Headlines:
• Egypt’s Nour Party says Backs New Constitution
• Iran, Turkey Enjoy Close Intelligence Cooperation
• US Halts Shipments from Afghanistan through Pakistan amid Protests
• Malaysia Ruling Party Tightens Embrace of Islam to Gain Support
Egypt’s Nour Party Says Backs New Constitution
Egypt’s second largest Islamist party on Thursday said it would support a new constitution in an upcoming referendum in order to spare the country “more anarchy”. “The Nour Party will take part in this referendum and will take part with “yes”, out of our concern for bringing about stability and so that we spare the country more anarchy,” Younes Makhyoun, the head of the party, said in a news conference. The Nour Party’s support for the army-led political transition has set it apart from Egyptian Islamists who opposed the July 3 overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. [Source: Reuters]
How is it that Makhyoun can now support the elements of the former regime in trampling over the rights of the Egyptian people and drafting a constituting that is full of Kufr and laden with clauses that give full protection to the army? Islam has already decreed the type of rights, laws and rules the people of Egypt should live by and they are not found in the draft constitution. Has not Makhyoun contemplated on the verse of the Quran:
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّـهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّـهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُّبِينًا
“It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.”
(Al Azhab: 36)
Iran, Turkey Enjoy Close Intelligence Cooperation
The Iranian ambassador to Ankara acknowledged last week that Teheran enjoys close ties with Turkey’s intelligence services, a sign of warming relations between the two regional powers. The comments by Alireza Bikdeli come just weeks after US newspaper claims – hotly denied by Ankara – that Turkey blew an Israeli-Iranian spy ring to the authorities in Teheran. Bikdeli told reporters in Ankara that there was “improved cooperation” between the Iranian intelligence and security services and Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT). And he said there were “no grounds” for allegations that Iran was spying on Turkey. The Washington Post said in October that Turkey last year revealed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting in Turkey with Mossad handlers. Separately, Rowhani said that the nuclear deal is “a great opportunity” for expanding strained ties between Teheran and the UAE. [Source: Oman Tribune]
Is it not ironic that Turkey and Iran work together to allegedly expose the spying of the Jewish state, but remain numb when the Jewish state kills innocent Muslims in Palestine and Syria. Furthermore, what is the value of such cooperation, which does nothing to stop Assad’s brutal killing machine against the people of Syria. On the contrary, both Turkey and Iran are providing Assad with money, men and international support to carry out his evil crimes. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:
وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ
“And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.”
(Al Maidah: 2)
US Halts Shipments from Afghanistan through Pakistan amid Protests
The US military has suspended shipments of equipment out of Afghanistan through Pakistan, citing protests that posed a threat to the safety of truck drivers, officials said. The move, announced on Tuesday, came after club-wielding activists in northwest Pakistan forcibly searched trucks for NATO supplies in protest over US drone strikes in the tribal belt. In recent days, there have been anti-US demonstrations in Pakistan calling for an end to the American drone program that targets militants and has also killed more than 300 civilians since 2008, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London. As a result, US officials said they had ordered truckers under US contract to park temporarily at holding areas inside Afghanistan to avoid going into Pakistan. Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said the order affects outgoing shipments that the military calls “retrograde cargo” — equipment and other goods being sent home from military units as the units’ numbers are reduced in Afghanistan. “We have voluntarily halted US shipments of retrograde cargo through the Pakistan Ground Line of Communication (GLOCC) from Torkham Gate through Karachi,” Wright said in a statement. He was referring to the main overland route used by the Americans and NATO to withdraw military hardware from Afghanistan, as part of a troop pullout set to wrap up by the end of 2014. We anticipate that we will be able to resume our shipments through this route in the near future,” he said. [Source: Al Jazeera]
If street protests can halt the delivery of fuel to NATO and frighten America, then what is preventing the Pakistani army from shooting down drowns, closing down American and European embassies, expelling all US personnel and ending all forms of cooperation with the crusader forces. Surely, such action will hasten the flight of America and her allies from the region. The Pakistani army should dwell on the words of Allah سبحانه وتعالى:
وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ اللَّـهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ
“Indeed Allah will help those who help Him. Indeed Allah is Exalted in Might, All-Powerful.”
(Al Haj: 40)
Malaysia Ruling Party Tightens Embrace of Islam to Gain Support
Malaysia’s ruling party, stung by an election setback in May, is burnishing its Islamic credentials, aiming to gain ground among majority ethnic Malay voters in a move that could heighten concern over growing religious intolerance in the multi-racial Southeast Asian country. The coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) suffered its worst election result, hurt by the desertion of ethnic Chinese voters and many urban dwellers, including Muslim Malays, its traditional bedrock of support. Ahead of the party’s annual general assembly this week, Prime Minister Najib Razak shored up his support by making concessions to the party’s conservative wing, rolling back his previous liberal social reforms, boosting steps to favour ethnic Malays economically and stressing UMNO’s role as a protector of the Islamic faith. “UMNO has been upholding Islam over tens of years, setting up Islamic universities and institutions of higher learning and establishing Islamic finance in this country,” Najib told delegates in his keynote opening address on Thursday. “This is where the greatness of Islam is upheld.” [Source: Reuters]
Najib is clearly mistaken, as Islam’s greatness is in its complete implementation and there is only humiliation for those who choose to only implement parts of Islam. Allah says:
أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ ۚ فَمَا جَزَاءُ مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ ۗ وَمَا اللَّـهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
“Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other? What then is the re ward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the day of resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement, and Allah is not at all heedless of what you do.”
(Al Baqrah: 85)