tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56661644194609343442024-02-20T07:23:30.220+05:30Islam and MuslimsDispelling myths, clarifying half-truths & informing what is rightSyed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-1909978174932303162014-10-10T23:54:00.000+05:302018-03-16T22:17:04.852+05:30Ababil and Abraha: Historical evidence to Holy Quranic verses on protection of Holy Kaaba<div>
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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.<br /><br />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. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He presented the idea to the then king of Ethiopia who agreed to it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-69794065683639911112014-10-10T23:48:00.002+05:302018-03-16T22:15:34.096+05:30The story behind Hudhud storm: The Indian Ocean cyclone named after a bird mentioned in the Holy Quran<div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Hudhud and the Holy Quran</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I am a bit surprised when many people and vernacular newspapers in India misspelled the term Hudhud (name of the latest cyclone in the Indian Ocean) though they know that the storm has been named after a bird. For them, Hudhud or hoopoe is the national bird of Israel. But what many have failed to understand is that long before Israel was created, Hudhud had been the darling bird of the Arabs and the Africans. Israel had recognised the importance of Hudhud only a few decades ago. According to Muslim traditions, Hudhud is the winged messenger of Prophet Solomon (Hazrat Sulaiman) who brought the news of the existence of a kingdom ruled by a woman (Queen of Sheba). The hudhud also carried a letter written by King Solomon to the Queen of Sheba.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hudhud (pronounced Hud-Hud) is one of the three birds mentioned by name in the Holy Quran. The other two being crow and quail. Islam holds birds in high esteem and the Holy Quran refers to birds forming communities like we human beings do. In fact, the Holy Quran refers to the term bird five times, and birds as many as 13 times. The Holy Book has also referred to tiny birds called Ababil, which had rained stones on an army of elephants and soldiers when a tyrant king named Abraha came to destroy the Holy Kaaba in Mecca.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Holy Quran refers to Hudhud in Surah Naml or Chapter Ant, which forms the 27th chapter of the Islamic scripture. The following verses of the Holy Quran with reference to Hudhud or hoopoe, the bird, clearly shows that man can understand the language of animals and birds provided he shows interest in the things around him. The study of behaviour of animals is known as ethology and the Holy Quran had made it clear 15 centuries before the term ethology was coined that birds and animals including insects like ants can communicate with man and vice versa. Prophet Sulaiman or Solomon had pioneered the language and behaviour of animals and birds.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here is the Quranic reference: (Quran 27: 20-29): </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"He (Solomon) inspected the birds, and said: "What is the matter that I see not the hoopoe (hudhud)? Or is he among the absentees?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />"I will surely punish him with a severe torment, or slaughter him, unless he brings me a clear reason."<br /><br />"But the hoopoe stayed not long, he (came up and) said: "I have grasped (the knowledge of a thing) which you have not grasped and I have come to you from Saba' (Sheba) with true news.<br /><br />"I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given all things that could be possessed by any ruler of the earth, and she has a great throne.<br /><br />"I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah, and Shaitan (Satan) has made their deeds fair-seeming to them, and has barred them from (Allah's) Way, so they have no guidance,"<br /><br />"Allah, (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Lord of the Supreme Throne!<br /><br />"(Solomon) said: "We shall see whether you speak the truth or you are (one) of the liars.<br /><br />"Go you with this letter of mine, and deliver it to them, then draw back from them, and see what (answer) they return."<br /><br />"She (Queen of Sheba) said: "O chiefs! Verily! Here is delivered to me a noble letter..."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And now something about the bird as explained in the Encyclopedia Britannica:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">hoopoe, (Upupa epops), strikingly crested bird found from southern Europe and Africa to southeastern Asia, the sole member of the family Upupidae of the roller order, Coraciiformes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">About 28 centimetres (11 inches) long, it is pinkish brown on the head and shoulders, with a long, black-tipped, erectile crest and black-and-white barred wings and tail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The hoopoe takes insects and other small invertebrates by probing the ground with its long, downcurved bill. Some systems of classification recognize one other species (U. africana), found from Ethiopia to South Africa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The hudhud had meekly served the king and prophet Solomon. Let's hope and pray the cyclone Hudhud would not cause any damage to human, plant or animal life or property. Let the cyclone Hudhud turn into a meek storm.</span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-17459580492534378542013-02-04T21:34:00.003+05:302013-02-04T21:34:41.520+05:30John Zubrzycki takes Hyderabadis down the memory lane of the Asaf JahsBy John Zubrzycki <br />(Author of The Last Nizam and The Mysterious Mr Jacob)<div>
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Most of the books I read are either biographies or histories. A great deal of course depends of how they are written but I find both genres equally enjoyable. When it comes to putting pen to paper, however I prefer concentrating on the lives of individuals. For me biographies add a special dimension to the study of history. As the American historian Arthur M. Schlesinger pointed out, political leaders, whether they be presidents or prime ministers are not supermen but human beings, “worrying about decisions, attending to wives and children, juggling balls in the air, and putting on their pants one leg at a time”.<br /><br />I for one am constantly searching for the next eccentric figure living an extraordinary life in an exotic setting to write about. But writing about such a figure without describing the historical milieus in which they lived would be a futile exercise - we would get only half the story. For me the great satisfaction in writing biographies is that not only to do I get to pluck often obscure or misunderstood figures from the past and bring them to life, I get to read about the historical tide they were swimming with or struggling against. <br /><br />Biographies, of course, do not have to be about great heroic figures such a Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru or Barack Obama. They can be about people from all walks of life and social classes. Indeed the lives of less-exalted and ordinary people can give us extraordinary insights into the ways in which particular institutions and events and larger-scale social, economic and political developments were felt, experienced and understood by those who lived through them.<br /></div>
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A biographical approach in history, therefore offers an important addition to the understanding societies and historical eras.<br /><br />So far I have written two biographies about two very different individuals. <br /><br />Alexander Jacob and Mukarram Jah never met. Jacob died in obscurity in 1921, whereas Mukarram Jah was not born until 1933. But their lives intersected right here in Hyderabad. It was Mukarram’s Jah’s great grandfather, Mahboob Ali Khan, who tried to purchase what was then known as the Imperial Diamond from Jacob in 1891.<br /><br />While I will be concentrating on the legacy of the Nizams, I do want to briefly is to compare and contrast these two fascinating individuals. What struck me most when researching the pasts of Alexander Jacob and Mukarram Jah was their relationship to the events around them. Whereas Jacob took advantage of the social and historical milieu -- the West’s fascination with the occult and Eastern mysticism, the weakness of Indian rulers for what the British dismissed as “pieces of sparkling vanity” and the geopolitical tensions stirred up by the Great Game, Mukarram Jah was very much a slave to his dynasty’s past and the tumultuous changes that took place during his lifetime. Jacob exploited every opening he could find, whereas Mukarram Jah found himself at times exploited by those around him. <br /><br />Jacob turned his skills at performing sleights of hand into a reputation for the being the greatest wonder worker of his time, a man credited with making grapes grow out walking sticks and projecting past lives onto the walls of his dining room. He turned a rudimentary knowledge of precious stones acquired as an apprentice at a small British firm in Calcutta into the most famous jewellery and antique business on the subcontinent. And he took full advantage of the Raj’s lack lustre intelligence gathering network to position himself as a spymaster of sorts to the British. <br /><br />Mukarram Jah, was the exact opposite turning down the many openings that came his way. He refused to capitalise on his religious status (he is still revered by some Muslims as the Caliph of Islam), his political pulling power or the opportunity to invest his wealth productively. Quite a few Indian princes turned their palaces into hotels, ran for Parliament or became entrepreneurs. Jah bought a half million acre sheep station in one of the most remote parts of Australia and decided to live like a hermit. <br /><br />So how did it come to pass that Mukarram Jah would swap the greatness of Hyderabad for a kingdom of kangaroos and acacias. The answer lies not only in Mukarram Jah’s unique personality but also in Hyderabad’s history. <br /><br />As we all know the Asaf Jahis were one of the greatest ruling dynasties in India. Hyderabad was the largest, richest and most powerful state and the most important centre of Islamic culture and learning east of Mecca. The groundwork for this extraordinary dynasty was laid by someone i regard as one of the most interesting figures of 18th century India, Nizam ul-Mulk. <br /><br />First known as Qamruddin, Nizam ul-Mulk, was just six years old when he was brought to the Emperor’s court in Agra by his father in 1677. According to the Imperial records Aurangzeb told his father: ‘The star of destiny shines on the forehead of your son.’ <br /><br />That destiny was to see the young Qamruddin carve a new state out of the chaos that accompanied the disintegration of the Moghul empire following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. After a decisive battle in 1724 in which he defeated his main rival Mubraiz Khan, the emperor Muhammad Shah bestowed on Qamrudddin the highest title that be be awarded to a subject of the Mughal empire, that of Asaf Jah, or the Equal to Asaf, the Grand Wazier in the court of the biblical ruler King Solomon. <br /></div>
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What I find fascinating is that Nizam ul-Mulk never formally declared his independence and insisted that his rule was entirely based on the trust reposed in him by the Mughal Emperor to whom his swore eternal loyalty. The Nizam’s dominions yielded an income that was almost equal to the rest of the Mughal empire, yet there was no throne, no crown and no symbol of sovereignty. Coins were still minted with the Emperor’s name until 1858. It was in the name of Mughal ruler and not the Nizam that prayers was read out in the Khutba or Friday Sermon.<br /><br />As the Viceroy of the Deccan, the Nizam was the head of the executive and judicial departments and the source of all civil and military authority. Assisted by a Diwan the Nizams drafted their own laws, raised their own armies, flew their own flags and formed their own governments, but they refused to adopt the title of king even when it was offered to them by the British in 1810. It was not until India was granted its independence in 1947 that the Seventh Nizam, Oman Ali Khan, formally claimed to be a ruler in his own right. But by then it was too late for a sovereign Hyderabad to coexist with a free India. Its independence lasted less than 400 days.<br /><br />Nizam ul Mulk’s first priority was to consolidate his empire and establish security which was constantly under threat from rapacious highway robbers, Marathas and zamindars. In 1739 he answered a desperate plea from Mohammed Shah for help to prevent the invasion of Delhi by the Persian conqueror Nadir Shah. Nizam ul Mulk was unable to prevent the march on Delhi but he was able to stop what would have been the complete annihilation of the city by Nadir Shah’s troops using a Persian couplet to appeal to the ruler’s sense of justice. <br /><br />Ironically Nizam ul Mulk would become a beneficiary of Delhi’s downfall as the steady stream of exiles from the Mughal capital to the Deccan became a flood. Administrators, artisans, musicians, poets and religious teachers were welcomed into the Nizam’s court. Despite the unrest that spread through his Dominions in the final years of his rule, Nizam ul-Mulk is remembered as laying the foundation for what would become the most important Muslim state outside the Middle East in the first half of the 20th century.<br /><br />Just days before he died in 1748, Asaf Jah dictated last will and testament. The document was a blueprint for governance and personal conduct that ranged from advice on how to keep the troops happy and well fed to an apology for neglecting his wife. He reminded his successors to remain subservient to the Mughal Emperor who had granted them their office and rank. He warned against declaring war unnecessarily and he urged fiscal restraint. There is enough money in the treasury to last seven generations -- if properly spent.’ he said. Finally, he insisted: ‘You must not lend your ears to tittle-tattle of the backbiters and slanderers, nor suffer the riff-raff to approach your presence.’ <br /><br />Had the wishes of the First Nizam been followed not only until the reign of the Seventh Nizam but until today it would have moulded a very different dynasty from the one that would totter between plenty and penury and be constantly prey to slander and court intrigues. Rather than building on the foundations that Nizam ul-Mulk had laid for statehood, his successors began tearing it down. Power hungry rulers obsessed with their own comfort, security and wealth, conveniently forgot the more salient points of Nizam ul-Mulk’s testament. His warnings about the folly of wars fought for the sake of conquest were ignored. His belief that the income of the state would last seven generations did not anticipate the firesale of territories and their revenue that his heirs were forced to undertake for the dynasty to survive. <br /><br />The British and the French were well placed to take advantage of the chaos that followed Nizam ul-Mulk’s death. The crumbling might of the Mughal empire had stirred their empire-building ambitions. The first Nizam had maintained a strict neutrality in his dealings with the European powers, perceiving correctly the danger of becoming a pawn in hostilities that were being played out half a world away. But that advice too was forgotten as his sons fought over the spoils of empire, losing much of their territory in the process.<br /><br />Into this unfolding scenario stepped Richard Wesley -- an uncompromising empire-builder who between 1798 and 1804 expanded the company’s holdings from a few small pockets of territory to most of southern India, the entire eastern coastal strip, all of Bengal and parts of northern India. By the end of his reign as governor general British troops would be in occupation in Hyderabad and Pune and Residents stationed at every native court. <br /><br />The crowning point of Wellesey’s career was the Treaty of Perpetual and General Defensive Alliance signed on October 12, 1800 with the second Nizam, Nizam Ali Khan. The treaty was a masterstroke of British diplomacy. It gave the British complete control over the Nizam’s external affairs without imposing on them any stringent or matching obligation. By signing the Treaty, the Nizam signed away his status as an independent ruler for the next 150 years. The treaty guaranteed the integrity of the Nizam’s dominions against all threats. But the Nizam was forbidden to enter into any negotiations with an eternal power without reference to the Company’s Government.<br /><br />By 1803, when Nizam Ali Khan was succeeded by Sikander Jah, the real power in the state lay in the hands of the British resident. The Resident was in many ways a ruler in his own right maintaining Britain’s supremacy, approving executive appointments and ensuring, with varying degrees of success, that the local administration was efficient and free of corruption. <br /><br />Of Britain’s residents, a number like James Kirkpatrick whose liaison with Khair un-Nissa was so wonderfully described by William Dalrymple in the White Mughals, were enlightened men who spoke fluent Hindustani and Persian, wore Mughal-style dresses at home, smoked hookahs, chewed betel-nut and became so enamoured of Hyderabad’s rulers. Others like Henry Russell were fierce critics of all the Nizam stood for.<br /><br />I want to spend just a little time on period when Russell was resident in the 1810s as for me it represented perhaps one of the lowest points in Hyderabad’s history and in many ways was a dress rehearsal for what happened a century and a half later when Mukarram Jah took on the mantle of Nizam. <br /><br />Vain, ambitious and corruptible, Russell had arrived in Hyderabad in 1801 as an assistant to Kirkpatrick. He had little time for the Nizam, who he believed presided over a system that ‘was rotten to the very core. He was also a strong supporter of Chandu Lal a Hindu moneylender who became the defacto diwan in 1809. From then until his resignation in 1843 Chandu Lal exerted more influence over Hyderabad than any other individual, obliging both the British and the Nizam through the reckless expenditure of Hyderabad’s revenues that in the process nearly sent the state broke. <br /><br />When the third Nizam Sikander Jah demanded that Russell sack Chandu Lal, he was so stung by this rebuke that withdrew to the Chowmahallah Palace and took no further role in the administration of the state. The seclusion was so complete that four years elapsed before he ventured outside the palace on the pretext of going on a hunting expedition with his harem and 4000 foot soldiers. The Nizam’s seclusion only served to strengthen Chandu Lal’s position in the court. The defacto Diwan became the sole authority for the conduct of any business at the royal court. He also became the lynchpin in Russell’s ingenious plan to strengthen the Company’s stranglehold over Hyderabad while enriching himself in the process. <br /><br />In 1812 two battalions of the Nizam’s army mutinied, and threatened to blow their British commanding officer out of the mouth of a cannon unless they were paid on time and their offences pardoned. To Russell the episode underlined the need to professionalise the Nizam’s forces. With the help of Chandu Lal, he established the Russell Brigade. Chandu Lal made sure that payment for the Brigade came from the state treasury. As the Brigade grew so did its cost. The commander was paid £5000 a month and like other officers received a house and free servants. Keeping a cut for himself. Russell kept on creating fresh posts for new applicants until the proverbial expression in Hyderabad became ‘Poor Nizzy pays for all.’ <br /><br />However poor Nizzy could not pay for all without borrowing money and here again Russell and Chandu Lal came up with the perfect solution, namely to allow the establishment of a banking firm known as William Palmer and Co. Under the arrangement the Nizam’s treasury borrowed money from Palmer & Co to pay the troops of the Russell Brigade to the tune of 4 million rupees a year, or roughly half the entire tax revenue of the state. Palmer & Co then paid the troops and recovered what they had spent plus interest, which was charged at 24 per cent from villages mortgaged by the Nizam. Forced into paying for troops he had no control over and little if any use for, the Nizam was soon caught in a dangerous debt trap. By the end of the 1810s the Nizam owed Palmer & Co a staggering 6 million rupees.<br /><br />Charles Metcalfe who became Resident in 1820 was so shocked by what he saw that he wrote : ‘I can hardly imagine a situation more entitled to pity, or more calculated to disarm criticism, than that of a Prince so held in subjection by his servant under the support of an irrepressible foreign power.’ <br /><br />I'm not saying that all of Hyderabad's rulers responded to the unequal power structures the British imposed on them in the same way as Sikander Jah. Hyderabad benefited from the foresight and experience of Salar Jung, the prime minister from 1853 until 1883 who steadied the state's finances and introduced important administrative and fiscal reform. Mahboob Ali Khan was so revered by the population he was nicknamed the beloved. And Osman Ali Khan was credited with transforming Hyderabad into a semi-modern state through his vast public works, the creation of educational institutions such as Osmania University and reforms. <br /><br />But there was a certain pattern that marked the workings of the royal court for much of its history. Hyderabad's rulers did everything possible to keep the government of the day off their back while leaving the administration of the state to their own handpicked lieutenants, who were often untrustworthy or incompetent. This hands-off approach encouraged corruption, the siphoning of assets to corrupt officials and a general unwillingness to rein in extravagant expenditure and address basic cash-flow problems. These sycophants kept their rulers in the dark, knowing that their interests were best served by pretending that everything was in order. <br /><br />When Mukarram Jah was crowned the 8th Nizam in 1967, very little of this medieval character changed. Despite two decades of being groomed in the finest British public schools, universities and military academies and at one point being placed under the guidance of India’s foremost statesman, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jah was totally unprepared for the responsibilities expected of him. He had few friends in Hyderabad, and was more at home listening to jazz at London nightclubs than to ghazals in the great hall of the Chowmahalla palace. <br /><br />The burden of history weighed heavily on Jah right from the beginning. In 1948, When he was just 15 years old Hyderabad it’s lost independence in the police action. In 1971 Indira Gandhi would abolish the privy purses. India’s tax officials were determined to get a slice of the whatever revenue they could from his vast estate.<br /><br />Jah also had to misfortune of coming from a rather dysfunctional family. In an arranged marriage meant to cement ties between the world's two most important Muslim families Jah's father and uncle were matched with the daughter and niece of the last Ottoman caliph, Abdul Mejid. For Osman Ali Khan, Jah's grandfather this arrangement was more than just an alliance of convenience. The offspring of such a union would be the next Caliph of Islam. <br /><br />Jah's father Azam, however, proved to be a poor role model spending much of his time accumulating vast gambling debts and neglecting his wife, the beautiful Durrushevar. The situation became so intolerable that Osman Ali Khan disinherited Azam and decided that the princely crown be passed onto Mukarram Jah instead. <br /><br />When the seventh Nizam died, Jah aged 33 was tasked with sorting out what was, at the time, the largest inheritance in the world. Unable and unwilling to manage such a vast estate with its 14,700 servants, hundreds of aging concubines and inestimable quantities of jewels and antiques stashed away in dozens of decaying palaces, he bought a half- million-acre sheep station in Western Australia where he could indulge in his real passion—driving bulldozers through the desert. <br /><br />Unfortunately Jah was destined to repeat all the mistakes of his forefathers. Instead of retreating into his palace for four years without emerging like Sikander Jah, he escaped to the Australian Bush. He left the administration of his vast inheritance to a succession of Chandu Lal’s -- largely corrupt and incompetent officials who over the years would do their best to hide the real financial position of the estate from him, the prying eyes of bankers and insatiable tax officials. Substitute the Bank IndoSuez in Geneva for Palmer and Co and I think you are being to see a pattern. Of course not all those who advised Mukarram Jah in these early years can be categorised in this way. Indeed I met many of his friends who warned about what was happening. <br /><br />As we now know by the late 1980s, Mukarram Jah was in serious financial trouble, His first impulse was to auction off part of the crown jewels which included what was now known as the Jacob diamond. Unfortunately, his grandfather had put the crown jewels into various trusts precisely to guard against them being squandered in this way. The trustees decided to give the Indian government first option at buying the Jewels. Not surprisingly, New Delhi was offering only a fraction of the estimated 6 to 7 billion rupees the 173 pieces would fetch on the open market and it would not be until 2002 that Jah would pocket his share of the proceeds of the sale. But, by then, it was too late. In 1996, after being forced to sell his sheep farm to cover his debts he left Australia and went to Turkey.<br /><br />So was Mukarram Jah just a slave to history or did his personality have something to so with it. I do believe is that his upbringing played a role. His mother Durrushevar wanted to give him the best education and training, but she also estranged him from his Indian roots. But his grandfather Osman Ali Khan also played a role. Time and time again when Durrushevar insisted that her son be given a normal education among his peers at say the Doon school, Osman Ali Khan found some pretext to send him back to Hyderabad where he would attend one of the small palace schools. As Philip Mason, who briefly tutored Mukarram and his brother Muffakham, wrote in his memoir A Shaft of Sunlight, Durrushevar wanted them preserved from the corruption that grew from continual flattery and from wealth without responsibility. There was no one in the whole state who would say no to them except their mother, who was not always around, and their grandfather, who they rarely saw.<br /></div>
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Bilkees Alladin, who lived behind Mukharram Jah’s Banjara Hills house told me how she had once seen him spending all day and night in the garage under one of his cars. “He never made out he was royalty. It was frustration probably. The set up here was very medieval,” she said to me.<br /><br />I couldn’t end this talk without mentioning something of Mukarram Jah’s legacy. It is unfortunate but true that Hyderabad’s architectural and cultural heritage is poorer for the fact that he didn’t remain here prevent palaces being encroached on or pulled down and tonnes of priceless antiques ending up in the catalogues of southeby’s and Christie's when they should have stayed in India. <br /><br />Luckily that neglect is being rectified. I have yet to see the Chowmahalla Palace since the completion of its renovation. But from what I have read Princess Esra and her team of restorers deserve the highest praise from making it into one of the finest museums in India. The Falaknuma of course is now one of the world’s most luxurious hotels and I understand that steps are even being undertaken to renovate the King Kothi palace. <br /><br />Hyderabad’s potential as an IT hub and industrial powerhouse has clearly been realised. Now its cultural heritage needs to be brought to the fore. If my book has helped even in a slight way of raising awareness of the this city’s enormous potential in that regard then I am honoured. </div>
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(Full text of speech delivered by the Australian author at Maulana Azad National Urdu University on February 1, 2013)<br /><br /> </div>
Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-23693789664358499942012-12-19T19:04:00.001+05:302012-12-19T19:04:51.362+05:30The tales of Pharoahs: The secrecy behind the death of Ramessess III now revealed<br />
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Who Killed Ramesses III?</h1>
by Heather Pringle <br />
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For more than a century, Egyptologists have puzzled over the mysterious demise of Ramses III in 1155 B.C.E.<div>
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According to trial records preserved on the Judicial Papyrus of Turin, an assassin murdered the pharaoh during a bloody palace coup, reports the journal, Science.</div>
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But was this truly the case, and if so, who led the plot? A new study published on December 17, 2012 in BMJ shows that Ramesses III died violently after conspirators slashed his throat and reveals that one of the alleged ringleaders, Ramesses's son Pentawere, may have later been strangled.</div>
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The research team arrived at these findings after analyzing both DNA samples and CT scans from two mummies: Ramesses III (with linen bandage, above right) and a previously unidentified young man found with him in a cache in Deir el Bahari.</div>
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The unidentified 20-year-old (shown with arrows pointing to unusual compressed skin folds) proved to be one of Ramesses's sons: He appeared to have been strangled (also evidenced in the scan by overinflated thorax<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/12/editor-content.html?cs=UTF-8"></a>) and buried with a goat skin, a pelt that ancient Egyptians deemed ritually impure and therefore a mark of dishonor befitting an assassin. Sitting on a throne has long been a perilous business, it seems. </div>
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Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-60404095500372491122012-12-14T16:55:00.000+05:302012-12-14T16:55:18.453+05:30How the seeds of communalism were sown in India in 1857<div>
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By Justice Markandey Katju<br /><br /> Communalism, which was almost non-existent in 1857, is widespread in our society today. Muslims often face discrimination in getting jobs, houses on rent, etc, as the Justice Sachar Committee report has highlighted.<br /><br /> Muslims are often falsely implicated in bomb blasts and they have to spend years in jail though ultimately found innocent.<br /><br />As I mentioned, up to 1857 communalism was almost non-existent in India. There were no doubt differences between Hindu and Muslims, but there was no enmity between them. In the Mutiny of 1857 Hindus and Muslims jointly fought against the British.<br /><br />After crushing the Mutiny the British decided that the only way to control India was divide and rule. Consequently, the policy came from London to create hatred between Hindus and Muslims.<br /><br />The British Collector used to secretly call the Panditji and gave him money to speak against the Muslims, and similarly he gave money to the Maulvi Saheb to speak against Hindus. All communal riots began after 1857. The communal award in the Minto-Morley ‘Reforms’ of 1909 introduced separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims.<br /><br />Year after year, decade after decade, the communal poison was injected by the British into our body politic, and even after 1947 there are elements which continue this (see online ‘History in the Service of Imperialism’ and my article ‘What is India’ on my blog <a href="http://justicekatju.blogspot.in/">http://justicekatju.blogspot.in</a>)<br /><br /> Certain agent provocateurs take advantage of our backwardness to incite communal riots, and unfortunately many people fall prey to these evil designs and get emotionally carried away by communal propaganda and fight with each other.<br /><br />(Excerpts taken from a reply by Justice Dr Markandey Katju to two young law students, who served him a legal notice for his remark that 90 per cent of Indians are fools. Full text can be had on the following link: <a href="http://justicekatju.blogspot.in/2012/12/mreply-to-young-students-tanaya-and.html">http://justicekatju.blogspot.in/2012/12/mreply-to-young-students-tanaya-and.html</a>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-38343747320592802652012-12-02T08:51:00.000+05:302012-12-02T08:51:43.711+05:30Haj is a major opportunity for scientific and health research: The annual Haj season is a major opportunity for scientists and health planners to do research on the impact of mass gatherings on human health<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">By Syed Akbar</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Hyderabad: The annual Haj season is a major opportunity for</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">scientists and health planners to do research on the impact of mass</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">gatherings on human health. Dozens of scientists the world over are</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">now researching on emerging pathogens and diseases and how infectious</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">diseases can be controlled through scientific planning during mass</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">gatherings like Haj.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">According to science journal Lancet, “the exchange of experiences</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">between the organizers and hosts of the 2012 Olympic Games and the Haj</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">provides an ideal platform to take the formal discipline of mass</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">gathering forward. Both events will provide the opportunity for</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">appropriate research to obtain an evidence base and for guidelines</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">approved by the World Health Organisation”.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Haj is growing by two lakh people every year. A Global Mass</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Gathering Network led by Saudi Arabia has been formed to study</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">initially 2012 Olympics and the Haj. This will be extended to other</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">mass gatherings like the Kumbh Mela scheduled for next year.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“In 2013, the plan is to devise indicators to measure the health of</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">people attending mass gatherings, alongside a research agenda in</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">partnership with the WHO and others.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Dr Shuja Shafi, deputy secretary-general of the Muslim Council of</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Britain and honorary consultant medical microbiologist, NW London</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Hospitals NHS Trust, London, is an expert on studies on mass gathering</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">and their impact on people’s health. “Apart from its religious and</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">spiritual significance, almost anything else that is associated with</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">the Haj is unique and amazing. The larger it grows the more</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">fascinating it becomes, seemingly worldly problems associated with the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Haj attract attention of Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” he said.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The international outbreak of meningitis associated with an otherwise</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">unknown strain of meningococcus among pilgrims returning from Haj in</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">the years 2000 and 2001 are summarised have helped in better planning</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">by health authorities. Introduction of a specific vaccine</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">(quadrivalent ACW135Y) vaccine brought about an abrupt end to the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">outbreak and the infection being acquired during Haj.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“As large gatherings increase in number and complexity and grow</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">bigger, managing them effectively an efficiently is perhaps the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">biggest public health challenge facing the world”, said Dr Shuja</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Shafi, who hails from Hyderabad.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Communicable diseases, respiratory infections, blood borne infections</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">(associated with head shaving), gastro intestinal infections are</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">common. Control and management of infections in the wake of Pandemic</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">H1 N1 influenza (in 2009) placed the Saudi authorities in good stead</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">to deal with issues relating to the Coronavirus infection (SARS-like)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">reported recently.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Dr Shafi said with a high prevalence of diabetes and heart disease,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">there is now focus on these non-communicable diseases. Appropriate</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">advice and prevention of complications or adverse events while at Haj</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">is now emerging as the major health challenge for organisers.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-46731915401523429882012-10-24T00:59:00.001+05:302012-10-24T00:59:51.341+05:30On foot for the Haj: Bosnian walks 3,600 miles to perform Haj in Saudi Arabia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YbLEmR3oXx63NnKg6PxfRC9KdV6_Epgf7OeJDra0MP389_mwKn41KAZOWuRDVm62qAxVYHNYxegNQ30YWyyri7ZlcfWW04kHPERc5BF7_EsNeybdleM0vtxj_hVpnP4_ULdgS-doUOc/s1600/Senad+Hadzic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YbLEmR3oXx63NnKg6PxfRC9KdV6_Epgf7OeJDra0MP389_mwKn41KAZOWuRDVm62qAxVYHNYxegNQ30YWyyri7ZlcfWW04kHPERc5BF7_EsNeybdleM0vtxj_hVpnP4_ULdgS-doUOc/s400/Senad+Hadzic.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.15;"><u><i><b>He crossed six countries on foot because he had no money</b></i></u></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">October 22, 2012<br /><br />A 47-year-old Bosnian Muslim man reached Saudi Arabia this week to perform the annual pilgrimage after travelling nearly 3,600 miles (5,900 km) on foot from his Bosnian village, Saudi newspapers said on Monday.<br /><br />Senad Hadzic set off from Banovici in north Bosnia Herzegovina in December 2011 during which he crossed six countries, including Turkey, Jordan and Syria before entering Saudi Arabia this week.<br /><br />Newspapers quoted him as saying in a You-Tube film that he walked all that distance because he had no money.<br /><br />“I wanted to perform Haj but I had no money…I decided to walk to Saudi Arabia, having only 200 euros,” he said.<br /><br />“I slept at mosques, schools and other places, including houses offered to me by good people…some people asked me whether I was scared when passing through wild places and I told them ‘why should I…God is with me.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The Bosnian pilgrim left last December on pilgrimage to Makkah by foot arrived in the holy city of Mecca after passing through seven countries including war-torn Syria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />“I arrived Saturday in Makkah. I am not tired, these are the best days of my life,” Senad Hadzic, 47, told AFP when reached by phone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />He said he had covered some 5,700 km in 314 days of walking through Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and Jordan to Makkah, with a backpack weighing 20 kg.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />He charted his progress on his Facebook page, where he posted a picture apparently of an entry/exit card for foreigners issued by the Syrian Interior Ministry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />“I passed through Syria in April. I walked some 500 km in 11 days. I went through Aleppo and Damascus and passed dozens of checkpoints held by pro-government and rebel forces alike, but I was never detained,” Hadzic said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />“I walked in the name of Allah, for Islam, for Bosnia-Hercegovina, for my parents and my sister,” he added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />On his Facebook page, he said God had shown him the way in dreams, including to go through Syria instead of Iraq.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />During the pilgrimage, Hadzic faced temperatures ranging from minus 35 Celsius in Bulgaria to plus 44 Celsius in Jordan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />He said he had to wait in Istanbul for several weeks to get permission to cross the Bosphorus Bridge on foot and two months at the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia to obtain an entry visa.</span></div>
Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-3162749945159160032012-10-17T19:48:00.000+05:302012-10-17T11:59:25.858+05:30Film on the Holy Prophet: The truth behind the "Muslim Rage"<br />
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Who's afraid of Muslim Rage?</h1>
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<b>by Avaaz Team</b> </div>
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A US magazine cover (below) screams out the general media slant of the last two weeks: the Muslim world is burning with anti-western anger over an Islamophobic film, with hordes of violent protesters on the streets threatening us all ... but is it really? Citizens and new media are responding, and <a href="http://gawker.com/5943828/13-powerful-images-of-muslim-rage" style="color: #4d4d4d;">Gawker has brilliantly satirised the hype</a> with alternative images of "Muslim Rage":</div>
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When Newsweek asked readers to tweet their own stories about #MuslimRage, many thousands did, hilariously:<br />
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<img src="http://avaazdesign.s3.amazonaws.com/airporttweet.png" /><img src="http://avaazdesign.s3.amazonaws.com/hummustweet.png" style="margin-left: 6px;" /><img src="http://avaazdesign.s3.amazonaws.com/literaturetweet.png" /><img src="http://avaazdesign.s3.amazonaws.com/hulktweet.png" /></div>
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Seven things you may have missed in the 'Rage':</h2>
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<img src="http://avaazdesign.s3.amazonaws.com/Avaaz_graphic_concept2_VennOnly_a.jpg" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;" width="320px" />Like everyone else, many Muslims find the 13 minute Islamophobic video "Innocence of Muslims" trashy and offensive. Protests have spread quickly, tapping into understandable and lasting grievances about neo-colonialist US and western foreign policy in the Middle East, as well as religious sensitivities about depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. But the news coverage often obscures some important points: </div>
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1. Early estimates put participation in anti-film protests at between <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/20129168313878423.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">0.001</a> and <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/986078/prophet-film-protests-a-stormy-week-ahead" style="color: #4d4d4d;">0.007%</a> of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims – a tiny fraction of those who marched for democracy in the Arab spring.<br />
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2. The vast majority of protesters have been peaceful. The breaches of foreign embassies were almost all<a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138129/william-mccants/the-sources-of-salafi-conduct" style="color: #4d4d4d;">organised or fuelled by elements of the Salafist movement</a>, a radical Islamist group that is most concerned with undermining more popular moderate Islamist groups.<br />
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3. Top Libyan and US officials <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/was-the-attack-on-the-libya-consulate-planned-or-not/2012/09/16/6f1136be-0042-11e2-b260-32f4a8db9b7e_blog.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">are divided</a> over whether the killing of the US ambassador to Libya was likely pre-planned to coincide with 9/11, and therefore not connected to the film.<br />
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4. Apart from attacks by radical militant groups in Libya and Afghanistan, a survey of news reports on 20 September suggested that actual protesters had killed a total of zero people. The deaths cited by media were largely protesters killed by police.<br />
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5. Pretty much every major leader, Muslim and western, has condemned the film, and pretty much every leader, Muslim and western, has condemned any violence that might be committed in response.<br />
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6. The pope visited Lebanon at the height of the tension, and Hezbollah leaders <a href="http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/09/16/be-peacemakers-in-me-pope-tells-christians-hezbollah-politicians-attend-mass-at-seafront/" style="color: #4d4d4d;">attended his sermon</a>, refrained from protesting the film until he left, and called for religious tolerance. Yes, this happened.<br />
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7. After the attack in Benghazi, ordinary people turned out on the streets in Benghazi and Tripoli <a href="https://en.avaaz.org/755/not-in-our-name-libyans-reject-terror" style="color: #4d4d4d;">with signs</a>, many of them in English, apologising and saying the violence did not represent them or their religion.<br />
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Add to that the number of really big news stories that were buried last week to make room for front page, angry Muslim "Clash" coverage. In Russia tens of thousands of protesters <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/world/europe/anti-putin-protesters-march-in-moscow-russia.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">marched through Moscow</a> to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese and Spaniards turned out for <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/15/us-portugal-protests-idUSBRE88E0GZ20120915" style="color: #4d4d4d;">anti-austerity protests</a>; and more than a million Catalans <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/11/catalan-independence-rally-barcelona" style="color: #4d4d4d;">marched for independence</a>.</div>
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Muslim rage or Salafist strategy?</h2>
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<table align="right" class="image" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><caption align="bottom"><i><small>Meet Sheikh Khaled Abdullah, the Salafist TV host who peddled the film (Ted Nieter)</small></i></caption><tbody>
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The "Innocence of Muslims" was picked up and peddled with subtitles by far-right Salafists – radical followers of an Islamic movement long supported by Saudi Arabia. The film was a cheaply made, YouTube failure until an Egyptian Salafist TV host, Sheikh Khaled Abdullah (right) <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/09/egyptian-outrage-peddler-who-sent-anti-islam-youtube-clip-viral/56826/" style="color: #4d4d4d;">began promoting it to viewers</a>on 8 September.<br />
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Most insulted Muslims ignored the film or protested peacefully, but the Salafists, with their signature black flags, <a href="http://world.time.com/2012/09/14/what-we-can-learn-from-the-attacks-on-u-s-embassies/" style="color: #4d4d4d;">were leading instigators</a> of the more aggressive protests that breached embassies. Leaders of the Egyptian Salafist party attended the Cairo protest that broke into the US embassy.</div>
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Like the far-right in the US or Europe, the Salafist strategy is to drag public opinion rightwards by seizing on opportunities to fan radical anger and demonise ideological opponents. This approach resembles that of anti-Muslim US pastor Terry Jones (who first promoted the film in the west) and other western extremists. In both societies, however, the moderates far (far!) outnumber the extremists. A leading figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (the more powerful and popular political opponent of Egypt’s Salafists) <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/opinion/our-condolences-the-muslim-brotherhood-says.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">wrote to the New York Times</a> saying: "We do not hold the American government or its citizens responsible for acts of the few that abuse the laws protecting freedom of expression".</div>
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Good reporting</h2>
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A lonely band of journalists and scholars have approached the protests with an intent to truly understand the forces behind them. Among them, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/09/what-was-really-behind-the-benghazi-attack.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">Hisham Matar</a>, who powerfully describes the sadness in Benghazi after J Christopher Stevens' killing, and <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/09/2012918212550140834.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">Barnaby Phillips</a>, who explores how Islamic conservatives manipulated the film to their advantage. Anthropologist Sarah Kendzior cautions against treating the <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/20129168313878423.html" style="color: #4d4d4d;">Muslim world as a homogenous unit</a>. And Professor Stanley Fish tackles a tough question: why many Muslims are so <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/libya-violence-and-free-speech/?ref=global-home" style="color: #4d4d4d;">sensitive to unflattering depictions of Islam</a>.</div>
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Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-65514925666205854042012-10-17T11:57:00.001+05:302012-10-17T11:58:48.216+05:30COP 11 biodiversity: Hyderabad mosque puts up display boards on what the Holy Quran says on biological diversity<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>What the Holy Quran says on conversion of biodiversity</i></b></span></blockquote>
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Courtesy: Azizia mosque, Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad</div>
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<br />Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-3143451431358266982012-06-20T16:04:00.001+05:302012-06-20T16:04:13.892+05:30The medicinal benefits of Hyderabadi haleem: This Ramadhan dish strengthens muscles, burns fat fast, and increases sperm count in men<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i><b style="background-color: #d9ead3;"><span style="text-align: left;">The unique feature of this Hyderabadi dish is that it contains both </span><span style="text-align: left;">slow-digesting and fast-burning ingredients. The </span><span style="text-align: left;">fibre content is also relatively high. The legumes that go into its</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">production increase muscle strength and sexual </span><span style="text-align: left;">potency. The ingredients are also rich in potassium and magnesium. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Whole grains like wheat, nuts, vegetables and dry fruits solve the problem </span><span style="text-align: left;">of low sperm count, which has of late </span><span style="text-align: left;">become a major health and reproductive problem in industrialised nations.</span></b></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">By Syed Akbar</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">Haleem, the special Ramzan dish of Hyderabad known for</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">its unique taste, has several</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">medicinal properties that improve semen production and stimulate ovulation.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Studies by city Unani physicians and researchers show that Haleem and its</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">variant Harees increase sperm count and</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">promote sperm health and motility in men and assist in better ovulation in</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">women. The special ingredients that go</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">into the preparation of Haleem and Harees stimulate blood circulation to</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">vital body organs thereby reducing sexual</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">dysfunction and the problem of low sperm count.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">"The unique feature of this Hyderabadi dish is that it contains both</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">slow-digesting and fast-burning ingredients. The</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">fibre content is also relatively high. The legumes that go into its</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">production increase muscle strength and sexual</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">potency. The ingredients are also rich in potassium and magnesium.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Whole grains like wheat, nuts, vegetables and dry fruits solve the problem</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">of low sperm count, which has of late</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">become a major health and reproductive problem in industrialised nations,"</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">says Dr Fazal Ahmad, senior Unani</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">researcher.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Dr Fazal, who also edits Unani monthly Cure for All, points out that</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Haleem and Harees acquire the aphrodisiac</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">properties primarily because of the five "Gs" that go into its</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">preparation. "Gur (jaggery), gond (natural gum), ghost</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">(meat), ghehoon (wheat) and ghee are special Unani prescriptions. A</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">combination of all five or some of them</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">increases sexual potency primarily by increasing the sperm count. Our</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">research has shown that those who consume</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Haleem or Harees on regular basis are sexually more active than who</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">don't," he says.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Many residents of Barkas locality in Hyderabad consume Harees at breakfast</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">everyday and this is reflected on their</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">good physique and better reproductive health.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">According to senior Unani physician Dr Ilyas Khan, Haleem contains</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">minerals selenium, folic acid, and zinc and</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">vitamins A, C, and E. "It has been scientifically proved that foods rich</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">in these compounds increase the sperm count</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">and sperm motility, thus assisting in reproductive health. Studies have</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">shown that Haleem and Harees increase blood</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">circulation and assist in blood production. The system of Unani medicine</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">says any food that increases blood</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">circulation will promote sperm production," he says.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Hakeem Tariq Mehmood Chughtai in his research publication on the health</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">benefits of Haleem and Harees points</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">out that one should not take water immediately after consuming this</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">special festival dish to derive maximum benefit</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">from it. Since Haleem/Harees contains both "slow and fast digestion</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">ingredients" the benefits will be more if the dish</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">is consumed soon after breaking the day-long fast during Ramzan.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-37131664797914878682012-06-20T15:58:00.005+05:302012-06-20T15:58:38.536+05:30The tiger of Mysore: Tipu Sultan, a royal freedom fighter<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="text-align: left;">Sri Ranganatha temple was hardly a </span></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="text-align: left;">stone's throw from his palace from where he would listen with equal</span></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="text-align: left;">respect the ringing of temple bells, and the Muezzin's call from the </span></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="text-align: left;">mosque.</span></b></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>"It is far better to live like a Tiger for a day than to live like a</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Jackal for a hundred years."</i> - <b>Tipu Sultan</b></span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br />By Syed Akbar<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">More than two hundred years have passed since Tipu Sultan, the Tiger,</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">roared against the invading Britishers with his magical statement to</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">inspire the people of his kingdom to fight the enemy.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">And his words still reverberate in the ramparts of Srirangapattinam, his</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">beloved city dedicated to Lord Sri Ranganatha Swami, and in the hearts of</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">millions of Indians. True to his statement, Tipu Sultan lived and died</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">like a tiger.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Perhaps he is the only ruler, who took over the reins of a kingdom amidst</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">a war and relinquished it in a battlefield while protecting the life and</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">honour of his subjects.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, is as enigmatic as ever. Critics despise</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">him with charges of religious bigotry and persecution. Admirers label him</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">as one of the most secular rulers and a king with vision far ahead of his</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">times. To him goes the credit of discovering and perfecting the art of</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">rocketry and no less a person than the Missile Man, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam,</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">describes Tipu Sultan as the father of Indian rocket technology.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">The arguments of his staunch critics notwithstanding, Tipu Sultan was the</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">first native ruler, who fought against the British rule tooth and nail,</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">much before the first war of independence. There was perfect communal</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">harmony during his regime and this was evident from the fact that there</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">was not even a single uprising of people, despite the numerous wars he</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">fought. The people of his kingdom were solidly behind him in all the wars.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Historians recall how Tipu Sultan donated money to Sri Shankaracharya of</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Sringeri to reinstall the displaced image in the Sharda temple. More than</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">30 letters written by the Sultan to the Shankaracharya in chaste Kannada</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">testify to the magnanimity and religious tolerance of the Tiger of Mysore.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">As mark of honour to the Hindu religious head, Tipu Sultan departed from</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">his usual tradition of beginning his letters with the Arabic invocation</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">In the name of God. Instead he wrote the name of the Shankaracharya at</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">the top of the letter while he put his name at the bottom, without the</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">usual honorifics and titles that go with the nobility.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">As one noted historian points out, Sri Ranganatha temple was hardly a</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">stone's throw from his palace from where he would listen with equal</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">respect the ringing of temple bells, and the Muezzin's call from the</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">mosque.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">The Britishers, says Prof Sheik Ali, historian and former</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">vice-chancellor of Goa and Mangalore University, had never been</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">confronted with a more formidable foe. His regime begins in the midst of</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">war against the English, and ends in the midst of war against them. He</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">built up an efficient system of administration and was almost the first</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Indian ruler to apply western techniques</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">in the heart of government.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Long before the events of 1857, when a spirited reprising attempted to</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">throw of the English and before the formation of the Indian National</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Congress, which set the pace for National</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Movement, Tipu struggled hard to rouse a consciousness of his neighbours</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">to the impending danger to Indian Independence from the English, says</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Prof Ali in his biography of Tipu Sultan.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Not many know that Tipu Sultan was an able journalist too. He launched a</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">local newspaper Fauji Akhbar (Soldier News). Tipu was a multi-linguist,</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">well versed in Kannada, Marathi, French, Arabic, Persian and Urdu.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Sultan Fateh Ali Tipu was born on November 20, 1750 and died at a young</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">age of 49 on May 4, 1799. He inherited the kingdom, principles, values and</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">traditions, besides valour and strength from his father Hyder Ali. At the</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">age of 17, Tipu Sultan fought against the British army forcing the latter</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">to retreat.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Instructed in military tactics by French officers, employed by his father,</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Haider Ali, a de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, Tipu first</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">accompanied him in a war against the British in the First War of Mysore in</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">1766.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">He also commanded a corps of cavalry in the invasion of Carnatic in 1767.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">He, however, went on to distinguish himself in the First Anglo-Maratha War</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">of 1775-1779. Tipu helped his father defeat the British in the Second War</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">of Mysore and negotiated the Treaty of Mangalore with them.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">He was defeated in the third and fourth Anglo-Mysore War by the</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">combined forces of the English East India Company, the Nizam of</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Hyderabad, the Maratha Confederacy, and Travancore.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">An able administrator and planner, Tipu Sultan laid the foundation for a</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">dam where the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam across river Cauvery today stands. He</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">also completed the project of Lal Bagh, the extensive gardens started by</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">his father. He built roads, public buildings, and ports along the Kerala</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">shoreline.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">During Tipu Sultan's reign, a new calendar, new coinage, and seven new</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">government departments, were introduced. Tipu also had a penchant for</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">innovations, especially in weaponry.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">All of them were exquisite and had great workmanship. He was a great</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">promoter of agriculture and industry, trade and commerce. He built a navy</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">and opened factories far and near, which ultimately linked the State of</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Mysore with the outside world. His trade extended to countries which</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">included Sri Lanka, Afghanistan,</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">France, Turkey, and Iran.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-51325388433649776552012-06-19T09:35:00.002+05:302012-06-19T09:35:21.286+05:30Islamic months: The religious, spiritual, economic, social importance of Ramadhan<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #a2c4c9; font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="text-align: left;">The Night of Power or Lailat-ul-Qadr falls on one of the odd nights in the </span><span style="text-align: left;">last 10 days of Ramadhan. Muslims spend in prayers all through the night </span><span style="text-align: left;">supplicating to the Almighty for peace and blessings on all people and all </span><span style="text-align: left;">creatures. Ramadhan is the occasion for Muslims to mend their ways and </span><span style="text-align: left;">establish a direct link with the Creator</span></b></i></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">By Syed Akbar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Islamic Higera calendar. Literally </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Ramadhan means "heat" or "something that burns up". The name assumes </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">significance as fasting, charity and noble deeds in Ramadhan burns away </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">sins, Satanic filth and ego from the hearts and minds of the people, who turn </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">to the Almighty during this holy month.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">A notable feature of Ramadhan is that fasting during this month had been in </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">vogue even before the birth of the Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (peace </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">be upon him). The righteous and pious among the Arabs used to observe </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">fasting and pay charity during Ramadhan. The Holy Prophet has streamlined </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">the system of fasting and charity and made them mandatory on all Muslims.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i><u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">Of the 12 lunar Islamic months, Ramadhan is considered holy primarily </span><span style="text-align: left;">because the Almighty God had revealed the Holy Quran on Hazrat </span></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Muhammad during this month about 15 centuries ago.</span></span></u></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">The Holy Prophet was </span><span style="text-align: left;">deep in meditation in the Cave of Hira in the outskirts of Mecca when he </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">received the Divine Message through Archangel Gabriel (Hazrat Jibrail). The </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Message from God continued to be revealed on the Holy Prophet thereafter </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">for the next 23 years. This Divine Code is the Holy Quran, the last of the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Scriptures of God sent to prophets and messengers from time to time to all </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">places and to all people.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">"Ramadhan is also considered holy because God has prescribed fasting and </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">ordained charity. While fasting is obligatory on all Muslims, men and </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">women, without exception, charity is enjoined on only those who are </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">financially sound. The charity given during Ramadhan is of two types, Zakat </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">(compulsory charity) and fitra (alms). Zakat like fasting is one of the five </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">pillars of Islam, the other being Kalima (assertion that there is only one God </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God), Namaz (five daily prayers) </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">and Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca)," says Islamic scholar Hafiz Syed Shujath </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">Hussain.</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="text-align: left;">Referring to the importance of Ramadhan, the Holy Quran (2:185) observes, </span><span style="text-align: left;">"Ramadhan is the (month) in which the Qur'an was sent down, as a guide to </span><span style="text-align: left;">mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgement (between right and </span><span style="text-align: left;">wrong). So every one of you who is present (at home) during that month </span><span style="text-align: left;">should spend it in fasting "</span></b></span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Holy Quran is also specific about the time of revelation during the month </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">of Ramadhan. Elsewhere, the Scripture says, "Indeed, We have revealed this </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">(Message) in the Night of Power. And what will explain to thee what the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">night of power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months" </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Qur'an (97:1-3).</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">"The Night of Power or Lailat-ul-Qadr falls on one of the odd nights in the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">last 10 days of Ramadhan. Muslims spend in prayers all through the night </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">supplicating to the Almighty for peace and blessings on all people and all </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">creatures. Ramadhan is the occasion for Muslims to mend their ways and </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">establish a direct link with the Creator," points out Islamic teacher Moulana </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Abdul Kareem.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">In commemoration of the revelation of the Holy Quran, special night prayers </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">called the Taraveeh are held in all mosques and at select homes and other </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">places. Hafiz (those who know the Quran byheart) recite the Holy Quran in </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">parts on 30 nights. In Hyderabad and other Indian cities, special </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">arrangements are also made for women to offer the Taraveeh prayers.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Referring to the importance of fasting, the Holy Prophet observed: Allah, the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Almighty has said: "every act of man is for him except fasting, it is done for </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">My (Allah's) sake and I will give reward for it. The breath of a person on fast </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">is sweeter to Allah than the fragrance of musk." </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Muslims the world over take to heavy charity work during Ramadhan as they </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">believe that Almighty God will reward them 70 fold or even more. According </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">to an Hadith (sayings and traditions of the Prophet), "when Ramadhan starts, </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">the gates of paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Satan is chained.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #6aa84f;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">The Prophet has also said: The affliction of a person in his property, family </span><span style="text-align: left;">and neighbours is expiated by his prayers, fasting and giving in charity. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Whoever fasts the month of Ramadhan out of sincere faith and hoping for a </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.</span></span></i></b></span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Apart from its religious significance, Ramadhan has social importance too. </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">While fasting makes a person understand the pangs of hunger and thirst so </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">that he help the poor and the underprivileged. On one hand Ramadhan makes </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Muslims understand the sufferings of the poor and on the other it makes it </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">mandatory on every well-to-do Muslim to donate in the cause of the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Almighty God. Fasting also makes one physically fit and mentally agile.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">"The money collected from Zakat and Fitra, if properly utilised, will solve the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">problem of poverty in many countries. In Hyderabad alone Zakat and Fitra </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">worth Rs 100 crore is given every Ramadhan. The amount runs into at least </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Rs 2,000 crore for India. Unfortunately, there is no centralised agency to </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">collect and spend the Zakat money for the common good of all. We should </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">have the concept of Bait-ul-Maal (charitable treasury)," says Moulana </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Rafeeuddin Qasmi.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Muslims end this great month by celebrating the Id-ul-fitr or the festival of </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">alms-giving as a gratitude to the Almighty for having Blessed them with the </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">opportunity to fast and make amends. Fitra is compulsory before the Id </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">prayers so that the have-nots too join the festivities.</span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-61862786413417915622012-06-12T07:29:00.001+05:302012-06-13T22:37:18.369+05:30What does Id-ul-Adha mean to Muslims: Bakrid is more than a festival of ritual sacrifice<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">By Syed Akbar</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Bakrid or Id-ul-Adha is not just a festival of ritual sacrifice. It is a festival of charity too. Like the other grand Muslim festival of Alms-giving or Id-ul-Fitr, Bakrid brings cheers to millions of poor people living across the globe and pours in charity enough for several orphanages and madarasas to fend themselves for a few months.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The tradition of sacrifice dates back to the grand prophet, Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him), known to Jews and Christians as Abraham. The meat of sacrificial animals is divided into three parts. One part is distributed among friends and relatives, the second part is meant for the poor and needy and the third portion is for self consumption.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-size: large; text-align: left;">It has been a tradition among Muslims right from the times of the Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) to donate the skin of the sacrificial animal. The skin or the proceeds from its sale is to be donated to orphanages, madarasas or charitable organizations so that they could get enough funds from the donation.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">According to a rough estimate, over five million animal skins are distributed during the Bakrid festival in India alone. The largest donation in the form of skin comes from Mumbai, followed by Hyderabad by virtue of their large Muslim population. In Andhra Pradesh alone skins worth Rs 30 crore are donated among charitable institutions. If the value of the meat portion distributed among the poor and needy is calculated, it simply runs to Rs 400 crore. This figure for the whole of India means a few thousand crores.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">According to Muhammad Saleem, former AP Wakf Board chairman and vice-president of All-India Jamiat-ul-Quraish, about 20 lakh sheep and buffaloes are sacrificed on Bakrid and the succeeding two days.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The idea behind celebrating Islamic festivals is not just to rejoice but to remember the pangs and troubles of the have-nots. God Almighty has given so much to us and it is our duty to remember the unfortunate ones at least on the Id days. Besides the skin of animals, one-third of the meat is also distributed among the poor. Mosques are not qualified to receive the donation of skins or the sale proceeds from them. Because festivals are for people and the poor have a greater right over the charity, observes Moulana Hafiz Syed Shujath Hussain.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #bf9000; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><b><i>Besides individual sacrifices of animals, sacrifice is also institutionalized in Hyderabad and other parts of the country. Several charitable and Zakat organizations have been collecting the cost of the animal for sacrifice from those who cannot do the same on their own. The facility is being largely utilized by non-resident Indian Muslims, particularly those living in the West</i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust is collecting Rs 2400 per sheep for sacrifice on Bakrid. There is also a provision for distribution of the entire meat among the poor, in case the person is an NRI.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Moulana Shaik Najeeb Ahmad says the sacrifice of animals on the Bakrid is more than just a ritual. The Almighty tests the person sacrificing the animal whether it is being done with pure intentions or as a show or pomp. The Almighty makes it clear in the Holy Quran that neither the blood nor the flesh of sacrificial animals reach Him. It is the piety and pure intentions and the spirit behind the sacrifice that counts with the Almighty. By sacrificing animals Muslims are not only expressing their piety towards the Creator but also helping the have-nots to get charity, though in the form of meat. It is indeed a great celebration for the poor who do not have access to rich nutritional food. At least once a year they do get the opportunity, Moulana Najeeb points out.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">On an average each madarasa gets around Rs 30,000 from the sale proceeds of skins of sacrificial animals and this fund keeps them running for a couple of months. The Zakat collections during Ramadhan is, however, greater than the donations they receive during Bakrid. Some madarasas and charitable institutions manage one whole year from the Zakat donations.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-39326931773223872832012-06-11T09:56:00.000+05:302012-06-13T22:39:46.032+05:30Hyderabad's top zakat givers: Helping society economically<span style="font-family: inherit;">By Syed Akbar</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Every Ramzan Hyderabad pours in hundreds of crores of Rupees in Zakat, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">the mandatory charity on the rich Muslims. The city stands second in India in </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Zakat collection next only to Mumbai. Muslim have been ordained to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">contribute in charity 2.5 per cent of their total savings in a given year.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">While every rich and upper middle class Muslim contributes his or her share </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">to Zakat, there are a few traditional families in Hyderabad known for their </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">generous charity during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan. Muslims ensure </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">that they pay their Zakat dues before the Id-ul-Fitr as charity during Ramzan </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">is considered to bring 70 times the reward (sawab) with the Almighty.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><i><b><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">Since Islam prohibits Muslims from making a show of Zakat donation, none </span><span style="text-align: left;">of the members of these traditional Zakat donor families wants to divulge the </span><span style="text-align: left;">amount they contribute towards charity. However, according to sources, </span><span style="text-align: left;">some Hyderabadi families give as much as Rs 5 crore each in Zakat.</span></span></b></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The traditional families known for big Zakat contributions include those of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">builder-politicians Bashiruddin-Ghayasuddin Babukhan, industrialist- </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">educationists Shah Alam Khan-Mahboob Alam Khan, OU academic council</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">member Abid Rasool Khan, senior Telugu Desam leader Ibrahim Bin </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Abdullah Masqati, former Wakf Board chairman Muhammad Saleem, the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Owaisi brothers Asaduddin and Akbaruddin, educationist-politician Vizarat </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Rasool Khan, the Allauddin family and industrialist Syed Hamid. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Says Abid Rasool Khan, "most of my Zakat goes to institutions rather than a </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">few individuals. If the funds are channelled and utilised for generating </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">self-</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">employment, there will be no poor person left in the country. I usually give </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">more than the stipulated 2.5 per cent of my income as a precautionary </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">measure lest my calculations went wrong".</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Babukhan family of former minister Basheeruddin Babukhan and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Ghayasuddin Babukhan also manage the Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Trust which has changed the living stands of lakhs of families in the rural </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">side in the last few years. The Zakat Trust is part of the United Economic </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Forum which is now a registered NGO with the Union Ministry of Home </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Affairs.</span><br />
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<u><i><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">"We have been providing pensions to more than 1,000 widows, constructing </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">around 100 houses, giving clothes to thousands of students, and offering </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">scholarships worth about Rs 2 crore through the Zakat funds," says United </span></span></b></i></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><u><i><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Economic Forum secretary Ghayasuddin Babukhan</span></b></i></u>.</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Shah Alam Khan family, which manage Golconda cigarette factory and a </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">host of educational institutions. Shah Alam Khan, his son Mahboob Alam </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Khan and other family members distribute an undisclosed amount towards </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Zakat. The Shah Alam Khan family gives charity to individuals and their </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Zakat is not institutionalised as the Babukhan family had done. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Owaisis are said to be contributing anything upward of Rs 1 crore in</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">charity but they keep it secret for religious reasons. The Masqati family, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">which owns a big dairy, contributes to education, marriages of poor girls and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">self-employment.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Muhammad Saleem, however, believes in donating Zakat to individuals </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">rather than institutions. "There's nothing wrong in donating to institutions. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">But I keep on donating from Zakat funds round the year. Most of the people </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">who approach me are poor. They are in need of money for education of their </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">children or for medical treatment. This gives instant relief to the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">needy," he </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">adds.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">According to rough estimates, about four lakh people stand to benefit from </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Zakat in one way or the other. "A notable feature of this charity is that </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">it has </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">no religious bounds. The receiver can be of any religion or region. The only </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">eligibility is poverty and need. Islam believes in social equality and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Zakat is </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">the best source of achieving it," says Moulana Syed Shujath Hussain.</span><br />
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<br /></div>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-49557342000700329332012-06-11T09:49:00.002+05:302012-06-11T10:06:06.224+05:30What is the significance of the numerical value of 786?<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">By Syed Akbar </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Hyderabad: Numbers have always fascinated man because they </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">convey more than just numeric values. Some numbers have religious or </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">astronomical significance while others are of astrological, historical or </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">mathematical importance. When one number combines all these factors, it </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">becomes still more important. And that number is 786. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">On August 7, 2006 the world witnessed a unique combination of date that </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">signifies this magical figure 786 - seventh day of the eighth month of the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">sixth year of the new millennium or 7-8-6 for short. Apart from the religious </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">importance a majority of the Muslims attach to this number, 786 has </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">astrological, historical, mathematical and astronomical significance too. This </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">unique combination of date is repeating itself after 100 years and it will </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">recur only after a century. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The number 786 is a gematrical (numerical) value of the Islamic invocation, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, or In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Merciful, which every Muslim is commanded to recite before doing any </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">work. Muslims in the Indian sub-continent revere 786 and print it on </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">wedding and other invitation cards and put it down on paper before the start </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">of writing anything. However, Muslims in other parts of the world do not </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">attach any religious significance to the number and write Bismillah (In the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">name of Allah) in full. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">According to Islamic scholar Hafiz Syed Shujath Hussain, in Arabic there </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">are two methods of arranging letters, one of them being the Abjad (ordinal) </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">method. Early Islamic scholars have assigned an arithmetic value to each of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the Arabic letters from one to 1000. The letters are arranged as Abjad, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Safas, Qarshat, Sakhaz and Zazagh. This </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">arrangement was based on the gematric system adopted in West Asian </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">languages like Aramaic, Phoenician and Hebrew.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"We get the magical 786 if we take the arithmetic values of all the 19 letters </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">in Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim," he points out. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Besides the Islamic importance, 786 has historical significance because the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">famous Abbasid Caliph, Harun Rashid, assumed throne on September 14 in </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the year 786 CE. It was during his regime and perhaps in the year 786 CE </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">that the gematrical value of Bismillah (786) was calculated and arrived at by </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Islamic scholars and linguists of his court, says Muslim religious teacher </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Moulana Abdul Kareem. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Mathematically speaking, 786 is a sphenic number (a positive integer that is </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the product of three distinct prime factors). In other words, 50 can be </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">partitioned into powers of two in 786 different ways, points out senior </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">mathematics lecturer V Radhakrishna. Also 786 might be the largest "n" for </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">which the value of the central binomial coefficient is not divisible by an odd </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">prime squared.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">This number is significant even in astronomy and astrophysics leave alone </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">astrology and numerology. The New General Catalogue refers to NGC786 as </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">a magnitude 13.5 spiral galaxy in the constellation Aries. An asteroid has </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">also been named as 786 Bredichina. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs very rarely and so far </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">this astronomical event has been witnessed only thrice in the living memory </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">as it occurs only every 800 years. It was first recorded in 7 BC (the Star of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Bethlehem in the sky at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ ), then in 786 </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">CE and the last time in the year 1583, according to a astro-mathematical </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">calculation prepared by the University of Helsinki, USA. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Astrologers point out that the ubiquitous astrological predictions trace their </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">origin to the year 786 BC. This year is considered of great importance to </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">astrology as it was the year of official opening of the new temple dedicated </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">to Babylonian god Nabu at Calah, an ancient city of Assyria. Nabu is </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">represented by planet Mercury and is considered as the god of astrology </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">among other things. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Mufti Ibrahim Desai is of the view that the numerical 786 cannot replace the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">written Bismillah. In a fatwa, he says, the tradition of writing 786 was not </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">present during the days of the Prophet. It was introduced about 150 years </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">after his passing away.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"Whosoever uses 786 with the intention to obtain Allah's Blessings, is a </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">misguided person and any attempt to justify it, is ignorance", he observes. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">However, the Mufti Muhammad Khaleel Ahmad of the 130-year-old Jamia </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Nizamia is of the view that 786 is allowed and permissible to write with the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">intention of gaining Blessings.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">All-India Muslim Personal Law general secretary Abdul Rahim Qureshi told </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">this paper that "786" is written only in India and Pakistan. It does not have </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">any Islamic significance except that it is a numerical code for Bismillah.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Interestingly, if the letters in "Lord Hari Krishna" are to be given gematrical </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">value in Arabic, the total numerical value of Hari Krishna will sum also up </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">to 786, says Hafiz Shujath Hussain.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Eminent astrologer TM Rao, however, does not see any astrological </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">significance for August 7, 2006. "It is just like any other day, except that it </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">has a significant combination of numbers 7,8 and 6," he adds.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-19658943168259625752012-06-07T09:02:00.002+05:302012-06-07T09:21:19.865+05:30Food habits in Ramzan: Hyderabadis moving away from traditional dishes gradually<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">By Syed Akbar</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Ramzan is gradually turning to be quite different in Hyderabad, at least on the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">food front. With the change in the food habits of Hyderabadis, the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">traditional menu for the pre-dawn "Sahar" and the post-sunset "Iftaar" </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">has given way to Chinese, Italian and Andhra dishes.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The ritual of fasting was once considered to be incomplete in this part </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">of India without the traditional Hyderabadi dishes. But this festival </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">season, several non-Hyderabadi dishes are all set to make their way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">into the special Ramzan menu.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Instead of the traditional morning dishes Nahari Kulcha, Murgh, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Kichidi Kheema and Bagara Chawal with Dalcha, "modern" </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Hyderabadis are now preferring Andhra food items like Idli, Vada and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Uthappa and Chinese stuff including Chop Suey, Chow Mein and Lo </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">mein. The famous "bun muska" has simply disappeared from the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Ramzan menu.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">"The traditional Hyderabadi items are too oily and full of cholesterol. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Though the dishes taste good, they have a long term ill-effect on the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">body. Eating food with high cholesterol content early in the morning is </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">not good for health. So we are going in for the lighter stuff to ensure </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">that the fasting goes on well without trouble," says lecturer B </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Moinuddin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The highly educated ones, on the other hand, are going in for Pizza, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">French fries, Chicken nuggets, spring rolls and egg rolls. In tune with </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the changed food habits, several restaurants have made special </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">arrangements to supply these items early in the morning in time for the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Sahar. Even roadside bandis have come out with the "sahar" menu to </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">cater to the changed needs, selling hot Idli, Vada early in the morning. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"There's a perceptible change in the eating habits of Hyderabadis. More </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">and more families are going in for ready-made food stuff even for </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">festivals. Preparation for sahar means waking up at 1.30 am so that the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">food is ready by 3.00 am.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">By the time the fajr (dawn) prayer is </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">completed, it will be 5.45 am. This leaves only a little time for sleep. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">And this is primarily the reason why more and more people are going </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">in for ready-made and easily digestible items," says senior Islamic </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">scholar Hafiz Syed Shujath Hussain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">However, the old Hyderabadis still want to stick to their favourite all-</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">time dishes like Kofta, Lukhmi along with Nahari Kulcha or Bagara </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Chawal with Dalcha.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Moreover, with Ramzan falling in the rainy season (this is the first time </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">that the festival falls in rainy season in 33 years), the menu for the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"Iftaar" has also undergone a few changes. The temperature is slightly </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">lower and so there will be no "cool stuff" like Firni, Harira, Faluda and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Lassi. Ramzan, which literally means "heat" is also going to be a rather </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">cool affair this season.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Ramzan falls in different seasons in different years completing the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">cycle in 33 years. This is because the lunar calendar falls short of 11 </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">days in relation to the solar year.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-51868038796264014072012-06-07T08:54:00.001+05:302012-06-07T09:22:52.411+05:30How the Gandhian "Charka" had changed the living standards of people in the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina before Indian Independence<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">By Syed Akbar</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Old timers in Hyderabad recall how </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the Gandhian "Charka" had changed </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">the living standards of people in </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina before Independence. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Scores of "Charka" experts from Hyderabad went to Medina, the city of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">the Prophet, to train the local Arabs in the art of making thread and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">weaving cloth. Some Hyderabadis also went to Mecca, the city of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Allah, with the Gandhian mission of providing livelihood to the poor </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">through Charka.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">As the poor people of Mecca and Medina could not master the art of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">making thread on the Charka despite several training sessions by expert </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Hyderabadis, it was then decided that the local Arabs be trained in </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">weaving cloth. Hyderabadis then carried with them what is known as </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"Kargha" (a type of loom) to weave Khadi cloth. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Incidentally, it was Hyderabad which provided the first-ever power </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">generation facility in Masjid-al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid-un-Nabavi </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">in Medina in 1936. Then Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">and some members of the noble Paigah family donated the two </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">generators that illuminated the Islamic shrines in the otherwise dark </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">desert nights.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">According to eminent educationist KM Arifuddin, in 1932 Shaik </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Abdullah, then prime minister of Kashmir, the Nawab of Chattari and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">then prime minister of Hyderabad held a meeting and formed what </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">came to be known as "Anjuman Parcha Bafi Harmain Sharieff". </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Arifuddin is presently the secretary of the Anjuman. The purpose of the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Anjuman or society was to help the poor people of the two Islamic holy </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">cities. The Anjuman acquired properties and the rents accrued from </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">them were sent to Mecca and Medina as charity.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"Later the society felt that sending money will not serve the purpose </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">well. So it decided to give training to the local Arabs in hand weaving </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">industry. A unit was set up in Medina and it functioned till 1945. After </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Independence and oil discovery in Saudi Arabia Hyderabadis stopped </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">sending funds or training the locals in hand weaving," says Arifuddin.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Former IAS officer Hasnuddin Ahmad says the Gandhian Charka and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Kargha had changed the living standards of the Arabs in those days. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">"The cloth produced from handlooms was not of superior or fine </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">quality. The cloth was coarse in nature. The Arab people had marketing </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">problems. The Hyderabadis came out with a solution. It was suggested </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">that the cloth could be used as "kafan" (shroud) to cover the dead. The </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Arabs used to dip the cloth in the holy waters of Zamzam (a perennial </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">well in the precincts of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca) and sold it to the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">pilgrims from around the world during Haj or Umra," Ahmad observes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Rubat (accommodation) in Mecca and Medina is another </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">contribution of Hyderabadis, according to senior Urdu journalist Syed </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Fazil Hussain Parvez.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Keeping the long association with the Islamic holy cities, the synonyms </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">of peace and love, Hyderabadis have been observing Milad-un-Nabi as </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"anti-terrorism day" to drive home the message that Islam means peace</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">and the ill actions of a handful of Muslims cannot reflect on the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">community at large.</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-70845852102047901602012-06-06T09:46:00.001+05:302012-06-06T09:46:20.786+05:30All about Muslim reservations: Is quota for Muslims in India Constitutionally valid?<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Is Muslim quota Constitutional, because it has been widely criticized as illegal and unconstitutional?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">In the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) we find the efforts to include minorities was negatived, and it is thus clear that minorities are not to be included in the term “backward classes” : This again is fallacious and incorrect. The terms have been used in a historical situation with a specific intent which no longer obtained after partition, and the conclusion is erroneous. The statements and answers of Dr. B R Ambedkar establish that the term “backward classes” was used as an alternative for minorities (after several allied expressions like “minorities and classes”, “classes and minorities”, “classes including minorities”, etc., were all considered) only because the expectation in April 1947 was that there would still be the possibility of a unified India (including India as it is now, and the present Pakistan and Bangladesh) could be realized and politically actualized. Once the country split up, the earlier seemingly valid rationale for not having the word minority evaporated, and the need was to have the word mentioned. However, the trauma and the strong feelings were a factual reality and in the heat of the times, the removed or substituted word could hardly have been sought to be re-included without serious discord. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The correct picture that emerges is that the term classes was used as an inclusive term that would encompass minorities as well as other classes of people. A further reading of Articles 15 (4) and 16 (4) read with Article 29 (2) would be informative and illustrative :</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.-</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(2) ....</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment - (1) ...</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">...</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(4A) Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion of any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State are not adequately represented in the services under the state.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The Constitution rejects religion-based reservations. How, then, do you justify it?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">It does not. Muslims have the sole homogenous feature that all subscribe to the same religion, and any reservation for Muslims would inevitably be attacked by opponents of the move as being religion-based and therefore violative of the equality clause of the Constitution. The reservation for Muslims, who do subscribe to the same religion, is not sought on that as basis or for that reason : it is sought on the basis of their backwardness and for the reason that that backwardness required to be addressed by affirmative action on the part of the State. Also, as would be seen from submissions below, the Constitution does enable such reservation. (It is only discrimination AGAINST that is precluded on basis of race, religion, sex, caste, etc., and not affirmative action FOR backward persons. There is a misguided judicial attempt to claim discrimination is proscribed. It is not. The operative word is against, and while discrimination against is prohibited, discrimination in favour of, constituting affirmative action, is not only not prohibited, it is actively required, recommended and even mandated by the Constitution itself, as we shall see.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">If we see Article 16 (4) it refers to ANY backward class of citizens. If we see Article 15 (4) it refers to ANY socially and educationally backward classes of citizens OR for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The word ANY hardly needs elaboration. Classes, as a plural of class, is also indicative of constitution makers’ and parliament’s intent. The disjunctive OR between the words “backward classes of citizens” and “scheduled castes and scheduled tribes” (as this OR that) establishes that the backward classes are categories or classes OTHER THAN scheduled castes and scheduled tribes which are separately listed. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">When we read Article 29 (2) and see that the words used are “only on grounds of religion, race, caste, language or any of them”, and 15 (4) states (non-obstante – like) “nothing in this article or in Article 29 (2) shall prevent the state from making any provision FOR the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes…” absent intellectual dishonesty, we are able to appreciate that a provision FOR backward classes can be made even on the basis only of religion, if persons subscribing to any particular religion are found to be backward, and like sec 151 of the CPC, the perception is of power inherent (“nothing in this article or in Article 29 (2) shall prevent the state”), and clear unequivocal expression is given to the fact that nothing prevents the exercise thereof in appropriate cases.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Likewise, Arts. 330, 332, 335 and 338 speak of SCs and STs, whereas 331 and 333 and 336 refer to Anglo-Indian community : the Anglo-Indian community comprises exclusively of Christians. That provision is thus based on religion alone. If Anglo-Indians are perceived to be only predominantly (and not exclusively) Christian, even then the provision is seen as one based only on “race”. While thus separate provision has been made for SCs and STs and for Anglo-Indians, Article 340 refers to “commission for backward classes” : when seen as distinct from SCs and STs and Anglo-Indians, who can these other backward classes be ? Obviously it would refer to other citizens who may be of any religious or other denomination, and are in the opinion of the state, backward. Muslims qua Muslims stand squarely covered.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">What exactly does the Indira Sawhney case in the Supreme Court say on the issue of Muslim quota?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">In Indra Sawhney, the Supreme Court’s guideline was stated thus : “for example, (the BCC) may take up the Muslim community (after excluding those sections, castes and groups, if any, who have already been considered)…”</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">…..Para (4). The doctrine of equality has many facets. It is a dynamic, and an evolving concept. Its main facets, relevant to Indian Society, have been referred to in the preamble and the articles under the sub heading “Right to equality”- (Articles 14 to 18). In short, the goal is “equality of status and of opportunity”. Articles 14 to 18 must be understood not merely with reference to what they say but also in the light of the several articles in Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy). “Justice, Social, Economic and Political “, is the sum total of the aspirations incorporated in Part IV</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(E). Constitution of India, Art.340- Backward classes commission – Conclusions given in its report – cannot always be scientifically accurate - Sufficient if relevant data and material given in report justify the conclusions. (Per B.P.Jeevan Reddy,J. (for himself and on behalf of M.H.Kania, C.J.and M.N.Venkatachaliah, A.M.Ahmadi, JJ.)) AIR 1972 SC 1375, Approved (Para 39)</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">….. para. 39. Again, in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Balram (AIR 1972 SC 1375), a case arising from Andhra Pradesh, a Division Bench (Vaidyalingam and Mathew, JJ.) adopted the same approach and upheld the identification made by Andhra Pradesh Government on the basis of caste. Answering the criticism that the Backward Classes Commission appointed by the state Government did not do a Scientific and job, the Bench observed :</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">“In our opinion, the Commission has taken considerable pains to collect as much relevant material as possible to judge the social and educational backwardness of the persons concerned. ... If the commission has only to go on doing the work of collecting particulars and materials, it will be a never-ending matter. In spite of best efforts that any commission may make in collecting materials and data, its conclusions cannot be always scientifically accurate in such matters. Therefore, the proper approach, in our opinion should be to see whether the relevant data and materials referred to in the report of the Commission justify its conclusions.....”</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">...Art. 16 (1) does permit reasonable classification for ensuring attainment of equality of opportunity assured by it. For assuring equality of opportunity, it may well be necessary in certain situations to treat unequally situated persons unequally. Not doing so, would perpetuate and accentuate inequality.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">……Para. 57. …… In our respectful opinion, the view taken by the majority in Thomas is the correct one. We too believe that Article 16 (1) does permit reasonable classification for ensuring attainment of the equality of opportunity assured by it. For assuring equality of opportunity, it may well be necessary in certain situations to treat unequally situated persons unequally. Not doing so, would perpetuate and accentuate inequality. Article 16(4) is an instance of such Classification, put in to place the matter beyond controversy. The “backward class of citizens” are classified as a separate category deserving a special treatment in the nature of reservation of appointment/posts in the services of State.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">…..Para. 80. Pausing here, we may be permitted to make a few observations. The speeches of Dr. Ambedkar may have to be understood in the context of the then obtaining ground realities viz. (a) Hindus constituted 84% of the total population of India. And among Hindus, caste discrimination was unfortunately an unpleasant reality; (b) caste system had percolated even the Non-Hindu religions – no doubt to varying extents. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(c). It is significant to notice that throughout his speech in the Constituent Assembly, Dr.Ambedkar was using the word “communities” (and not ‘castes’) which expression includes not only the castes among the Hindus but several other groups. For example, Muslims as a whole were treated as a backward community in the princely State of Travancore besides several sections/ denominations among the Christians. The word “community” is clearly wider than “caste” – and “Backward communities” meant not only the castes – wherever they may be found – but also other groups, classes and sections among the populace.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">But any program towards betterment of these sections-classes of society and any program designed to eradicate this evil must recognize this ground reality and attune its program accordingly. Merely burying our heads in the sand – Ostrich-like – wouldn’t help. One cannot fight his enemy without recognizing him. The U. S. Supreme Court has said repeatedly, if race be the basis of discrimination past and present – race must also form the basis of redress programmes though in our Constitutional scheme, it is not necessary to go that far. Without a doubt, an extensive restructuring of socio-economic system is the answer. That is indeed the goal, as would be evident from the preamble and Part IV (Directive Principles).</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">For identification of backward classes one has to begin somewhere – with some group, class or section. There is no set or recognized method. There is no law or other statutory instrument prescribing the methodology. … There is also no rule of law that a test to be applied for identifying backward classes should be only one and /or uniform. In a vast country like India, it is simply not practicable. If the real object is to discover and locate backwardness, and if such backwardness is found in a caste, they too can be treated as backward.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">….Para. 83. ...</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">…. Besides castes (whether found among Hindus or others) there may be other communities, groups, classes and denominations, which may qualify as backward class of citizens. For example, in a particular State, Muslim community as whole may be found socially backward.... For example, it may take up the Muslim community (after excluding those sections, castes and groups, if any, who have already been considered) and find out whether it can be characterized as a backward class in that state or region, as the case may be...</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">…what is the effect of the word ’only’ in Article 16(2). In the context it has been used it operates, both, as permissive and prohibitive. It is permissive when State action, legislative or executive, is founded on any ground other than race, religion or caste. Whereas it is prohibitive if it is based exclusively on any of the grounds mentioned in Article 16(2) [Javed Beg v. Union of India (AIR 1981 SC 794)].</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> (c) Social and educationally backward class under Article 340 being narrower in import than backward class in Article 16(4) it has to be construed in restricted manner. And the words educationally backward in this Article cannot be disregarded while determining backwardness.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(3) Reservation under Article 16(4) being for any class of citizens and citizen having been defined in Chapter II of the Constitution includes not only Hindus but Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Budhs, Jains etc. the principle of identification has to be of universal application so as to extend to every community and not only to those who are other converts from Hinduism or some of whom (who) carry same occupation as some of the Hindus.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">... It is true that no decision earlier to it specifically said so, yet such an impression gained currency and it is that impression which finds expression in the above observation. In our respectful opinion, however, the said assumption has no basis. Clause (4) of Art.16 does not contain the qualifying words “socially and educationally” as does clause (4) of Art.15. It may be remembered that Art. 340 (which has remained un-amended) does employ the expression ‘socially and educationally backward classes’ and yet that expression does not find place in Art.16(4). The reason is obvious: “backward class of citizens” in Art.16(4) takes in Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and all other backward classes of citizens including the socially and educationally backward classes. Thus, certain classes which may not qualify for Art. 15 (4) may qualify as backward class of citizens for the purpose of Art. 16 (4). ... It would, thus, be not correct to say that ‘ backward class of citizens’ in Art.16(4) are the same as the socially and educationally backward classes in Art.15(4). Saying so would mean and imply reading a limitation into a beneficial provision like Art.16(4). Note that yet the Courts have not hesitated in reading a limitation into 15 (4) that is not warranted by the wordings employed by Parliament or Constituent Assembly. They have interpreted “prohibition of discrimination AGAINST” as equivalent to “prohibition of affirmative action in favour of” ! ]]</span></span><br />Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-5718602506730754362012-06-03T18:44:00.001+05:302012-06-13T20:34:10.790+05:30Muslim Alienation in Andhra Pradesh<span style="font-family: inherit;">By (late) <span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Prof Abdur Rahim</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The 80-lakh strong Muslim community in Andhra Pradesh today stands at </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">cross-roads. There's a clear sense of alienation and marginalisation and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">this is </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the first time in many years that the principal minority community finds </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">itself </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"insecure".</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The recent terror events and subsequent police excesses on Muslim youths </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">coupled with the State government's failure to reassure the community has </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">further compounded the problem. Beginning May 18, when a bomb went off </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">at the historic Mecca Masjid, the police have been hounding Muslim youths</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">sporting skull cap or beard, detaining them illegally and subjecting them to </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">untold torture.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">But the police failed to substantiate the charge of terror for which they had </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">been held. Cases not connected with terror were booked against them to </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">ensure that the Muslim youths remain within the four walls of prison though </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">they did not breach law. All those even remotely linked to terror suspect </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Shahed alias Bilal are put behind the bars.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The police intensified midnight knocks after two more bombs killed over two </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">dozen people at a recreation park and an eatery on August 25. The police </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">targeted Muslim youths with some background of participating in protest </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">demonstrations on occasions like December 6 (Babri demolition). Most of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the victims of police torture are those who were behind Moulana </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Naseeruddin, now lodged in a Gujarat jail.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The State Minorities Commission, which normally remains indifferent to the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">sufferings of the community, woke up from its slumber to blame the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">administration for targeting Muslims, though there are enough indications of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">involvement of miscreants and fundamentalists from the majority </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">community.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The bad handling of the situation by the Rajasekhar Reddy government and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the Home Minister's pat to the police will go down as a dark phase in the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">history of Muslims of Andhra Pradesh. The year 2007 will be remembered by </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the community for many years to come as the "year of police terror and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">government's slumber on Muslim cause".</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Talking about the post-blasts detainees, none of the scores of Muslim youth, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">arrested and tortured, are really involved. The police and the Intelligence </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">authorities know it well. Yes, some of them have been close to the circle of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">suspicion. </span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">But the level of third-degree methods used against them, hardly justifies the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">proof on which they have based their investigations. Mossad-style equipment </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">was used to give electric shocks to their genitals.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Some have even complained of impotency. Can there be anything more </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">inhuman? Just to eke out confessions which do not stand the scrutiny of the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">judiciary! Instructions for this could have come from anywhere, here, from </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the Centre or from abroad. But the authorities have only enlarged the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">circle of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">hatred.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">People living in despair, without a future, in bitterness, in abject </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">poverty, can </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">become very frustrated and dangerous. The childish advice that a particular </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">political party can stem the Muslim backlash, if and when it comes, is an </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">exercise in futility. The solution is to contain the virus, still in its </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">embryonic </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">stage, to reach out to them and heal their wounds. Set them free, but keep a </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">strict vigil.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The clear-cut alienation of the community has made the State and the Central </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">governments sit up and think. But much damage has been done to the delicate </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">secular fabric.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Muslim elders wonder what makes the police suspect only the Muslims </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">whenever something bad takes places in Hyderabad or elsewhere in the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">country. Unless the police change their pre-conceived notions and subject </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">themselves to impartial inquiry, the community will continue to look at the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">police with suspicion. Alienation of such a large portion of population will </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">have a negative impact on secularism and democracy.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">In some instances the Muslims themselves are responsible for their plight. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Illiteracy, lack of openness and zealous statements by community leaders </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">have only added to the suspicion of the police. Unfortunately, the</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">governments too have been obsessed with the "Muslim phobia". Taking </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">advantage of the governments general mood, police are quick to brand </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Muslims as those helping terrorists.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Divide Within</b></span></span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Lets turn over the leaves of history pages to understand the Muslim psyche. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Even within the Muslim community there had been a long but invisible </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">divide. This divide has been there right from the Independence. Muslim </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">alienation in Andhra Pradesh, particularly Hyderabad, needs to be understood </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">in its correct perspective.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">If we look at the situation of Muslims in pre and post partition days, the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">population was divided vertically between the Muslim elites (the so-called </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Nawabs, the landed and educated gentry, and the bureaucrats) and the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">impoverished Muslim masses eking out their living pulling rickshaws and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">tongas or selling goods on thela-bundis or unorganized labour, largely </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">uneducated living in 800 odd slums that dotted the Hyderabad.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Few people today remember the holocaust during Police Action, when over </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">half-a-million Muslims of the erstwhile Hyderabad State were either </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">slaughtered or uprooted from their homes and hearths in Nanded, Latur, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Parbhani, Osmanabad, Bheed and Nagpur, Kamptee, Amravati and Akola, of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">erstwhile Berar.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Those who survived took shelter in the city, dispersed in "34 refugee camps" </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">spread from Barkas in the south to Erragadda in the North of the city, all </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">living in squalor in shanty slums, almost cheek by jowl. The Muslim elite </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">looked at them as an unwelcome blot on the cultured horizon of their </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">blissfully happy Hyderabad "Farkunda Buniyaad".</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">They were never considered, even in their weakest religious moments, as </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">brothers of the Faith. They were the outcasts and the leprous face of the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Muslim polity. Sixty years later, the situation is no different. The Muslim </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">elite have managed to feather their nests, by harking on the poverty of the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Muslim masses and were able to garner enough largesse from their political </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">masters, Congress or TDP, to last them for ten more generations. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Muslim leadership was successful in fooling the masses that the fruits of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">their</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">riches will trickle down to them soon. Yes, today we have more schools and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">colleges, professional and others, with the number of educated having </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">doubled, but the number of uneducated masses, impoverished and forlorn, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">having multiplied ten-fold. There lies the dilemma. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The question is, who is alienated, between the two. The biggest irony is that </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the Muslim leadership cites hundreds of communal riots that have pulverised</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the Muslim masses, even blaming successive State Governments, mostly </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Congress, for their apathy and even connivance. Crocodile tears. No sooner </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the tumult dies down; the Muslim elite are back at their old game, picking up </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">the crumbs that are thrown at them by the ruling parties. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Even with the post blast detainees in the Cherlapally jail, the current </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">tussle</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">for various posts in the Urdu Academy, the Wakf Board and the Minorities </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Financial Corporation, is the shameless face of our Muslim elite. With every </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">incident of injustice or oppression, suddenly one sees the emergence of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">various Relief Funds, meant for the poor Muslims, 40-50% eaten away by the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">promoters as "Kaffaf" (wages for collection). </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The latest being the Relief Fund sought food and clothing for the illegal</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">detainees accused in the bomb blasts and their families. Nothing could be </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">more ridiculous. After all, it is the duty of every Muslim to come to the </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">aid of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">their oppressed and discriminated brothers. Where is the need for a media-</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">generated donation-collection spree?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The poet Taher Farz says: "Ye shauk-e-siasat bhi hai ajab, Is shauk-e-siasat </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">mein Taher, Jab logon ke ghar bik jaten hain to kuch logon ke ghar ban jate </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">hain" ("This lure of politics is a strange addiction, where people are </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">forced to </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">sell their homes, so that, a few others can build their own.")</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Remedial Measures</b></span></span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Monetary sops will not help (What is Rs.5-10 lakhs, here and there). </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Vigilance should be felt rather than be seen. Police morale should be based </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">on the confidence and trust that the public have on them, not on their self- </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">ordained "right to be brutal".</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">One thing that emerges is that the Muslim masses are also alienated from </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">their leadership. An Urdu couplet highlights their angst. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"Aap ghairon ki bath karte hain Hamne apne bhi aazmain hain, Log kanto se </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">bach ke chalte hain, Hum ne apnon se zakm khaiy hain" ("You speak of those </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">against us, but we have tried our own brethren, While people avoid the thorns </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">in their paths, We have been injured by our own brethren".)</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The time has come to usher in a new renaissance, among the Muslim masses </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">post May-August blasts. They need to reassess their problems, identify their </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">friends and foes from among themselves. Who will lead them towards </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">empowerment, towards a life of dignity and honour?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Today Muslims in Hyderabad, as never before, can easily boast of some of </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">brightest engineers, doctors, IT specialists, and potential </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">administrators. They </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">need to be absorbed both in the public and private employment. Reservations </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">and quotas wont work. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Political will is necessary. They will have to be made participants in </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">governance, the essence of democracy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">(Late Prof Abdur Rahim was former head of department of journalism and mass</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">communication, Osmania University, Hyderabad)</span></span>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-45390522583781991722009-10-25T18:38:00.000+05:302009-10-25T18:38:40.328+05:30Genetic history of Muslims in India: Islam spread through cultural conversion, and not through human invasion2009 <br />
<span style="color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>By Syed Akbar</strong></span><br />
Hyderabad, Oct 23: The spread of Islam in India was predominantly a cultural conversion associated with minor but detectable levels of gene flow primarily from Iran and Central Asia, and not directly from the <br />
Arabian peninsula, according to a new research study collaborated by the city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.<br />
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The study also found that most of the Indian Muslim populations received their major genetic input from geographically close non-Muslim populations. "However, we have also observed low levels of likely sub-Saharan African, Arabian and West Asian admixture among Indian Muslims. We rule out significant gene flow from Arabia," CCMB senior scientist Dr K Thangaraj told this correspondent.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">According to historical evidence, the Indian Subcontinent has been exposed to several waves of human migrations from the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, the homelands of Indian Muslim rulers Arabian Peninsula (where Islam was propagated) served as a hub for human migrations, hence the merged genetic signatures of Eurasian and African origin, which has been detected in both maternal and paternal lineages from the region. Besides Arabia, Iran is a second plausible genetic source for Indian Muslims. It is positioned in the tricontinental nexus and its populations genetically show close proximity to those from the Near East, lthough with a lesser genetic input from Africa than from the populations of the Arabian Peninsula.Besides mtDNA and the Y chromosome, which show relatively low levels of differentiation between these two potential sources, recentstudies of lactose tolerance have revealed that Iranian and Arabian populations differ significantly in genetic patterns at this locus.</span></em></strong><br />
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The CCMB took up the study in collaboration with the National DNA Analysis Centre of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, State Forensic Laboratory, Lucknow, Leverhulme Centre for Human <br />
Evolutionary Studies of University of Cambridge, UK, Department of Evolutionary Biology of Estonian Biocentre and Tartu University, Estonia, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK.<br />
<br />
To estimate the contribution of West Asian and Arabian admixture to Indian Muslims, the team assessed genetic variation in mitochondrial DNA (mother's lineage), Y-chromosomal (father's lineage) and genetic <br />
markers representing six Muslim communities from different geographical regions of the country.<br />
<br />
"Most Indian Muslims are closely related to their neighbouring non-Muslim populations and this suggests that they descend primarily from local Hindu converts. The exception to this are some northern and north-western Indian Muslims, who differ from indigenous Hindu populations, likely because of a higher proportion of genetic lineages of external origin," the study pointed out.<br />
<br />
<strong><em><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The researchers used as many as 472 Indian Muslim mitochondrial DNAs, 431 Indian Muslim Y chromosomes and 747 Indian Muslim and non-Muslim gene (MCM6) profiles for the study. "There is a notable variation between different Indian Muslim populations, some being highly similar to local Indian populations and others having similarities with external populations, so that when they are all grouped </span></em></strong><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ogether as ‘Indian Muslims’, the group difference is statistically insignificant from that of non-Muslims," Dr Thangaraj said.</span></em></strong><br />
<br />
Shia, Sunni, Dawoodi Bohras from Gujarat and Mappla from Kerala are found to cluster together with Indian non-Muslim populations, whereas Dawoodi Bohras from Tamil Nadu seem to be an outlier. In the Y-chromosomal plot too, Shia, Sunni, Dawoodi Bohras from Gujarat and Mappla form a group with their neighbouring Indian non-Muslim populations and Europeans, whereas the Dawoodi Bohras from Tamil Nadu, again found as an outlier.Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-53990473449841031652009-10-19T12:20:00.008+05:302009-10-20T00:36:21.913+05:30Islamic viewpoint on euthanasia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTYW_Sw76StmTvRV-k4fPJplpimxfrIlFXhQw1PBo5INLOPNACsRjFRq-EQWUoU4LzTLG7QQIoZoAihNSN_8MJWQ3ntgZcDqHN31lPYnmlnywan6PvNeMIrlET7WnFe4h-KbXJ_sQuRg/s1600-h/euthanasia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTYW_Sw76StmTvRV-k4fPJplpimxfrIlFXhQw1PBo5INLOPNACsRjFRq-EQWUoU4LzTLG7QQIoZoAihNSN_8MJWQ3ntgZcDqHN31lPYnmlnywan6PvNeMIrlET7WnFe4h-KbXJ_sQuRg/s400/euthanasia.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="color: lime; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">By Syed Akbar</span></b><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hyderabad: Euthanasia is unIslamic but medical treatment involving the use of stem cells is OK. Assisted reproductive technology like surrogate mother and test tube baby is Islamic as long as the sperm and the ovum is from the legally wedded couples. It is better not to discuss human cloning as it is not "appropriate" as of now.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">These are some of the decisions a group of Muslim doctors from across the country took on Sunday during a national conference on "legal and ethical issues" involved in medical practice vis-à-vis Islamic jurisprudence or Shariat. The conference was organised by the Islamic Fiqh Academy, New Delhi, and the Muslim Educational Social and Cultural Organisation, Hyderabad.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dr Umar Hassan Kasule, internationally renowned professor of epidemiology and Islamic Medicine from Brunei, set the agenda on medical practice for Muslim physicians and clinicians in India. During the day-long session, Dr Umar Hassan dwelt at length various aspects of Islamic medicine, a terminology which is fast becoming popular in the Muslim world, and how Muslim doctors should adapt themselves to the fast changing world of medicine.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Doctors evinced keen interest in legal, medical, ethical and spiritual issues like euthanasia, assisted reproduction technology, stem cell research, organ donation and transplantation as also the Islamic code of conduct for Muslim doctors. Dr Umar Hassan explained in detail these medical issues with appropriate quotes from the Holy Quran and the Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad) and backed by expert fatwas by Islamic scholars of repute, both present and the past.<br />
<span style="background-color: magenta;"></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><b><span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Use of stem cell technology to treat Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart and other crippling diseases is halal. Muslim jurists have ruled that the use of cultured human nerve cells obtained from abortions, spontaneous or medically induced, are permissible," </span>Dr Umar Hassan observes.</span></b><br />
</blockquote></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But with regard to assisted reproduction technology like the use of donor eggs or donor sperm is unIslamic when the donor and the recipient are not legally wedded. "Lineage is a very protected aspect in Islam. Donor eggs and/or sperm upsets the foundations of lineage. This also goes for renting the womb, i.e. surrogacy. Sperm, eggs, and the womb are all a part of the process which determines lineage. Not only is the lineage of the child confused, such a child is illegitimate under Islamic shariah," he points out.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With regard to euthanasia or mercy-killing, the Muslim doctors agreed that the purpose of preserving life makes any form of active or passive euthanasia illegal. Life and good health must be protected and promoted in all circumstances. Euthanasia violates the purpose of preserving religion because it involves a human attempt to violate the divine prerogative of giving and taking away life.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, they are of the view that a distinction in Islamic law exists between withholding life support and withdrawing it. The issue is legally easier if life support is not started at all according to a pre-set policy and criteria. Once it is started, discontinuation raises legal or ethical issues.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When a doctor sought an answer on Islamic position on human cloning, Dr Umar Hassan preferred not to dwell on the issue saying that the Islamic tradition discourages speculative thinking about hypothetical events. But the Islamic expert was of the view that cloning is not creation of new life from basic organic and non-organic matter.<br />
</div><blockquote><div style="color: lime; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cloning as a concept goes far beyond the natural method of human sexual reproduction. If human cloning is ever achieved in practice, it will not be the first exception to human sexual reproduction. The Prophet Adam had neither a father nor a mother. The Prophet Jesus (Hazrat Isa) had a mother but no father. Asexual reproduction is common in the animal and plant kingdoms. Bacteria, viruses, and other micro-organisms reproduce asexually.</b></span><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">"The issue of quality of life arises in the case of cloning. The product of cloning will not have the same quality as we know it in humans today. This is because a human is both matter and spirit. During the first trimester of intra-uterine development the soul (Ruh or spirit) is inserted into the body by God. There is one "Ruh" for each being. Thus the cloned product can not have a "Ruh" and will therefore not be human being as we know," he said.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Muslim medical experts were of the view that the product of cloning will have all the biological properties of the ordinary human being but will not have the spiritual qualities. Thus the life of the cloned product will be of little or no quality.<br />
</div>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-80783725287230159052009-10-19T12:05:00.000+05:302009-10-21T00:22:36.066+05:30Know Islam: The Rights of Animals in Islam - Part one<div style="color: #38761d; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>By Al-Hafiz BA Masri</b></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">===================== <br />
</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dominion Over Animals</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">===================== <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Quran states that man has dominion over animals: "He (God) it is Who made you vicegerents on earth." (Qur'an 35:39), but makes clear that this responsibility is not unconditional and states what happens to those who misuse their freedom of choice and fail to conform to the conditions that limit this responsibility: "then We reduce him (to the status of) the lowest of the low." (Qur'an 95:4,5) "…they are those whom Allah has rejected and whom He has condemned….because they served evil" (Qur'an 5:63). "…they have hearts wherewith they fail to comprehend, and eyes wherewith they fail to see, and ears wherewith they fail to hear….Such (humans) are far astray from the right path. (Qur'an 7:179).<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv62B9hqkewKvSEkJTYIIX6Ibplu9kBI_uSXkhxImw2x60jhwbkfsoBPDTSSo6PDC07i6Y8BQklBRwumO10BTLiHy1JXVW_Ohj1zVSJVYb8XDXlgzA2MpJlulI8Li8NPHoFgmb3dWTw7c/s1600-h/camels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv62B9hqkewKvSEkJTYIIX6Ibplu9kBI_uSXkhxImw2x60jhwbkfsoBPDTSSo6PDC07i6Y8BQklBRwumO10BTLiHy1JXVW_Ohj1zVSJVYb8XDXlgzA2MpJlulI8Li8NPHoFgmb3dWTw7c/s400/camels.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are…people who take the concept of man's dominion over animals as a licentious freedom to break all the established moral rules designed to protect animal rights. The Imam Hazrat Ali has this to say about (those who misuse their authority over the weak): "A savage and ferocious beast is better than a wicked and tyrant ruler." (Maxims, see Ref. No. 4, pp. 203, 381). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Again, the Holy Quran urges in remonstrance: "And be not like those who say, 'we have heard', while they do not hearken. Verily, the vilest of all creatures, in the sight of Allah, are those deaf and dumb ones who do not use their rationality." (Qur'an 8:21,22).<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">========================= <br />
</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animals Are Our Teachers</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Muslims have often been advised by their mentors to learn lessons from some species of animal. For example, the Imam Hazrat Ali gives this piece of advice:<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT3Bl3pubi9GI9tR3NGSqVJRWYinVWgz3Gs92mEAbncbApCf9Ep8jkxVo6ABi0jt5bc4LISCZKbx5GHqhZu_syRBxgcXjO6fwNtKfqRvIWpTfWRjyab8Uxo8NRW5EzFXKN5aIkHyTZ20/s1600-h/bird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT3Bl3pubi9GI9tR3NGSqVJRWYinVWgz3Gs92mEAbncbApCf9Ep8jkxVo6ABi0jt5bc4LISCZKbx5GHqhZu_syRBxgcXjO6fwNtKfqRvIWpTfWRjyab8Uxo8NRW5EzFXKN5aIkHyTZ20/s400/bird.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Be like a bee; anything he heats is clean, anything he drops is sweet and any branch he sits upon does not break." (Maxims of Ali; translated by Al-Halal from Nahj-ul-Balagha (in Arabic); Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan; p. 436. The Imam, Hazrat Ali bin Abi Talib was the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(s), and the fourth Caliph (644-656 A.C. = 23-24 A.H.).<br />
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</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animals Are Members of Communities and the Family of God</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) puts it in these words: "All creatures are like a family (Ayal) of God: and he loves the most those who are the most beneficent to His family. (Narrated by Anas. Mishkat al-Masabih,3:1392; quoted from Bukhari.) <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Quran says: "There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings, but they are communities like you…". (Qur'an 6:38).<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNQFNmomsMelPZPmhUSl8CMLkSXvvrV43jqxAFUX4niJWxZMAaMhMnAlYcg6sG15Ij0pi7xZdHP796ByjQvbM7CeiedsfnTDy9JOoV2W9PJB9wd-IyRBiPfhlo_e8iF0MaEP5AkyHr1Y/s1600-h/animals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNQFNmomsMelPZPmhUSl8CMLkSXvvrV43jqxAFUX4niJWxZMAaMhMnAlYcg6sG15Ij0pi7xZdHP796ByjQvbM7CeiedsfnTDy9JOoV2W9PJB9wd-IyRBiPfhlo_e8iF0MaEP5AkyHr1Y/s400/animals.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Prophet(s) used to say: "Whoever is kind to the creatures of God, is kind to himself." (Wisdom of Prophet Mohammad(s); Muhammad Amin; The Lion Press, Lahore, Pakistan; 1945). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the learned commentators of the Holy Quran ….animals all live a life, individual and social, like members of a human commune. In other words, they are like communities in their own right and not in relation to human species or its values. These details have been mentioned to emphasize the point that even those species which are generally considered as insignificant or even dangerous deserve to be treated as communities; that their intrinsic and not perceptible values should be recognized, irrespective of their usefulness or their apparent harmfulness." <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The significant point to note is that, physically, man has been put in the same bracket as all other species. The following Hadith leaves no ambiguity in the scene in which the Holy Quran uses the word 'community': Abu Huraira reported the Prophet(s) as telling of an incident that happened to another prophet in the past. This prophet was stung by an ant and, in anger, he ordered the whole of the ants' nest to be burned. At this, God reprimanded this prophet in these words: 'because one ant stung you, you have burned a whole community which glorified Me'. (Bukhari and Muslim). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Islamic law (Shari'ah) concerning the rights of animals are very elaborate and explicit. In the case of the ants' nest, the following Juristic Rule would apply: Any damage or a damaging retaliation for a damage is forbidden. (La zarara wa la zirar).<br />
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</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Human/Animal Communication </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">===========================<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are numerous legends about the Muslim saints and other holy men who could talk to animals. However, for lack of authentication, they are taken generally as mere fables. There is one statement in the Holy Quran , though, which proves that man had acquired the lore of speech with animals as early as the time of King Solomon. Perhaps in those days human civilization was more in tune with nature than it is today. The Holy Quranic verse runs like this: "And Solomon was David's heir, and he said: 'O ye people! We have been taught the speech of birds…" (Qur'an 27:16).<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqblGhM78ZkV0h2mq5fFMFPi_z3eZ7Qjtj5jViw7y1D3DhlJBzNCZxqEcFXAExtfAHtKyJGGXX_ZVpN1-w2pryZMnh1bDkd_g2vzcoZ1NYSdrXXcMGVGXQNnWBwM7IoSCaqe9gVPd0sM/s1600-h/communication.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqblGhM78ZkV0h2mq5fFMFPi_z3eZ7Qjtj5jViw7y1D3DhlJBzNCZxqEcFXAExtfAHtKyJGGXX_ZVpN1-w2pryZMnh1bDkd_g2vzcoZ1NYSdrXXcMGVGXQNnWBwM7IoSCaqe9gVPd0sM/s400/communication.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Quran tells us that God actually communicates with animals, as the following verse shows: And your Lord revealed to the bee, saying: 'make hives in the mountains and in the trees, and in (human) habitations'. (Qur'an 16:68). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Quran uses the same Arabic word "Wahi" for God's revelation to all His Prophets, including the Holy Prophet Muhammad(s), as it has been used in the case of the bee….it proves the basic fact that animals have a sufficient degree of psychic endowment to understand and follow God's messages - a faculty which is higher than instinct and intuition.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=========================== <br />
</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animals Have Consciousness </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">===========================<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many passages from the Holy Quran and Ahadith state that all animals are endowed with spirit and mind and "…there is ample evidence in the Holy Quran to suggest that animals' consciousness of spirit and mind is of a degree higher than mere instinct and intuition.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0ErsLC-CWB38cdvrb8dFopg2KUabx_pcfIwJ99AnDKHgwJzB98y2C0gY2ZJUOprIijc5WSD_tMaDhVaV2C2Kj1_xZuilYf1-HO88I9vSGGJPv8lru0vytoxfIRw1TjJcDZOZ_8sAMZ0/s1600-h/intelligence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0ErsLC-CWB38cdvrb8dFopg2KUabx_pcfIwJ99AnDKHgwJzB98y2C0gY2ZJUOprIijc5WSD_tMaDhVaV2C2Kj1_xZuilYf1-HO88I9vSGGJPv8lru0vytoxfIRw1TjJcDZOZ_8sAMZ0/s320/intelligence.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We are told in the Holy Quran that animals have a cognizance of their Creator and, hence, they pay their obeisance to Him by adoration and worship: Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises are celebrated by all beings in the heavens and on earth, and by the birds with extended wings? Each one knows its prayer and psalm, And Allah is aware of what they do. (Qur'an 24:41). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is worth noting the statement that 'each one knows its prayer and psalm'. The execution of a voluntary act, performed consciously and intentionally, requires a faculty higher than that of instinct and intuition. Lest some people should doubt that animals could have such a faculty, the following verse points out that it is human ignorance that prevents them from understanding this phenomenon: The seven heavens and the earth and all things therein declare His glory. There is not a thing but celebrates His adoration; and yet ye mankind! ye understand not how do they declare His glory…(Qur'an 17:44). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The following verse tells us how all the elements of nature and all the animal kingdom function in harmony with God's laws; it is only some humans who infringe and, thus, bring affliction on themselves.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><blockquote style="color: black;"><i><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: large;">The Holy Quran dwells on this theme repeatedly to emphasize the point that man should bring himself into harmony with nature, according to the laws of God -- as all other creation does: Seest thou not that unto Allah payeth adoration all things that are in the heavens and on earth -- the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the animals, and a large number among mankind? However, there are many (humans) who do not and deserve chastisement…(Qur'an 22:18).<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"></span></span></i><br />
</blockquote><div style="background-color: yellow;"><br />
</div></blockquote><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Dutch team of scientists has found scientific evidence of mental suffering in animals. They have discovered that, like the human brain, an animal's brain too releases a substance called 'Endorphin' to cope with emotional distress and pain, caused by frustration or conflict. This substance is 100 times more powerful than morphine. (This was reported in the newsletter of Compassion in World Farming Agscene, August 1985, 20 Lavant Street, Petersfield, Hants, England).<br />
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</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animals and Humans Must Share Natural Resources </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=================================================<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once it has been established that each species of animal is a "community" like the human community, it stands to reason that each and every creature on earth has, as its birth-right, a share in all the natural resources. In other words, each animal is a tenant-in-common on this Planet with human species.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjWysU0GmzG-L0s1BHsjILJyLekhUmCHizhzNj-GkzUySExK4-xMfPyE0QvrVk4zSIG2jU8aSoX9x_K4VmgmL1SBI726UMvPV3gu1i47oQYGEweDqHaQeRkCb-B5Bt39kXAUzRUpJNok/s1600-h/natural+resources.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjWysU0GmzG-L0s1BHsjILJyLekhUmCHizhzNj-GkzUySExK4-xMfPyE0QvrVk4zSIG2jU8aSoX9x_K4VmgmL1SBI726UMvPV3gu1i47oQYGEweDqHaQeRkCb-B5Bt39kXAUzRUpJNok/s400/natural+resources.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But "Man has always been in competition with animals for food, and the problem has been aggravated in the current world situation, especially because of modern agrarian mismanagement." The Holy Quran has tried to allay this fear of man by reassuring him that God is not only the Creator but also the Sustainer and the Nourisher of all that He creates. However, the Holy Quran lays down the condition that human beings, like all other creatures, shall have to work for their food, and that their share would be proportionate to their labor: "And that man shall have nothing, but what he strives for." (Qur'an 53:39) <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Quran repeatedly emphasizes that food and other resources of nature are there to be shared equitably with other creatures. Below are just a few of numerous such verses: Then let man look at his food: how We pour out water in showers, then turn up the earth into furrow-slices and cause cereals to grow therein - grapes and green fodder; olive-trees and palm-trees; and luxuriant orchards, fruits and grasses….as Provision for you as well as for your cattle. (Qur'an 80:24-32). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Again, in the following verses, the bounties of nature are enumerated with the accent on animals' share in all of them.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><b style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Everything was created for human AND non-human animals: And He it is Who sends the winds, as glad tidings heralding His mercy. And We send down pure water from the clouds, that We may give life thereby, by watering the parched earth, and slake the thirst of those We have created - both the animals and the human beings in multitude. (Qur'an 25-48,49). </span></b><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
And do they not see that We meander water to a barren land and sprout forth from it crops, whereof their cattle as well as they themselves eat? Will they take no notice of it? (Qur'an 32:27). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We {God} brought forth from it {the earth} its waters and its pastures, and established the mountains firm - as a source of provision for you and for your animals. (Qur'an 79:31-33). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is no doubt that the message includes all animals, not just domestic livestock, in whose welfare we have a vested interest: There is no moving creature on earth, but Allah provides for its sustenance… (Qur'an 11:6) <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the earth: He {God} has assigned to all living creatures. (Qur'an 55:10). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<blockquote><blockquote style="color: magenta;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The essence of Islamic teachings on 'Animal Rights' is that depriving animals of their fair share in the resources of nature is so serious a sin in the eyes of God that it is punishable by punitive retribution: The Holy Quran describes how the people of Thamud demanded that the Prophet Saleh(s) show them some sign to prove he was a prophet of God. (The tribe of Thamud were the descendants of Noah. They have also been mentioned in the Ptolemaic records of Alexander's astronomer of the 2nd century A.C.) </span></b><br />
</blockquote></blockquote><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the time of this incident, the tribe was experiencing a dearth of food and water and was, therefore, neglecting its livestock. It was revealed to Prophet Saleh(s) to single out a she-camel as a symbol and ask his people to give her her fair share of water and fodder. The people of Thamud promised to do that but, later, killed the camel. As a retribution, the tribe was annihilated. This incident has been mentioned in the Holy Quran many times in different contexts. (Qur'an 7:73, 11:64, 26:155, 156; 54:27-31).<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">================================================================ <br />
</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is Animal Suffering Fate (Allah's Will) or the Fault of Humans?</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">================================================================ <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many people misunderstand the real sense of the doctrine of 'pre-destination', or 'fate' (Qaza wa Qadr or Qismat).<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbjXg7gDab7061KvbEh8584t_UrovwD01TQsTulxUM0KitLd7fo6mzddkr49E2zx3Vf3AUrDsc8XtQ7OurDSq1R-tlU6BdWBq3bpT4V5x6bcvx8t3XXcUK17nfc1Lkdqw-2GSEw4lZJs/s1600-h/animal+sufferring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbjXg7gDab7061KvbEh8584t_UrovwD01TQsTulxUM0KitLd7fo6mzddkr49E2zx3Vf3AUrDsc8XtQ7OurDSq1R-tlU6BdWBq3bpT4V5x6bcvx8t3XXcUK17nfc1Lkdqw-2GSEw4lZJs/s320/animal+sufferring.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The literal meaning of 'pre-destination', in the Islamic sense, is: 'pre-fixing the fate of someone or something', in the sense of determining the capacity, capability, endowment, function and other faculties.<br />
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The Holy Quran uses the Arabic word 'taqdir' meaning 'destiny' even for the decreed orbits of the planetary motions; for inorganic substances; as well as for animated creatures, including human beings.<br />
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Within those pre-fixed limitations, however, conditions could be changed for the better, suffering could be avoided or lessened by human effort and skill.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=========================== <br />
</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Experimentation on Animals</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=========================== <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scientific and pharmaceutical experiments on animals are being done to find cures for diseases, most of which are self-induced by our own disorderly lifestyle. All human problems - physical, mental or spiritual - are of our own creation and our wounds self-inflicted.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4EhK6l0Wd2HyU00awrpeRDH9e2VRb_OCd6a9zedL3cxCGbXhGE2Atkmi2Dg5UZPApYEzcWTpPPw_Ka_zNcJVm0OToFoWRHmnRTcfRgASIHkSirTslrmjtsFeN1d_nHTow953VX-MeW0/s1600-h/experiment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4EhK6l0Wd2HyU00awrpeRDH9e2VRb_OCd6a9zedL3cxCGbXhGE2Atkmi2Dg5UZPApYEzcWTpPPw_Ka_zNcJVm0OToFoWRHmnRTcfRgASIHkSirTslrmjtsFeN1d_nHTow953VX-MeW0/s640/experiment.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">By no stretch of imagination can we blame animals for any of our troubles and make them suffer for it. All this (experiments), and much more, is being done to satisfy human needs, most of which are non-essential, fanciful, wasteful and for which alternative, humane products are easily available. To kill animals to satisfy the human thirst for inessentials is a contradiction in terms within the Islamic tradition. Let us hope a day will dawn when the great religious teachings may at last begin to bear fruit; when we shall see the start of a new era, when man accords to animals the respect and status they have long deserved and for so long have been denied. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Vivisection did not exist at the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) and therefore, was not specifically cited in the law (Shari'ah). Guidance on such issues comes from analogy and inference (Ijtihad). One of the main excuses for all kinds of cruelties to animals is selfish interest or human needs. Let us see how the juristic Rules define 'needs' and 'interests' and judge these cases according to those definitions. The basic Juristic Rule (qaidatul-fiqhiyah) that would apply to pecuniary experiments is: "One's interest or need does not annul other's right" (al-idtiraru la yabtil haqqal-ghair). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Needs are classified in three categories: necessities (al-Masalih ad-darurfyah) without which life could not be sustained; needs required for comfort and easement from pain or any kind of distress, or for improving the quality of life (al-Masalih-al-haiya); and luxuries (al-Masalih at tahsiniyah) desirable for enjoyment or self-indulgence. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some rules that can be applied to these needs to determine whether experiments on animals would be allowed: What allures to the forbidden, is itself forbidden. (Ma'ad'a ela al-harame, fahuwaharamun"). This rule implies that material gains, including food, obtained by wrongful acts, such as unnecessary experiments on animals, become unlawful (haram).<br />
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</div><blockquote><div style="color: lime; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">No damage can be put right by a similar or a greater damage." (Ad-dararu la yuzalu be mislehi au be dararin akbaro minho). When we damage our health and other interests by our own follies, we have no right to make the animals pay for it by inflicting similar or greater damage on them, such as by doing unnecessary experiments to find remedies for our self-induced ailments. </span></b><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Resort to alternatives, when the original becomes undesirable. (Iza ta'zuro al-aslu, yusaru ila-l-badle). This rule places a great moral responsibility on experimenters and medical students to find alternatives. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The basic point to understand about using animals in science is that the same moral, ethical and legal codes should apply to the treatment of animals as are being applied to humans. According to Islam, all life is sacrosanct and has a right of protection and preservation. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) laid so much emphasis on this point that he declared: "There is no man who kills {even} a sparrow or anything smaller, without its deserving it, but God will question him about it." (Narrated by Ibn 'Omar and by Abdallah bin Al-As. An-Nasai, 7:206,239, Beirut.<br />
<br />
Also recorded by Musnad al-Jami - Ad-Darimi; Delhi, 1337. Also, Mishkat al-Masabih; English translation by James Robson, in four volumes; Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan; 1963 (hereafter referred to as 'Robson').<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He who takes pity {even} on a sparrow and spares its life, Allah will be merciful on him on the Day of Judgement. (Narrated by Abu Umama. Transmitted by Al-Tabarani). <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like all other laws of Islam, its laws on the treatment of animals have been left open to exceptions and are based on the criterion: "Actions shall be judged according to intention." (Al-A'amalo binniyah)….If the life of an animal can be saved only by the amputation of a part of its body, it will be a meritorious act in the eyes of God to do so. <br />
</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">There is no doubt that the Islamic prohibition against the cutting or injuring of live animals, especially when it results in pain and suffering, does apply to modern vivisection in science. We are able to support this interpretation of the Islamic teachings by referring not only to the above-quoted representative Traditions (Ahadith), but also to the Holy Quran . In the verses quoted below, the principle is expressed that any interference with the body of a live animal which causes pain or disfigurement is contrary to the Islamic precepts</span>.<br />
</div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">These verses were revealed in condemnation of the pagan superstitious custom that she-camels, ewes or nanny goats which had brought forth a certain number of young in a certain order should have their ears slit, be let loose, and dedicated to idols. Such customs were declared by the Holy Quran as devilish acts, in these words: It was not Allah who instituted the practice of a slit-ear-she-camel, or a she-camel let loose for free pasture, or a nanny-goat let loose...""(Qur'an 5:106). "Allah cursed him {Satan} for having said: 'I shall entice a number of your servants, and lead them astray, and I shall arouse in them vain desires; and I shall instruct them to slit the ears of cattle; and most certainly, I shall bid them - so that they will corrupt Allah's creation'. Indeed! He who chooses the Devil rather than Allah as his patron, ruins himself manifestly. (Qur'an 4:118, 119). <br />
</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fur and Other Uses of Animals </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">==============================<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is a large-scale carnage of fur-bearing animals….to satisfy human needs, most of which are non-essential, fanciful, wasteful and for which alternative, humane products are easily available….The excuse that such things are essential for human needs is no longer valid. Modern technology has produced all these things in synthetic materials and they are easily available all over the world, in some cases at a cheaper price. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgGvMx9s-RtFBw7mgfEGg9ynUTWVV9jsLbL7FzkZIGUxbnlkDOTBaylwpE63NusP0QylSRE6dlqSx5TqfylZ2BgrESALyRrerGpf0lWxhHZhPfxchAoSOLZQVF8Wwn7jt2kw-nvKB_ck/s1600-h/fur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgGvMx9s-RtFBw7mgfEGg9ynUTWVV9jsLbL7FzkZIGUxbnlkDOTBaylwpE63NusP0QylSRE6dlqSx5TqfylZ2BgrESALyRrerGpf0lWxhHZhPfxchAoSOLZQVF8Wwn7jt2kw-nvKB_ck/s640/fur.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some juristic rules that apply are: "That which was made permissible for a reason, becomes unpermissible by the absence of that reason." (Ma jaza le uzrin, batala be zawalehi) and "All false excuses leading to damage should be repudiated." (Sadduz-zarae al-mua'ddiyate ela-l-fasad). These rules leave no excuse for the Muslims to remain complacent about the current killing of animals in their millions for their furs, tusks, oil, and various other commodities. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Quran does mention animals as a source of warm clothing (Qur'an 16:5), but modern-day clothing made of synthetic fibers is just as warm as clothing made from animal skins and makes clothing from animal skins unnecessary. The Holy Quran refers only to the skins and furs of domesticated cattle which either die their natural death or are slaughtered for food. Today, millions of wild animals are killed commercially just for their furs and skins, while their carcasses are left to rot. Fourteen centuries ago Islam realized the absurdity of this wasteful and cruel practice and passed laws to stop it in the following Ahadith: <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) prohibited the use of skins of wild animals. (Narrated by Abu Malik on the authority of his father. Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi as recorded in Garden of the Righteous - Riyad as-Salihin of Imam Nawawi; translated by M.Z. Kahn; Curzon Press, London, 1975; [hereafter referred to as Riyad]; Hadith No. 815, p. 160.) <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) forbade the skins of wild animals being used as floor-coverings. (id) <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Holy Prophet(s) said: 'Do not ride on saddles made of silk or leopard skins.' (Narrated by Mu'awiah. Abu Dawud; (see Riyad, Ref. No. 28); Hadith No. 814, p. 160.) <br />
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</div><div style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animal Fights</span> <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">==============<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All kinds of animal fights are strictly forbidden in Islam. Out of the numerous such injunctions, one would suffice here: God's Messenger(s) forbade inciting animals to fight each other. (Narrated by Abdullah bin Abbas. Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Abu al-Darda; recorded in Riyad (Ref. No. 28); Hadith No. 1606; p. 271. Also 'Robson' (Ref. No. 15), p. 876.)<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3itvBAUkMrmm0rHxwMr7KKjN64VIjMNdyDmWlVLrap8jHeJxcn90zr33_wdEIzV1uJMkJWo7MqMM5jBivDrsWnJpYAGV00voUGeRH1ATPOunxb4vQ4x-4r38daCHD5c5Nwtq6P1Xsawo/s1600-h/dominion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3itvBAUkMrmm0rHxwMr7KKjN64VIjMNdyDmWlVLrap8jHeJxcn90zr33_wdEIzV1uJMkJWo7MqMM5jBivDrsWnJpYAGV00voUGeRH1ATPOunxb4vQ4x-4r38daCHD5c5Nwtq6P1Xsawo/s320/dominion.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like camel-#####, fat-tails of sheep and target-animals (mujaththema), the meat of animals who die as a result of fights is also declared in Islam as unlawful to eat (haram). For example, the Spaniards hold fiestas on special occasions to eat the bull killed by a matador.<br />
</div>Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-51615479918926595282009-10-19T12:01:00.009+05:302009-10-21T00:21:26.223+05:30Know Islam: The Rights of Animals in Islam - Part Two<div style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>By Al-Hafiz B.A. Masri</b></span><br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Factory Farming </span><br />
</div>===============<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UN8KcxdxyGZNZcxTA82r7NHmgSy1m8bBVTdjffdxwarWAH-jZ13264HPbWopQFuo6LqLrWpE5bykIbLMotJyrdHMseQ0Ro6NeVlRzE9wU9Qq5ZiOIMsJcUeBfYDtC0GKNUFXrBUV1vE/s1600-h/factory+farming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UN8KcxdxyGZNZcxTA82r7NHmgSy1m8bBVTdjffdxwarWAH-jZ13264HPbWopQFuo6LqLrWpE5bykIbLMotJyrdHMseQ0Ro6NeVlRzE9wU9Qq5ZiOIMsJcUeBfYDtC0GKNUFXrBUV1vE/s400/factory+farming.jpg" /></a><br />
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Our Holy Prophet(s)'s overwhelming concern for animal rights and their general welfare would certainly have condemned (La'ana) those who practice such methods (factory farming), in the same way as he condemned similar other cruelties in his days. He would have declared that there is no grace or blessing (Brakah) - neither in the consumption of such food nor in the profits from such trades. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Vegetarianism </span><br />
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There is no suggestion in the Holy Quran or in any other of the Islamic sources that eating meat is good for physical or spiritual health. Islam's approach in this matter is neutral; it has left the choice to the individual, but those who opt to eat meat are urged in the Holy Quran to eat in moderation. (The Qur'an 7:31; 5:87 and other verses).<br />
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Furthermore, there are elaborate and stringent laws governing the ove rall treatment of animals used for food - their rearing and breeding; the pre-slaughter; and handling during and after slaughter. <br />
The Holy Prophet(s) has placed the killing of animals without a justifiable reason as one of the major sins: <br />
Avoid ye the seven obnoxious things {deadly sins}: polytheism; magic; the killing breathing beings! Which<br />
God has forbidden except for rightful reason. (Narrated by Abu Huraira. Sahih Mulim - Kitab-ul-Imam (Ref. No. 46); Chapt. #####, Vol.I; p. 52. Bukhari, 4:23. Also Awn, (Ref. No. 32); Hadith No. 2857.<br />
<br />
The Arabic word for 'breathing beings' is 'Nafs.' Until recently it used to be taken as meaning 'human beings' only. All the Arabic dictionaries give the meaning of 'Nafs' as 'Ruh' (soul), and since they are breathing creatures, there seems to be no reason why the Qur'anic verses No. 6:151, 152 and others should not comprehend all 'breathing beings', i.e. all species of animals. These verses should be read in conjunction with other verses of the Holy Quran and numerous Ahadith which speak of the sanctity of life as a whole, declare animals as possessing soul (zi Ruhin) and place animals physically on a par with human beings. <br />
The baneful {sinful} things are: polytheism; disobedience to parents; the killing of breathing beings without a valid reason. (id. Narrated by Abdullah Ibn 'Amr.)<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Slaughter of Animals Used for Food</span><br />
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Meat-eating is neither encouraged nor even recommended by Islam: "Say {O Muhammad!} I find not in what has been revealed to me any food {meat} forbidden to those who wish to eat it, unless it be dead meat, or blood that pours forth, or the flesh of swine - for it is unclean {rijs} - or the sacriligious {fisq} meat which has been slaughtered in anybody's' name other than that of Allah." It is significant to note that these laws have been laid down for those "who wish to eat it" (Ta'imin yat'amohu). Eating meat is not required. <br />
While Islam permits eating meat, it gives instructions to ensure humane slaughter, with as little pain to the victim as possible:<br />
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God's Messenger(s) was reported as saying: 'Allah Who is Blessed and Exalted, has prescribed benevolence toward everything {and has ordained that everything be done in a good way}; so, when you must kill a living being, do it in the best manner and, when you slaughter an animal, you should {use the best method and} sharpen your knife so as to cause the animal as little pain as possible. (Narrated by Shaddad bin Aus. Muslim; Vol. 2, Chapter 11; Section on 'Slaying'; 10:739, verse 151. Also 'Robson' (Ref. No. 15); p. 872. Also recorded in Riyad. (Ref. No. 28); Hadith No. 643; p. 131). <br />
The Messenger of Allah was heard forbidding to keep waiting a quadruped or any other animal for slaughter. (Bukhari. Also Muslim; Vol. 2, Chapter 11; Section on 'Slaying'; 10:739; verse 152. Also 'Robson' (Ref. NO. 15), p. 872).<br />
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The Prophet(s) forbade all living creatures to be slaughtered while tied up <br />
and bound. (id (Ref. No. 46); Hadith No. 4817; p. 1079). <br />
The Holy Prophet(s) said to a man who was sharpening his knife in the presence of the animal: 'Do you intend inflicting death on the animal twice - once by sharpening the knife within its sight, and once by cutting its throat?' (Al-Furu Min-al-Kafi Lil-Kulini; 6:230).<br />
Hazrat Imam Ali says: "Do not slaughter sheep in the presence of other sheep, or any animal in the presence of other animals." (id (for Hazrat Ali see Ref. No. 4). <br />
Hazrat 'Omar once saw a man denying a sheep, which he was going to slaughter, a satiating measure of water to drink. He gave the man a beating with his lash and told him: "Go, water it properly at the time of its death, you knave!" (Reported by Ibn Sirin about Hazrat 'Omar and recorded in Badae al-Sande; 6:2811). <br />
If animals have been subjected to cruelties in their breeding, transport, slaughter, or in their general welfare, meat from them is considered impure and unlawful to eat (Haram).<br />
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The flesh of animals killed by cruel methods (Al-Muthiah) is carrion (Al-Mujaththamah). Even if these animals have been slaughtered in the strictest Islamic manner, if cruelties were inflicted on them otherwise, their flesh is still forbidden (Haram) food: <br />
Oh, ye messengers! Eat of the good things {tayyibat} and do righteous deeds. Surely, I know what you do." (Qur'an.23:51). <br />
Oh believers! Eat what We have provided for you of lawful and good things, and give thanks for Allah's favour, if it is He whom you serve. (Qur'an 2:172; 16:114).<br />
The word 'Tayyib', translated as 'good', 'pure', 'wholesome', etc. means pure both in the physical and the moral sense. <br />
The main counsel of Islam in the slaughter of animals for food is to do it in the least painful manner. All the Islamic laws on the treatment of animals, including the method of slaughter, are based in all conscience on "the spirit" of compassion, fellow-feeling and benevolence: <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Allah, Who is Blessed and Exalted, has prescribed benevolence toward everything and has ordained that everything be done in the right way; so when you must kill a living being, do it in the proper way - when you slaughter an animal, use the best method and sharpen your knife so as to cause as little pain as possible. (The Sahih Mulsim, 2:156. Also Al-Taaj fi Jaami al-Usool, Vol. 3, p. 110, Cairo Edition. Also Al-Faruo min-al-Kafi, p. 2, and others.)</span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>Failure to stun animals before slaughter causes them pain and suffering. Muslims should give serious thought to whether this is cruelty (Al-Muthiah). If so, then surely the meat from them is unlawful (Haran), or at least, undesirable to eat (Makruh). Al-Azhar University in Cairo appointed a special committee to decide whether the meat of animals slaughtered after stunning was lawful. The committee consisted of representatives of the four acknowledged Schools of Thought in Islam, i.e. Shafii, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali. The unanimous verdict (Fatwa) of the committee was: "Muslim countries, by approving the modern method of slaughtering, have no religious objection in their way. This is lawful as long as the new means are 'shar' (Ahadd) and clean and do 'cause bleeding' (Museelah al-damm). If new means of slaughtering are more quick and sharp, their employment is a more desirable thing. It comes under the saying of the Prophet(s) 'God has ordered us to be kind to everything' (Inna'l-laha Kataba-'l-ihsan 'ala kulle Shay'in). (The History of Azhar, Cairo; 1964; pp. 361-363)."<br />
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To crown all verdicts (Fatawa), here is the 'Recommendation' of a pre-eminent Muslim organization of this century - The Muslim World League (Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami). It was founded in Makkah al-Mukarramah in 1962 A.C. (1382 A.H.) with 55 Muslim theologians (Ulama'a), scientists and leaders on its Constituent Council from all over the world. MWL is a member of the United Nations, UNESCO and the UNICEF. In January 1986 it held a joint meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO) and made the following 'Recommendation' about pre-slaughter stunning (No 3:1. WHO-EM/FOS/1-E, p. 8): <br />
Pre-slaughter stunning by electric shock, if proven to lessen the animal's <br />
suffering, is lawful, provided that it is carried out with the weakest <br />
electric current that directly renders the animal unconscious, and that it <br />
neither leads to the animal's death nor renders its meat harmful to the <br />
consumer.<br />
As of 1989, in the following countries, Muslims were NOT exempt from stunning: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. The following countries allow only partial exemption to Muslims under special conditions and regulations: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Finland and Canada.<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Providing for Animals Used to Carry Heavy Loads </span><br />
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Animals in the service of man should be used only when necessary and their <br />
comfort should not be neglected <br />
The Prophet(s) once passed by a lean camel whose belly had shrunk to its back. 'Fear God' he said to the owner of the camel, 'in these dumb animals and ride them only when they are fit to be ridden, and let them go free when it is meet that they should rest. (Narrated by Abdullah bin Ja'far. Awn (Ref. No. 32); 7:221; Hadith No. 2532).<br />
About taking care of animals while travelling, the Holy Prophet(s) used to give the following advice <br />
<blockquote>When you journey through a verdant land, {go slow to} let your camels graze. When you pass through an arid area, quicken your pace {lest hunger should enfeeble the animals}.<br />
</blockquote><blockquote><i style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> Do not pitch your tents for the night on the beaten tracks, for they are the pathways of nocturnal creatures. (Narrated by Abu Huraira. Sahih Muslim - Kitab-ul-Imam (Ref. No. 53); Vol. III; Chapter DCCVII; Hadith No. 4724; pp. 1062, 1063.</span></b></i><br />
</blockquote>Saying daily prayers (salat) is one of the five most important obligations of the Moslem religion. In the following Hadith, one of his companions tells us that the holy Prophet(s) and his fellow travelers used to delay even saying their prayers until they had first given their riding and pack animals fodder and had attended to their needs: "When we stopped at a halt, we did not say our prayers until we had taken the burdens off our camels' backs and attended to their needs." (Narrated by Anas. Awn (Ref. No. 32); 7:223; Hadith aNo. 5234. Also 'Guillaume' (Ref. No. 57); pp.106, 107). <br />
Hazrat Imam Ali's general advice about pack animals is: "be kind to pack animals; do not hurt them; and do not load them more than their ability to bear." (Maxims (Ref. No. 4)). <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cruelty to Animals </span><br />
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According to the spirit and overall teachings of Islam, causing unavoidable pain and suffering to the defenseless and innocent creatures of God is not justifiable under any circumstances. Islam wants us to think and act in the positive terms of accepting all species as communities like us in their own right and not to sit in judgement on them according to our human norms and values. <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Prevention of physical cruelty is not enough; mental cruelty is equally important. In the following incident, a bird's emotional distress has been treated as seriously as a physical injury: </span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>We were on a journey with the Apostle of God(s), and he left us for a while. During his absence, we saw a bird called hummara with its two young and took the young ones. The mother bird was circling above us in the air, beating its wings in grief, when the Prophet came back and said: 'who has hurt the FEELINGS of this bird by taking its young? Return them to her'. (Narrated by Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah bin Mas'ud. Muslim. Also Awn (Ref. No. 32) Hadith No. 2658. Also "Guillaume' (Ref. No. 57); p. 106).<br />
It is reported by the same authority that: "a man once robbed some eggs from the nest of a bird. The Prophet(s) had them restored to the nest." (id). <br />
The Holy Prophet(s) has even tried the 'Punishment and Reward' approach in the following Ahadith: <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Islamic concern about cruelty to animals is so great that it has declared the infliction of any unnecessary and avoidable pain 'even to a sparrow or any creature smaller than that' as a sin for which the culprit would be answerable to God on the Day of Judgement.</span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>The Prophet(s) told his companions of a woman who would be sent to Hell for having locked up a cat; not feeding it, nor even releasing it so that it could feed herself." (Narrated by Abdullah bin 'Omar. Bukhari, 4:337; recorded in Riyad (Ref. No. 28), Hadith No. 1605; p. 271. Also Muslim, Vol. 4, Hadith No. 2242. English translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi; Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan; 1976; Vol. 4, Hadith No. 5570; p. 1215. (According to the English translation, this Hadith was also narrated by the Abu Huraira and by Naqi who had heard it from Abdullah); Hadith No. 5573; p. 1215.) This Hadith has been recorded by almost all the authentic books of hadith, as the Re. No. 53 will show) <br />
Islam's concern for animals goes beyond the prevention of physical cruelty or even condescending kindness to them, which is a negative proposition. It enjoins on the human species, as the principal primates of animated world, to take over the responsibility of all creatures in the spirit of a positive philosophy of life and to be their active protectors. <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Prophet(s) was asked if acts of charity even to the animals were rewarded by God. He replied: 'yes, there is a reward for acts of charity to every beast alive.' (Narrated by Abu Huraira, Bukhari, 3:322. Also Muslim, Vol. 4; Hadith No. 2244. Also Awn (Ref. No. 32), 7:222, Hadith No. 2533. Also Mishkat al-masabih, Book 6; Chapter 6. </span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>Mishkat Al-Masabih concluded from "Bukhari" and "Muslim" to the effect that: 'A good deed done to a beast is as good as doing good to a human being; while an act of cruelty to a beast is as bad as an act of cruelty to human beings' and that: 'Kindness to animals was promised by rewards in Life Hereafter.' (Mishkat al-Masabih; Book 6; Chapter 7, 8:178.) <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Prophet(s) told his companions of a serf who was blessed by Allah for saving the life of a dog by giving it water to drink and quenching its thirst. (Narrated by Abu Huraira. Muslim, Vol. 4, Hadith No. 2244. Also Bukhari, 3:322. Also Awn (Ref. No. 32); Hadith No. 2533, and others). </span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>To catch birds and imprison them in cages without any special purpose is considered abominable. <br />
No advantages and no urgency of human needs would justify the kind of calculated violence which is being done these days against animals, especially through international trade of livestock and meat. One of the sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) tells us: "If you must kill, kill without torture." (La taqtolu bi'l-idha'i). While pronouncing this dictum, he did not name any animal as an exception - not even any noxious or venomous creature, such as scorpions and snakes. <br />
Luckily, on this theme, we have quite a few of the Holy Prophet(s) sayings. During the pre-Islamic period, certain pagan superstitions and polytheistic practices involving acts of torture and general cruelties to animals used to be common in Arabia. All such practices were condemned and stopped by Islam. The following few sayings of the Holy Prophet(s) will serve as an example: <br />
<blockquote><i style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Jabir told that God's Messenger(s) forbade striking the face or branding on the face of animals…The same companion of the Holy Prophet(s) reported him as saying, when an ass which had been branded in its face passed him by: 'God curse the one who branded it.' (Narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah. Muslim, Vol.3, Hadith No. 2116.</span></b></i> <br />
</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>Also Awn al-Ma'bud Sharh Abu Dawud (hereafter referred to as Awn); 7:232, hadith No. 2547. Also The Lawful and Unlawful in Islam (in Arabic); Yusuf el-Kardawi; Mektebe Vahba, Cairo; 1977; p. 293. Also 'Robson' (Ref. No. 15); p. 872). This Hadith is concerned with causing pain to the animal on the sensitive parts of its body, as well as with the disfigurement of its appearance.<br />
</blockquote>When the Holy Prophet(s) migrated to Medina from Mecca in 622 A.C., people there used to cut off camels' ##### and the fat tails of sheep. The Prophet(s) ordered this barbaric practice to be stopped. The temptation for the people to perform this sort of vivisection on the animals was that the juicy ##### and fatty tails could be eaten while the animal remained alive for future use. To remove this avidity, he declared: "whatever is cut off an animal, while it is still alive, is carrion and is unlawful (Haram) to eat." (Narrated by Abu Waqid al-Laithi. Tirmidhi; Hadith No. 1480, Chapt. On Al-At'imah. Also 'Robson' (Ref. No. 15), p. 872). <br />
<blockquote>To make sure that no injury was inflicted on the animal while there was even a flicker of life in it, it was forbidden by the Holy Prophet(s) to molest the carcass in any way, such as: by breaking its neck, skinning, or slicing off any of its parts, until the body is dead cold.<br />
</blockquote><br />
<blockquote><i style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">One of his sayings on this theme is: "Do not deal hastily with a 'being' before it is stone dead." (Kitab al-Muqni, 3:542. Also Al-Muhalla, 7:457; Ibn Hazm). Hazrat 'Omar ibn al-Khattab used to instruct repeatedly: 'Give time to the slaughtered being' till it is dead cold. (Al-Muhalla, 7:457; Ibn Hazm. Hazrat 'Omar ibn al-Khattab was the second Caliph (634-644 A.C. = 12-22A.H.). </span></b></i><br />
</blockquote>Many other Muslim authorities have also given juristic opinions (fatawa) to the effect that, after slaughter, time should be given for the rigor mortis to set in before cutting up the carcass. (Kitab al-Nil wa Shifa'al-Alil, 4:460). <br />
Another malpractice in Arabia in those days, which caused pain and discomfort to the animals, was stopped by the Holy Prophet(s) in these words: "Do not store milk in the udders of animals…." (Muslim and Bukhari. Also Holy Traditions; 1st Edition; Vol. 1; Muhammad Manzur Ilahi; Ripon Press, Lahore, Paistan; 1932; p. 149). <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Not only physical but also emotional care of animals was so much emphasized by the Holy Prophet(s) that he once reprimanded his wife, A'ishah, for treating a camel a bit offhandedly. Hazrat A'ishah herself narrates: "I was riding a restive camel and turned it rather roughly. The Prophet(s) said to me: 'it behooves you to treat the animals gently'. (Narrated by A'ishah. Muslim, Vol. 4, Hadith No. 2593. Also Awn, 7:155, Hadith No. 2461; (Ref. No. 32)). </span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>The Holy Prophet(s) himself was once reprimanded by God for neglecting his horse, as the following Hadith tells us: "The Prophet(s) was seen wiping the face of his horse with his gown (jullabiyah). When asked why he was doing that, he replied: 'Last night I had a reprimand from Allah regarding my horse for having neglected him'. (Narrated by Yahya bin Said. "Malik bin Anas al-Asbhahi". Also Al-Muwatta, (in English); Divan Press, Norwich, England; 1982; p. 205.) <br />
The following Hadith forbids the disfiguration of the body of an animal. <br />
<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Prophet(s) said: 'Do not clip the forelock of a horse, for a decency is attached to its forelock; nor its mane, for it protects it; nor its tail, for it is its fly-flap'. (Narrated by 'Utbah ibn Farqad Abu Abdillah al-Sulami. Abu Dawud. Also Awn, 7:216, 217, Hadith No. 2525 (Ref. No. 32)).</span></b></i><br />
</div></blockquote>The incidents of the Holy Prophet Muhammad's(s) personal grooming of his horse; his wife A'isha's rough handling of her camel; the Holy Prophet's(s) prohibition of cutting forelocks, the mane or tail; the condemnation of striking and branding on the face or ears - all these and many other such Ahadith show that this great man, Muhammad(s) had realized even fourteen centuries ago that animals have a sense of adornment and sensitivity. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animal Sacrifice</span><br />
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<br />
Neither their fllesh, nor their blood, that reaches Allah; it is your righteousness {piety and spiritual volition} that reaches Him….Their flesh will never reach Allah, nor yet their blood, but your devotion will reach Him (Qur'an 22:37). <br />
The main purpose of allowing Muslims to continue with animal sacrifices was to turn this tradition into an institution of charity. All the verses of the Holy Quran which deal with the subject wind up with the proviso that the meat be fed to the poor, the needy, those who are too modest to beg as well as the mendicants - those who beg openly (The Qur'an, 2:196; 22:28; 35-37).<br />
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In some cases, the offerers of the sacrifice are allowed to consume a portion of the meat themselves, while in others the whole of the carcass is to be given in charity. Sacrifice is meant to be an act of worship and thanksgiving to solicit the approbation of God neither in the sense of atonement nor in the sense of transposing one's sins onto a scapegoat; but it is meant to be an act of benevolence (Ihsan) to fulfill a social obligation. After reading the Qur'anic version of sacrifice, there remains no doubt in one's mind that any sacrifice that is allowed to go to waste is a sinful as well as a criminal violation of the Islamic law (shariah). Verses 22:36 and 37 make this proviso abundantly clear." <br />
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<blockquote><div style="color: yellow;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Qur'anic injunctions are so exacting on the point of not taking the life of an animal without a justifiable cause (Be-ghair-e-haqqin) that wasting meat, even by offering it to deities and gods is called a devilish act. </span></b></i><br />
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"During the early period of Islam the traditional offerings of animals made some sense. Meat was then an important ingredient of human diet and not even a scrap of it was wasted. Today we have made their killing an emptyritual and forgotten the intent." <br />
A learned Muslim scholar, Sheikh Farid Wagdi, says in his Wagdi's Encyclopaedia - Article on Sacrifice that there might come a day when Muslims shall have to substitute the rite of animal sacrifice with other methods of giving alms. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Importance of Respecting the Balance of Nature</span> <br />
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"Those who take undue advantage of other species break the Divine Law of equilibrium in nature - and nature never forgives." The Holy Quran dwells on this theme recurrently, such as: <br />
Allah has not created all this without truth {Haque} (Qur'an.10:5} for it is He who created everything and ordained it with due potential {Taqdir} (Qur'an.25:2) not to allow any change to corrupt what Allah has created (Qur'an.30:30). Then a warning is given to those people who are guilty of infraction, in these words; "Do they not know how many We have annihilated before them - those whom We had established on earth as more powerful than We have established you…" (Qur'an.6:6).<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Importance of Conserving Nature </span><br />
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{Even when the world is coming to an end} On Doomsday, if any one has a palm-shoot in hand, he should plant it. Musnad of Ahmad, 5:440 and 3:184 (hereafter referred to as Musnad).<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blood Sports </span><br />
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There are many Ahadith forbidding blood sports and the use of animals as targets, some of which are as follows: <br />
The Prophet(s) condemned those people who take up anything alive as a mere sport." (Narrated by Abdullah bin 'Omar. Muslim, Vol. 3, Hadith No. 1958). <br />
The Prophet(s) forbade blood sports, like the Bedouins. (Narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas. Awn, (Ref. No. 32); 8:15, Hadith No. 2603. Also 'Robson'; p. 876 (Ref. No. 15, but it does not mention 'Bedouins'). <br />
The Prophet said: 'Do not set up living creatures as a target'. (Narrated by Abdullah bin Abbas. Muslim Vol. 3, Hadith No. 1957. Also 'Robson'; p. 872 (Ref. No. 15). <br />
The Prophet(s) condemned those who use a living creature as a target." (Narrated by Abdullah bin'Omar. Bukhari and Muslim. Also 'Robson' p. 872 (Ref. No. 15)). <br />
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<blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Prophet(s) forbade an animal being made a target." (Narrated by Anas. Recorded by Riyad. (Ref. No. 28); Hadith No. 1606; p. 272. </span><br />
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The Prophet(s) was reported as saying: 'Do not make anything having life as a target'." (Narrated by Ibn Abbas. Sahih Muslim - Kitab-us-Said Wa'dh-Dhaba'ih; Chapter DCCCXXII, Vol. III; Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan, 1976; Hadith No. 4813; p. 1079; (hereafter referred to as Kitab-us-Said). <br />
Ibn 'Umar happened to pass by a party of men who had tied a hen and were shooting arrows at it. When they saw Ibn 'Umar coming, they scampered off. Ibn 'Umar angrily remarked: 'Who has done this? Verily! Allah's Messenger(s) has invoked a curse upon one who does this kind of thing. (id. Narrated by Said bin Jubair).<br />
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<div style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Prophet(s) passed by some children who were shooting arrows at a ram. He told them off, saying: 'do not maim the poor beast'." (Narrated by Abdallah bin Ja'far. An-Nasai, 7:238).</span></b><br />
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</div>The fact that these Ahadith repeat the same sayings of the Holy Prophet(s) in slightly varying wordings shows that he took the matter very seriously and repeated them again and again on different occasions in the presence of different people. Another significant point to note in this respect is that, to stop the use of animals as targets or in blood sport, the Holy Prophet(s) did the same as he did in the case of camel-##### and sheep-tails, quoted above. He declared their meat as Mujaththema and unlawful (haram) for consumption, according to the following Hadith: <br />
God's Messenger(s) forbade eating a mujaththema {carrion} of a bird or animal set up and shot at as a target for shooting. (Narrated by Waqid al-Laithi. Abu al-Darda. Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 1473, Chapt. 'Al-At'imah'. Also 'Robson' (Ref. No.15); p. 874.<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Military Research, Including Wound Labs </span><br />
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One might also appeal to the Islamic law (Shari'ah) to oppose using animals in military research in general and in the so-called wound laboratories in particular. The above-quoted Ahadith, as well as the Juristic Rules, would seem to support the view that our wars are our own problems and that we have no right to make the animals suffer for them. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Animals in War </span><br />
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Even in war, animals cannot be killed except if needed for food. Hazrat Abu Bakr, the first Caliph after the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(s) (632-634 A.C.) addressed the Muslim army at a place outside Medina, called Jorf, before sending them off for the battle of Muta. Among the instructions he gave to the soldiers was not to slaughter animals except for food. (The Qur'an, 22:40; Tabari III, p. 123).Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-24288723499771984032009-10-19T11:36:00.002+05:302012-06-19T09:30:16.044+05:30Ramadhan Mubarak: A blessing called RamzanSeptember 2009<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">By Syed Akbar</span></b></div>
Ramzan is the ninth month of Islamic calendar. Ramzan is an Arabic word, which means intense heat. True to its sense Ramzan with its intense spiritual heat burns away all the sins, ignorance, arrogance, boastfulness and haughtiness and moulds the devout into simple, humble, God-fearing, pious, gentle and caring human beings.<br />
Muslims consider this holy month as a blessing for a number of reasons. The most important reasons are: fasting, prayers, charity and revelation of the Holy Quran.<br />
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and it is obligatory on all adult Muslims, men and women. Fasting from dawn to dusk makes one understand the pangs of hunger which the poor undergo almost everyday.<br />
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It tells us how an empty stomach would bother us and at the same time makes us sit and think over the trouble the poor and the underprivileged suffer from.</blockquote>
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<i style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Fasting creates a sense of love and responsibility towards the poor and makes us humane and caring.</span></b></i></blockquote>
Ramzan is also the time of devotion to the Almighty God. The best way of showing devotion to the Creator is to pray, beseech His Blessings and invoke peace on all creatures. Like fasting, prayers and supplication make us more concerned towards others, fellow human beings, animals, birds and plants. Muslims spend most part of the day and night in special prayers and supplications.<br />
We fast and understand the pangs of hunger. Our prayers to the Almighty make us humble and caring. The next step is to deliver something to those who are not as blessed as we are. So charity comes into existence. Every Muslim, who has the financial means and capabilities, should donate a fixed part of his or her income towards charity.<br />
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<i style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Charity is a life long affair, but special emphasis should be paid on the Ramzan charity. Many Muslims prefer to pay their compulsory charity called Zakat during Ramzan.</span></b></i></blockquote>
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Zakat can be paid during any part of the year, but some feel that paying Zakat during Ramzan is more rewarding. Zakat is also one of the five pillars of Islam. Zakat is obligatory. Besides Zakat, Muslims also pay another type of charity during Ramzan, but before the Id-ul-fitr. It is called Fitra. The idea behind fitra is to help the poor in the neighbourhood with financial assistance so that they too could join the Id festivities. The purpose of Zakat is to remove social and financial imbalances and help the poor stand on their legs.<br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Another important feature of Ramzan that separates it from the rest of the 11 months of Islamic calendar is that the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through Archangel Gabriel during this month.</span></b></i></div>
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Muslims offer special night prayers called Taraveeh. The Holy Quran started revealing to the Prophet on the Lailat-al-Qadr (the night of power), which falls on one of the odd nights of the last 10 days of Ramzan. Many Muslims believe that the Lailat-al-Qadr falls on the 27th night of Ramzan. But as a matter of abundant caution, all Muslims celebrate the odd nights of the last 10 days of the month, so as not to miss the Night of Power.<br />
The significance of Ramzan pre-dates the birth of Prophet Muhammad.<br />
Arabs used to consider Ramzan as a holy month and many of them used to observe special prayers.<br />
In the pre-Islamic Arab calendar too, Ramzan occupied the sloth of ninth month.Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666164419460934344.post-10177063165211289202009-08-29T11:34:00.000+05:302009-10-19T12:17:24.192+05:30Ramadhan Mubarak: Can't we be pious all through the year?August 29, 2009 <br />
By Syed Akbar <br />
Come Ramzan and Muslims gear up for fasting, prayers and charity, shunning all things evil and doing works that are pious. The mosques turn full with the start of the holy Islamic month. Many Muslims lead a disciplined life during the month.<br />
But once the crescent of Shawwal, the 10th month of Islamic Higera calendar is sighted, they return to their old ways, old habits and mosques wear a deserted look. The fasting stops, so also the prayers and charity. Many return to anti-social activities.<br />
Ramzan is a holy month and fasting during this period is obligatory (farz). But there's no bar on voluntary fasting during other months. There are several instances of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) taking up fast at frequent intervals.<br />
Even now there's a tradition in the Arab world to fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Regular fasting keeps us not only hale and healthy but also makes us understand the pangs of hunger and thirst.<br />
Unfortunately many Muslims think that Ramzan is the only period wherein they should show their devotion to God and love to fellow creatures - human beings, animals and plants. There's devotion beyond Ramzan and only when we realise this, we will tend to become better Muslims, better believers and better human beings. The spirit of devotion should not end with Ramzan. It should continue throughout the year. Only then our fasting, charity and prayers offered during Ramzan carry some weight with the Creator.Syed Akbar Journalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467613119226321448noreply@blogger.com0