UstaadKhan Blogs

By SEAN YOONG (AP)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s opposition has fired an outspoken lawmaker who broke ranks with his party in a religious dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, party officials said Sunday.

The move follows weeks of turmoil in opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s three-party alliance, which is battling concerns that nearly a dozen opposition legislators might switch sides and enable the ruling coalition to regain the two-thirds parliamentary majority it lost in 2008 elections. The alliance has lost four members of Parliament in less than a month.

Anwar’s People’s Justice Party announced late Saturday it was kicking out Zulkifli Noordin, a lawmaker who has repeatedly clashed with other opposition officials and recently filed a police complaint against his own colleague for stating that non-Muslims can use the word “Allah” as a translation for “God.”

Religious tensions rose in January after the High Court struck down a government ban on the non-Muslim use of the word, angering many among the ethnic Malay Muslim majority. Subsequently, several Christian churches were attacked with firebombs and paint. Some Muslims have been arrested in connection with at least one attack.

Anwar’s multiethnic opposition party says non-Muslims should be able to use the translation.

Zulkifli, who is expected to remain an independent lawmaker, criticized his party’s decision to fire him, saying it marked “the start of the downfall and destruction” of the party. Read the rest of this entry »

We are incorrigible optimists. Because India’s name was not mentioned in Brussels meeting and the London conference on future of Afghanistan, we believed that the US and the West had come on the right track. But it appears that they are still off track, as they continue to create doubts about security of Pakistan’s nukes.

Director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency Lt General Ronald Burgess told the US senate Intelligence Committee that the Pakistani government and the military establishment both came under repeated pressure from the Taliban extremists last year, including an attack on the army headquarters, which raised questions over the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arms. “We have confidence in Pakistan’s ability to safeguard its nuclear weapons though vulnerabilities exist,” he said. This statement can be described as a double speak; it is in fact self-contradictory Pakistan’s nukes can’t be safe and vulnerable at the same time. General Burgess went on to say that the tribal areas in Pakistan continued to provide ‘valuable sanctuary’ to Al Qaeda and others and while attacks on these groups had disrupted some of their activities, however they remained resilient.

One could put them a question: could more than 100000 American and NATO troops and Afghan forces in similar number break the will of Afghans? Certainly not; and they have much more resilience than Pakistan’s Talibant. Director of US National Intelligence Dennis Blair told the same committee: “India-Pakistan conflict was helping the militants because Islamabad still believed that some militant groups were strategically useful to counter India”. But this is not true because Pakistan has banned all organizations and they act against extremists and terrorists of any hue and shade, whether pro or anti Pakistan. He persisted in discerning in pro Pakistani Taliban and those dangerous for Pakistan. He acknowledged: “Islamabad had demonstrated determination and persistence in combating militants it perceived dangerous to Pakistan’s interests, particularly those involved in attacks in the settled areas, including FATA-based Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan”. It is indeed Pakistan’s war; however, they are to blame in equal measure for creating monster of militancy during Afghan war. By destroying Tehrik-i-Taliban’s infrastructure in Swat, Malakand Division and South Waziristan, the toing and froing of the militants across Pak-Afghan border has considerably reduced. Read the rest of this entry »

By Farhat Taj:

In terms of the drone attacks, the US must not make any distinction between al Qaeda and the Taliban. They both have internalised a global ideology that is anti-civilisation and anti-human

There is news coming up in the media that al Qaeda in Waziristan may run away to Yemen in the face of growing drone attacks. The people of Waziristan have expressed deep concern at this news. They do not want al Qaeda to run away from Waziristan. They want al Qaeda along with the Taliban burnt to ashes on the soil of Waziristan through relentless drone attacks. The drone attacks, they believe, are the one and only ‘cure’ for these anti-civilisation creatures and the US must robustly administer them the ‘cure’ until their existence is annihilated from the world. The people of Waziristan, including tribal leaders, women and religious people, asked me to convey in categorical terms to the US the following in my column.

One, your new drone attack strategy is brilliant, i.e. one attack closely followed by another. After the first attack the terrorists cordon off the area and none but the terrorists are allowed on the spot. Another attack at that point kills so many of them. Excellent! Keep it up!

Your drone technology has the full capacity to encircle and eliminate al Qaeda and the Taliban in Waziristan. If you fail to do so and al Qaeda manages to run away to Yemen or any other place, it could only happen in two cases: either you are highly incompetent people or you have ulterior motives.

The people who have established one of the world’s most vibrant democracies and have taken science and technology to a new zenith cannot be highly incompetent. Now the only possibility is that you have ulterior motives, which could facilitate al Qaeda’s escape from Waziristan. Read the rest of this entry »

If there is any hint of whitewash in the Iraq inquiry, it will only exacerbate an already inflamed situation

Article By:  Karen Armstrong

Omayyad mosque in Damascus

Afghan-American writer, lecturer, and teacher Tamim Ansary is man ideally placed to help Westerners see the history of our world through another set of eyes.  Growing up in Afghanistan as a young history buff, Ansary had an opportunity to read and learn about the world from dual perspectives.  A decade ago, when he was working as a textbook editor, a publisher in Texas hired him to develop a new world history textbook for high school students.

“What that meant was that I had to select and arrange the most consequential events to reveal the arc of history, not a chronological list of every damn thing that ever happened,” Ansary said.   What emerged was a narrative of civilization that included both “the West” and “Islam.”  From his textbook, Ansary went on to write another book, this time for adults – Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes.  That book is about to be re-published in paperback edition.

Ancient Times – Mesopotamia and Persia

Ansary begins with two lists of the pivotal periods in human history – as seen both through Western eyes and through Islamic eyes.  For both, it is the year 3500 BC (before Christ in the Western calendar) – or 3500 BCE (before the Common Era, as it’s known in both Muslim and Jewish traditions).   “The first traces of what you might call ‘civilization’ emerged along the Tigris and Euphrates River and a little later in Egypt,” Ansary said.  “Writing is part of it; cities are part of it; irrigation systems and inventions like the wheel.”

In the Middle East, a pattern recurred again and again, Ansary explains.  “A city would be built up; the nomads would take over that city and become the civilized people.  They would expand the empire the city had once ruled; then, new nomads would come and expand the empire again.  That process came to a climax with the Persian Empire, which ruled a realm stretching from the Indus River to Egypt.”  In the Mediterranean region, Ansary notes, this period roughly overlaps the Western civilization of Greece and Rome.

Birth of Islam

In terms of cultural identity, the most critical historical period for Muslims is the birth of Islam – specifically the Hijra, the flight of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.  “About 610,” Ansary recounts, “the Prophet went to a cave and meditated.  And he felt he had been visited by the angel Gabriel, who told him he was the messenger of Allah. That message was that there is only one God.  You shouldn’t worship idols.  This one God has given humanity freedom of choice, but will hold them responsible for their choices.  Time will end and there will be a day of judgment, and people will be sorted into those who have done good, who will go to heaven, and those who have done evil, who will go to hell – for eternity.” Read the rest of this entry »

His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has donated 10 million pounds to Oxford Center for Islamic Studies (OCIS), Kuwait’s ambassador in London said Friday. The donation was delivered by visiting Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Ahmad to British Crown Prince Charles in a ceremony at Clarence House, Khalid al-Duwaisan said following the event. The move is a good addition to the distinguished relations between Kuwait and the UK and will surely contribute to bolstering and cementing bilateral historical ties, the Kuwaiti ambassador said.

Founded in 1985, the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies (OCIS) is a key world scientific institution that seeks to stimulate and promote academic studies bearing on the Islamic religion, and is a significant bridge between the West and the Muslim world, he added. Prince Charles is the honorary chairman of the British-Kuwaiti Friendship Society and the OCIS.

For his part, the OCIS director, Farhan Nethami, told KUNA that the Amir’s donation to the OCIS is an extension of Kuwait’s relentless contributions to buttressing international scientific institutions. He also thanked Kuwait for contributing to building the OCIS’s library at Oxford University. The Kuwaiti deputy prime minister and foreign minister is a member of the OCIS’s board of trustees. The center mainly aims to create a deeper understanding of Islam and the Muslim world in the West.

In 9th century Spain, Muslim inventor Abbas ibn Firnas designed a flying machine -- hundreds of years before da Vinci drew plans of his own

Think of the origins of that staple of modern life, the cup of coffee, and Italy often springs to mind.

But in fact, Yemen is where the ubiquitous brew has its true origins.

Along with the first university, and even the toothbrush, it is among surprising Muslim inventions that have shaped the world we live in today.

The origins of these fundamental ideas and objects — the basis of everything from the bicycle to musical scales — are the focus of “1001 Inventions,” a book celebrating “the forgotten” history of 1,000 years of Muslim heritage.

“There’s a hole in our knowledge, we leap frog from the Renaissance to the Greeks,” professor Salim al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, and editor of the book told CNN.

“1001 Inventions” is now an exhibition at London’s Science Museum. Hassani hopes the exhibition will highlight the contributions of non-Western cultures — like the Muslim empire that once covered Spain and Portugal, Southern Italy and stretched as far as parts of China — to present day civilization.

Think of the origins of that staple of modern life, the cup of coffee, and Italy often springs to mind.

But in fact, Yemen is where the ubiquitous brew has its true origins.

Along with the first university, and even the toothbrush, it is among surprising Muslim inventions that have shaped the world we live in today.

The origins of these fundamental ideas and objects — the basis of everything from the bicycle to musical scales — are the focus of “1001 Inventions,” a book celebrating “the forgotten” history of 1,000 years of Muslim heritage.

“There’s a hole in our knowledge, we leap frog from the Renaissance to the Greeks,” professor Salim al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, and editor of the book told CNN.

“1001 Inventions” is now an exhibition at London’s Science Museum. Hassani hopes the exhibition will highlight the contributions of non-Western cultures — like the Muslim empire that once covered Spain and Portugal, Southern Italy and stretched as far as parts of China — to present day civilization.

Here Hassani shares his top 10 outstanding Muslim inventions: Read the rest of this entry »

Obama's shaky first term is perhaps not surprising, given the turbulent tectonics of his country's politics

First Haiti quaked, then Massachusetts. Konrad Yakabuski said it here last Wednesday: One year into his first term, Barack Obama risks becoming a lame-duck President. Fresh out of his supporters’ enthusiasm, he must struggle to reinvent his presidency in tonight’s State of the Union address.

There are many reasons for Mr. Obama’s near-death experience. The biggest, however, is that he misread the national mood. Having gained the presidency by defeating the lacklustre candidate of a discredited party, Mr. Obama mistook this for a mandate. American voters no longer confer mandates. They merely express their disgruntlement. They were fed up with Republicans, yes, but so were they with Democrats, especially congressional ones. They were fed up with politics as usual. Mr. Obama swept to victory by posing as the candidate of change.

Which he was, unfortunately for him. Mr. Obama had set his sights on the transformation of American society. For most Americans, however, change was a matter of how, not what. Social revolution was the last thing on their minds. They ascribed the failed policies of the Bush years to the glaring defects of a political process dominated by special interests and partisan bickering.

So what did Mr. Obama do? He poured kerosene on both. He rashly decided to pursue health-care reform as the entering wedge of an ambitious agenda. There’s no more complex issue in American politics, none that engages so many contending vested interests, and none so certain to fuel partisan animosity. It’s one hornet’s nest after another. Since most Americans are quite satisfied with the quality of their health care and for that matter their health insurance, they feared to lose more from big changes than they hoped to gain from them. They never warmed to a 2,000-page bill that no one understood but few believed addressed the real problem – medical costs that are out of control. Read the rest of this entry »

There is little need any more to offer consistent opposition to Barack Obama, since he himself is already running hard against the many previous incarnations of Barack Obama.

The first one we met was Barack the radical progressive, in his primary campaign against Hillary. Then in the general election we were introduced to the centrist Obama, who promised to invade Pakistan if need be, called for an end to partisanship, and lectured about fiscal sobriety.

Then with congressional majorities, soaring public support, and obsequious media attention came the leftist ideologue President Obama, who tried to ram through a statist health-care regime, gobbled up private enterprises, and gave us Anita Dunn and Van Jones.

Now we are back to sorta centrist Obama, who is going to fight terror, not apologize any more to the Muslim world, and freeze spending rather than give us another $2 trillion in debt.

These serial reset Obamas are quite astonishing even for a politician.

Take the examples of public advocate Obama’s once idealistic promotion of C-SPAN broadcasts of the health-care debate, and Obama’s current fiery lamentations over the Supreme Court decision overturning elements of the McCain-Feingold limitations on corporate campaign donations.

But Obama, the current reformer, seems to be railing at Obama, the cynical backroom organizer, who would never dare televise anything about his thousand-page health-care mess. Yet Obama II not only nixed Obama I’s repeated promises of C-SPAN debates, but outsourced his health-care bill to congressional insiders, who did more backroom-dealing, vote-buying, and quid-pro-quoing than at any other time in recent memory.

So there is no consistency even in the flip-flopping. Obama III as the sudden guardian of campaign-financing curbs is antithetical to Obama I, the rejectionist of any government interference. In 2008 Obama I destroyed the idea of public campaign financing of presidential elections. Indeed, in his efforts to raise a billion dollars of private money, Obama became the first presidential candidate in the general election in over 30 years to back out of public financing, an idea which is now more or less kaput. Read the rest of this entry »

Fremont, California – Haiti is experiencing unimaginable suffering from its devastating earthquake, with more than 150,000 dead and one to three million individuals displaced.

Individuals, groups and governments from around the world have stepped in to do what they can. United by their religious tradition of charity, Muslims have emerged as effective partners in aid and relief work.

The international effort to aid Haiti by individuals, Islamic relief organisations and the governments of Muslim-majority countries reflects a proactive generosity and empathy espoused by the Prophet Muhammad and the teachings of the Qur’an. Charity, in fact, is one of the five obligations for Muslims, and Muslim organisations have been working alongside other faith-based groups to fulfil this duty.

Islamic Relief, one of the most respected and successful disaster relief charities in the world, has used technology, new media and social networking sites to mobilise people. Along with “Seekers Digest”, a popular Muslim community blog run out of Canada, Islamic Relief hosted the “Muslim Online Haiti Fundraiser” and raised over $100,000 in two hours. The organisation also used its existing partnership with the Mormon Church to send hygiene kits and temporary shelters to Haiti, in addition to pledging a total of $2.5 million.

Islamic Relief also sent an emergency response team to directly assist victims in Haiti. These Muslim aid workers have been updating a daily blog with sobering first-hand accounts of the tragedy.

Assisting Islamic Relief, Muslim American artists and community activists convened to put on a concert in New York City, hosted by the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), and used the opportunity to raise donations for Haiti. In Chicago, IMAN partnered with a local synagogue and church to raise aid money.

Governments and non-governmental organisations (NGO) of countries that are more often known as recipients of aid have also reached out. Two Pakistani NGOs, Al-Khidmat Foundation and Edhi Foundation, are mobilising relief efforts to help Haitians despite the country’s own political and economic volatility. Both organisations have considerable expertise in this area due to the massive 2005 earthquake that killed nearly 80,000 in northern Pakistan. The Edhi Foundation has already pledged $500,000 to assist Haiti. Read the rest of this entry »