Voters in a nationwide referendum, in Switzerland have approved a ban on the construction of new minarets. Whist for many Muslims in the West this was not surprising considering the rising anti-foreigner attitude in Switzerland. For many Muslims in the Muslim world this may have come as a surprise. The nation in the Alps, known for its ski resorts and banking industry may even be unknown to many Muslims in the Islamic world. 

The Swiss ban should not be viewed in isolation, it is part of a general campaign by the Capitalist nations and now Western populations who view Islam with disdain and threatening the very way of life the West has embraced.

Adnan Khan writes from Pakistan

Today, Pakistan has over 6 millions citizens who are over the age of 65. Such people witnessed the partition, some survived the treacherous journey from Amritsar to Lahore, whilst others left all their livelihoods and in effect migrated to the new nation. The creation of Pakistan, the struggle and the sacrifices are all taught in schools and every Pakistani can reel of Pakistan’s history. Even though 50% of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 15! Pakistan’s history and its constituent parts form part of the Pakistani psyche.

As the worlds leaders gather in New York at the UN Climate Summit in an attempt to carve some deal in time for the Copenhagen conference in 10 weeks time. A deal on the climate looks mission impossible

Reducing carbon emission is about a lifestyle change in the west but in the developing world it is a matter of life and death. The climate change debate is incredibly western centric. Using growing fears in the west over carbon emissions to take a pot-shot at the relatively recent economic growth in China and India is profoundly disingenuous given that since the industrial revolution the west has been solely responsible for most of the carbon dioxide emissions in the world today.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Muslims would agree on one thing when it comes to his comments to Parliament about the burqa, and that is he didn’t make the remarks that he did in order to start a debate or discussion, he did it with the clearest of intentions, to insult, hinder and ultimately frighten those who are so obviously regaining, without compromise, their Islamic identity.

It is a sign of subjection and is a symbol of “women’s enslavement”. If one had heard that in isolation one may be forgiven for thinking of the endless enslavement of women whose bodies are used and abused in order to sell the health and beauty products. You may even think of the women who suffer from abduction from their home countries only to be brought over into countries such as France to be prostitutes; women who suffer violence, 400 a year die at the very hands of their spouse, women such as Sarkozy wife, who is an acclaimed former nude model. But he was speaking of a piece of cloth.

In the continuation of the task to heal the bonds which had been disrupted by the Bush administration, Obama has recently visited Russia to add them to his list of compliant helpers. Within his time there he emphasised the similarities in their interests carefully highlighting only issues which they both agree upon. Such as not only reducing their nuclear arsenal but also of other countries amassing nuclear weapons of their own, such as North Korea and in the Middle East, stating: “we should be united in opposing North Korea’s efforts to become a nuclear power, and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

Zardari’s regime, announced on 7^th June 2009 that it was setting up a 7-member ‘Sufi Advisory Council’ (SAC) with the aim of combating extremism and fanaticism by spreading Sufism in the country. Many in the west have made it no secret that they see Sufism as a way to promote western interests and values within the Muslim world. In the 2005 RAND Report – Civil Democratic Islam, it states as a part of the west’s strategy to ‘Assertively Promote the Values of Western Democratic Modernity: ‘Build up the stature of Sufism. Encourage countries with strong Sufi traditions to focus on that part of their history and to include it in their school curricula. Pay more attention to Sufi Islam.’

The EU has a population of 500 million, the Muslim Ummah in Europe total 53 million, once again the Ummah is being urged to participate and engage in this week’s European election. Whilst European nations are witnessing a decline in participation the Muslim Ummah is being urged by various domestic politicians and by some within the Muslim community to not just vote in the upcoming European election but actively participate.

I was born in Zitácuaro, a small town 130 kilometres from Mexico City. Mexico has a long history which is dominated by the period when it was a Spanish colony. The country’s heritage is from the Aztec, Maya and other Pre-Hispanic civilizations and today continues to prevail over the nation’s customs. This legacy remains not only in the folklore, the food, the character and the looks of modern Mexicans but also in the way they have combined the pagan native religions with the Catholicism taught by the Spaniards. This is why like most Mexicans I also grew up as a Catholic in a very superstitious environment where it was difficult to escape from the Church. Catholicism dominated the nation to such an extent that after Brazil Mexico has the world’s largest population of Catholics in the world.

Once upon a time, in a land far away, I was a Hindu.

Among the bonuses of being a revert to Islam (inshaAllah going to Heaven is a bit handy) is the conversation starter. Even the least practicing Muslims seem to smile when someone takes their shahada.

I had always considered myself to be a fairly religious Hindu. Many of my ancestors were Hindu priests, I was a strict vegetarian, never drank alcohol, was known to pray and sit up with my mum until the early hours of the morning discussing my favourite chapter of the Gita. I was not looking for another religion.

With the admission of Barak Obama as the new US President events are beginning to move extremely quickly in the region surrounding Pakistan and Afghanistan. Two Muslim countries strategically located next to energy rich Central Asia.

Obama outlined in his election campaign that he considers Pakistan to be the main source of terror rather than Afghanistan and will send troops across the border into Pakistan if the government fails to act. It was actually on the eve of his inauguration that the US launched a drone attack into Pakistan killing many innocent civilians, in effect showing the Pakistani establishment that Obama means what he says. What we are witnessing is a continuation of Bush’s policies.

Israel finally launched its ground offensive in Gaza after carpet bombing the strip indiscriminately, slaughtering and massacring hundreds. Many across the world – Muslim and non-Muslim have watched in horror as Israel continued to churn out lies and as pictures of Israeli bombardment beamed around the world. Even the usual pro-Israeli influential elements within the global media have been unable to defend Israel as images of dead bodies dumped outside hospitals were beamed around the world.

Whilst the Global financial crisis gets into full swing some of the world’s biggest banks have revealed that they have been victims of a fraud which has lost $50bn. Bernard Madoff, former chairman of Nasdaq, the US technology exchange, set up his Investment Securities nearly half a century ago. He also ran a separate hedge fund business for which he has been charged with fraud in what is being described as one of the biggest-ever cases.

In a well choreographed press conference with Nouri al-Maliki – America’s keeper in Iraq, one Iraqi journalist showed what the welcome President Bush should be given in every Muslim capital. Unlike our treacherous and supine leaders, this Iraqi journalist declared, “this is a farewell kiss you dog” and flung his shoes at the President and then declared, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”

As the financial crisis that has engulfed the world gets worse free market ideologues are finding it more and more difficult to defend Capitalism. State intervention the ultimate taboo of the free market has become their best friend throughout the crisis. As each government bailout one after the other is unable to stem the panic selling of speculators, Capitalists are falling back on some fundamental arguments to protect and defend their way of life:

For many Muslims across the world the 1.8 million Muslims in the UK represent a success story unmatched anywhere in the world where Muslim immigration has taken place. With over 1000 mosques, the adoption of halaal food across the nations institutes and high street chains, Muslim MP’s and a dozen Islamic schools, for many the Ummah in Britain has achieved more living in dar ul-Kufr than Muslims in the Islamic world. Muslim thinkers in the West such as Tariq Ramadhan and journalist Yasmine Ali Bai Brown have consistently asserted that the freedom to practice Islam afforded to the ummah in Britain is not available anywhere in the world even in the Muslim world.

By: Imam Issam Amirah – Jerusalem

It has become a yearly practice that Hizb-ut-Tahrir (the Party of Liberation) operates more actively as the end of the Month of Rajab approaches. On 28th of Rajab, 1342 AH, 3rd March, 1924, the Ottoman Caliphate State was abolished; Islam ceased to be implemented. This is viewed as a big catastrophe by the Hizb, and should be the case for every Muslim, in view of the heavy losses encountered from the Khilafah’s absence.

In an interview with Fox News, when asked about the possibility of granting General Musharraf asylum in the USA, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made the statement.

“This is an issue that is not on the table, and I just want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan.”

On route to Beijing, Bush declared in Bangkok, “The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings. So America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly, and labor rights not to antagonize China’s leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential. We press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs”.

Yet at home Aafia Siddiqui, a Muslim woman scientist who, according to London based ‘Cage Prisoners’ was kidnapped, abused, imprisoned without trial or knowledge of her whereabouts for 5 years and then shot in the chest is now going to stand ‘trial’ in New York.

Russia has sent its army into Georgia in what is a full blown war, its repercussions, will have ripples well beyond the region and represents a narrative which to some extent is miraculous.

When Studying for my degree at University in 1998, all my economics classes were about the failure of communism and what it had done to Russia – We all considered by 1998, a good 8 years after the fall of communism, Russia dead and buried, in 1998 it has a financial crash, where the rouble took a tumble causing inflation in a nation already reeling from economic crisis. The IMF and World Bank couldn’t wait to get their hands on Russia, converting a centrally driven economy into a successful free market economy was always their dream. The IMF and World Bank sold states assets and utilities for the cheap and the Oligarchs made millions.

Pakistan’s chaotic situation has become that much more confused with the announcement that Musharraf is to be impeached ‘in principle’ by the Pakistani parliament led by the PPP and PML(N). However this is by no means a certainty; in Pakistan’s fluid political scene, such announcements amount to very little until the event actually comes to pass. We only have to look at the promise made by both the PML(N) and PPP to restore the judges deposed by Musharraf and see that months have passed by yet the Chief Justice and his fellow judges have still not been restored.

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