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The Life of
Barakah
Hajj Exhibition Attracts
80,000 Visitors in 7 weeks
Issue: 49
April 2012
‘Holy Quran is a Miracle’ says
Brazil’s famous footballer “Kaka”
Brazil’s famous footballer “Kaka” said
that Holy Quran is beyond human
words, it is considered as one of
miracles.
Real Madrid “Ricardo Kaka” said
that when one study Holy Quran, he got
to know that the words of Holy Quran
The Brtitish Museum have been amazed at
the huge scale of visitors to the Hajj: Journey
to the heart of Islam exhibition reaching target
visitor figure for the exhibition of over 80,000
in just over seven weeks.
are beyond human words, rather they
The exhibition opened on 26 January and
are a miracle.
runs until 15 April.
An editor of a religious institute
The exhibition has been seen by a diverse
in Brazil said that Kaka is a religious
audience including many family visitors
Christian but he also respects other
(children under the age of 16 can access the
religions.
exhibition for free).
In Brazil, prayer leader of a Mosque
With only four weeks left the Museum
while denying the news saying Kaka is a have had to extend the opening hours of the
Muslim said that Kaka is still a Christian exhibition on Saturday and Sunday evenings
and he goes to Church but he likes to
to release more tickets and meet the high
listen to the recitation of Holy Quran.
demand as time slots are frequently being
Kaka said during his visit to a
sold out.
Mosque in Dubai that Islam is a religion
Passion Islam figures show that there’s
of forgiveness, I am impressed by the
been more non muslim families visiting the
attitude and characteristics of Muslims
exhibition making it the most popular Muslim
and I want to study more about Islam.
exhibition in the UK.
2
I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS
Passion Islam
thePassion
I April 2012
By Shakir Ahmed
Extracts from Press TV News
Galloway secures
remarkable win
Respect Party candidate George
Galloway has won a landslide
victory in a parliamentary byelection in Bradford West, securing
a 10,140 majority in what he
described as a great” rejection” of
mainstream parties.
Galloway beat Labour Party
candidate Imran Hussein by a
massive and surprising margin.
The victory is regarded as a serious
blow to Ed Miliband’s Labour party
as the constituency has been a
Labour stronghold since 1974.
“By the Grace of God we have
won the most sensational victory in
British political history,” Galloway
posted on Twitter after the votes
were counted.
Galloway, who is also an antiwar activist, called his remarkable
victory as the Bradford West Spring,
and compared it with a series of
awakenings in some Arab countries.
“Labour has been hit by a tidal
wave in a seat they have held for
many decades and dominated for
100 years. I have won a big victory
in every part of the constituency,
including in areas many people said
I should not even compete,” he said.
He stressed that his victory went
back to “the path of treason by
Tony Blair in 1994” that took away
the party from its supporters. He
insisted that Blair “remained revered
inside the modern Labour party,
swanning around making millions,
instead of facing trial in The Hague
for war crimes.”
This indicates do not
underestimate the Muslim vote,
Galloway a true people favourite
with the Muslim community has
shown that anything is possible
Write to: Editor, Passion Islam, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD
or email: [email protected] - www.passionislam.com
This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran -
Views expressed in the Passion column are of the contributers and not Necessarily of Passion Islam
I April 2012
I3
UK Labour MP condemns
Israeli illegal settlements
Passion Islam
Alex Cunningham condemns Israel’s
“ethnically cleansing” East al-Quds
(Jerusalem), calling on the UK
government to help stop funding
for illegal Israeli businesses in the
Palestinian occupied territories.
During a Commons debate on
humanitarian issues in occupied
East al-Quds, Stockton North Labour
MP said Jerusalem was not “the
international city it should be - free
NEWS
and fair for all residents, regardless
of their religion or nationhood.”
Referring to the pressure facing
the Palestinians including being
surrounded by check points and
barriers and being unable to live as
united families without permissions
from the occupying forces, he added,
“It is time to demonstrate that we
are just not prepared to support or
even tolerate the ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians from east Jerusalem.”
Furthermore, he called on the
British government to help stop EU
funding for projects in the Palestinian
occupied territories including one
that provides monitoring equipment
for the Israel’s apartheid wall.
However, British Foreign Office
Minister Jeremy Browne ruled out
any practical action to stop Israel
although he admitted that much of
what the Israeli authorities were
doing was illegal.
Moreover, Palestine Solidarity
Campaign said Labour MP Alex
Cunningham had spoken “the truth”
and that 15,000 Palestinians had
already lost their right of residency in
East al-Quds.
“The Jerusalem municipality
has admitted that it wants to limit
Palestinians to 30 per cent of the
total population of the city - currently
they represent 38 per cent,” said
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
spokeswoman Sara Apps.
4
I
LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS
Passion Islam
I April 2012
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to open in London
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
is planning to expand its wealth
management and private banking
division with a new office in London
and further units across the Middle
East, Asia and mainland Europe,
a senior executive told Arabian
Business in an interview.
“From a private banking
perspective, I have three offices
across the UAE but we need to have
a way [of]booking assets in other
parts of the world so we are just in
the process of opening our branch
in London, which we can use as a
service centre when our clients visit
during the summer,” said Stuart
Crocker, head of ADIB’s wealth
management and private banking.
In addition to the new UK base,
Crocker said the Islamic lender is
also planning to open more offices in
the region and in Europe and Asia.
“We are certainly going to be
looking at various locations across
the Middle East and we will share
that information in due course.
“We also need to have a few
international booking centres
and it would make sense to
Britain supports Afghan
peace talks with Taliban
The UK envoy to Afghanistan has
confirmed that his country would
continue to support an Afghan-led
peace and national reconciliation
process with the Taliban.
William Patey, the out-going
British diplomat in Kabul, said the
UK has continued and will continue
to support Afghanistan’s High Peace
Council.
“We supported the High Peace
Council, we continue to support the
High Peace Council, we continue
to support an Afghan-led peace
process,” Patey told reporters in a
press briefing in Kabul.
He made the remarks just days
after a Taliban statement sent to
media said the outfit has suspended
peace talks, saying Taliban would
not negotiate unless the Americans
“clarify their stance with regard to
dialogue and show willingness in
carrying out their promises instead of
wasting time.”
“It is not for us to do a separate
deal,” Patey responded to a query
when his opinion was sought
towards Taliban recent statement
and suspending peace talks with the
United States.
“It is for the international
community and the United States to
help facilitate discussing between
the Taliban and the government of
Afghanistan,” the outgoing British
Ambassador to Afghanistan further
said, adding that “it is for Taliban
to end the war now and rejoin their
villages.”
He also backed the stance of
Afghan government with regard to
peace talks with Taliban, saying
Taliban have to reject al-Qaida,
renounce violence and accept Afghan
constitution.
Currently, around 9,500 British
troops have been stationed in
Afghanistan, and the death toll of the
British military has topped 406 since
the US-led invasion of the South
Asian state in 2001.
have something in Switzerland
and it would make sense to
have something in the Far East,
somewhere like Singapore,” he said.
Last year, the bank also launched
a concierge service for its private
banking clients, branded as ADIB
Lifeestyle, and it is planning to roll
out this service this year.
“We have formed ADIB Lifestyle,
if you would like us to organise your
daughter’s wedding we can do it [or]
we can charter planes... we launched
it a year ago,” Crocker said.
ADIB in February reported a
2011 fourth quarter net profit growth
of 35 percent, helped by higher fee
and commission income and lower
provisions.
The lender made AED338.6m
(US$92.3m) in the last three months
of 2011, compared with AED250.6m
a year earlier, it said in a statement,
as fees, commissions and foreign
exchange rose 11.3 percent.
“ADIB’s enhanced transaction
banking and advisory-based
investment banking franchises more
than compensated for the decline
in personal banking fees,” the bank
said.
Britain mulling
plans to
sell RBS to
Abu Dhabi
The British government is mulling
over plans to sell up to a third
of its stake in the Royal Bank of
Scotland (RBS) to Abu Dhabi,
one of the seven states of the
United Arab Emirates.
The current share price at
which the British government
plans to sell its stake is almost
half the price it paid in 2008,
when the British government
invested £45.5bn of British
taxpayers’ money to rescue the
bank from collapsing.
In an interview with the BBC,
a Treasury spokesperson has
claimed that the government’s
plan is “to repair and return RBS
to full health so that it is able to
support the UK economy in the
future, and the current strategy is
working to achieve that.”
Charity Reg. No. 1000851
SYRIA
EMERGENCY
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More than 7,000 Killed
Tens of thousands have been displaced. The country is now sliding into
civil war.
The city of Homs - the resting place of Khalid Bin Walid Radiallahu ‘anhu
- and its people are being shelled every day.
Ummah Welfare Trust is working inside the country, providing dry food
rations to widowed and orphaned families in Homs and Damascus.
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Muhammad Salallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said:
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Donate Online
www.uwt.org
UWT Head Office: 351 Derby Street,
Bolton, BL3 6LR. Tel 01204 383 732
Passion Islam
I April 2012
LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS
I7
UK Government to demand
data on every call and email
ISPs and landline and mobile
phone operators could be forced to
store records of calls, texts, emails
and visited websites under a new
government scheme designed to
combat terrorism.
The government has
begun negotiations with the
companies involved and the new
Communications Capabilities
Development Programme (CCDP)
could be announced as early as May,
according to reports.
The databases would not record
the content of the customer’s
communications but would store
the numbers and email addresses
of the sender and the recipient and,
for the first time, security services
will have access to Facebook
communications. Direct Messages
between Twitter users will also be
monitored, as well as users of online
gaming services.
ISPs and phone operators will
have to store the data for one year
and make it available to security
services, such as MI5, MI6 and
GCHQ, who have been lobbying for
the scheme.
If the CCDP were to be
implemented, authorities would
be granted ‘real-time’ access to
suspects’ communications and would
also be able to reconstruct their
movements as records would be
able to show within yards where a
call or text was made, while internet
browsing histories could be matched
to IP addresses.
The scheme is based on a
Labour plan which was scrapped
due to a lack of support and security
fears. Its plans made provision for a
centralised database, although this
was dropped due to cost.
The project appears to have been
resurrected over fears of a terrorist
attack at this summer’s Olympic
Games in London and security
services’ inability to track terrorist’s
communication over the internet. The
government has already pledged
‘unprecedented levels’ of cyber
security for the event.
Not surprisingly, the prospect of
the CCDP has raised concerns over
a loss of privacy but also about the
security of the stored records. If they
fell into the wrong hands, these could
be used by hackers to launch spam
email and text campaigns, while
details of visited websites could also
be used for commercial gain.
“Labour’s online surveillance
plans have hardly changed but have
been rebranded. They are just as
intrusive and offensive,” commented
Jim Killock, executive director of the
Open Rights Group. “The plans are
a huge waste of time and money,
as well as being a huge intrusion on
our civil liberties. Online government
surveillance is the last thing we need
right now.”
The Open Rights Group has
also launched a petition, addressed
to Prime Minister David Cameron,
his deputy Nick Clegg and home
secretary Theresa May, which allows
the public to voice opposition to the
scheme.
“I do not want the government
to try to intercept every UK email,
Facebook account and online
communication,” it read. “It would
be pointless – as it will be easy for
criminals to encrypt and evade – and
expensive. It would also be illegal:
mass surveillance would be a breach
of our fundamental right to privacy.”
Judge orders Muslim to stand down from jury
A Muslim women was thrown off a
jury during a UK court case after
refusing a judge’s order to remove
her veil.
In what appears to be a first for
the country, the un-named woman
was told she could not serve on the
jury for an attempted murder trial as
her face was covered by a niqab, the
UK’s Daily Mail reported.
Prior to taking a legal oath amid
legal proceedings at London’s
Blackfriars Crown Court, Judge Aidan
Marron QC asked that the woman
remove her veil.
When she refused, Judge Marron
replied: “I entirely understand
that, but in this particular case it is
desirable that your face is exposed,
so I’m going to invite you to stand
down. I hope you understand.”
She was replaced by a white,
male juror, according to the Daily
Mail.
Following the incident, Massoud
Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic
Human Rights Commission, told
the newspaper: “This is totally
unacceptable. I really can’t
understand why facial expressions
could have any impact on the judge,
the judgment or anyone else in a
trial. It has no relevance.”
UK to be sued over assist
drone attacks in Pakistan
Passion Islam
I April 2012
A human rights group and a law firm
took legal action against the British
government, accusing it of passing
on intelligence to assist US covert
drone attacks in Pakistan.
The London-based charity
Reprieve and the law firm Leigh Day
& Co. are filing papers to the High
Court claiming that civilian staff at
Britain’s electronic listening agency,
GCHQ, could be liable as “secondary
parties to murder” for providing
“locational intelligence” to the CIA in
directing its drone attack program.
The two are acting on behalf of
Noor Khan, 27, a Pakistani whose
LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS
father was killed by a drone strike in
northwest Pakistan in March 2011
while attending a gathering of elders.
More than 40 other people were
killed in that attack, they said.
Reprieve, which helps death
row prisoners and Guantanamo
Bay inmates, urged the British
government to be more transparent
about its role — if any — in the drone
program.
“What has the government got
to hide? If they’re not supplying
information as part of the CIA’s illegal
drone war, why not tell us?” Reprieve
director Clive Stafford Smith said.
I9
British officials have never
commented publicly on the drones.
The Foreign Office and GCHQ
declined comment on the legal action
Monday, saying they could not speak
about ongoing legal proceedings or
and intelligence matters.
Since 2004, CIA drones have
targeted suspected militants with
missile strikes in the Pakistani
tribal regions, killing hundreds of
people. The program is controversial
because of questions about its
legality, the number of civilians it has
killed, and its impact on Pakistan’s
sovereignty.
US officials do not publicly
acknowledge the covert drone
program but they have said privately
that the strikes harm very few
innocents and are key to weakening
Al-Qaeda and other militant groups.
Leigh Day & Co. did not detail
what evidence the firm has regarding
Britain’s alleged role in the drone
program, but it cited media reports
that quoted an anonymous GCHQ
source as saying that the assistance
it gave to the US authorities was in
‘strict accordance’ with the law.
The law firm disputed that, saying
GCHQ staff may be guilty of war
crimes by passing along detailed
intelligence to a drone program that
violates international humanitarian
law.
Top nasheed artists to perform at charity event
Islamic nasheed artists from across
the world are to perform in as Islamic
Relief UK presents ‘An Evening of
Inspiration 2012’.
The event will showcase some
of the leading performers of Islamic
cultural entertainment with famous
names including Outlandish, Zain
Bhika, Junaid Jamshed, Native Deen
and Preacher Moss.
The annual concert will see
all proceeds donated to Islamic
Relief’s projects in over 40 countries
worldwide.
Zain Bhika is a South African
singer-songwriter, who has achieved
success as a performer of Islamic
nasheed songs
Junaid Jamshed is a Pakistani
recording artist who first found fame
as the front man of the pop group
– Vital Signs.
Native Deen are an Islamic
musical group from the Washington
D.C. who combine a hip-hop style
with lyrical themes relating to Islam.
Also performing at the concert is
Preacher Moss who is an American
comedian and writer.
The evening will begin at 5.30pm
at the Manchester Bridgewater Hall
on Saturday April 7. Tickets are
priced at £15 for adults and £10 for
children under 12 years old.
To buy tickets call 0161 907 9000
or see www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk
w w w. p a s s i o n i s l a m . c o m
www.mullaco.com
Human rights
commission
fatally split
12
I WORLD NEWS
The British Bill of Rights Commission
seems unlikely to agree final
proposals as leaked emails and
papers published in the Daily
Telegraph reveal splits between the
Commission members.
Sir Leigh Lewis, who chairs the
Commission, wrote to members
saying that at the time of publishing
report members were “likely to be far
apart on a number of key issues”.
“The Commission could publish
as many as three different reports
from the chairman Sir Leigh Lewis
and its different factions, allowing the
Government to claim that it is split
and so ignore its findings”, said the
leaked papers.
Last year, The British Prime
Minister David Cameron called for
the abolition of the Human Rights
Act, which integrates the European
Convention on Human Rights into
British law, after the unprecedented
unrest in August afflicted the country.
The coalition formed a
commission of human rights experts
who were expected to report to the
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
and Justice Secretary Ken Clarke
the possibility of introducing a British
Bill of Rights to replace the Act,
which was passed by the Labour
Party in 1998.
But Nick Clegg pledged
during the Liberal Democrat party
conference last September that
Liberal Democrats will not allow any
major changes in the Act.
The lack of agreement between
the Commission members will make
it difficult for the UK premier to
persuade his Liberal Democrats to
agree to a new British Bill of Rights.
Remarking that the Commission
set up to look at the idea of a British
Bill of Rights was “not really up to
the job”, Douglas Carswell MP said,
“If we want change, and I want
change, we need to get ourselves a
new justice secretary.”
Get in Contact with us
07506 466 385
Passion Islam
I April 2012
Dubai’s Landmark
part of Iceland
Foods takeover
Dubai’s Landmark Group has
taken a stake in British frozen
foods retailer Iceland Foods as
part of a deal that sees founder
and chief executive Malcolm
Walker back in control.
In a deal valuing the firm at
£1.55bn ($2.45bn),
the buyout of the 77 percent
stake from the liquidators of failed
Icelandic banks Landsbanki
and Glitnir is being backed by
an £860m debt package, the
company said.
Walker and other managers
will own a 43 percent stake of
Iceland’s equity, while new coinvestors Lord Kirkham, Brait and
Landmark Group will own the rest,
Reuters reported.
South African investment firm
Brait said that its £80m stake
amounted to 19 percent.
Landmark, one of the largest
retail conglomerates in the Gulf
region, is ramping up its expansion
through buying franchise rights of
international firms and developing
its own brands.
The firm on November 1 said it
expects to see an annual turnover
of $5bn by 2015. The operator of
more than 1,000 outlets across
the Middle East and India said it
had seen a 28 percent increase in
revenues in 2010-2011.
Walker founded the Iceland
Foods with £60 of capital in 1970.
Friday’s deal gives the business
an enterprise value of £1.45bn and
an equity value of £1.55bn.
The buyout debt package is
being funded by Credit Suisse,
Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Nomura
and RBS.
Iceland operates 800 stores in
the UK and had sales of £2.4bn in
the year to March 2011.
Passion Islam
I April 2012
US soldier formally
charged with 17
murders
In Case You
Missed It
A US soldier has been formally
charged with 17 murders over the
killings of civilians in a village in
southern Afghanistan, US forces
said in a statement released in
Kabul.
Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, of
the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry, was
also accused of six counts of assault
and attempted murder in the Panjwai
district of Kandahar province earlier
this month.
The statement said that under
the US military’s code of justice, “the
maximum possible punishment for
a premeditated murder conviction
is a dishonourable discharge from
the Armed Forces, reduction to the
lowest enlisted grade, total forfeiture
of pay and allowances, and death”.
The mandatory minimum
sentence is life imprisonment with
the possibility of parole, it added.
Bales is currently being held at
Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, and
a senior US official said earlier that
it had “pretty much been decided”
the trial would be held in the United
States.
But relatives of the victims have
demanded the proceedings take
place in Afghanistan.
WORLD NEWS
I 13
Danish school
fined for
forcing Muslim
to eat pork
A Danish vocational school has been
ordered to pay a fine to a Muslim
student of Lebanese origin after
expelling her when she refused to
eat pork, Turkish newspaper Today’s
Zaman said.
The school has been ordered
by the Danish Equal Status Council
to pay the student a 75,000
Danish kroner ($13,389) fine
after the council ruled that forcing
Muslim students to eat pork was
discrimination, according to the
paper.
Trine Bramsen, a politician from
the ruling Danish Social Democrat
Party, supported the ruling, and
said that Muslim students should
be allowed to graduate from school
without having to taste pork.
Another Danish school, the
Copenhagen Hospitality College,
made headlines earlier this month
when a Muslim student of nutrition
was forced to taste pork and wine
in order to complete his studies, the
paper added.
Saudi students complain 5000 Copies
of Quran
of racist slur in Poland
Arab students in Poland, especially
those from Saudi Arabia and other
GCC countries, say they are being
racially harassed by locals.
According to eyewitnesses,
racist messages with slogans such
as “Go home Arab terrorists” were
being posted on the students’
houses in the city of Olisschen, near
the Polish-Russian border.
The students have complained
to their respective embassies. The
Saudi ambassador in Warsaw, Walid
bin Tahir Rudwan, is monitoring
the situation and expected to meet
with the mayor of the city and other
officials.
Polish students created a site on
Facebook calling for the expulsion
of Arab students from the city. The
Arab students reportedly tried to
engage in a friendly discussion with
them, but local media got involved
and their editorial content was
biased toward the Polish students.
In addition, their stories on the
issue ignored developments in
the Middle East, religious values
in the region and spirit of freedom
approved by all communities,
including Arabs and Muslims.
Olisschen police have already
arrested a 25-year-old pizza delivery
man who used to stick racist posters
on the doors of Arab students’
houses.
Meanwhile, cultural attaches at
Arab embassies have called on their
students to exercise utmost care
and caution and keep away from
places where incidents might occur.
passionislam.com
distributed
in Brazil
Some 5000 copies of Quran
translation in Portuguese language
have been distributed in Brazil.
According to Al-Ittihad Daily
News Paper, Dubai Charity
Association has distributed the
copies with the purpose of getting
Brazil’s Muslims further acquainted
with the Book of Allah.
Ahmed Mohammad Mesmar,
an official with the centre, said in a
statement that so far some 15000
copies of Muslims’ scripture have
also been handed out among
Ethiopian Muslims.
US builds world
biggest spy centre
14
I WORLD NEWS
Passion Islam
I April 2012
Pakistani
entrepreneur
launches
airline in UAE
The United States National Security
Agency (NSA) is building the biggest
spy center for intercepting and
storing electronic communications
collected from all over the world and
American citizens.
A new report published by the
monthly magazine Wired, said that
the centre located in Bluffdale, a
remote valley in the state of Utah,
can process yottabytes (a million
billions of gigabytes) of data.
The facility of USD 2 billion is
designed to “intercept, decipher,
analyze, and store vast swaths of the
world’s communications including
the contents of telephone calls,
private e-mails, mobile phone text
messages and Internet searches.
According to the report, the
facility is “the most covert and
potentially most intrusive intelligence
agency ever,” and it will use 65
megawatts of electricity a year, with
an annual bill of USD 40 million.
The spy center intercepts
commutation signals as they zap
down from satellites and zip through
the underground and undersea
cables of international, foreign, and
domestic networks.
Using what will likely be the
world’s fastest super computer,
the NSA can gather data through
‘dumb’ home appliances such as
refrigerators, ovens and lighting
systems which are connected to the
Internet.
The facility is to provide technical
assistance to the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), collect
intelligence on cyber threats and
carry out cyber-security objectives,
reported Reuters.
A 26-year-old Pakistani
businessman from Abbottabad,
Malek Naureed Awan, is set to
launch an airline in the UAE.
MMA Airline has been
registered with the Ras Al Khaimah
Free Zone, from where it received
its licence as a company last
month, Awan, the airline’s Chief
Executive Officer, told Gulf News.
“We have also received an Air
Operators Certificate [from the
General Civil Aviation Authority
GCAA] on March 14,” he said.
An air operator’s certificate
(AOC) is an approval granted by
a national aviation authority to an
aircraft operator to allow it to use
aircraft for commercial purposes.
This requires the operator to have
personnel, assets and systems in
place to ensure the safety of its
employees and the general public.
Canada shipping bomb uranium to US
Canada is secretly transporting large
amounts of highly enriched weaponsgrade uranium to the United States,
according to Canadian media
reports.
A confidential federal document
made public says at least one
payload of used, US-origin highly
enriched uranium fuel has already
been transferred stateside under a
new accord between Canada and the
US.
The Canadian stockpile, which
is quietly shipped from Chalk River
in the province of Ontario, contains
hundreds of kilograms of bomb-grade
uranium, enough to make several
Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs.
This is while the Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission, the
country’s atomic watchdog, seeks
to keep the issue secret by refusing
to set up public hearings about it or
disclose which communities lie along
the transit route.
The transportation of atomic
material originates from the highly
publicized deal signed by Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
and US President Barack Obama
in 2010. The deal was signed amid
fears that terrorists may get access
to weapons-grade uranium.
The development has aroused
a great controversy inside Canada,
hampering the shipment of 16
generators from the North American
country through the St. Lawrence
River onto the European countries.
Passion Islam
I April 2012
WORLD NEWS
I 15
Interest-free microfinance
hope for poor Muslims in India
EU forced to
withdraw racist
video clip
Making headlines in the recent past
for crushing interest rates claiming
lives of debtors, microfinance is now
being offered with a more humane
approach.
The Human Welfare Foundation
will now offer loans in the form of
interest-free microfinance to the poor
across India, including Hyderabad,
said vice president of Jamat-e-Islami
Hind Prof K A Siddique Hassan.
Hassan is the general secretary of
the Human Welfare Foundation.
In addition to interest-free
loans, a support system for human
welfare involving a network of
activities focusing on healthcare,
protection of civil rights, women’s
empowerment, disaster management
and encouraging strict adherence
to ethics in professions such as
medicine is the need of the hour, he
noted.
“The burden of interest never
allows the debtor to extricate himself
from the web of interest and loans.
Also, Muslims need skills, technical
guidance and entrepreneurship apart
from financial assistance,” he added.
As part of an initiative entitled
Vision 2016, the Human Welfare
Foundation (HWF), along with
50 affiliate NGOs, has been
implementing around 125 projects
in 20 states to establish a support
network for human welfare. “The plan
aims to bring about the complete
upliftment of Indian society. By
adopting business models such as
musharika (joint venture), mudariba
(hire purchase) and qarz-e-hasana
(loans with the intention of goodwill),
we intend to help the poor.
This will be 100% interest free.
The NGO Sahulat Microfinance
Society intends to achieve justice
and plans to remove socioeconomic disparities by providing
interest free loans thereby bringing
about equity for educationally and
financially backward section of
society. Hyderabad will be the hub
of operations in Andhra Pradesh,”
said Hassan. There are 15 such
microfinancing centres in and around
Hyderabad.
Hassan observed that the
ghettoisation of Muslims is
the primary cause for their
backwardness. He added that
poverty alleviation was possible with
education.
He said the first phase of the
project was completed in March 2011
and the second phase would begin in
March 2012 and will focus on states
in South India. «This is the first time
a national NGO for protection of civil
rights of Muslims has been formed in
the county,” Hassan said.
The European Commission has
been forced to withdraw a high
budget teaser video promoting
European Union enlargement after
it was accused of being racist.
The video, entitled Growing
Together, features three men from
ethnic minorities using martial arts
skills apparently preparing to fight
a white woman.
The ethnic characters include
a threatening-looking Chinese
man who shouts kung fu slogans,
a sword-wielding Indian man and
a dreadlocked black man and the
woman wears a yellow dress, the
color of the stars of the EU.
The woman stares at the
men who are threatening her
with marital art moves. She then
multiplies herself to form a circle
around the men who drop their
weapons and sit down. The
woman’s yellow outfit then turns
into the stars of the EU.
The video shows the words
“The more we are, the stronger we
are,” at the end.
The European commission
was accused of depicting other
cultures in a racist manner and in
stereotypes in the video, which
was aimed at young audiences.
The Commission said it
regretted that the video had
been perceived as racist and
apologized.
“We apologize to anyone who
may have felt offended. Given
these controversies, we have
decided to stop the campaign
immediately and to withdraw the
video,” the official in charge of
the Commission’s enlargement
and neighborhood policy, Stefano
Sannino said.
US Mosques Increased
by 74% since Sept 11
16
I WORLD NEWS
The number of American mosques
has increased dramatically in the last
decade despite post 9/11 protests
aimed at Muslim houses of worship,
according to a new study. The new
Islamic centers serve Muslims who
moved into the suburbs and newer
immigrants from Africa, Iraq and
elsewhere.
Researchers conducting the
national count found a total of
2,106 Islamic centers, compared
to 1,209 in 2000 and 962 in 1994.
About one-quarter of the centers
were built between 2000-2011,
as the community faced intense
scrutiny by government officials
and a suspicious public. In 2010,
protest against an Islamic center
near ground zero erupted into
Passion Islam
a national debate over Islam,
extremism and religious freedom.
Anti-mosque demonstrations spread
to Tennessee, California and other
states.
Ihsan Bagby, a professor at the
University of Kentucky and lead
author of the study, said the findings
show Muslims are carving out a
place for themselves despite the
backlash.
“This is a growing, healthy Muslim
community that is well integrated into
America,” Bagby said. “I think that
is the best message we can send to
the world and the Muslim world in
particular.”
The overwhelming majority
of mosques are in cities, but the
number located in suburbs rose from
I April 2012
16 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in
2011. The Northeast once had the
largest number of mosques, but
Islamic centers are now concentrated
in the South and West, the study
found. New York still has the greatest
number of Islamic centers — 257
— followed by 246 in California and
166 in Texas. Florida is fourth with
118. The shift follows the general
pattern of population movement to
the South and West.
The study found the ethnic
makeup of mosque participants
largely unchanged from 2000. South
Asians comprise about one-third of
participants, while Arabs and AfricanAmericans are about one-quarter
each. Bagby found a slight increase
in the percentage of Muslims from
West Africa and Somalia. An influx
of Iraqi and Iranian refugees is
behind a jump in the number of
Shiite mosques since the 1990s.
Shiites still represent a very small
percentage of the U.S. Muslim
population.
Each congregation reported an
average of around 15 converts to
Islam annually, a figure that has
held steady. Latinos jumped from 7
percent of all reported converts in
2000 to 12 percent in 2011, while
the percentage of white converts
dropped slightly. In findings similar to
those in surveys conducted by Pew
Research Center and Gallup, nearly
all respondents said they supported
Muslim involvement in American
society and politics.
Muslims build homes for fellow Americans
In a new outreach to show the true
face of their religion, Muslim students
are volunteering to help build homes
for residents of the US state of West
Virginia.
“They are one of the most
delightful groups of students you are
ever going to meet,” Gwen Miles,
volunteer coordinator for Wood
County Habitat for Humanity, told the
Parkesburg News.
“This is the first group of Muslim
students (to volunteer here) and the
first group we’ve had from as far
away as Washington, D.C.”
Muslim students from Georgetown
University in Washington D.C. have
volunteered to build homes for
residents in south Parkesburg in
West Virginia.
“Not many students would give up
their Spring Break to come work in
cold and snowy Parkersburg,” Miles
said.
“They are making the best of it.”
The initiative is part of Muslim
efforts to show the American public
the truce face of their faith.
“I asked how we can best
translate our faith into action, how we
can best be Americans,” said Imam
Yahya Hendi, Muslim chaplain for
Georgetown University.
“The idea is to be there for those
who are overlooked,” he said. “The
students decided to take this idea
seriously.”
passionislam.com
I April 2012
I 17
Toronto first own cemetery
for Muslims to open
Passion Islam
`
WORLD NEWS
In Case You
Missed It
Foundation
of a new
mosque in
Kosovo
The Greater Toronto Area will be
getting its first cemetery catering to
all Muslims this summer.
The province has granted a
license to the Toronto Muslim
Cemetery Corporation, allowing it to
operate the site in Richmond Hill.
The corporation says the
cemetery is a joint project between
Sunni and Shia Muslim communities
and will open in June.
Board chairman Sabi Ahsan
said the cemetery is a “landmark
co-operation” between Muslims of
all denominations and will bring the
entire community closer together.
“This is the final nail in the coffin,
so to speak,” said Abdulhuq Ingar,
one of the founding members of the
cemetery project. The group plans
to open the 14-hectare cemetery
officially in June. It’s expected to
serve the needs of the estimated
300,000-strong Muslim community
for at least 25 years.
He says the cemetery will be
the first in the area which manages
services according to Muslim
custom, operates on weekends and
will have all graves correctly aligned
toward Mecca.
The 14-hectare land for the
cemetery was bought for $6.8-million
from a Jewish company – Beth
Olam Cemetery Corporation – which
provided the Muslim corporation
with an interest-free mortgage. It’s
expected to serve the needs of the
estimated 300,000-strong Muslim
community for at least 25 years.
Mr. Ahsan said it will hold 40,000
graves and will allow Muslims to bury
their loved ones on the day they die,
according to religious custom.
A Muslim cemetery to meet the
needs of residents in Ottawa and
Gatineau, Que, is expected to open
in June as well
A new mosque is being
constructed in Preshtina city of
Kosovo, with the support of city
council.
The municipality of Kosovo’s
capital Preshtina has decided to
build a new mosque in Kosovo’s
capital for implementing the long
standing demand of the country’s
Islamic authorities.
This municipality said in its
statement that the council of
Preshtina has supported the
decision of selecting a place for
the construction of mosque in this
city.
It is decided that this mosque
will be constructed on the area of
8100 square meters and currently
the building of post office is
located at this place. That’s why
the building of post office is shifted
to another place.
Ala-cola reported that the
Islamic authorities of Kosovo have
supported the selection of this
place for the building of a Mosque.
According to a survey in Kosovo,
about 96% from the population
of two hundred thousand are
Muslims and nearly forty thousand
Catholic and twenty five thousand
orthodox Christians are living.
Kosovo had announced its
independence from Serbia in year
2010.
Germany to have Europe’s biggest Mosque
Construction of Europe’s biggest
mosque began in the German city
of Cologne, Al-Yawm As-Sabi daily
reported.
Set to be Europe’s 1000th
mosque, it will accommodate 2000
worshippers upon competition.
The construction project is carried
out by one of Turkey’s biggest
companies at an estimated cost of 34
billion Euros.
Mayor of Cologne Jürgen Roters
said the mosque will add to the city’s
fame in the world.
He noted that it will be
inaugurated and welcome worshipers
in a year.
Germany is home to over 4 million
Muslims. It has the largest Muslim
population in Western Europe after
France.
18
I WORLD NEWS
Passion Islam
I April 2012
Sheikha Lubna most powerful
Arab woman in 2012
In Case You
Missed It
The UAE’s minister of foreign trade,
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, has
been ranked as the most powerful
Arab woman by CEO Middle East
magazine for the second year
running.
Previously minister for the
economy and planning, UAEborn Sheikha was praised for her
contribution to the
Gulf state’s flourishing trade
industry and her key role in the
country’s diversification programme.
The list, which is running for the
second year, ranks Arab women
according to the number of people
whose lives they have touched and
influenced.
Coming in at second place was
Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman,
who became internationally
recognised after she claimed the
Nobel Peace Prize for her work to
improve human rights during the Arab
Spring.
In third position was Lubna
Olayan, CEO of Olayan Financing
Company, who dropped one place
from 2011 but continues to be seen
as a key business leader and role
model for Arab women throughout
the region.
As a member of the ruling family
of Sharjah, Sheikha Lubna was the
first ever female to be appointed as a
government minister in the UAE.
In her current post, the Emirati
national is responsible for promoting
trade ties with international
partners - a vital part of the UAE’s
diversification strategy.
Aside from her ministerial duties,
Sheikha Lubna sits on the board of
directors for organisations such as
the Dubai Chamber for Commerce
and Industry, and has also launched
her own perfume line.
Australian state toughens law for Muslim veils
Muslim women in Australia’s most
populous state will have to remove
veils to have their signatures officially
witnessed under the latest laws
giving New South Wales officials
authority to look under religious face
coverings.
New South Wales state Attorney
General Greg Smith said in a
statement Monday that beginning
April 30, officials such as justices of
the peace and lawyers who witness
statutory declarations or affidavits
without making identity checks will be
fined 220 Australian dollars ($236).
“If a person is wearing a face
covering, an authorized witness
should politely and respectfully ask
them to show their face,” Smith said.
The face coverings also include
motorcycle helmets and masks.
The government began an
information campaign to ensure the
public and officials are aware of the
new penalties before they come into
force.
New South Wales laws passed
last year that introduced a AU$5,500
($5,900) fine and a 12-month prison
sentence for anyone who refuses
to remove face coverings when
requested to do so by police.
Ikebal Patel, president of the
Australian Federation of Islamic
Councils and an advocate for
Australian Muslims, said while some
Muslims regarded the laws as a
knee-jerk reaction to the court case,
the majority did not object.
“I don’t object as long as the
laws are enforced with respect and
sensitivity,” Patel said.
Patel said he was also a justice of
the peace and would never witness
a document without seeking proof of
the author’s identity.
He said Muslim women can
find female justices of the peace
working at most post offices. Women
who object to showing policemen
their faces have an option of being
taken to a police station where their
identities can be confirmed by a
female official.
New South Wales laws
demanding the removal of religious
face coverings are an Australian
first, although other states including
Victoria and Western Australia are
considering similar legislation.
Muslims are a rapidly growing
minority of 400,000 within Australia’s
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Passion Islam
I April 2012
WORLD NEWS
I 19
Western scientists receive Arab
world’s most prestigious prize
Three American scientists will were
awarded the King Faisal International
Prize, known colloquially as the
“Arab Nobel Prize” at a ceremony in
Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Alexander Varshavsky,
Professor of Cell Biology at the
California Institute of Technology,
will accept the Prize for Science in
Riyadh for his pioneering work in
cell biology which is helping in the
treatment of cancer.
The Prize for Medicine was
awarded jointly to two American
professors, Professor Richard L.
Berkowitz and Professor James
Bruce Bussel, for their research into
life-threatening conditions in unborn
and new born infants.
The Prizes are awarded on behalf
of the King Faisal Foundation which
was founded in 1976 in memory
of Saudi Arabia’s late King by his
eight sons. It recognises exceptional
achievements in Science and
Medicine, in Service to Islam, Islamic
Studies and Arabic Language and
Literature.
Other Prize winners included two
eminent Egyptian computer scientists
and a Saudi scholar for his study
of the links between contemporary
human rights and Islamic
jurisprudence. Shaikh Sulaiman
Al-Rahji, one of the world’s leading
philanthropists is being honoured for
his Service to Islam.
So far, there have been a total
of 209 laureates honoured from 40
different countries including, in recent
years, the UK, Germany and Italy,
as well as India, Russia, Morocco,
Jordan and Japan. No less than 15
award winners have gone onto to win
Nobel Prizes.
The King Faisal Prize rewards
individuals whose accomplishments
are not only exceptional in their own
right, but which make a significant
contribution to the body of knowledge
belonging to humankind.
Qatar to be Middle East’s top
tourism performer in 2012
Qatar is set to see the fastest growth
in tourism this year, with the World
Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
forecasting 13.2 percent growth.
It said growth in the Middle East
as a whole would be a more subdued
three percent, with stark difference at
a country level.
The WTTC said in a statement
that Qatar will grow fastest at 13.2
percent while Syria will likely see
another dramatic fall, projected at
20.5 percent, as the political situation
worsens, increasing concerns over
security.
For Syria, it represents a huge
decline after the country attracted 14
percent of all international arrivals in
the Middle East in 2010, second only
to Saudi Arabia.
Last month, STR Global data said
Qatar’s tourism sector was likely
to see a near-70 percent growth in
hotels, the largest in the Middle East
and Africa.
The Middle East/Africa hotel
development pipeline for January
comprised a total of 495 hotels
totalling 131,981 rooms,
according to STR Global’s
construction pipeline report.
Among the countries in
the region, Qatar reported
the largest expected growth
(up 69.9 percent) if all 7,340
rooms in the country’s total
active pipeline open.
According to the WTTC’s
latest research, the tourism
industry’s direct contribution
to the global economy should
exceed $2trn in GDP and 100
million jobs this year.
This contribution to GDP would
represent a growth of 2.8 percent,
marginally faster than the global rate
of economic growth, predicted to be
2.5 percent.
When the wider economic impacts
of the industry are taken into account,
travel and tourism is forecast by
WTTC and its research partner
Oxford Economics to contribute some
$6.5trn to the global economy and
generate 260 million jobs - or 1 in 12
of all jobs in the world.
According to the WTTC, South
and Northeast Asia will be the
fastest-growing regions in 2012 (up
6.7 percent), driven by countries
such as India and China where rising
incomes will generate an increase in
domestic tourism spend and a sharp
upturn in capital investment, as well
as a recovery in Japan.
It added that North Africa was
showing signs of recovery in 2012
with Morocco (8.3 percent) forecast
to be the star performer as the region
recovers from the civil unrest in
Egypt, Tunisia and Libya last year.
20
I SPORT
Passion Islam
I April 2012
Young Muslims take lead in
celebration for 2012 Olympic Games
Young athletes and sports
personalities took centre stage at the
Muslim Council’s third annual Muslim
Leadership Dinner, in celebration for
this year’s Olympics.
Olympic hopefuls, Mohammed
Sbihi (rowing), Darren Cheesman
(hockey) and sporting personalities
joined ambassadors, MPs and other
dignitaries to speak about their
passion for their chosen sports,
as well as sharing inspiration from
their faith. Messages of dedication,
determination and commitment were
heard throughout the evening at the
Millennium Hotel in Mayfair.
In his welcome speech, Farooq
Murad, Secretary General of the
MCB, said: “This event is an occasion
to celebrate the determination and
positive achievements of Muslims
in Britain, to encourage Muslims
to be optimistic and creative
participants.” He commended
the contribution of the rich and
diverse range of the affiliates of the
Muslim Council including leading
charities, entrepreneurs, mosques
and institutions. He spoke of the
importance of engaging with young
people and encouraged the Muslim
community to invest more time and
energy with them.
Multi-medal winning Paralympian,
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson,
shared her own inspirational story
of getting involved with sports
when everyone else told her she
“shouldn’t bother” because she was
in a wheelchair. She talked about
the importance of education and the
role her father played in encouraging
her to work hard at both school and
sports simultaneously.
In preparation for the Olympic and
Paralympic Games, guests watched
live performances by Colin Nell, a
professional football freestyler, and
also watched a live competition
between all the Muslim athletes
and sports personalities present
during the evening for an improvised
freestyle performance.
Guest speaker Dr Hany El Banna
OBE, founder and former president
of international relief agency, Islamic
Relief, called for the community
to take charge of its own destiny,
including raising the profile of
women, opening up to critical thinking
and new scholarship, and celebrated
the democratic tradition of the UK.
He also discussed the importance
of leadership, saying: “If you want to
create leadership you need to serve,
educate and train society – youth,
women and men.”
Qatar foundation’s partnership
with FC Barcelona on Facebook
Qatar Foundation for Education,
Science and Community
Development (QF) has launched new
social media channels focused on its
partnership with FC Barcelona (FCB)
to engage directly with followers and
fans.
The official channels in Facebook
and Twitter aim to raise awareness
about the two organisations and bring
their fans the shared values and the
joint programmes that underpin their
partnership, a QF statement said.
The partnership’s Facebook
page, available in Catalan, Spanish,
Arabic and English, provides detailed
information on QF and FCB’s latest
news, activities, match results and
contests.
The page also features photo
albums on the partnership’s
participation in international
tournaments and events, with insight
on upcoming matches and exclusive
pictures.
The Facebook page is a
destination where fans can post
photos, videos and exchange
comments about their experiences
with the organisations.
Students from Virginia
Commonwealth University in Qatar
(VCU) have recently attended FCB’s
match against Sporting Gijon and
posted pictures on the QF-FCB
partnership page. “The enormous
power of sports has brought different
cultures to collaborate together,”
said Fatima Al Kharaz, a VCU Qatar
student.
The Twitter channel provides
more frequent coverage and
communication with fans, pushing
tweets with pictures on the team’s
latest news releases and its
participation in major tournaments.
The goal of the social media
efforts launched last month is to
increase awareness of QF and its
partnership with FCB and to provide
concrete benefits to fans of the
partnership, the statement said.
The partnership is the result of
a sponsorship agreement reached
between Qatar Sports Investment
and FCB signed at the end of 2010.
Passion Islam
SPORT I 21
I April 2012
A CHANCE
TO WIN A SIGNED
LIVERPOOL FC TOP
To celebrate the launch of LFC Egypt Academy,
LFC and Passion Islam has teamed up to
giveaway a signed liverpool top, all you have to
do is answer this question.
Q: Who is the current Liverpool Manager?
Answers emailed through to [email protected] by
April 15th 2012 or post: PO BOX 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD
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International Football Association
Board approves hijab
In Case You
Missed It
July 2.
Jordan’s women’s team was
handed a 3-0 win in the Olympic 2012
qualifiers in June, despite no game
taking place, after the Iranian team
was banned from playing for wearing
Islamic scarves.
“I am deeply grateful that the
proposal to allow women to wear the
headscarf was unanimously endorsed
by all members of IFAB,” Prince Ali
said.
“I welcome their decision for an
accelerated process to further test the
current design and I’m confident that
once the final ratification at the special
meeting of IFAB takes place, we will
see many delighted and happy players
returning to the field and playing the
game they love,” he added.
The eight-man
International Football
Association Board has
given the green light to
Islamic female footballers
that wish to wear the
hijab, or headscarf, during
matches.
The Iranian women’s
football team had to forfeit
a match against Jordan in
June 2011 because they
refused to play without the
hijab (see more photos)
The IFAB agreed in
principle in Bagshot, south
of London, on Saturday to
overturn the decision they
took in 2007.
The hijab decision,
taken after a presentation
to the Board by FIFA
executive committee
member Prince Ali Bin
Al Hussein of Jordan,
was agreed by all eight
members and will also
be subject to further
evaluation with a final
decision to be taken on
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Barakah
22
I SPECIAL FEATURE
“You are blessed, Umm Ayman
(Barakah). Surely you have a place in
Paradise.” - The Prophet Muhammad
(Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam)
We do not know precisely how the
young Abyssinian girl ended up for
sale in Makkah. We do not know her
‘roots’, who her mother was, or her
father or her ancestors. There were
many like her, boys and girls, Arabs
and non-Arabs, who were captured
and brought to the slave market of
the city to be sold.
A terrible fate awaited some
who ended up in the hands of cruel
masters or mistresses who exploited
their labour to the full and treated
them with the utmost harshness.
A few in that inhuman
environment were rather more
fortunate. They were taken into the
homes of more gentle and caring
people.
Barakah , the young Abyssinian
girl, was one of the more fortunate
ones. She was saved by the
generous and kind Abdullah, the son
of Abd al-Muttalib. She became the
only servant in his household and
when he was married, to the lady
Aminah, she looked after her affairs
as well.
Two weeks after the couple were
married, according to Barakah ,
Abdullah’s father came to their house
and instructed his son to go with a
trading caravan that was leaving for
Syria. Aminah was deeply distressed
and cried:
“How strange! How strange! How
can my husband go on a trading
journey to Syria while I am yet a bride
and the traces of henna are still on
my hands.”
Abdullah’s departure was
heartbreaking. In her anguish,
Aminah fainted. Soon after he left,
Barakah said: “When I saw Aminah
unconscious, I shouted in distress
and pain: ‘O my lady!’ Aminah
Passion Islam
opened her eyes and looked at me
with tears streaming down her face.
Suppressing a groan she said: “Take
me to bed, Barakah.”
“Aminah stayed bedridden for
a long time. She spoke to no one.
Neither did she look at anyone who
visited her except Abd al-Muttalib,
that noble and gentle old man.
“Two months after the departure of
Abdullah, Aminah called me at dawn
one morning and, her face beaming
with joy, she said to me: “O Barakah!
I have seen a strange dream.”
“Something good, my lady,” I said.
“I saw lights coming from my
abdomen lighting up the mountains,
the hills and the valleys around
Makkah.”
“Do you feel pregnant, my lady?”
“Yes, Barakah,” she replied. “But
I do not feel any discomfort as other
women feel.”
“You shall give birth to a blessed
child who will bring goodness,” I said.
So long as Abdullah was
away, Aminah remained sad and
melancholic. Barakah stayed at her
side trying to comfort her and make
her cheerful by talking to her and
relating stories. Aminah however
became even more distressed when
Abd al-Muttalib came and told her
she had to leave her home and go to
the mountains as other Makkans had
done because of an impending attack
on the city by the ruler of Yemen,
someone called Abrahah. Aminah
told him that she was too grief-striken
and weak to leave for the mountains
but insisted that Abrahah could never
enter Makkah and destroy the Kabah
because it was protected by the
Lord. Abd al-Muttalib became very
agitated but there was no sign of fear
on Aminah’s face. Her confidence
that the Kabah would not be harmed
was well-founded. Abrahah’s army
with an elephant in the vanguard
was destroyed before it could enter
Makkah.
I April 2012
Day and night, Barakah stayed
beside Aminah. She said: “I slept at
the foot of her bed and heard her
groans at night as she called for her
absent husband. Her moans would
awaken me and I would try to comfort
her and give her courage.”
The first part of the caravan from
Syria returned and was joyously
welcomed by the trading families of
Makkah. Barakah went secretly to
the house of Abd al-Muttalib to find
out about Abdullah but had no news
of him. She went back to Aminah but
did not tell her what she had seen or
heard in order not to distress her. The
entire caravan eventually returned
but not with Abdullah.
Later, Barakah was at Abd alMuttalib’s house when news came
from Yathrib that Abdullah had
died. She said: “I screamed when I
heard the news. I don’t know what
I did after that except that I ran to
Aminah’s house shouting, lamenting
for the absent one who would never
return, lamenting for the beloved
one for whom we waited so long,
lamenting for the most beautiful youth
of Makkah, for Abdullah, the pride of
the Quraysh.
“When Aminah heard the painful
news, she fainted and I stayed by
her bedside while she was in a state
between life and death. There was
no one else but me in Aminah’s
house. I nursed her and looked after
her during the day and through the
long nights until she gave birth to
her child, “Muhammad”, on a night in
which the heavens were resplendent
with the light of God.”
When Muhammad was born,
Barakah was the first to hold him
in her arms. His grandfather came
and took him to the Kabah and with
all Makkah, celebrated his birth.
Barakah stayed with Aminah while
Muhammad was sent to the badiyah
with the lady Halimah who looked
after him in the bracing atmosphere
Passion Islam
I April 2012
of the open desert. At the end of
five years, he was brought back
to Makkah and Aminah received
him with tenderness and love and
Barakah welcomed him “with joy,
longing and admiration”.
When Muhammad was six years
old, his mother decided to visit the
grave of her husband, Abdullah,
in Yathrib. Both Barakah and Abd
al-Muttalib tried to dissuade her.
Aminah however was determined.
So one morning they set off- Aminah,
Muhammad and Barakah huddled
together in a small hawdaj mounted
on a large camel, part of a huge
caravan that was going to Syria. In
order to shield the tender child from
any pain and worry, Aminah did not
tell Muhammad that she was going
to visit the grave of his father.
The caravan went at a brisk pace.
Barakah tried to console Aminah for
her son’s sake and much of the time
the boy Muhammad slept with his
arms around Barakah’s neck.
The caravan took ten days to
reach Yathrib. The boy Muhammad
was left with his maternal uncles of
the Banu Najjar while Aminah went to
visit the grave of Abdullah. Each day
for a few weeks she stayed at the
grave. She was consumed by grief.
On the way back to Makkah,
Aminah became seriously ill with
fever. Halfway between Yathrib and
Makkah, at a place called al-Abwa,
they stopped. Aminah’s health
deteriorated rapidly. One pitch
dark night, she was running a high
temperature. The fever had got to her
head and she called out to Barakah
in a choking voice.
Barakah related: “She whispered
in my ear: ‘O Barakah, I shall depart
from this world shortly. I commend
my son Muhammad to your care.
He lost his father while he was in
my abdomen. Here he is now, losing
his mother under his very eyes. Be
a mother to him, Barakah. And don’t
ever leave him.’
“My heart was shattered and I
began to sob and wail. The child was
distressed by my wailing and began
to weep. He threw himself into his
mother’s arms and held tightly onto
her neck. She gave one last moan
and then was forever silent.”
Barakah wept. She wept bitterly.
With her own hands she dug a grave
in the sand and buried Aminah,
moistening the grave with whatever
SPECIAL FEATURE
tears were left in her heart. Barakah
returned with the orphan child to
Makkah and placed him in the care
of his grandfather. She stayed at his
house to look after him. When Abd
al-Muttalib died two years later, she
went with the child to the house of his
uncle Abu Talib and continued to look
after his needs until he was grown up
and married the lady Khadijah .
Barakah then stayed with
Muhammad and Khadijah in a
house belonging to Khadijah . “I
never left him and he never left me,”
she said. One day Muhammad ,
called out to her and said: “Ya
Ummah!” (He always called her
“Mother”.) “Now I am a married man,
and you are still unmarried. What do
you think if someone should come
now and ask to marry you?” Barakah
looked at Muhammad and said: “I
shall never leave you. Does a mother
abandon her son?” Muhammad
smiled and kissed her head. He
looked at his wife Khadijah and said
to her: “This is Barakah. This is my
mother after my own mother. She is
the rest of my family.”
Barakah looked at the lady
Khadijah who said to her: “Barakah,
you have sacrificed your youth for the
sake of Muhammad . Now he wants
to pay back some of his obligations
to you. For my sake and his, agree to
be married before old age overtakes
you.”
“Whom shall I marry, my lady?”
asked Barakah . “There is here now
Ubayd ibn Zayd from the Khazraj
tribe of Yathrib. He has come to us
seeking your hand in marriage. For
my sake, don’t refuse.”
Barakah agreed. She married
Ubayd ibn Zayd and went with him
to Yathrib. There she gave birth to
a son whom she called Ayman and
from that time onwards people called
her “Umm Ayman” the mother of
Ayman.
Her marriage however did not last
very long. Her husband died and she
returned once more to Makkah to
live with her “son” Muhammad in the
house of the lady Khadijah . Living in
the same household at the time were
Ali ibn Abi Talib, Hind (Khadijah’s
daughter by her first husband), and
Zayd ibn Harithah .
Zayd was an Arab from the
tribe of Kalb who was captured as
a boy and brought to Makkah to be
sold in the slave market. He was
I 23
bought by Khadijah’s nephew and
put in her service. In Khadijah’s
household, Zayd became attached
to Muhammad and devoted himself
to his service. Their relationship was
like that of a son to a father. Indeed
when Zayd’s father came to Makkah
in search of him, Zayd was given
the choice by Muhammad of either
going with his father or staying with
him. Zayd’s reply to his father was:
“I shall never leave this man. He
has treated me nobly, as a father
would treat his son. Not a single day
have I felt that I am a slave. He has
looked after me well. He is kind and
loving towards me and strives for my
enjoyment and happiness. He is the
most noble of men and the greatest
person in creation. How can I leave
him and go with you?...I shall never
leave him.”
Later, in public Muhammad
proclaimed the freedom of Zayd
However, Zayd continued to live with
him as part of his household and
devoted himself to his service.
When Muhammad was blessed
with prophethood, Barakah and
Zayd were among the first to believe
in the message he proclaimed.
They bore with the early Muslims
the persecution which the Quraysh
meted out to them.
Barakah and Zayd performed
invaluable services to the mission
of the Prophet . They acted as part
of an intelligence service exposing
themselves to the persecution and
punishment of the Quraysh and
risking their lives to gain information
on the plans and conspiracies of the
Mushrikin.
One night the Mushrikun blocked
off the roads leading to the House
of al-Arqam where the Prophet
gathered his companions regularly
to instruct them in the teachings of
Islam. Barakah had some urgent
information from Khadijah which
had to be conveyed to the Prophet
. She risked her life trying to reach
the House of al-Arqam. When she
arrived and conveyed the message
to the Prophet , he smiled and said
to her:
“You are blessed, Umm Ayman.
Surely you have a place in Paradise.”
When Umm Ayman left, the
Prophet looked at his companions
and asked: “Should one of you desire
to marry a woman from the people
of Paradise, let him marry Umm
Continued on page 24
24
I SPECIAL FEATURE
Passion Islam
Barakah continued...
Ayman.”
All the companions remained
silent and did not utter a word. Umm
Ayman was neither beautiful nor
attractive. She was by now about
fifty years old and looked rather frail.
Zayd ibn al-Harithah however came
forward and said:
“Messenger of Allah, I shall marry
Umm Ayman. By Allah, she is better
than women who have grace and
beauty.”
Zayd and Umm Ayman were
married and were blessed with a
son whom they named Usamah .
The Prophet , loved Usamah as
his own son. Often he played with
him, kissed him and fed him with
his own hands. The Muslims would
say: “He is the beloved son of the
beloved.” From an early age Usamah
distinguished himself in the service
of lslam, and was later given weighty
responsibilities by the Prophet .
When the Prophet migrated to
Yathrib, henceforth to be known as
al-Madinah, he left Umm Ayman
behind in Makkah to look after certain
special affairs in his household.
Eventually she migrated to Madinah
on her own. She made the long and
difficult journey through the desert
and mountainous terrain on foot.
The heat was killing and sandstorms
obscured the way but she persisted,
borne along by her deep love and
attachment for Muhammad . When
she reached Madinah, her feet were
sore and swollen and her face was
covered with sand and dust.
“Ya Umm Ayman! Ya Ummi! (O
Umm Ayman! O my mother!) Indeed
for you is a place in Paradise!”
exclaimed the Prophet when he saw
her. He wiped her face and eyes,
massaged her feet and rubbed her
shoulders with his kind and gentle
hands.
At Madinah, Umm Ayman played
her full part in the affairs of the
Muslims. At Uhud she distributed
water to the thirsty and tended the
wounded. She accompanied the
Prophet on some expeditions, to
Khaybar and Hunayn for example.
Her son Ayman , a devoted
companion of the Prophet was
martyred at Hunayn in the eighth
year after the Hijrah. Barakah’s
husband, Zayd , was killed at the
Battle of Mutah in Syria after a
lifetime of distinguished service to
I April 2012
the Prophet and Islam. Barakah at
this time was about seventy years old
and spent much of her time at home.
The Prophet , accompanied by Abu
Bakr and Umar often visited her
and asked: “Ya Ummi! Are you well?”
and she would reply: “I am well, O
Messenger of Allah so long as Islam
is.”
After the Prophet , had died,
Barakah would often be found with
tears in her eyes. She was once
asked, “Why are you crying?” and
she replied: “By Allah, I knew that the
Messenger of Allah would die but I
cry now because the revelation from
on high has come to an end for us.”
Barakah was unique in that she
was the only one who was so close
to the Prophet throughout his life
from birth till death. Her life was one
of selfless service in the Prophet’s
household. She remained deeply
devoted to the person of the noble,
gentle and caring Prophet . Above
all, her devotion to the religion of
Islam was strong and unshakable.
She died during the caliphate of
Uthman . Her roots were unknown
but her place in Paradise was
assured.
Know Your Audience
Passion Islam
I April 2012
As our current series of Business
articles draws to a close, I’d like
to bring to your attention the most
important topic of all – “Knowing Your
Audience”. It is all very well, knowing
the topics covered in previous
issues, but unless you deliver the
right message to the right audience,
the entrepreneur will not achieve the
goals and objectives they’ve set for
the business.
Let’s assume you have launched
your own business & have chosen
the relevant business entity type,
have written your business &
selling plans, established strategic
partnerships, started trading and
have identified suitable sources
of finance. There comes a time
within the lifecycle of a business,
where additional funds are required,
whether to assist with cash-flow
or for growth and expansion. For
simplicity, we’ll consider three main
sources of finance available to a
typical UK entrepreneur – Family
& Friends, Bank finance, and/or
Business Angel investment. (As
Muslims, it is imperative to confirm
that any such source is halal as per
Islamic directive.)
A mistake most entrepreneurs
make is believing that ONE SIZE
FITS ALL. They deliver the same
presentation to the Bank, to their
Friends and Family, as well as
to Business Angel investors and
wonder why they received little or
no interest in their proposition. This
tactic is surely a recipe for disaster.
Not only do you risk alienating
the ‘audience’ but not delivering
a presentation tailored to your
audience, also shows apathy and
lack of focus. This is a sure sign for
whichever audience the entrepreneur
BUSINESS FEATURE
is presenting to needs to be
respected. Give them the information
they would specifically be interested
in. It is therefore imperative that
entrepreneurs do their homework,
find out about their audience prior to
making any presentation.
Think about what topics
you are likely to include in your
presentation for Banks, Business
Angel Investors, and Friends and
family? Think logically – when you
approach a Bank for support, what
kind of support does the Bank
provide? Would they be interested
in a presentation which covers the
benefits and features of your product/
service, covers investment and
achievements to date, management
expertise and competitor
information? Yes they definitely
would. Would Banks be interested in
a presentation that includes an equity
amount in exchange for funding? No,
they certainly wouldn’t. UK Banks are
not in the business of taking equity
in exchange of cash support. The
type of presentation Banks would be
interested in is one which not only
includes relevant topics but also
one which clearly shows how the
entrepreneur intends to repay the
Bank debt.
These claims should be fully
backed by market research & any
other evidence that can illustrate the
entrepreneur’s repayment claims.
The presentation duration shouldn’t
be longer than 20 minutes. As a rule
of thumb, a minute per slide.
Similarly, entrepreneurs must
ask the question, what kind of
presentation would Business
Angels be interested in? For an
entrepreneur to keep the attention
of such a sophisticated audience,
I 25
the presentation must at the very
least include basic information
about the product/service as
included for Banks, but must also
include valuation of the company
and how much equity is on offer in
exchange for investment. In addition,
presentations for business angels
should not be as long as a piece
of thread. Ideally the presentation
should last no longer than 15
minutes. Same principal applies – a
minute per slide.
Where friends and family are
concerned, I recommend treating
them as Business Angel Investors
if they are taking an equity stake in
your business and as Banks if they
are lending you funds (As per Islamic
directive, any loan transactions
entered into must be interest free
– whether with Banks or friends and
family). Presentations delivered to
Banks and Business Angel Investors
are likely to be detailed and quite
number focused. For friends and
family, the entrepreneur must make
things as simple as possible to
ensure full understanding of the
proposition at hand.
It is important to remember that
when approaching friends and
family for cash support by way of a
loan or investment in the business,
entrepreneurs can often be naïve.
In their excitement, they tend to
ignore how quickly relations may
be affected should the business
not go to plan. As such, I always
recommend that any transaction
where money changes hands, is
always a formal one – even where
friends and family are involved. At
the very least your friends & family,
just like banks & investors, will
want to know how much return they
can expect and when in return for
supporting the business by a cash
loan or investment.
About the Author
Passion Islam Business Articles
series as published since October
2011, have been submitted by Aisha
Ejaz, Managing Director, Noor
Business Services Ltd. For further
information, Aisha can be contacted
at [email protected]
Islamic Disclaimer
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to ensure that their income is halal
and is obtained through halal means.
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I April 2012
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