Know Islam: The Rights of Animals in Islam - Part Two

By Al-Hafiz B.A. Masri

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Factory Farming

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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.

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Vegetarianism

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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).

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.
The Holy Prophet(s) has placed the killing of animals without a justifiable reason as one of the major sins:
Avoid ye the seven obnoxious things {deadly sins}: polytheism; magic; the killing breathing beings! Which
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.

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.
The baneful {sinful} things are: polytheism; disobedience to parents; the killing of breathing beings without a valid reason. (id. Narrated by Abdullah Ibn 'Amr.)

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Slaughter of Animals Used for Food

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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.
While Islam permits eating meat, it gives instructions to ensure humane slaughter, with as little pain to the victim as possible:

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).
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).

The Prophet(s) forbade all living creatures to be slaughtered while tied up
and bound. (id (Ref. No. 46); Hadith No. 4817; p. 1079).
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).
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).
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).
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).

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:
Oh, ye messengers! Eat of the good things {tayyibat} and do righteous deeds. Surely, I know what you do." (Qur'an.23:51).
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).
The word 'Tayyib', translated as 'good', 'pure', 'wholesome', etc. means pure both in the physical and the moral sense.
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:

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.)

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)."

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):
Pre-slaughter stunning by electric shock, if proven to lessen the animal's
suffering, is lawful, provided that it is carried out with the weakest
electric current that directly renders the animal unconscious, and that it
neither leads to the animal's death nor renders its meat harmful to the
consumer.
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.

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Providing for Animals Used to Carry Heavy Loads

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Animals in the service of man should be used only when necessary and their
comfort should not be neglected
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).
About taking care of animals while travelling, the Holy Prophet(s) used to give the following advice

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}.

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.

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).
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)).

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Cruelty to Animals

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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.

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:

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).
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).
The Holy Prophet(s) has even tried the 'Punishment and Reward' approach in the following Ahadith:

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.

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)
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.

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.

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.)

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).

To catch birds and imprison them in cages without any special purpose is considered abominable.
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.
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:

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.).

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).
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).

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)).

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.)
The following Hadith forbids the disfiguration of the body of an animal.

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)).

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.

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Animal Sacrifice

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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).
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).

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."

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.

"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."
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.

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The Importance of Respecting the Balance of Nature

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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:
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).

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The Importance of Conserving Nature

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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).

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Blood Sports

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There are many Ahadith forbidding blood sports and the use of animals as targets, some of which are as follows:
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).
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').
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).
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)).

The Prophet(s) forbade an animal being made a target." (Narrated by Anas. Recorded by Riyad. (Ref. No. 28); Hadith No. 1606; p. 272. 

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).
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).

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).

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:
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.

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Military Research, Including Wound Labs

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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.

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Animals in War

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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).

Ramadhan Mubarak: A blessing called Ramzan

September 2009

By Syed Akbar

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.
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.
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.

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.

Fasting creates a sense of love and responsibility towards the poor and makes us humane and caring.

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.
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
The significance of Ramzan pre-dates the birth of Prophet Muhammad.
Arabs used to consider Ramzan as a holy month and many of them used to observe special prayers.
In the pre-Islamic Arab calendar too, Ramzan occupied the sloth of ninth month.

Ramadhan Mubarak: Can't we be pious all through the year?

August 29, 2009
By Syed Akbar
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God

By A CRESSY MORRISON
(Former President of the New York Academy of Sciences)

WE ARE STILL IN THE DAWN of the scientific age, and every increase of light reveals more brightly the handiwork of an intelligent Creator. We have made stupendous discoveries; with a spirit of scientific humility and of faith grounded in knowledge we are approaching ever nearer to an awareness of God.

For myself, I count seven reasons for my faith:

First: By unwavering mathematical law we can prove that our universe was designed and executed by a great engineering intelligence.

Suppose you put ten pennies, marked from one to ten, into your pocket and give them a good shuffle. Now try to take them out in sequence from one to ten, putting back the coin each time and shaking them all again. Mathematically we know that your chance of first drawing number one is one in ten; of drawing one and two in succession, one in 100; of drawing one, two and three in succession, one in 1000, and so on; your chance of drawing them all, from number one to number ten in succession, would reach the unbelievable figure of one in ten billion.



By the same reasoning, so many exacting conditions are necessary for life on the earth that they could not possibly exist in proper relationship by chance. The earth rotates on its axis 1000 miles an hour at the equator; if it turned at 100 miles an hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long as now, and the hot sun would likely burn up our vegetation each long day while in the long night any surviving sprout might well freeze.

Again the sun, source of our life, has a surface temperature of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and our earth is just far enough away so that this "eternal life" warms us just enough and not too much ! If the sun gave off only one half its present radiation, we would freeze, and if it gave as much more, we would roast.



The slant of the earth, tilted at an angle of 23 degrees, gives us our seasons; if the earth had not been so tilted, vapors from the ocean would move north and south, piling up for us continents of ice. If our moon were, say, only 50,000 miles away instead of its actual distance, our tides might be so enormous that twice a day all continents would be submerged; even the mountains could soon be eroded away. If the crust of the earth had only been ten feet thicker, there would be no oxygen, without which animal life must die. Had the ocean been a few feet deeper, carbon dioxide and oxygen would have been absorbed and no vegetable life could exist.

It is apparent from these and a host of other examples that there is not one chance in billions that life on our planet is an accident.

Second: The resourcefulness of life to accomplish its purpose is a manifestation of an all-pervading Intelligence.

What life itself is, no man has fathomed. It has neither weight nor dimensions, but it does have force; a growing root will crack a rock. Life has conquered water, land and air, mastering the elements, compelling them to dissolve and reform their combinations.



Life, the sculptor, shapes all living things; an artist, it designs every leaf of every tree, and colors every flower. Life is a musician and has taught each bird to sing its love song, the insects to call one another in the music of their multitudinous sounds. Life is a sublime chemist, giving taste to fruits and spices, and perfume to the rose, changing water and carbonic acid into sugar and wood, and, in so doing, releasing oxygen that animals may have the breath of life.

Behold an almost invisible drop of protoplasm, transparent, jellylike, capable of motion, drawing energy from the sun. This single cell, this transparent mist-like droplet, holds within itself the germ of life, and has power to distribute this life to every living thing, great and small. The powers of this droplet are greater than our vegetation and animals and people, for all life came from it. Nature did not create life; fire-blistered rocks and a saltless sea could not meet the necessary requirements.

Who, then, has put it here?

Third: Animal wisdom speaks irresistibly of a good Creator who infused instinct into otherwise helpless little creatures.

The young salmon spends years at sea, then comes back to his own river, and travels up the very side of the river into which flows the tributary where he was born. What brings him back so precisely? If you transfer him to another tributary he will know at once that he is off his course and he will fight his way down and back to the main stream and then turn up against the current to finish his destiny accurately.



Even more difficult to solve is the mystery of eels. These amazing creatures migrate at maturity from ponds and rivers everywhere - those from Europe across thousands of miles of ocean - all bound for the same abysmal deeps near Bermuda. There they breed and die.



The little ones, with no apparent means of knowing anything except that they are in a wilderness of water, nevertheless start back and find their way not only to the very shore from which their parents came but thence to the selfsame rivers, lakes or little ponds. No American eel has ever been caught in Europe, no European eel in American waters. Nature has even delayed the maturity of the European eel by a year or more to make up for its longer journey. Where does the directional impulse originate?

Fourth: Man has something more than animal instinct - the power of reason.

No other animal has ever left a record of its ability to count ten, or even to understand the meaning of ten. Where instinct is like a single note of a flute, beautiful but limited, the human brain contains all the notes of all the instruments in the orchestra. No need to belabor this fourth point; thanks to human reason we can contemplate the possibility that we are what we are only because we have received a spark of Universal Intelligence.

Fifth: Provision for all living is revealed in such phenomena as the wonders of genes.

So tiny are these genes that, if all of them responsible for all living people in the world could be put in one place, there would be less than a thimbleful. Yet these genes inhabit every living cell and are the keys to all human, animal and vegetable characteristics. A thimble is a small place to hold all the individual characteristics of almost three billion human beings. However, the facts are beyond question.



Here evolution really begins - at the cell, the entity which holds and carries the genes. That the ultra-microscopic gene can absolutely rule all life on earth is an example of profound cunning and provision that could emanate only from a Creative Intelligence; no other hypothesis will serve.

Sixth: By the economy of nature, we are forced to realize that only infinite wisdom could have foreseen and prepared with such astute husbandry.

Many years ago a species of cactus was planted in Australia as a protective fence. Having no insect enemies in Australia, the cactus soon began a prodigious growth; the alarming abundance persisted until the plants covered an area as long and wide as England, crowding inhabitants out of the towns and villages, and destroying their farms.



Seeking a defense, entomologists scoured the world; finally they turned up an insect which lived exclusively on cactus, and would eat nothing else. It would breed freely, too; and it had no enemies in Australia. So animal soon conquered vegetable, and today the cactus pest has retreated - and with it all but a small protective residue of the insects, enough to hold the cactus in check forever.

Such checks and balances have been universally provided. Why have not fast-breeding insects dominated the earth? Because they have no lungs such as man possesses; they breathe through tubes. But when insects grow large, their tubes do not grow in ratio to the increasing size of the body. Hence there never has been an insect of great size; this limitation on growth has held them all in check. If this physical check had not been provided, man could not exist. Imagine meeting a hornet as big as a lion !

Seventh: The fact that man can conceive the idea of God is in itself a unique proof.

The conception of God rises from a divine faculty of man, unshared with the rest of our world - the faculty we call imagination. By its power, man and man alone can find the evidence of things unseen.

The vista that power opens up is unbounded; indeed, as man's perfected imagination becomes a spiritual reality, he may discern in all the evidence of design and purpose the great truth that heaven is wherever and whatever; that God is everywhere and in everything that nowhere so close as in our hearts.

It is scientifically as well as imaginatively true, as the Psalmist said: The heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.

Ancient Egypt And The Pharaoh's Body

Moses said: “O Pharaoh (Firawun)! I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds” (Holy Quran 7:104)
They said: “We lost the cup of the king (malik) ...” (Holy Quran 12:72)

Studies conducted on data acquired about Pharaoh thanks to the deciphered hieroglyph script and Egyptological explorations corroborate that what is said about the parables of Moses, and the accounts related to Egypt and the Pharaoh in the Quran, are exact when compared with tangible historical data.

The Quran referred to the Egyptian ruler at the time of Joseph as “malik” (ruler, king) but for the ruler coeval with Moses the Quran uses the word “Firawun” (Pharaoh). Pharaoh was the Hebrew form of the Egyptian “Per-ao” (the great house) signifying the royal palace, an epithet applied in the new kingdom and after as a title of respect, to the king himself.

Never before had it been used in this sense. To quote the Encyclopedia Britannica: Pharaoh was referred to in narrative as “his majesty” or “the good god” or “the sovereign” as a circumlocution of respect.

In accordance with the concept of divine kingship, his person was sacrosanct and his insignia - diadem, crowns, scepters, states - had magic properties. Fire gushed from the mouth of the serpent on his crown to exterminate his enemies; in the battlefield his power was such that he could wipe out his enemies regardless of their multitude.

He was said to be omnipotent and omniscient, the one who had the overall control in his hands and was the cause of prosperity. The main source of information is the information that the deciphering of the hieroglyphs made available. However, one should keep in mind that this script had been sunk in oblivion since the 3rd century B.C., to be revived long after. The hieroglyph script that had been forgotten about 1000 years prior to the descent of the Quran was discovered and deciphered after more than a millennium.



The Quran relates the events that happened between the Pharaoh and Moses, giving details additional to those found in the Old Testament. What is said about serpents and the prevalence of magic at the time, and Pharaoh’s statement of his divine attribute, tallies with the information about the Pharaoh revealed from the deciphered hieroglyph tablets.

IPUWER PAPYRUS10: 3-6 Lower Egypt is devastated. The court came to a standstill. Whatever was stored, wheat, rye, geese and fish, perished.
10: 6-3 Crops wasted everywhere
2: 5-6 Disasters and blood everywhere
2:10 Blood flows in rivers
3: 2 Gold and lapis lazuli, silver and malachite, carnelian and bronze decorate the necks of slaves



God says in the Holy Quran says: We punished the people of Pharaoh with drought, and shortage of crops, that they might take heed (7:130)
"So We sent on them; the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood. How many different signs! But they still remained arrogant, for they were a people full of sin. (Holy Quran 7:133)
So We expelled them from gardens, springs. Treasures and every kind of honorable position. Thus it was made the children of Israel inheritors of such things. (The Holy Quran 26:57-59)

The accounts given by the Quran about the punishment inflicted upon the Pharaoh and his followers, like drought and other disasters, and the accounts of the Ipuwer Papyrus are perfectly in tune with each other.

As an evidence of the offense committed by the dynasty of the Pharaoh in its denial of Moses’ prophethood, the Quran says that blood was foreseen (the same thing holds true for the proliferation of the locusts, the lice, etc.).

In the Ipuwer Papyrus it is said that blood ran in riverbeds, everywhere was smeared with blood. (Studies conducted to this day seem to explain the red coloration of rivers by the existence of protozoa, zooplanktons, sea and fresh water planktons or dinoflagellates. All these organisms would deplete the oxygen in water, giving rise to rapid growth of toxic substances, killing the living organisms and rendering the stream water undrinkable.)

Researchers have devised a course of events that might have taken place in relation to the disasters described in the Quran. According to this fictive account, “The fish in the Nile perished as a consequence of the intoxication of the river, leaving the Egyptians deprived of sustenance.

Frogs, whose eggs multiplied in the meantime, invaded the surroundings before they themselves succumbed to poisoning. Decomposition of fish and frogs coupled with the poisonous water of the Nile polluted the fertile land around. Annihilation of the frogs caused the pests like locusts and grain moths to proliferate:” All these are but the product of imagination, surely. We do not know exactly how things happened since we have no available data in hand to make valid deductions. Yet, this account may give us an idea of them.

The Ipuwer Papyrus records the curse of blood, drought and disasters to which the Pharaoh’s dynasty fell victim, and the situation of the slaves, who later were to inherit the former’s possessions almost literally as described in the Quran.

PHARAOH’S BODY SIGN UNKNOWN BY MAJORITY


"We took the children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh and his army followed them aggressively and sinfully. When drowning became a reality for him, he said, “I believe that there is no god except the One in whom the children of Israel believe. I am of those who submit.” "Ah now! For you have rebelled in the past, and you did mischief.” “Today, We will save your body, so that you may become a sign to those who come after you. But verily, many people are heedless of Our signs.” (Holy Quran 10:90-92)



When he understood he was going to die, the Pharaoh was converted. This so-called conversion is looked at askance by God, who says that his body shall be saved as a sign for the coming generations.

At the time of the Prophet, and for quite some time afterward, we could not guess that a science called museology would be developed to harbor objects of historical value, amongst others mummified bodies of the Pharaohs. The Quran’s reference to this and to the people heedless of God’s signs are points deserving attention. The signs of God are many and the majority of people are unaware of this.

At the time of the revelation of the Quran, mummified bodies of all the Pharaohs lay concealed in the Valley of Kings along the banks of the Nile. Their discovery took place in the 19th century. The Pharaoh mentioned in the Quran may have been any of them, it happens to be among those preserved in the Cairo Museum, open to public visitation. To the period in which Moses is believed to belong,
Rameses II and his son Merneptah correspond.

Merneptah’s body bears the traces of fatal blows. It is reported that these marks may have been caused during his drowning or after the recovery of his body, that had washed ashore; the Egyptians mummified him like all the other Pharaohs. The evidence available does not permit us to derive a convincing conclusion about the details of his death. However, no conflicting relationship could be established between the death of this Pharaoh and the account given in the Quran.

The discovery of the Pharaoh’s body took place after an interval of 3000 years (1881-1898). Considering that the Quran had predicted that Pharaoh’s body would constitute a sign, one supposes that it should have been found. Indeed it was found. When and how? Well, after a time gap of 3000 years. What happened though was as the Quran predicted. “...But verily, many people are heedless of Our signs.”

Ramadhan Mubarak: The economic importance of Zakat, Fitra

October 1, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Ramazan is not just an occasion of fasting, vermicelli and haleem. There’s more to this Islamic holy month than personal devotion and mouth-watering dishes. The compulsory charity collected during this month either in the form of Zakat or Fitra builds the lives of innumerable people.
According to an estimate, Hyderabadis including those living abroad contribute as much as Rs 1000 crore towards compulsory charity during Ramazan. There has always been an increase of eight to 10 per cent in the Zakat collection. But since there’s no umbrella body that oversees the Zakat funds, the money thus collected goes into small charities rather than a major perceptible cause. There are several individuals who donate more than Rs 1 crore towards Zakat every Ramazan while certain Hyderabadi families are known to disburse Zakat anything upward of Rs 5 crore.
Hyderabad stands second in India after Mumbai in Zakat collection. A notable feature this year is that most of the money from Zakat will go towards welfare activities like housing, sanitation, pensions to widows and old people, unlike earlier years when the funds were primarily utilized for educational scholarships.
Thanks to the YS Rajasekhar Reddy government offering free education including professional courses for all Muslim students whose parental income is less than Rs 1 lakh a year, the organizations involved in Zakat collection and distribution have decided to concentrate more on non-educational activities. The government’s scheme has benefited the community to the extent of about Rs 200 crore. This in other words means Zakat money to this extent will go to welfare activities other than educational scholarships.
“Ramazan is in fact the month of human economics, for its benefits the have-nots. But unfortunately in India we do not have a centralized Zakat collection and distribution organization to oversee the flow of Zakat funds. There are thousands of small Zakat bodies all over the country. In Hyderabad itself there are more than 2000 such organizations. As the money is not channelised through a single source, Zakat funds are not able to provide concrete results,” said senior Islamic scholar Moulana Abdul Kareem.
Only a handful of large Zakat bodies like Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust could make an impact on the poor. The Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust alone disbursed about Rs 10 crore in the form of scholarship benefiting 17,000 students, including 2,300 orphans. They take up housing projects for the poor, build schools in remote areas, open hospitals and run specialized training centres for destitute and poor women.
“The concept behind Zakat and Fitra is quite simple. If fasting is made compulsory during Ramazan it is to let the person on fast know what hunger and thirst is. This brings him closer to the poor. Zakat is compulsory on the rich so that they donate a part of their income to the poor. Every Muslim must donate Zakat calculated at 2.5 per cent of his annual savings. Fitra is another form of charity. It should be paid to the poor before the Id prayers so that the have-nots too join the celebrations,” said Moulana Anwar Ahmad.

Handbook on Gulf Jobs: All about employment opportunities and labour rules in the Arabian Gulf

Handbook on Gulf Jobs

Author: Syed Qamar Hasan
Publisher: Rahat Foundation
No. of pages: 100 pages
Copies can be had from: Rahat Foundation, Society for Socio-economic,
Educational Development, Saroornagar, Hyderabad - 500 035 Phone: 98491 68352

Senior journalist Syed Qamar Hasan brings out in this handbook on Gulf Jobs all the information a person needs before embarking on a journey to the Gulf in search of a job. The book deals with employment opportunities as well as the labour rules and laws in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. It also contains a list of do's and don'ts. Gulf Jobs is useful not only for prospective employment seekers back home in India but also for those already working in the Gulf.
Qamar Hasan vividly describes issues like labour market past and present, jobs and how to get them, white collar jobs, blue collar jobs and visa requirements. He also gives tips on the right approach to get jobs and what a prospective employment seeker should do before leaving for Gulf and on arriving in the foreign land.
The book warns that job hunters have often been bowled over by the exaggerated claims of friends and
relatives working in the Gulf and who project themselves as big shots drawing huge salaries and claiming
jobs are easy to find.
"I have come across persons who left well paid jobs in their home cities with multi-national companies to look for openings in the Gulf countries," Qamar points out. The book says job markets have become highly competitive. The cost of living has gone up and the inflation rate is rising. However, there are still openings for highly qualified IT professionals, petro-engineers, specialist doctors, surgeons and bankers. 
"If one is gainfully employed at home, it is better to stay back rather than venture out in the Gulf for
marginally more. If one is earning around Rs 30,000 a month at home, he or she will be earning here in the
Gulf littler better in the present situation. What's more at least one will be free of stress, fatigue and boredom
caused by feeling of insecurity of jobs in the Gulf".

Sorrow and grief dampens Id festivities in Andhra Pradesh

The bomb blast in the historic Mecca Masjid and the subsequent police firing and the twin blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat have left a sort of fear psychosis in the principal minority community. The blast the historic dargah of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, the greatest Sufi saint of all times in sub-continent, has only heightened this sense of fear. A majority of Muslims in Hyderabad and other parts of the country are devotees of the Sufi saint, who is popularly revered as Gharib Nawaz (benefactor of the poor).

By Syed Akbar


Id-ul-Fitr or the feast of alms-giving is the biggest Islamic festival which every Muslim around the globe would look forward to every year. But the Id this year in Hyderabad, which has the second largest Muslim population in the country, is being celebrated without the usual festivities.
And many Muslim families have decided to make the celebrations a low-key affair as mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the three bomb blasts that hit Hyderabad recently. Others have donated a part of the funds earmarked for the Id festivities to charitable organisations as a mark of solidarity with the downtrodden sections of society. Even schoolchildren have joined their parents in forgoing the festivities in
several parts of the State.
Business figures from the famous Charminar market shows one-third of the minority community did not go for shopping this Id That the Id will be a low-key affair became clear on the Jumat-ul-Vida, the last Friday of
Ramzan, when religious leaders in their congregational sermons called upon the devout not to spend much on festivities but concentrate on charity and service. They also emphasised the need for mass prayers for peace and universal brotherhood of man.
The bomb blast in the historic Mecca Masjid and the subsequent police firing and the twin blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat have left a sort of fear psychosis in the principal minority community. The blast the historic dargah of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, the greatest Sufi saint of all times in sub-continent, has only heightened this sense of fear. A majority of Muslims in Hyderabad and other parts of the country are devotees of the Sufi saint, who is popularly revered as Gharib Nawaz (benefactor of the poor).
"Id is indeed an occasion to celebrate. But how could we celebrate when our brothers and sisters are in trouble. There was so much loss of life in Hyderabad in the last five months. I will go to the Idgah and offer special prayers there. I am dedicating this Id to those killed in the blasts," says SAK Jeelana, a college-goer.
While fear is visible in the lanes and bylanes of old city of Hyderabad, the IB's recent alert of yet another attack on places of worship during the holy month of Ramzan has put the security forces on tenterhooks. This is for the first time that the Id is celebrated under such a heightened atmosphere in the past three decades. The last time Hyderabad witnessed tension during the Id was way back in early 1980s. Says Syed Fazil Hussain Parvez, who edits the popular Urdu weekly Gawah, "that people have decided to make the Id a low-key affair is clear from the low turnout at shops in Charminar. The business this Id season fell down by at least 40 per cent and not many from outside Hyderabad came here for shopping at the famous Charminar-Madina market. The spate of arrests and the police raid on madarasas have also contributed to
the low turnout of shoppers from districts".
Moulvis, who led congregation prayers in mosques, too departed from their usual sermons during Ramzan. Their speeches revolved around peace and the need for the community to extend support to law enforcing agencies to weed out communal and terrorist elements from society. "This is not the time to rejoice at least for we Hyderabadis. Many Muslims in our area have decided to restrict their Id prayers to the local mosque, instead of celebrating the festival at Idgah. This is a good idea and I welcome it. The larger the congregation the greater the security risk," says senior cleric Hafiz MN Rahman.

Madarasas to observe special open days for transparency

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad:  Faced with the charge of harbouring foreign nationals, madarasas in the State have decided to observe special "open days" after the ongoing Ramzan vacation and set up their websites for
transparency.


Though most of the 4000 and odd madarasas spread across the State have no restriction on the entry of visitors during office hours, the managements have decided to conduct special open days in a bid to tell
people that they are transparent.


On open days anyone can pay a visit to any of the madarasa, have interaction with students and teachers, inspect the curriculum and seek clarification of their doubts.


"As such we do not have any restrictions. But since doubts are being expressed after the police conducted midnight raids on some madarasas, we want to send home the message that our doors are always open. Anyone can walk in any time. But for the sake of visibility we will conduct open days," says Raheemuddin Ansari, a senior office-bearer of Deeni Madaris Board, the umbrella body of Islamic seminaries in the State.


The madarasas will reopen after the annual Ramzan vacation in the fourth week of October. "We have always kept open our door open. Our hostels (Darul Iqama) follow a strict spiritual-cum-mundane
syllabus. People can inspect our accounts and our records. All our accounts are audited. Those in doubt can interview our students and teachers," says Mufti Mastan Ali, chief of Jamiatul Mominath.


The Deeni Madaris Board will soon hold a meeting with Minorities Welfare Minister Muhammad Ali Shabber to chalk out the modalities on interlinking of madarasas and setting up their individual websites.
Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy had suggested that madarasas go online and post their information on the internet for transparency. Moulana Anwar Ahmad of Jamia Nizamia says the madarasas have nothing to hide. "A delegation of senior journalists from the US visited the madarasas recently. Even the US government is giving funds to madarasas in Hyderabad. If we are harbouring foreign nationals, will the US government give us funds," he asks.

Terror charge: Muslim women surround cleric for his stoic silence

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Sept 3: About 50 women relatives of bomb blast suspects
now in police custody on Monday laid siege to the residence of senior
Islamic scholar Moulana Hameeduddin Aquil Hussami for over five
hours holding him responsible for their "fate".
Moulana Aquil, who is regarded as "Amir-e-Millat" (leader of the
community) by lakhs of Muslims down the Vindhyas, had actively
campaigned for Congress during the State Assembly elections held in
May 2004. He shared dais with senior Congress leaders including Chief
Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
As a thanksgiving to the Moulana, the Congress government appointed
his son-in-law Raheemuddin Ansari as the president of the AP State
Urdu Academy, which is a minister of State rank.
The women relatives demanded that Raheemuddin Ansari quit the Urdu
Academy as the Congress government had been "targeting" Muslims
and branding them as "terrorists and anti-nationals". They held the
Moulana responsible for their "fate" and the "sorry state of affairs"
because he had supported the Congress and openly appealed to
Muslims not to vote for the Telugu Desam.
The women came in black burqas at around 1.00 pm and continued
their agitation till 5.00 pm. They left the residence only after Moulana
Aquil agreed with them that "there was no difference between the
Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party".
The Moulana addressed the agitating women for about 30 minutes. He
said he himself had become a victim of the Congress government after
the police raided Darul Uloom Hyderabad, a madarasa run by him.
"We supported the Congress with the hope that it would bring a secular
government. But it is treading the path of the previous BJP-led NDA
government. We do not see any difference between the BJP and the
Congress," he said. The women dispersed only after the Moulana
assured them that he would lead a delegation of Muslim elders to the
chief minister and find out the whereabouts of the suspects arrested in
connection with the blasts in the city.
Moulana Aquil made several unsuccessful attempts to contact on
telephone Director-General of Police MA Basith and Hyderabad city
police commissioner Balwinder Singh. The Moulana was told by the
DGP and CP's offices that they were busy and would not come on line.
This had further irked him.
No sooner Moulana Aquil announced that he saw no difference
between the Congress and the BJP than Telugu Desam supremo N
Chandrababu Naidu deputed party politburo member and MP SM Lal
Jan Basha to the residence of the Moulana. Basha spent some time with
the Moulana and told him that the TD had never troubled Muslims
when it was in power for nine years.
"There were no communal violence. Law and order situation was well
under control. We looked after the welfare of minorities and ensured
that there was no trouble to them. The TD government did not pick up
innocent Muslim youths. No madarasa was raided during our rule,"
Basha said.
Meanwhile, the police continued with their raids on madarasas. On
Monday the police raided Al Mahadal Islami, a madarasa managed by
noted Islamic scholar Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani at
Shaheennagar.

The terror charge: Suspects, culprits and innocents

By Syed Akbar

Before April 2000 the one name the police used to chant after every violent
incident in Andhra Pradesh was that of suspected ISI agent Azam Ghori.
In the following five years, the police records witnessed the "terror regime"
of Muslim Defence Force leader Abdul Bari.
And the latest "bad man of terror" is Muhammad Shahed alias Bilal, a college
dropout whom the police accuse of masterminding the bomb blasts including
the one at the historic Mecca Masjid in May and the twin blast last week.
The police closed the history sheet of Ghori after he was killed in an
encounter in April 2000 and strangely enough chose not to link Bari with
terror incidents after they found the new suspect in Shahed a couple of years
ago.
Except for the encounter killing of Ghori and half a dozen ISI suspects in
the last one decade, neither the State nor the Hyderabad city police succeeded in
proving the "charge of terror" against those they had rounded up after terror
incidents. The police needle of suspicion simply points towards a host of
known suspects after every terror incident but improper investigation leads
the police to nowhere. The result is another round of terror activity,
death and destruction and the usual one more police list of same suspects.
The police came out with the name of Shahed soon after the Mecca Masjid
blast but failed to document the charge against him. Dozens of Muslim
youths from old city of Hyderabad were either arrested or taken into custody
and more than 100 days later the police are yet to chargesheet them for the
charge the youths were put behind the bars.
None of the suspects in the Mecca Masjid blast, still in custody, has been
charged with the actual blast at the masjid. Shoeb Jagirdar and Shaik Nayeem
alias Sameer of Maharashtra were rounded up for their alleged involvement
in the masjid blast but the police ended up framing fake passport cases
against them. Other suspects Abdul Sattar and Ibrahim were booked in
unrelated cases. Shoeb secured bail while others are still behind the bars.
As usual, within an hour of the twin bomb blast on August 25 senior police
officials vied with one another in announcing the name of Shahed and a list
of ISI-backed organisations holding them responsible for the terror act that
left 42 people dead and about 50 injured. The hurry with which the
investigating authorities jumped to the conclusion even before inspecting the
bomb sites and securing vital clues has led several Muslim and human rights
organisations to accused the police of acting with "preconceived notions"
against the principal minority community.
A dig into the past police records and court cases shows that a majority of
those arrested under "terror" charges had been acquitted. If at all they were
convicted, it was on the charge of murder or extortion. All those arrested by
the police on the charge of terror in AP Express, Humayunnagar and Abids
police stations and Secunderabad railway station bomb blast incidents walked
out to freedom with the police failing to prove the charge. Only Dr Jalees
Shakil Ansari was convicted, though in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast case.
After the Mecca Masjid and twin bomb blasts, the police have named pan-
Islamic outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islamic, Jaish-
e-Mohammed, Lashker-e-Thoiba and Students Islamic Movement India.
Ironically, the police could not come out with concrete evidence to nail
these
organisations or their operatives in the State. Lopsided investigations based
on preconceived notions have often proved counterproductive for the State
and the city police. For instance, the AP High Court had rapped the State
Crime Investigation Department for booking "ISI cases" against some
Muslim youths without substantial evidence. The youths were let off but not
before their image was tarnished by the police and the media.
The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has been accused the police of "profiling"
Muslim youths as a source of disturbance, unrest and potential threat to the
security and safety. "The police simple weave stories of foreign Muslim
terrorist groups and their local support base to harass innocent youths. We
are against harassment of innocent youths. Let the police arrest the real ISI
activists instead of going after local youths just because they happen to be
Muslims," observes Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
With the police failing to identify the real culprit in the Mecca Masjid
blast even three months after the incident and arrest/custody of about 200 Muslim
youths, Muslim elders feel that top police officials due to their
proximity to the Hindutva forces and for personnel promotions and benefits, are targeting
the community branding Muslims as terrorists having connections with
Pakistan's ISI.
"The police should not act with preconceived notions. They should be open
to all angles and the probe should be inclusive. Jumping to conclusions
without even beginning the investigation will send wrong signals and this
will only create a communal wedge between the Muslims and the Hindus.
The police should desist the tendency of pointing fingers at Muslims without
a thorough probe," says senior Muslim cleric Moulana Khalid Saifullah
Rahmani. The police on the other hand argue that they were not targeting any
particular community. "We are on the elimination process. We round up suspects and
zero in on the culprits. In the process some innocent people may have been
taken into custody. It's a routine process. We deal with Intelligence inputs
and data. We let off the innocent persons," city police commissioner
Balwindar Singh points out.
But human rights activists do not want to buy the argument of Balwindar
Singh. Says Prof SAR Geelani of Delhi University, "If the police are really
open minded, they will look for clues from other terror groups and not only
from Muslim bodies. The police and other premier investigating agencies are
infested with officers having RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP ideologies.  The
police jump to the conclusion immediately after a bomb blast, that it is the
handiwork of Muslims. They don't even think of the Bajrang Dal, RSS and
VHP as possible suspects. In fact they don't like to take these names," he
adds.
Shahed's father Abdul Wahed hits back at the police demanding that they
produce his son before court if he was involved. "Shahed left the house five
years ago and we have never seen or met him after that". He alleges that
Shahed is with the police and he could be killed any time.
The police handed over the Mecca Masjid case to the CBI. The case of
unexploded bomb is still with the local police. The MIM and other Muslim
organisations have accused that the local police had kept with it the case of
unexploded bomb only to harass Muslims youths by rounding them off at
"appropriate time".

Madarasas criticise midnight raids, say they do not indulge in illegal activities

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: Managements of madarasas on Thursday accused the Congress government in the State of anti-Muslim stance after a police team raided a well-known Islamic seminary in the outskirts of the city late on Wednesday night.
Two more madarasas including a girl's seminary were raided on Thursday afternoon. The police, however, described the raids as a simple verification exercise.
A posse of policemen swooped on the 25-year-old Darul Uloom Hyderabad, managed by eminent Islamic scholar Moulana Hameeduddin Aquil Hussami, in the dead of night and conducted a virtual identification parade of students and teachers.
 Most of the students in the madarasa are below 14 years and several of them are orphans. The midnight swoop forced the Muslim clergy to denounce the police action as nothing short of  "terrorising the minority
community and branding Muslims as terrorists".
The police team returned on Thursday morning for verification of madarasa records as part of the "investigation" into the twin bomb blast in the city earlier this week. Incidentally, Moulana Aquil had
campaigned for the Congress during the last Assembly elections and shared dais with senior Congress leaders including Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
"Madarasa is nothing more than an educational institution where education is provided free. It is open to all. Anyone can visit any madarasa and verify for themselves about its activities. Raiding a madarasa in the dead of night will send wrong signals and create communal frenzy. The government is branding Muslims as terrorists and this will lead to ill-will between Hindus and Muslims. People of other communities will look at Muslims with suspicion if the police did not desist from such actions," Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani,
general secretary of the Deeni Madaris Board, told this correspondent.
The Madaris Board, an umbrella body of madarasas in the State, held an emergency meeting in the city on Thursday evening to denounce the "highhanded" action of the police. It said several young students are
traumatised by the presence of the police late in night.
Representatives of over three dozen top madarasas participated in the meeting and decided to call on Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy after the Friday congregation prayers to lodge their protest. They warned of severe Muslim backlash if the Congress government did not desist from actions that would brand Muslims as terrorists or supporters of terror groups.
Police on Thursday afternoon raided Darul Uloom Anwarul Huda at Kishanbagh and Jamia Ayesha Siddiqa Lil Banat, a girl's religious school at Misriganj, angering the Islamic clergy. The Madaris Board alleged that though madarasas were opening their records before the police, instances of midnight knocks had gone up in
old city.
The Board, comprising senior Islamic clergy some of international repute, wondered what had forced the police to swoop on the madarasas during ungodly hours when they could do so in the morning. "Madarasas create responsible and God-fearing citizens. No terrorist has ever been rounded up from a madarasa in India.
Even senior BJP leaders like LK Advani gave clean chit to Islamic seminaries. If we come across any anti-social or anti-national element, we will be the first ones to hand them over to the police. But looking at Muslims in general and madarasas in particular with suspicious eyed is not a healthy trend and this will have far reaching repercussions on the overall social fabric," Moulana Hameeduddin Aquil, who chaired the
meeting, said.