Monday, November 29, 2010

The Rahbar’s fatwa of respect, and unity

The Rahbar’s fatwa of respect, and unity

Early last month, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Rahbar (Leader) of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, issued a fatwa of far-reaching importance for the unity and solidarity of the Ummah. It was immediately welcomed by leading scholars in the Muslim world, including the Rector of Al-Azhar University in Egypt. In his fatwa, the Rahbar said disrespect or insult to the Sahabah (Companions), or wives of the noble Messenger (pbuh) is haram (forbidden).

To understand the significance of the fatwa, a brief detour into history is necessary. Based on differences of opinion over leadership after the Prophet (pbuh), Muslims have been divided into two camps — Sunnis and Shi‘is. The Sunnis believe that the process of succession was agreed by the consensus of the community while the Shi‘is are of the view that the Prophet (pbuh) had designated his cousin and son-in-law, Imam ‘Ali as his successor. Based on these differences, followers of the two opinions became so rigidly entrenched that they started to denounce each other. During Mu‘awiyah’s reign (when the system of khilafah was subverted into hereditary monarchy), it was official policy to denounce Imam ‘Ali during the Jumu‘ah khutbah. Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz ended this un-Islamic practice during his rule. He was a man committed to the character and practice of the Prophet (pbuh) but his rule did not last long. His own family members poisoned him. They were unhappy with his restoration of Islamic principles to the practice of governance.

In reaction to such un-Islamic practices by the Umayyads (family of Mu‘awiyah), the Shi‘is resorted to their own denunciations. They condemned not only Mu‘awiyah and his drunkard son Yazid — whose army martyred Imam Husayn at Karbala, perpetrating the most heinous crime in Islamic history — but all the Sahabah that had not supported Imam Ali’s position for leadership. These Shi‘is went further; they cursed ‘A’ishah, the wife of the noble Messenger (pbuh), as well. In turn, some Sunnis started to hurl allegations of takfir against the Shi‘is.

Naturally such mutual denunciations have poisoned the atmosphere among Muslims and prevented genuine unity from taking root. Not only ordinary Muslims unaware of the details of Islamic history but also those knowledgeable about it have used such differences to stoke conflict and discord. It must be said that while there are sholarly positions on both sides that want to end such differences because they understand that history cannot be reversed and mutual recriminations do not serve the larger interests of the Ummah, there are others that want to stick to their entrenched positions. Imam Khamenei’s fatwa bridges this gap considerably. While it provides guidance to the Shi‘is to show more respect to the Companions and the wives of the Prophat (pbuh), it also reassures the Sunnis that their sensitivities are being respected. At the same time, it deprives those that want to stoke sectarian differences of a major argument.

The quality of true Islamic leadership is that it is able to lead all the Muslims regardless of their schools of thought (madhhabs). Imam Khamenei’s fatwa does just that. The Ummah must thank him for his sincerity and taqwa.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Mass anti-govt. rallies held in Germany

Sat Nov 13, 2010 7:31PM

Protests against the German government's austerity measures on June 17, 2010
Tens of thousands demonstrate in cities across Germany against government policies and social inequalities ahead of the ruling party's national meeting.


A day before Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats party (CDU) meeting, nearly 100,000 Germans marched across the country in Stuttgart, Dortmund, Nuremberg and Erfurt.

"We don't want a republic in which powerful interest groups decide the guidelines of politics with their money, their power and their influence," Berthold Huber, head of Germany's largest trade union IG Metall, told a crowd of protesters in Stuttgart.

The rallies were organized by the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), which is demanding higher wages for workers and a mandatory minimum wage.

Demonstrators also protested at the introduction of the new pension age of 67, AFP reported.

During the annual CDU meeting, held between November 14-16 in Karlsruhe, delegates will most likely re-elect Merkel as the head of the party.

The coalition government currently shares power with the Free Democrats and has passed austerity measures and spending cuts during the country's economic crisis.

Merkel's government is now trailing behind the center-left Social Democrats and Greens in opinion polls, Reuters reported.

Last week, tens of thousands of environmental activists protested at the transport of radioactive waste from France to Germany in conjunction with the government's recent decision to extend the life spans of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants.

Monday, November 8, 2010

'George, I'm asking you to bomb the compound,'

'George, I'm asking you to bomb the compound,' Olmert told Bush according to former U.S. president's memoirs;

Monday, November 1, 2010

'Israel hogging Gaza water sources'

'Israel hogging Gaza water sources'
Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:14AM

More than 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip lack access to basic humanitarian supplies such as shortage of water resources.


Many Palestinians are forced to purchase bottled water for their daily needs, as water coming from their taps has run dry, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.

The Gaza aquifer is the only source of water for residents of Gaza. Reports show that 90 percent of its water is not suitable for human consumption due to high levels of nitrate and salinity.

In an interview with Press TV, public health coordinator Tracey Wise said, "Because of such limited amounts of water in Gaza that's acceptable for human consumption, mostly this is the shallow, coastal aquifer, and this aquifer is being over-pumped, so much water is being taken out to supply the needs of Gazans, that you have much more intrusion of sea water."

"And then also you have upwelling of this very, very old water that has high salinity and high concentrations of other pollutants," she added.

Meanwhile, Israel has installed huge pumping stations all along the shared border, diverting water before it reaches the aquifer of Gaza.

Israel has imposed a blockade on the region since June 2007, preventing the entry of hundreds of items, including essential industrial materials needed to repair the water infrastructure.

During the Gaza war, bombs completely destroyed three water wells and much of the water system infrastructure in Gaza.

The Coastal Municipal Water Utility (CMWU) has reported Israel's daily water consumption per capita at around 320 liters while the consumption of Palestinians in Gaza is less than 90 liters.

"We need to start to think about unconventional water sources, [such as] the sea, along with other solutions," said CMWU Director Munzer Shuplaq.

According to recent statistics conducted by CMWU, residents of the coastal enclave will not find healthy water to drink by the year 2015.