premier Jason Kenney to join with NDP The two women were sitting in a car in Opposition leader Rachel Notley and the the parking lot when a man started to mayors of Edmonton and Calgary to yell racial obscenities, police say. Wit- establish a joint provincial-municipal nesses told police the man punched the passenger-side window, shattering the glass. Twitter urged to act on China’s ‘violent propaganda’ The passenger ran from the vehicle, but about Uyghur Muslim women the man pursued her, pushing her to the ground and assaulting her, police said. Community leaders and leading MPs against millions of Uyghur women & The other woman tried to help but was have urged Twitter to take action against children. Block this site – just as you shoved to the ground before several Chinese government accounts, spreading banned Trump. Block it-stop the bystanders intervened and stopped the “violent propaganda” about the sterilisa- abuse.” attack. tion of Uyghur Muslim women. Last year, she hand-delivered a letter to The attacker ripped off her mother's Its Embassy to the United States shared Downing Street, organised with Jewish hijab, the family member said, while he an article from China Daily, state-run News, urging the UK to put pressure called the women the N-word and told media, claiming the on China to end persecu- them to "go back to your country." “eradication of extrem- tion. "My sister told me her attacker had so ism” in Xinjiang, an area MP Tom Tugendhat much hatred in his eyes," the family of China with a large agreed with Ghani, say- member said. "That not only did he say Uyghur population, has ing: “Claiming that ethnic he wanted to kill them, but his physical given women “more au- cleansing is a form of tonomy”. gender equality is horrif- aggression made her believe that he was It said: “Study shows that ic.” going to kill them both." in the process of eradicat- The Chinese government Police charged Richard Bradley Ste- ing extremism, the minds strongly denies claims vens, 41, with two counts of assault and of Uyghur women in Xin- about persecution, insist- one count of mischief. The family is jiang were emancipated ing it is a ‘re-education’ calling on police to lay charges against a and gender equality and programme against ex- second man they say took part in the reproductive health were tremist views. attack. promoted, making them "It was determined that there is no no longer baby-making evidence to support laying charges machines. They are more against a second individual in this dis- confident and independ- turbing incident," police spokesperson ent.” Cheryl Voordenhout said in a statement Conservative MP Nus to CBC News. Ghani called on Twitter’s She said investigators reviewed availa- CEO Jack Dorsey to take ble surveillance footage and interviewed action. She said the article witnesses, but asked anyone with previ- is “blatant fake news & ously unreported information to contact violent propaganda Off the Shelf Page 7

Erik Skare, Center for International Stud- A History of Palestinian Islamic Jihad ies, Sciences Po Faith, Awareness, and Revolution in the Middle East Erik Skare is Postdoctoral Researcher at Center for International Studies, Sciences By Erik Skare 'The most comprehensive work on Po (Paris). He is the author of Digital Palestinian Islamic Jihad to date, delv- Jihad: Palestinian Resistance in the Digi- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is one of ing deeply into the movement's textual tal Era (2016) and Palestinian Islamic the most important yet least understood underpinnings and other outputs large- Jihad: Islamist Writings on Resistance Palestinian armed factions, both in ly ignored by previous scholarship. As and Religion (forthcoming). terms of its history and ideology. La- such, it is an important contribution to belled a terrorist organization by the US the literature on the Palestine/Israel Publisher: Cambridge university Press and the EU, it has grown to become the conflict examining this key but grossly Hardback £75.00 second largest armed movement in the understudied actor.' Tristan Dunning, ISBN: 9781108845069 Gaza Strip and the third largest in the The University of Queensland Date published: January 2021 Occupied Palestinian Territories. Using 'This study fills a significant gap in a wealth of primary sources, this book the scholarship on the history and so- traces the history of PIJ from its origins cio-political makeup of the Palestinian in the early 1980s to today. By looking Islamic Jihad (PIJ), as compared to at how the group was established, how Hamas. The work locates the PIJ in the it has developed in theory and practice, context of anticolonial struggle, in- and how it understands religion and spired by secular-nationalist currents politics, Skare seeks to answer the key in the 1960s, and hence intertwining question of why the PIJ still exist de- religious symbolism and secular poli- spite the presence of its more powerful tics when advocating armed conflict sister movement Hamas. In doing so, he with Israel. It will be of great interest fills an important empirical gap in the to social scientists and historians literature on Palestinian Islamism. working on de-colonization, Middle Eastern Islamism and Palestinian poli- Reviews & endorsements tics.' Meir Hatina, Hebrew University 'This will become the authoritative of Jerusalem work on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad 'An impressive book that skilfully Movement for years to come. Based on traces the historical development, po- massive primary sources, Skare has litical thinking and ideology of this produced a meticulous historiography poorly understood but critical Palestin- of the Movement combined with intel- ian actor. An original and authoritative lectual inquiry and political analysis, all work, it constitutes a significant contri- situated within the broader context of bution to the scholarship on the Israeli- the Zionist colonial occupation of Pal- Palestinian conflict and is destined to estine.' Khaled Al Hroub, Northwestern become a standard text in the field.' University Sara Roy, Harvard University Great Muslims of the West By (author) Muhammad Mojlum ca; and W.D. Muhammad, Eli- Khan jah Muhammad’s son, who The contributions of some ex- converted the Nation of Islam’s traordinary Muslims of the West followers to an authentic ver- in recent history is surprising, sion of Islam. revealing and, most importantly, Muhammad Mojlum Khan was worth celebrating. born in 1973 in Habigong, Muslims have lived in the Bangladesh, and was brought “West” for hundreds of years, yet up and educated in England. He the lives of all but a few are little is a literary critic, prolific writ- known. er, and a researcher in Islamic In this illuminating work, Mu- thought and history. He has hammad Mojlum Khan sets out published over 100 essays and to change this by revealing the articles on Islam, comparative lives and impact of over fifty religion, contemporary thought, significant Muslims, from the and current affairs, and has founder of Muslim Spain in the been a regular contributor to eighth century to Muhammad Ali The Muslim News. He has pub- today. lished two major works: The This extraordinary book features Muslim 100 and The Muslim biographies on the enslaved Afri- Heritage of Bengal. can Prince Ayuba Sulaiman Dial- lo, who was put to work in the Publisher: Kube Publishing tobacco fields of Maryland; Al- Paperback 500 pages £17.99 exander Russell Webb, the voice ISBN13: 9781847741127 of Muslims in Victorian Ameri- Publication Date: 13-02-2018 Page 8 Words of Faith

.7And call in Blue Cheese That night she couldn't wait to be milked. She remembrance the went to the shed and Farmer Maher began to favor of God un- Fatima, the goat, stood in a field of white jas- milk her. "Red milk! What is this?" he asked to you and His mine flowers that were blowing gently in the Fatima, showing her the milk in the bucket. Covenant which wind. She ripped the petals off with her teeth She let out a loud "Baaaa," and looked down He ratified with you when ye said: and chewed them up. She loved to eat other into the bucket. The milk was as red as the “We hear and we things too, but jasmine was her favorite. The roses she'd eaten from the bush under the obey”: and fear most fragrant and thickest bushes grew along pistachio tree. God for God the muddy banks of ther river Nile. "I can't sell red milk either!" Farmer Maher knoweth well the One beautiful spring morning, Fatima arose said angrily. He slapped Fatima softly on the secrets of your from the pile of hay she slept on, happy about leg so she'd go to the back of the shed. hearts. being alive, and happy that she could eat jas- When she woke up the next morning she .9To those who mine flowers. knew that she couldn't eat anything but the believe and do She wandered down to the riverbank looking jasmine that grew along the riverbank, no deeds of right- for some. She spotted a large clump and began matter what. eousness hath to munch away. Hidden among the jasmine The day after that she ate some blue delphini- God promised for- was a cluster of purple violets. Not seeing um. That night, her milk was blue. And so it giveness and a them, she reached her head down and pulled went, with orange bougainville, orange milk; great reward. up a few bites. "Yummy. This is the best jas- pink carnations, pink milk. .00Those who mine I've ever tasted!" she said. Farmer Maher was getting angrier each night. reject faith and She bent over and pulled up a few more petals, Finally he told Fatima that he couldn't use her deny our signs then noticed the violets. "So, that's what is so milk anymore. There would be no more will be compan- delicious. It's not just the jasmine. It's those cream, and no more cheeses. Who wants to ions of hell- fire. purple flowers. They're yummy." eat blue cheese? .00O ye who When Farmer Maher began to milk her, he let All night long Fatima stayed awake. She was believe! call in out a scream. "Purple so sad that her head hung remembrance the milk!" he cried. "I can't sell down and her nose touched favor of God un- to you when cer- purple milk!" the dirt. She stood up all tain men formed Fatima looked down into night, crying so much that the design to the pail. The milk was as her tears made a puddle stretch out their purple as the violets she'd around her feet. When the hands against munched on during the day. sun came up in the morn- you but (God) "No more violets!" Farmer ing, Fatima, still feeling held back their Maher ordered, then sent sad, wandered over to the hands from you: her to her pile of hay in the riverbank. What she saw so fear God. And back of the shed. changed her frown into a on God let believ- The next morning, Fatima ers put (all) their smile. trust. walked over and stood un- She kicked her back legs der a thick-trunked pista- up into the air and went (ma’ida) chio tree. She stood there, watching the river "Baaaa," loudly. Growing along the bank flow by, wishing she could start munching were the most tender looking, tall green away. She couldn't wait to chew on some jas- grasses and little blossoming jasmine flowers mine petals. But it kept on raining for hours. that she'd ever seen. No more stubble! She www.abraronline. Fatima sat down and was soon so bored that ate, and ate, and ate. She walked up and down she started looking at all the things near the the bank eating the petals off of every flower. net tree, getting hungrier with every passing mi- That night she went into the shed. Farmer This is our website. nute. She couldn't reach the leaves on the pis- Maher was about to shoo her out but thought Have visited it: It tachio tree, or any of its seeds or nuts, and she that he'd give her one more chance. He began will put you face- couldn't eat the bark. to milk her. Out came the creamiest, richest, to-face with an al- Then she noticed a flowering bush off to the thickest, whitest milk he'd ever seen. ternative world, full side of the tree. It had brilliant green leaves "Fatima, my sweet, sweet goat. Now that's and was covered with huge crimson roses. She my girl," he said, standing up and patting her of spirituality, mo- stood up and wandered over to the bush. long black hair softly. rality coupled with "Baaaa," she went. She could smell the fra- As she stood there, watching the bucket fill modern outlooks grant flowers, and they looked so beautiful with white milk, she knew that never again too. The rain drops cascaded down each deli- would she eat anything but jasmine flowers, and perspectives. cate petal. When she touched them with her no matter what! And she never did. "Baaaaa!" We want to hear tongue, they felt like soft velvet. She grabbed your views on its one in her mouth and chewed it up. contents, layout "Yummy," she said. "These are pretty good; History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never de- and general quality. almost as good as the violets." Farmer Maher had told her not to eat any more violets, but he tect the resemblance hadn't said that she couldn't eat roses, so, for- Join us in our Noon until the damage is done. getting about everything else, she munched SYDNEY J. HARRIS and Afternoon down every single red rose on the bush. prayers By the time the rain had stopped, Fatima didn't The past does not repeat itself, feel hungry any more. She walked down to the but it rhymes. Everyday river and stood, letting the sun beat down on at 12.00 her long black hair. MARK TWAIN