A demonstration in the US city of New York has condemned Saudi Arabia’s
recent execution of top cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, as well as Nigeria's
detention of senior cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.
Hundreds of
activists gathered at New York's Times Square on Sunday to censure the
kingdom's execution of Sheikh Nimr, and Nigeria's detention of Sheikh
Zakzaky.
The protesters chanted slogans against the Saudi government as well as the Daesh (ISIL) militant group.
A
number of speakers addressed the crowd, among them a young girl,
calling for peace and unity among all Muslims, while condemning the
Saudi oppression.
Sheikh Nimr was among 47 people executed on 2
January at the hands of the Saudi regime after being convicted on
"terrorism" charges.
He was a vocal critic of the regime in Riyadh.
Protesters
also demanded the release of prominent cleric and the leader of the
Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Zakzaky.
Zakzaky has
been in police custody since Nigerian forces raided his home on December
13 and arrested him after reportedly killing those attempting to
protect him, including one of the movement’s senior leaders and its
spokesman.
The Shia cleric is said to have been charged with "criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbances."
The demonstrators also blasted the US government over its silence on Nigeria killings.
Saturday, 23 January 2016
Muslim man brutally attacked in US by teenagers who yelled 'ISIS'
A New York man of Bangladeshi origin was attacked by teenagers who yelled “ISIS, ISIS”, before beating him to a pulp in what police are investigating as a hate crime.
Mujibur Rahman, 43-year-old, was attacked in front of his horrified 9-year-old niece as he walked in the Bronx on Friday evening.
The attackers pushed the man to the ground and kicked him multiple times, police said. He was taken by ambulance to Jacobi Medical Centre, where he was treated for his injuries and released Saturday night.
Police said the man’s niece was unharmed physically, but the youngster was left deeply traumatized.
“She could not sleep,” the victim said. “She said she didn’t want to go back to school anymore.”
The assault of Rahman is being investigated as a hate crime by the NYPD.
As of Sunday evening, no arrests had been made in the case and an investigation was ongoing by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force, an NYPD spokesman said.
From his side, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz on Sunday condemned the attacks as “hateful and not representative of the shared values of the people of this borough.”
“An attack on one of us over race, religion, gender or sexual orientation is an attack on us all,” Diaz said in a statement.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of New York, a Muslim civil rights organization, called on the FBI to also investigate the incident. The attack is one of what the group considers a growing wave of assaults on Muslims in the US.
“The FBI should add its resources to the investigation of this disturbing incident in order to send a clear message to bigots that attacks on American Muslims will not be tolerated and that perpetrators of such attacks will face the full weight of the law,” said CAIR-NY’s director of operations Sadyia Khalique.
American Catholic student wears hijab to experience challenges faced by Muslims
An American high-school Catholic student, Zion Lourdes Perez, wore a hijab on her way back home in Seattle, United States, as part of a “modesty week” programme at school, exposing her to the everyday challenges faced by Muslim women.
Feeling targeted, she tore off the hijab half way through her journey. The 15-year-old, co-founder and president of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at Franklin High, shared her experience that she describes as “overwhelming”.
“I felt like people were staring at me, whipping around to look really negative vibes, like I was some kind of threat or foreigner. When I tore it off, I was relieved. All I wanted was to blend in,” she said.
However, since Perez had intended to wear the hijab for a full week, and not just a few hours, the next day she put it on again.
“I have a whole new respect now. They really have to be strong. It takes tremendous courage to walk around wearing a hijab,” Perez said, referring to Muslim women.
Perez also took part in a workshop to honour the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, where her, and 40 other guests spoke about Islamophobia.
A senior at the school, Aronwald shared his views saying, “I feel like this is a really large issue. Six months ago, I didn’t understand Muslim people.”
However, this changed when his interest in psychology made him think about the effect of being part of a stigmatized group. He described Islam as “misunderstood”.
This change in Aronwald’s views inspired Perez to form the MSA at Franklin High, which is only one of two in the Seattle School District.
“There wasn’t any place where they could connect with each other,” she said, adding, “I didn’t know much about Islam except what I saw in media. To accept other groups and cultures you have to understand them.”
Perez said wearing the hijab had been a curiosity at first, but seeing the reaction of people, she wanted to keep it on for the week to gain a deeper understanding of how these women are judged and treated. She noted that after a few days, her friends stopped noticing.
Principal of the high-school Jennifer Wiley while speaking about Muslims students in her school, said: “They’re wrestling with really complex issues.”
America’s anti-Muslim hysteria grows
Attitudes in the United States toward Islam have come unhinged, with
Islamophobia stoked lately by the campaign rhetoric of practically all
Republican presidential hopefuls.
This is leading America and the world in a wrong and dangerous direction. Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate, who last September declared “I love Muslims,” has made a full pivot after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, by militants.
He is now calling for a database for tracking the 3 million plus Muslims in America. He would not rule out making them carry a special ID showing their faith and feels that “there is absolutely no choice but to close some mosque.”
More recently, he called for the United States to bar all Muslims from entering the country until the “country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
Other Republican candidates generally went along or outbid him with Islamophobic statements of their own. Marco Rubio, for example, announced that he would not only close mosques but also Muslim cafes and diners.
Ben Carson declared that he is opposed to a Muslim becoming president of the United States because Islam is “inconsistent” with the US Constitution. Ted Cruz claimed that Shariah law “is an enormous problem” in the United States. Mike Huckabee called Islam “a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet.”
These attitudes toward Islam are not, unfortunately, out of line with the opinions of many American voters, especially Republicans. When Trump made his proposal on the temporary ban on Muslims entering the US, his public support was falling, but immediately after, his rating among likely Republican voters rose significantly.
A Rasmussen poll last December showed that 66 percent of likely Republican voters favored such a ban. Among all voters, the poll showed that 46 percent favored the ban while 40 percent were opposed (14 percent undecided).
A YouGov poll taken toward the end of last December showed that 83 percent of Republicans agreed with Carson that a Muslim should not be president. The most disturbing poll, however, remains that taken by Pew Research Center in July of last year, in which respondents were asked to rate from zero to 100 (from least positive to most positive) their feelings toward different religious groups in the country. The highest ranking was received by Jews (63 over 100) and the lowest by Arabs and atheists (40 over 100).
Concomitantly, there have been an increasing number of extremist organizations known for using violence in the pursuit of their stated goals, spreading anti-Muslim propaganda. More than 20 of these are classified by the reputable Southern Poverty Law Center as “white supremacist,” “neo-Nazi” or “racist skinheads” or “anti-immigration.” An increasing number of them now target Muslims in addition to Jews, African Americans, Latinos and almost everyone not of West European origin.
There are, in addition, scores of other organizations that are Islamophobic but are not classified as extremist who are denouncing Islam. One of those, DefendChristians.org, has an article on its website suggesting three solutions to the Muslim problem: conversion, deportation or violence, but concludes that the only practical one is the latter.
This crescendo in Islamophobic statements by politicians, organizations and other individuals is reflected in a skyrocketing increase in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in America. According to the FBI, the hate crimes against Muslims before 9/11 averaged around two a month, but rose to slightly less than 13 a month after 2001. During that year they reached around 40 a month.
However, according to a study undertaken by a California State University research group reported in the Washington Post, the number of hate crimes against Muslims rose three-fold after the attacks in Paris last Nov. 13, reaching 38 during the subsequent 30 days, almost equaling the monthly rate of 2001.
Furthermore, according to the FBI, while the attacks against Muslims did not include murder until the end of 2013, but only assault, arson, vandalism of mosques and death threats, the latest attacks did.
This kind of hysteria has even reached the school system. Last September a young high school boy, Ahmed Mohamed, was arrested, handcuffed and detained in Dallas, Texas, for bringing to school a homemade clock that he made for a tech class. When this reaction provoked criticism, he was invited to the White House. Two months later, a 12-year-old, Armaan Singh Sarai (a Sikh who apparently looked like a Muslim) was arrested, also in Dallas, and detained for three days for carrying a school bag that had a built-in charger for his telephone.
In a public debate with Bernie Sanders in December, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton warned that Daesh (ISIL) is “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical terrorists.
Earlier this month, a recruiting video by the Al-Shabaab group in Somalia, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, surfaced. It included a clip of Trump announcing his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Clinton had said that Trump is becoming the best Daesh recruiter. He is apparently also being used as an Al-Qaeda recruiter as well.
Until elections next November and probably beyond, we will undoubtedly witness an increase in hate crimes against Muslims in the United States and a surge in recruitment to Daesh and Al-Qaeda. The damage that this will do to the relations between Muslims and Christians globally will be unprecedented and durable and will translate into more violence worldwide.
It is time for reasonable Americans to openly and forcefully denounce this bigotry and act decisively to stop it. After all, this is what they are demanding from reasonable Muslims to do with regard to extremism.
This is leading America and the world in a wrong and dangerous direction. Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate, who last September declared “I love Muslims,” has made a full pivot after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, by militants.
He is now calling for a database for tracking the 3 million plus Muslims in America. He would not rule out making them carry a special ID showing their faith and feels that “there is absolutely no choice but to close some mosque.”
More recently, he called for the United States to bar all Muslims from entering the country until the “country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
Other Republican candidates generally went along or outbid him with Islamophobic statements of their own. Marco Rubio, for example, announced that he would not only close mosques but also Muslim cafes and diners.
Ben Carson declared that he is opposed to a Muslim becoming president of the United States because Islam is “inconsistent” with the US Constitution. Ted Cruz claimed that Shariah law “is an enormous problem” in the United States. Mike Huckabee called Islam “a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet.”
These attitudes toward Islam are not, unfortunately, out of line with the opinions of many American voters, especially Republicans. When Trump made his proposal on the temporary ban on Muslims entering the US, his public support was falling, but immediately after, his rating among likely Republican voters rose significantly.
A Rasmussen poll last December showed that 66 percent of likely Republican voters favored such a ban. Among all voters, the poll showed that 46 percent favored the ban while 40 percent were opposed (14 percent undecided).
A YouGov poll taken toward the end of last December showed that 83 percent of Republicans agreed with Carson that a Muslim should not be president. The most disturbing poll, however, remains that taken by Pew Research Center in July of last year, in which respondents were asked to rate from zero to 100 (from least positive to most positive) their feelings toward different religious groups in the country. The highest ranking was received by Jews (63 over 100) and the lowest by Arabs and atheists (40 over 100).
Concomitantly, there have been an increasing number of extremist organizations known for using violence in the pursuit of their stated goals, spreading anti-Muslim propaganda. More than 20 of these are classified by the reputable Southern Poverty Law Center as “white supremacist,” “neo-Nazi” or “racist skinheads” or “anti-immigration.” An increasing number of them now target Muslims in addition to Jews, African Americans, Latinos and almost everyone not of West European origin.
There are, in addition, scores of other organizations that are Islamophobic but are not classified as extremist who are denouncing Islam. One of those, DefendChristians.org, has an article on its website suggesting three solutions to the Muslim problem: conversion, deportation or violence, but concludes that the only practical one is the latter.
This crescendo in Islamophobic statements by politicians, organizations and other individuals is reflected in a skyrocketing increase in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in America. According to the FBI, the hate crimes against Muslims before 9/11 averaged around two a month, but rose to slightly less than 13 a month after 2001. During that year they reached around 40 a month.
However, according to a study undertaken by a California State University research group reported in the Washington Post, the number of hate crimes against Muslims rose three-fold after the attacks in Paris last Nov. 13, reaching 38 during the subsequent 30 days, almost equaling the monthly rate of 2001.
Furthermore, according to the FBI, while the attacks against Muslims did not include murder until the end of 2013, but only assault, arson, vandalism of mosques and death threats, the latest attacks did.
This kind of hysteria has even reached the school system. Last September a young high school boy, Ahmed Mohamed, was arrested, handcuffed and detained in Dallas, Texas, for bringing to school a homemade clock that he made for a tech class. When this reaction provoked criticism, he was invited to the White House. Two months later, a 12-year-old, Armaan Singh Sarai (a Sikh who apparently looked like a Muslim) was arrested, also in Dallas, and detained for three days for carrying a school bag that had a built-in charger for his telephone.
In a public debate with Bernie Sanders in December, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton warned that Daesh (ISIL) is “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical terrorists.
Earlier this month, a recruiting video by the Al-Shabaab group in Somalia, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, surfaced. It included a clip of Trump announcing his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Clinton had said that Trump is becoming the best Daesh recruiter. He is apparently also being used as an Al-Qaeda recruiter as well.
Until elections next November and probably beyond, we will undoubtedly witness an increase in hate crimes against Muslims in the United States and a surge in recruitment to Daesh and Al-Qaeda. The damage that this will do to the relations between Muslims and Christians globally will be unprecedented and durable and will translate into more violence worldwide.
It is time for reasonable Americans to openly and forcefully denounce this bigotry and act decisively to stop it. After all, this is what they are demanding from reasonable Muslims to do with regard to extremism.
40th Day Prayers for Martyrs of Zaria Massacre held in Kano, Nigeria / Photos
AhlulBayt News Agency
- The 40th day prayers was organized for the martyred souls of the
members of the Islamic movement in Nigeria under the leadership of
Shaikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H) who were killed by the Nigerian Army for no
justifiable reason on December 12th-14th, 2015 in Zaria commenced on
21/1/2016 in the morning, at Kano center, in Kano, Nigeria.
Just like in other towns in Nigeria and other countries. The prayers will be a three day session to take place at different levels with protest rallies protesting the continued detention of Shaikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H) starting from Thursday January 21, 2016 and will end on Saturday January 23rd, 2016.
Malam Sanusi Abdul Kadir led the prayer session in kano with many dignitaries including Shiakh Khidir in attendance.
After the prayer session, dignitaries saw an exhibition of some items of martyr Muhammad Mahmuod Turi that include his siting room where they saw his prayer mat, frequently used prayer book (mafatihul Jinan), a collection of articles written in Friday column of leadership newspaper, Ashura flag etc.
Just like in other towns in Nigeria and other countries. The prayers will be a three day session to take place at different levels with protest rallies protesting the continued detention of Shaikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H) starting from Thursday January 21, 2016 and will end on Saturday January 23rd, 2016.
Malam Sanusi Abdul Kadir led the prayer session in kano with many dignitaries including Shiakh Khidir in attendance.
After the prayer session, dignitaries saw an exhibition of some items of martyr Muhammad Mahmuod Turi that include his siting room where they saw his prayer mat, frequently used prayer book (mafatihul Jinan), a collection of articles written in Friday column of leadership newspaper, Ashura flag etc.
ISIS stones its own western female jihadis to death on charges of committing adultery
AhlulBayt News Agency
- Extremists of the Daesh (ISIS) executed a woman in the northeastern
Syrian city of Raqqa after accusing her of “committing adultery”, local
sources reported on Tuesday.
The victim was reportedly stoned to death in central Raqqa.
“The woman was a western jihadi in the ranks of ISIS. She was accused by the Sharia Court of committing adultery,” a local media activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“She was stoned to death in front of hundreds of people in Raqqa’s central square,” the source, who witnessed the execution, reported on Tuesday.
This is the first time that ISIS executes one of its own female jihadis on charges of adultery.
The victim was reportedly stoned to death in central Raqqa.
“The woman was a western jihadi in the ranks of ISIS. She was accused by the Sharia Court of committing adultery,” a local media activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“She was stoned to death in front of hundreds of people in Raqqa’s central square,” the source, who witnessed the execution, reported on Tuesday.
This is the first time that ISIS executes one of its own female jihadis on charges of adultery.
ISIS threatens to kill Indian Prime Minister and Defense Minister
AhlulBayt News Agency
- An anonymous letter purportedly signed by the ISIS terrorist group
has threatened to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar.
Goa Police have circulated this letter to all the police stations in the state and handed over the case to the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS).
The postcard threat letter was received at the State Secretariat last week following which Goa Police swung into action, a senior police official said today.
"All the agencies of state police are investigating this letter. We will soon be able to find the source of it," the police official said.
"ISIS was written at the bottom of the postcard," the official confirmed.
The letter has expressed anger over ban on cow slaughter in the country.
Goa Police have circulated this letter to all the police stations in the state and handed over the case to the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS).
The postcard threat letter was received at the State Secretariat last week following which Goa Police swung into action, a senior police official said today.
"All the agencies of state police are investigating this letter. We will soon be able to find the source of it," the police official said.
"ISIS was written at the bottom of the postcard," the official confirmed.
The letter has expressed anger over ban on cow slaughter in the country.
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