Condolences to the families of the Orlando shooting victims

ISNA Offers Condolences to the Families of the Orlando Shooting Victims (Plainfield, IN 06/12/16) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is outraged by the horrific shooting in Orlando, Florida.  We stand with the victims of this senseless act of violence and mourn with the families of the victims and pray for their ease and comfort during this time of difficulty. In a statement, ISNA President Azhar Azeez said: "ISNA sends its condolences and prayers to the families of the victims. We urge the community to stand united against all acts of violence." We encourage our members to donate to help with the immediate, short-term needs of the grieving families and our members in Florida to visit a blood center today to donate blood to help the victims of the shooting. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is the largest and oldest Islamic umbrella organization in North America. Its mission is to foster the development of the Muslim community, interfaith relations, civic engagement, and better understanding of Islam. - END - CONTACT: Faryal Khatri, ISNA Communications Department, 317-373-0246,  fkhatri@isna.net

Muhammad Ali's funeral

American Muslims Asked to Prepare for Muhammad Ali Funeral Prayer   (Plainfield, IN 06/06/16) A coalition of national American Muslim organizations is asking local communities to make preparations to attend the funeral prayer (salat al-janazah) for Muhammad Ali scheduled for Thursday, June 9, 2016 at 12pm EST at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The service is open to the public. Doors will open at 9am EST.  Community members are encouraged to use #GenAli on social media to explain how they will continue his legacy.   Communities that are unable to send representatives to the Louisville funeral prayer are being asked to organize local prayers, called salat al-ghaib, which are performed for Muslims who have died in a distant place. Those prayers could be offered either before the nightly Ramadan taraweeh or after jummah prayers on Friday.   Yesterday, local and national Muslim leaders held a news conference in Washington, D.C., to honor the legacy of Muhammad Ali.   Video: U.S. Muslim Leaders Honor Muhammad Ali's Legacy at D.C. News Conference in front of Masjid Muhammad Article: Muslim Leaders at DC Mosque Remember Muhammad Ali      Later this week, a suggested sermon (khutba) outlining Muhammad Ali's importance to the American Muslim community and to the way Islam is viewed in our nation will be distributed to Islamic prayer leaders (imams) who will conduct the normal congregational prayers (jummah) this Friday. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is the largest and oldest Islamic umbrella organization in North America. Its mission is to foster the development of the Muslim community, interfaith relations, civic engagement, and better understanding of Islam. - END - CONTACT: Faryal M. Khatri, ISNA Communications Department, 317-373-0246,  fkhatri@isna.net

there is no doubt

This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].

THE QURAN 2:2

Dadri killing a blot on India

This is with reference to the news report “Murder over beef: Two more arrested.” (Oct. 4)

The brutal killing of the 55-year-old Muhammad Ikhlaq over rumors that he ate/stored beef in Dadri, a small town on the outskirts of the national capital Delhi has come as the most shocking event in recent times.

This is beyond imagination that people can go to this extent by killing their fellow human beings on the issue of one’s personal beliefs on what to eat and what not to.

I learned some of those involved in the murder were friends of Ikhlaq and would cook and dine together. Members of both the communities would join each other’s festival and celebrate festivals like Eid, Diwali and Rakhsha Bandhan for decades.

Then how come the same man though of a different faith is dragged out of his house by a frenzy mob of 200 Hindus and beaten to death for allegedly consuming beef, which is banned? It is not yet confirmed whether he ate beef or mutton, which in any case is under police investigation.

This heinous crime brings to the fore the simmering communal tension prevailing among communities and should be condemned by all sane people of the country.

However it looks like part of a very sinister but disturbing pattern that is out to tear apart the fabric of communal harmony. This takes us to another logical question: Are we moving from democracy to a state of mobocracy?

If India is to be a respectable and developed country, we have to stop all this nonsense of religions bigotry. Religions must be confined to one’s personal beliefs and should not be imposed on others. If not restrained, such madness will have a very serious impact on social lives as also on the economic sector.

The governments — both the center and provincial — must ensure that such incidents are not repeated and offenders are brought to justice even if that needs fast-track courts.

 — Ramesh G. Jethwani, Bangalore, India


 http://www.arabnews.com/letters/news/815886

Will Take Up Dadri Mob Killing With UN

Uttar Pradesh minister Mohammad Azam Khan today sought intervention of United Nations to look into the "miseries" of minorities in India.

Citing the lynching of a Muslim man following rumours that he ate beef in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri area, Mr Khan said he was disturbed by a series of incidents against minorities and would urge the UN to take up the matter with the Indian government.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mr Khan also attacked RSS accusing it of working to turn secular and pluralistic India into a majoritarian theocratic nation as 'Hindu Rashtra'.

"Facist forces are attempting to create a divide in the society by launching a hate campaign against Muslims and Dadri incident is an example of this," the Uttar Pardesh minister told reporters in Lucknow.

In his letter, the minister said there had been sporadic incidents of ethnic or communal clashes, but the real essence of freedom and secularism has never been under question or threat as it was for last one and half years.

"The new government took oath in the name of Constitution of India, but its motivation, inspiration and guiding light also comes from some other fundamentalist and extra constitutional authority named RSS," he said.

"The government provides tacit support to those campaign or programmes that create fear among minorities and intimidate them," he alleged.

Azam Khan said that to form government in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states, RSS certainly needed an issue on which two communities come face to face.

"After Babri Masjid incident, Dadri was held as it is close to Delhi and the BJP-ruled central government found it easy to use its influence and create tension," he alleged.

"I humbly request to the highest international body to look into our miseries and take care of us and impress upon the Indian government to stick to international agreements and allow to flourish secularism and plurality in the country and not to push the agenda of extra constitutional authorities to turn India into theocratic majority Hindu nation," Mr Khan said.

The minister also said he wanted President Pranab Mukhrjee and PM Modi to call a round table conference and discuss campaign against Muslims in the name of beef and attempts to turn India into a Hindu nation.

Accusing the NDA government of keeping double standard, he said, "They talk something before the world leaders and the UNGA, but do opposite and provide tacit support to RSS and its affiliates to intimidate minorities in the country to convert India into majority Hindu nation."

To a question, he said that narrating his pain before the UN should not be taken as a statement against India. "The UN was constituted to ensure that human rights were not violated in the world and it is viewed equally, therefore I have narrated my pain before it (through the letter)," he said.

A week ago, Mohammad Akhlaq, a resident of Greater Noida, was dragged out of his house after a mob alleged he had killed a cow in his house.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/will-take-up-dadri-mob-killing-with-un-says-minister-azam-khan-1226291?utm_source=taboola

Mob in Indian village kills man over cow slaughter

Bisara, India (CNN)By and large, Hindus and Muslims live side-by-side in relative peace across India. But every now and then, the calm is punctured by moments of madness — and deadly violence. The sleepy, dusty, mostly Hindu village of Bisara, near the country's capital, became such a place this week.

According to eyewitness accounts, this blood-curdling sequence of events unfolded in a matter of minutes Monday night: A Hindu temple announced sacrilege; villagers formed an angry mob; and normal people, fueled by each other's presence, became assailants.

A Muslim blacksmith, Mohammad Akhlaq, and his son Danish were battered by people who knew them. The father died, and his son was has been hospitalized with critical injuries.

What triggered the bloody assault? A rumor that a cow was slaughtered in that nondescript neighborhood, home to mostly Rajputs — a high-ranking valiant Hindu caste meaning "sons of the kings."

In Hinduism, cows are deemed sacred and their killing a sin.

'It was blood all over my son's face. He is gone'

"Two young men came to me that night and asked me to announce on the loudspeaker that there's a carcass of a cow lying nearby," the temple priest, Sukhdas Mahatma, told CNN.

"They pressured me to make that announcement. What could I do? I had to make that announcement," he said, moving his fingers on his flowing white beard.

Asghari Begum sits broken and bruised after Monday's mob attack.

Soon after his broadcast, villagers crowded around the temple compound, and decided to set out for Akhlaq's home through the winding, narrow and broken lanes. They believed the 50-year-old blacksmith was the culprit because his faith doesn't prohibit eating beef. And his was one of the two Muslim households in that neighborhood of more than 6,000 people.

"I heard loud bangs on the front door of our house," said Asghari Begum, the mother of Mohammad Akhlaq. "Then I heard them shouting expletives," she said. Before she could react, a group of men scaled the walls and jumped into the house.

The victim's brother, Jameel Ahmed, grieves and demands justice.

"They pushed me, then punched me on my face, in the abdomen," Begum said, pointing to her bruised and swollen eye.

The mob then ran to the first floor of Akhlaq's home and dragged him out, along with 22-year-old Danish. Both were beaten with "whatever they (attackers) could lay their hands on," police superintendent Kiran Sivakumar told CNN.

"It was blood all over my son's face. He is gone," moaned Begum, sitting on a cot in her dark, ground-floor room.

Read: Murder of Hindu man sparks killing of three Muslims

Six arrested

Upstairs, the telltale signs of the raid were still everywhere. A refrigerator that stored meat lay down broken on the floor. The ransacked rooms were still strewn with shattered vases and sewing machines.

A corner of Akhlaq's ransacked room is pictured.

Police have so far arrested six of the 10 men Akhlaq's family has named in their initial police complaint. These were people they knew. More arrests are likely, Sivakumar said.

Unease was palpable in the village as the murder drew widespread media attention. No one in the village admits to being part of the mob.

"My son is innocent. He has been falsely implicated," said Ombir Sisodia, father of one of the jailed men. "He was sick and sleeping when mobs gathered around after the temple announcement," Sisodia said.

Police have seized meat samples from Akhlaq's home for testing. The family says the meat is goat and not beef. Regardless of what kind of meat it is, "it doesn't absolve (the attackers of) the crime," police superintendent Sivakumar said.

Read: Hinduism Fast Facts

Sacredness of cows

Cow slaughter is banned in most of Hindu-majority India, including in Uttar Pradesh.

This year, the western state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai, became one of the latest to outlaw beef.

"The sacredness of cows in India might be a cliché, but it is deeply felt, rooted in the history of Hinduism," said novelist Manil Suri in a New York Times column.

But "imposing ideals from a mythic past is not the answer," he wrote in the April op-ed. "The true lesson to take away from history is how utilitarian goals can shape religious custom. Hinduism has always been a pragmatic religion; what today's India needs is accommodation."

Read: 9 myths about Hinduism -- debunked

Rishabh Pratap and Roshni Majumdar contributed to this report.

An initial version of this story incorrectly stated the number of people killed in the attack. 

 http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/asia/india-mob-murder-beef/index.html

They're drowning

They're drowning

We can't bring little Aylan back, but we can get Europe to agree on an ambitious plan that stops children from drowning in rickety boats, or suffocating in trucks in their desperate search for sanctuary. Let’s show every leader that the public demands urgent ambitious action NOW -- sign and share on Facebook, Twitter, email...everywhere: SIGN NOW Dear friends, This image of a tiny baby lying lifeless on the shore is, like so many, too heartbreaking to watch. What’s really appalling is that instead of being shocked to take urgent action, our leaders are stuck in a fighting match on whose problem this is. But for the first time ever, there’s a glimmer of hope for a solution. After massive public calls to welcome refugees, German Chancellor Merkel is leading efforts to deliver a new, strong European Union plan that would give refuge to people fleeing war and hunger. France is on board, but shamefully the UK, Hungary, and other Eastern European countries have been blocking this emergency action. Whether EU politicians lead the world to a humane 21st century refugee plan, or turn their backs, depends on how much they feel the public demands it. That’s where we come in. Right now we are at a tipping point. It’s time for us to lead our leaders. EU Ministers are meeting in the next few days to set their positions, so there’s no time to lose. Join the call for a plan to give these terrified families safe haven now -- Avaaz will deliver our proposal to all key decision makers before their summit: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_drownings_us/?bBeiKhb&v=64438 Every day, hundreds of traumatised and persecuted families are crossing to Europe. With no peace in sight to wars like Syria, their choice to board a boat may be the only one they have. All they want is safety. The UN says nearly one million people need urgent help, and increasing safe and legal routes is the best way to reduce the numbers risking their lives, and curb violent people trafficking. There is a viable emergency plan: 1. urgent and massive increase in relocation and resettlement of refugees, that shares responsibility across the EU, and reunites families, 2. financial and technical support to countries on the frontline of the crisis like Greece, and 3. ensuring no security actions hinder rescue efforts or put those seeking sanctuary at risk. Germany is opening its doors and championing this line, but Hungary is building a razor-wire fence, other Eastern European countries are refusing to take more than dozens of families, and the UK has completely refused to take part in any EU emergency package. We know massive public support can influence politicians -- when the Icelandic government said it would only take 50 asylum seekers earlier this week, 10,000 Icelandic people said they would house them. Now the government is reconsidering their commitment. Thousands of ordinary citizens are choosing compassion and rejecting the closed-door policies some leaders are pushing. Let’s supercharge this wave of humanity and ensure narrow political interests and fear don’t define how Europe and the World respond to the crisis of our time. Join the urgent call to EU leaders and tell everyone: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_drownings_us/?bBeiKhb&v=64438 This heartbreaking human drama is beyond many of our worst nightmares and Avaaz members have been rallying to help refugees since the crisis started -- nearly 2,000 signed up to volunteer in assistance programmes, we gave 500,000 USD to a crucial rescue operation in the Mediterranean, we ran a massive aid mission to the Greek islands, and then lobbied fiercely until Europe signed an initial deal. But the magnitude of this crisis means we have to push for more, NOW! Let's raise history's loudest ever "Refugees Welcome" cry before the leaders meet. With hope and determination, Luis, Alice, Mia, Mais, Luca, Spyro, and the whole Avaaz team Sources: A dead baby becomes the most tragic symbol yet of the Mediterranean refugee crisis (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/02/a-dead-baby-becomes-the-most-tragic-sym... Europe's halting response to migrant crisis draws criticism as toll mounts (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/29/world/europe/europe-migrant-refugee-crisis.html EU ministers to meet in two weeks to find solution (The Guardian) http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/30/migration-crisis-germany-france-britain-demand-urgent-m... Migrant crisis a failure of European policy, UN says (Aljazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/migrant-crisis-failure-european-policy-150806172330199.html Europe 'must open official channels for migrants' (BBC) http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34049512

PICTURE MAKERS

PICTURE MAKERS
 

Once Prophet (saw) entered into the house of 'Aishah (rah)  where he saw a curtain is containing pictures. His face changed and he tore it into pieces and said, "The people who receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers."


    Al-Bukhari in Kitab al-Adab no. 6109; Muslim in Kitab Az-Zakah no 2107



The Hadith and others are general for every kind of representation, whether it has a shadow, like a figure, or if it does not have a shadow, which is like a drawing on a wall, paper, clothing and so forth. It is confirmed that the Prophet (SAW) entered the Ka’bah and it contained pictures and he asked for a pitcher of water and he began to efface them, saying,


An exception to this ruling during this time is money containing the picture of kings as well as passports and identification cards. Due to the need and necessity of these items, it is allowed to carry them according to need.
 -Shaikh Ibn Jibreen


The Muslim should submit to the teachings of Islam and not argue with them by saying, "But I am not worshipping them or prostrating to them!" If we think about just one aspect of the evil caused by the prevalence of photographs and pictures in our times, we will understand something of the wisdom behind this prohibition: that aspect is the great corruption caused by the provoking of physical desires and subsequent spread of immorality caused by these pictures.

The Muslim should not keep any pictures of animate beings in his house, because they will prevent the angels from entering.

 The Prophet (saw) said: "The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or pictures."

    Al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 10/380 


Allah(swt) knows the best

QUR'AN

        To read or listen QUR'AN please click the below link



               http://www.recitethequran.com/1:1

Does Islam preach extremism?

    In the name of Allah…

    Does Islam preach extremism?

    An intensive campaign by Muslims against extremism.

    Among the world religions, Islam is the finally reintroduced religion and since its reintroduction for fourteen centuries, it has attracted into its fold almost one fourth of the world’s total population.

    Even people who do not accept Islam have been wholeheartedly appreciative of many of the salient features of Islam. The outstanding characteristics such as the following few have charmed the non-Muslims.

    1. Clear concept of God.

    2. No mediators or priests between God and man.

    3. Strong and vehement opposition to the superstitious practices.

    4. The brotherhood it has created at the global level by abolishing the divisions on the basis of caste, language and race.

    Yet a few among them entertain hatred and deep grievances against Islam. The belief that Islam favours extremism and creates extremists is fast spreading. Among the causes that make the non Muslims hate Islam, this belief plays a prime role.

    People who think that Islam favours extremism can be divided into two groups.

    The first group of people has come to that conclusion on seeing the activities of few people among the Muslims and on observing the media reports related to Muslims.

    The second group has fallen under this impression on reading the Quranic verses related to war and learning about the wars lead by Prophet Muhammed (Sal).

    Let us see whether the notions held by the second group is correct or not.

    There are verses in the Holy Quran that stress the need for war. It is also undeniably true that the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) had led a number of wars. These facts are clear and apparent and there is nothing to hide.

    If they look into the matter in the right perspective, and approach it in the way it should be understood, they will realize that they have come to a wrong conclusion.

    The life of The Prophet Muhammed (sal) may be divided in to three stages.

    ü The first stage is his life from his birth up to his fortieth age.

    ü

    ü The second stage is thirteen years of his life starting from his fortieth age when he introduced himself as the Messenger of Allah up to the end of his stay in his native place at the age of fifty three.

    ü

    ü The third stage is his ten years of life starting from his expulsion from his birth place, arrival to Medinah, winning the hearts of the Medinites and establishing a rule ,till his death at the age of sixty three.

    Among these three stages , in the first stage he lived a simple life by doing business. He did not preach an y doctrine. Therefore his first period does not give any room for criticism.

    In the second period of his life, he faced untold miseries at the hands of his relatives and the people of his native place. He along with his followers were ostracized and expelled from the town. Many of his followers were murdered. Many were tortured. Though the Holy Prophet (sal) was born in Kuraish, the highly respected tribe by Meccans, he was not spared and subjected to torture.

    He had all the reasons to justify his action if he took up arms and retaliate. Even his followers asked him to do so. But all through these thirteen years he never ordered his followers to retaliate nor commanded to kill any individual. Instead, the only reply he gave all these years was ‘he was commanded to keep patience’. It is true that there are Muslims facing torture and sufferings now in many parts of the world. But it is to be borne in mind that what the Holy Prophet (sal) and his followers underwent was thousands of time severer than the ones faced by the people of our time.

    Then he was pushed to an extreme situation where he found out that he could not live in his native town anymore, he underwent an arduous travel of 300 miles to reach Medina and won the heart of the people and established a rule there.

    Even after coming to Medina and establishing a rule, his enemies did not permit him to live peacefully. They waged many wars against him. They instigated other tribes against him. At one stage, Arabs of all the regions forged a front against him and waged a war. This is called the war of Trench in the History of Islam.

    Only when the war was imposed on him by his enemies, he involved in war in order to safeguard his country and its citizens. What would a country do? Or what should a country under such a dangerous situation do? Is it not the duty of the head of the affected state to safeguard the country and its subjects? The Prophet Muhammed (sal) did the same thing. He did not involve himself in war with an aim to root out non Muslims.

    The Jews and Christians lived peacefully under his rule. Once the Prophet Muhammed (sal) mortgaged his armour to a Jew. He could not recover it from the Jew till the end of his life. Such is the economic freedom the Jews enjoyed in his rule. The Jews even approached him to get solutions for the disputes that arose among them.

    So, the verses found in the Holy Quran enjoining war have been revealed only after the establishment of the Muslim rule and the command is directed to the Government. The people of that period would not have accepted Islam if it is declared that war should be waged against all non Muslims. People had understood that the command of the Quran meant only to the Government and the Country. Therefore people came in groups after groups to embrace Islam.

    Here it is important to note that the commands of the Quran on war are directed towards governments and countries and not towards individuals and groups. The individuals and groups are not entitled to wage war.

    Quran talks about the crime and punishments such as amputation of hands for theft, death sentence or 100 lashes for prostitution, tit for tat and eye for eye etc. But the execution of the laws of the Quran cannot be taken up by individuals and groups. On the contrary, the responsibility to dispense justice rests with only a Muslim Government.

    Even while commanding to wage war, the Holy Quran lays many conditions to the Muslim Governments.

    Don’t initiate war.

    And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly Allah likes not the transgressors.

    The Holy Quran 2:190

    This verse commands not to make aggression and not to cross the limits.

    Don’t fight with those who withdraw from the battle field.

    If they cease, Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. (2:192)

    And fight them until no fitnah and worship is for Allah(alone). But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against zalimun. (2:193)

    These verses clearly state that if the enemies withdrew from the fighting, they should not be attacked.

    Accepting the peace offer.

    But if they incline to peace, you also incline to it and (put your) trust in Allah. Verily He is the All Hearer, the All Knower. (8:61)

    This verse says that If the enemy country come forward with peace offer, a Muslim country however powerful it might be, should accept it.

    And if anyone of the Mushrikun (disbelievers) seeks your protection, then grant him permission so that he may hear the word of Allah(the Quran), and then escort him to where he can be secure, that is because they are men who knw not. (9:06)

    Islam is the only religion that asks to escort the enemy who seeks protection to a safer place.

    The Quranic command is asking the competent Governments and countries, not the individuals or groups, to face the enemy in the war. But some individuals and groups misunderstand that the verse urges individuals and groups to take up arms and fight. They act accordingly.

    The fact that the Prophet Muhammed (sal) never waged a war when he was not in power makes it clear that these misguided people’s point of view is totally wrong. On the contrary to their belief that they try to save the religion and its people by their self styled foolish activities, they rather cause harm immensly.

    Allah has not given victory to any such individuals and groups in any part of the world.

    Above all , the attitude of such people is responsible for the slow decline in the number of people who hold a liking for Islam.

    Therefore Islam never preaches extremism. It may be easily understood that Islam is a religion of peace which preaches humane life and love.


http://www.tntj.net/281143.html

Saudis retrace route of Abraha’s army that came to destroy Kaaba

A group of young Saudi history enthusiasts has retraced the path of the People of the Elephant who tried to destroy the Holy Kaaba centuries ago.
The Holy Qur’an, in a short chapter, briefly refers to the story of the army of elephants led by Abraha Al-Ashram, who was a governor of Yemen. God destroyed Abraha and his army that included 13 elephants, by sending flocks of birds that dropped small stones on them.
“There never fell a stone on a soldier except it dissolved his flesh and burst it into pieces … Abraha Al-Ashram fled while his flesh was bursting into pieces and died on the way back to Yemen,” said the 14th century scholar Ibn Kathir, an authentic Qur’an commentator.
During their tiring journey across mountains and rough terrain, the young Saudi men took photographs of important landmarks, beginning from north of Najran, to the east of Asir, and then east of Baha.
Some of the most important historical sites along the way included inscriptions of elephants on rocks in the Al-Qahr Mountain, southeast of Tathlith; an old well in Hafaer, east of Asir; and a paved road near Kara in Aqeeq principality in the Baha region.
Mohammed Al-Amry, head of the geology department at King Saud University, said he had seen the path of Abraha and his army in Tathlith and Baha. “The army had passed the Arabian shield region comprising rocks and there were writings in the Humairiya language on some mountains,” he said.
According to historical Islamic sources, Abraha, who was a Christian, had thought of building a church similar to the Kaaba in Sanaa. He wanted the Arabs to perform the pilgrimage in Sanaa instead of Makkah, with the intention of diverting trade and benefits to Yemen. He presented the idea to the then king of Ethiopia who agreed to it.
Abraha built the church but the Arabs refused to come for pilgrimage in Sanaa. This infuriated him, prompting him to form an army to invade Makkah and demolish the Kaaba. He defeated all Arab armies on the way until he reached Makkah where he was attacked by the flocks of birds sent by the Almighty.

http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/641556

300,000 Indian Haj applicants turned down

An estimated 300,000 Indian Muslims did not have their applications approved for the Haj this year, according to reports.
About 136,000 are performing the pilgrimage this year, according to the Indian Consulate. There are fewer Indians in the Kingdom because of the 20 percent quota reduction stemming from the expansion of the Grand Mosque.
India has 150 million Muslims in a population of over a billion people. For many it is a dream come true to be on Haj.
Islam Hyder, 33, told a local newspaper he was ecstatic to be in the Kingdom. “This is the dream of my life." He said that there are celebrations for days in local communities when a person goes on Haj.
Women pilgrims adorn themselves with henna and buy special clothes for the journey, he said.
Hyder's mother said she had been waiting for this moment for more than 55 years. She raised her hands skywards and said: “I pray for the Almighty to restore peace and security among humans all over the world. I pray for my country India to always grow and prosper.”

 http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/639176

US activists protest against Modi visit

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the US on his maiden visit since assuming office in May.

It's a moment of triumph for Modi who was denied a US visa in 2005 for his alleged failure as the state chief minister to control the 2002 religious riots in Gujarat.

His supporters have planned to organise an elaborate welcome ceremony that includes an address by the right-wing leader at the famous Madison Square GARDEN IN New York City. Close to 20,000 people are expected to attend the grand reception.

But there are human rights activists who CONTINUE to oppose his visit to the US. They say that justice has not been served to the riot victims.

Al Jazeera spoke to some of the activists who have planned to protest against the Indian prime minister's visit.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, 47, New York

"We are holding a 'Citizens Court' in Washington DC on September 30 in front of the White House. Our purpose of doing it at the precise location and time of the Obama-Modi summit is to remind the world and the American public that just because Modi had to be let into the country as head of a foreign government, the plight of religious minorities in India has not improved, actually it has worsened. Modi, his party BJP and associated groups have launched their onslaught on the religious minorities with renewed zeal. Today, religious minorities in India face existential threat. The Citizens Court that will indict Modi on September 30 is the 'voice of the voiceless'."

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a human rights lawyer and LEGAL ADVISER of Sikhs for Justice

Nishrin Jafri, 49, Delaware

"The US visa ban had given me a sense of relief, that within India and outside India, people are aware of the happenings and the atrocities that are being inflicted based on religion and under the banner of democracy."

"I am sad and could not believe that the US government would turn its back on us, but then this did not surprise me. I am not in politics, but I am aware of decades of US international policies and dealings, why should we be expecting something special. But I do know that the US understands the entire situation and what happened in Gujarat…"

"People just do not go out to kill in TRUCKS IN the thousands all over a state unless it is preplanned and organised. In broad daylight on February 28, 2002, a mob of 10,000 people had surrounded 300 people, burning, looting killing children and women with swords and knives, throwing fire bombs and burning them alive. My father was cut into pieces, tortured for hours before and then his head was paraded around."

Nishrin's father, Ahsan Jafri, a former Member of Parliament, was among the 69 people of Gulberg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, who were killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots

Dr Shaik Ubaid, 52, New York

"We are protesting outside Madison Square Garden on Friday. It is to protest against the massacre in Gujarat and how the victims still have not received any justice. We are also protesting against the ongoing atrocities and hate mongering [against minorities] that is going on in India... We will not allow him to destroy India’s secularism and pluralism."

"The first thing he should do is put an end to the propaganda of 'love-jihad' and the re-conversion of Christians and Muslims to Hindus…"

"We want to say to him that abandon the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [parent body of BJP]. Stop impeding speedy process of justice."

"He should apologise first and foremost. It is completely unacceptable that he did not apologise."

Dr Shaik Ubaid is a member of Alliance for Justice and Accountability, one of the key organisers of a protest outside Madison Square Garden in New York

Raja Swamy, 43, Arkansas

"We are extremely disappointed that the Obama administration wilfully ignored several years of principled US government policy that denied Mr Modi a visa due to his sordid human rights record. Successive State Department reports identified Modi as a rights violator and cited his role in the 2002 genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. We understand that as the head of government his present visit is facilitated by international protocols. We also recognise that the US approach to policy on the human rights front is invariably subordinated to the perceived economic benefits to US corporations. Last year we supported efforts in the US Congress to place human rights at the centre of the US-India strategic dialogue in order to address this crass and unprincipled practice of ignoring human rights in favour of business…"

Raja Swamy is a member of Ghadar Alliance, an educational/watchdog coalition formed in the wake of the BJP victory in May

Satinath Choudhary, 72, New York

"Modi's elevation to the seat of prime minister of India does not absolve his culpability in the genocide committed in 2002 in Gujarat."

"I am here in New York, I would definitely be going to Madison Square Garden to REGISTER my protest against Narendra Modi."

Satinath Choudhary is associated with Alliance for Social Justice

Kaleem Kawaja, 62, Washington DC

"We felt a blow when he was elected. We don’t have anything against the BJP when [former Prime Minister Atal Bihari] Vajpayee was there, the philosophy was different…"

"It is for Prime Minister Modi to prove everyone wrong. He has an opportunity now, although he has not demonstrated so far. He should get rid of people such as Amit Shah [a close aide of Modi] and Hindu far-right groups. He should be a Vajpayee. He can still be a Hindu nationalist but be a gentle face of Hindu nationalism not an extremist face."

"He has an opportunity to change himself. He thinks for the good of India and if he frees himself from the influence of hardliners then he can do something good. We haven’t totally lost hope in him."

Kaleem Kawaja is a member of Coalition Against Genocide, a group that had successfully lobbied for Narendra Modi’s visa ban in 2005

Follow Priyanka Gupta on Twitter: @priyankagIND

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/09/us-activists-protest-against-modi-visit-2014926193430506158.html

PIO cardholders to get lifetime Indian visa, PM Modi says

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday told a rapturous crowd of NRIs that Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders will get lifetime Indian visa and that American tourists will be given visa on arrival. 

Modi, who arrived at the packed Madison Square Garden to a rousing welcome, announced the merger of PIO and Overseas Citizens of India schemes to facilitate hassle-free travel to the Indian diaspora. 

He announced that PIO card holders staying in India on long-term basis will no longer have to report to the local police station.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PIO-cardholders-to-get-lifetime-Indian-visa-PM-Modi-says/articleshow/43752944.cms

Even today people treat me as an untouchable: Bihar CM

 Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi Sunday revealed that he is still treated as an "untouchable" by some "powerful people" as he is a poor Mahadalit, the most backward among the community.

"Even today, despite my being the chief minister, some powerful people treat me as untouchable because I am a Mahadalit," Manjhi said at a function here.

He said some people washed idols of deities after he performed prayers and rituals in Madhubani district.

"I was specially invited by some people to participate in prayers and offer rituals at a function but a senior leader Ram Lakhan Ram informed me after my return that they washed the idols of the god and goddess and their home as I was an untouchable," he narrated in anguish.

Manjhi, successor to Nitish Kumar who resigned after the Janata Dal-United's lacklustre performance in the Lok Sabha polls, wondered if it was his fault to have been born in a poor scheduled caste family. "People still treat us as if it was a curse to be born in a Mahadalit family," Manjhi said.

He said many people touch his feet to get their work done or take benefit from him but when it comes to social level, they still treat him as an untouchable.

"It is an insult to Mahadalits. It is an example of where we are now and what our mindset is all about," he said.

Manjhi belong to the Musahar community that derives its name from the practice of eating rats after usually hunting for them in paddy fields.

An estimated 2.3 million Musahars live across Bihar in extremely poor condition. Less than five percent of them are literate and most of them make a living as labourers. They are still considered social untouchables despite a law against it.

The Mushahar community was upbeat after 68-year-old Manjhi, who began his life working as a shepherd for an upper caste farmer, became the new chief minister.

Manjhi earned his own livelihood and funded his own education. His father Ramjeet Ram Manjhi was a landless labourer.

He is the third Dalit to become chief minister after Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das.

http://twocircles.net/2014sep28/1411909792.html

Narendra Modi was banned from entering the United States

Washington DC: Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), a broad alliance dedicated to justice and accountability for the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 and to defending India's secular tradition, has marked the occasion of Prime Minister Modi's arrival in the United States with a call to people of all faiths and ideologies, to work with renewed vigor against the repression of minorities and erosion of civil liberties and to combat inflammatory rhetoric with grassroots efforts to foster harmony between different communities.
Narendra Modi was banned from entering the United States since 2005, up until his election to the Prime Minister's post, under the International Religious Freedom Act, for his "egregious violations of religious freedom." The law continues to be on the statute books, and its application in the case of Mr. Modi was sound. However, Mr. Modi is now able to visit the United States, under exemptions normally accorded to heads of state.
CAG has called for the law to be applied to other officials in the Indian administration, such as Mr. Amit Shah, who was only recently implicated in a case of hate speech that contributed to the sectarian violence in Muzaffarnagar in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
"The first 100 days of Mr. Modi's tenure as PM have shown to the world the grave dangers posed by the Hindutva ideology to pluralism and the rule of law," said Dr. Raja Swamy, a spokesperson for CAG. "Since the national elections that brought Modi's party to power, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh alone has witnessed over 600 incidents against the Muslim minority," added Dr. Swamy.
The fact that the growing intolerance under the new dispensation is tearing apart India's social fabric is evident from the following:
A relentless hate campaign against minorities fanned by Parliamentarians from Mr. Modi's own party includes conspiracy theories of Muslims luring Hindu girls into marriage as a form of "love jihad," and the characterizing of madrassas (Islamic religious schools) as dens of terrorism. This has inflamed sectarian feelings and created a sense of siege among minorities.
In BJP-ruled states, draconian laws have been instituted to specifically target Christians. In 50 villages of Chhattisgarh, practice of Christianity has been banned. Tellingly, the Modi administration has remained silent on the growing atmosphere of repression threatening Christians in India, including the forced "re-conversions" of some Christians to Hinduism.
In August, Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the RSS (India's largest Hindu nationalist militia), declared Sikh, Jains and Buddhists, widely recognized as distinct religious communities, as part of Hindu society. He further declared anyone who treated them as distinct religious communities as conspiring against Hinduism. This attack on religious freedom, denying three religious communities even the right of self-identification, went unchallenged by anyone in Mr. Modi's administration.
The Intelligence Bureau of India, which now directly reports to Mr. Modi, has issued a report identifying key human rights, educational and environmental NGOs as anti-national groups hindering the development of India. These groups include Amnesty International, Greenpeace and CORDAID. The Indian government has blocked overseas funding for Amnesty International. Likewise, grants for local NGOs have also been blocked in what can result in a serious erosion of civil rights culture in India.
"Mr. Modi's silence in the face of the hate campaign launched by Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj, and the suppression of relgious freedom and civil liberties, is a sign of either his quiet acquiescence or tacit endorsement of such tactics" said Dr. Shaik Ubaid, a spokesperson for CAG. "Either way, it betrays his unwillingness to go beyond the confines of the Hindutva ideology of which he has been a lifelong proponent," said Dr. Ubaid.
CAG is a broad-based coalition representing a diverse cross section of the religious and political spectrum of the Indian diaspora, including Hindu and other faith-based organizations. The coalition is committed to democracy, pluralism and to the preservation of the idea of India.

http://twocircles.net/2014sep27/1411812312.html#.VCdiw1eeKAp