'Fitna' - A Geert Wilders Production

Geert Wilders released this film 3 days back. There has been a muted response from the Muslim community in Europe. It seems that many muslims have seen through this ploy by Wilders to evoke a reaction from the Muslim mass.

WARNING : This Video Contains Disturbing Images

Islam and Society

The promise that the 21st century will be one where tolerance and co-existence would subsist, irrespective of differences in race or creed is continuously reiterated by world leaders. A new era, they call it, of freedom to think, do or say whatever you wish.

In turn, the media continues to question whether or not Islam can contribute to the Western world, latching onto a new issue every week. The latest being made by the Evening Standard, a British newspaper in which they compile a study, titled 'Is Islam good for London?'

In the interest of balance, let us look at this question in a broader essence. Let us ask, Is Judaism good for the Western world ? What about Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism ? Are they a religion which is more coherent with the Western society of the 21st century. This sounds irrational and has enabled us to look at this question in a different light.

This shouldn't be about Islam, infact it shouldn't be about religion at all. It is deplorable that a society that prides in it's tolerance of other faiths is now raising a question of whether a single religion is good for its social platform. Surely, each and every being should be probed for their individual contribution towards the better-ment of society, rather than judging them by their religious beliefs.

If a crime has been committed, than an individual has committed it, not a person of a certain religious orientation. How can one focus on working towards the improvement of a society if they are constantly being ostracised for the actions of a minute few ?

Fortunately for us muslims, the constant barrage of anti-islamic views that are being publicly demonstrated have actually drawn people towards our noble faith, whose simple message is the peace and salvation of mankind through submission to the Almighty God.
Larry Mack, a Christian socialist, said, "There are many practising Christians, Jews and believers of other faiths, but the Muslims have reminded us of the essential societal value of total submission to the Lord and complete will to improve society"

Muslim contribution towards the fields of science, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, chemistry and philosophy have been immense. But this has all been ignored by todays media, in preference over juicier stories that depict only the violence and terror associated with Islam. A few examples of muslim contribution are explained below;

[1]Algebra, originates from the word 'Al-Jabr'. This came from the title of a book, Hidab al-jabr wal-muqubala, written in Baghdad in about 825 A.D by the Muslim mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi. This book was used as a principal textbook in European universities until the 16th century. He also developed sine, cosine and trigonometrical tables, which were later translated for the West. Al-Khawarizmi also helped introduce Arabic numerals, the decimal position system, and the concept of zero. Algebra and Algorithm are in fact a corruption of his work and name.

[2]Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina, universally known as Avicinna (980-1037), wrote 246 books in his lifetime, including, Kitab-al Shifa (The Book of Healing) consisting of 20 volumes and Al-Qanun fit Tibb (The Canons of Medicine) . The Qanun was the chief guide for medical science in the West from the 12th to the 17th century. Dr. William Osler, who wrote The Evolution of Modern Science, remarks "The Qanun has remained a medical Bible for a longer period than any other work". Containing over a million words, it surveyed the entire medical knowledge available from ancient Muslim sources.

[3]Another great physician was Abul Qasim al-Zahrawi (963-1013 AD) who is known as Albucasisto the West. He was a famous surgeon and students and patients flocked to Arabia from Europe for his advice and treatment. He wrote the medical encyclopedia al-Tasrif li manajaz an-il-talif, which contained 30 sections of surgical knowledge and illustrations of 200 surgical instruments, most of which he designed himself. The Encyclopedia was not only a standard for physicians, but even five centuries later it was being used as the standard textbook on surgery in universities in Europe. He also performed many delicate operations such as Cesareans and was also the first to use silk thread for stitching wounds.

[4]Abu al-Hassan al Haitham (965-1039 AD) was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contribution to optics and the scientific method was immense. He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of light emanating from the eyes. According to Haitham, the rays originated in the object of vision and not in the eye. Through this kind of extensive research on optics, he has been considered the father of modern Optics. Roger Bacon and all medieval Western writers on optics based their work largely on his Opticae Thesaurus and it even influenced Leonardo da Vinci, Johann Kepler and Newton. Haitham also studied the phenomena of sunrise and sunset and explained rainbows through the principle of reflection. He was known for the earliest use of the camera obscura as well.

These are to mention but a few of the contributions, that great muslim thinkers have had to the world. Without these scientists, the development of science and civilisation would have taken a very different turn.

I hope that the Muslim influence to the world does continue as it has been over the last decades. Let us all join hands and better our understanding of Islam, re-evaluate and challenge stereotypes in others, and more importantly, within ourselves.

The Story of a Baby!

This is the story that must be told
of an Iraqi baby, not very old.

Lying in her crib one star lit night
How could she know of those planes in flight?

She lay there quietly touching her nose,
Watching her fingers, wiggling her toes,

Oohing and cooing, so sweetly is she,
Talking to someone, who could it be?

An angel is standing with her in the room.
The baby is smiling, unaware of her doom.

The crib starts to shake and the world goes round.
And suddenly comes a most deafening sound.

The ceiling drops in, in a second or two ...
On top of her crib so she ceases to coo ...

No one knows how long she lie there
Who thought about it? doesn't anyone care?

Is she alive? is she dead? Is she in any pain?
Now that you mention it, who knows her name?

Her name is Amal. In English we say Hope.
Crushed between the rubble,her tiny fingers start to grope.

Where is my mommy? I love her so dear
Come, get me mommy! It's dark in here!

I'm scared and I'm hungry and I can't see my feet.
There's blood in my mouth! Give me something to eat!

Where is my daddy? Where's my big brother?
It hurts when I breath! Where is my mother?!

How long have I been here? Is this just a dream?
I open my mouth, but can't even scream.

That angel appears once again to my side,
This time with a tear I plead Why have I died?

Am I alone in my sufferings? No, there are many others.
In our grief and our misery, we are sisters and brothers.

Who are we? I ask you ... for what crime did we die?
They're throwing a party! Doesn't anyone cry?!

Is it True? Am I nothing?! How could it be?
Don't they also have babies, just like me?

It is war they say, of which death is part.
How blind they've become, How hardened of heart.

Did someone say hero? To whom do they speak?
A victory claimed for killing the weak?!

Why are they happy? Why are they proud?
Don't they know that I'm cold in my burial shroud?!

No war has been won; No ifs, buts, or maybes,
They've Only Killed Babies!!!!


"America is a friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us. When these demands are met, the first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women and children"
George W. Bush

Dutch MP proposes a ban on the Quran

I recently came across a video interview of the Dutch MP, Geert Wilders. In 2007, Geert Wilders made the headlines with his proposal to ban the Holy Quran from the social and educational framework of the Netherlands. He is currently producing a film that he claims 'will show the people the truth about this terrible book'. He goes on to say ' our culture is far better than the retarded Islamic culture'. (Link to the interview is available here)


In my opinion, Wilders can be defined as an instigator. He seems well versed in Islamic issues, he knows the history of Islam and muslims. More importantly, he knows exactly where to hit Islam. As mentioned in the previous article (on Dr. Zakir Naik), the response of a community to a crisis is what defines them. Geert Wilders knows exactly the kind of response that he is generating. He is well aware of the passion with which muslims regard their Prophet and Holy Book.Put in simple words, Wilders wants a reaction from muslims so that he can say to the media, "I told you so!"

Judging by the previous reactions from muslims, it wont come as a surprise if muslims hold demonstrations and carry banners that advocate attacks on Wilders personally. Furthermore, even Dutch soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been threatened by extremist Islamic groups.

It is important to understand the exact issue at hand, which is Wilders' reference to some verses in the Quran which he claims 'preach violence'. We will know the exact verses that he is referring to after the completion of his film. As all muslims are aware, a verse can't be picked up on it's own and translated word for word. The only way that the exact tenor of the verse can be understood is by examining the verses prior to and after the verse in question. Without dwelling much into this issue, a closer look at the Bible, a Holy book for more than 2 billion christians worldwide also contains, as Wilders puts it, 'verses of hate'. A few examples are,

"Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors"
(Deuteronomy 13:13-19)

"Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told."
(Ezekiel 9:5-7)

Hold on, ! Was Mr. Wilders referring to the Quran or to the Bible! Hmm, maybe Wilders should ban the Bible as well since he is at it! I think Wilders needs to look at the broader picture here and understand the divine message that is portrayed in both these Holy Books. God, in his infinite wisdom, is explaining to man the repercussions of disobeying Him. It is a way of explaining the severity of disobedience. Translated to todays time, where only a few totally Islamic states exist, we can not carry out punishments to people in the exact same manner as described in the Quran. These verses just portray the magnitude of wrath in going against the word of God.

Unfortunately, there exist a few individuals who brainwash and recalibrate the message of Islam according to their understanding, which is infact very limited. A shocking example is on the issue of wife-beating. Bahraini cleric Abdullah Latif Aal Mahmoud in a statement said

" If the husband wants to use beatings to treat his wife, he must never ever do it in front of the children. It must remain between him and her. It must be done according to the following conditions: He must not cause bleeding or bruise her body. He should avoid her face and other sensitive parts of her body. As we've said, the limitations on beating are: They must not cause bleeding, they should not break any bones, they should not be on the face, and they should not bruise her. If the husband violates these rules, he violates the rules of Allah"

Another example is a sermon by preacher Abu Usamah of Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham, UK. He says, in reference to homosexuals,

"Now they say that if you discriminate against homosexuals, you're going to jail. But we'll discriminate in a way where we don't get in trouble. The Muslim is a dentist - one of those people come, and going to take a big, big needle, and stick it in his [indecipherable]."

These are the kind of 'muslims' that the West is looking at. These people are called for interviews in newsrooms, they write articles and give lectures. They preach an Islam which has been created by them. Worst of all, they are a role model to young kids whose minds are manipulated into thinking the worst of all non-muslims. Whilst the so-called muslims like Abu Usamah are preaching their altered version of Islam, the rest of the majority of muslims are either threatening short-sighted leaders like Geert Wilders or sitting back, settling comfortably into this temporary life, acquiring wealth and riches. It is high time that muslims world over wake up and defend their religion. Statistics say that there is a 2% increase in growth of muslims every year. Which Islam are these new muslims acquiring ? The Islam of the Holy Prophet or the Islam of radical clerics like Abu Usamah and Abdullah Latif Aal Mahmoud ??

"Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence."
Henri Frederic Amiel

Fight for the Future

He trudged forward, the weight of the gun bearing down on him. With his master's orders still ringing in his ears, he crouched down slowly, making sure that he did not make any sudden movement. He propped the gun against a nearby tree so that he could adjust his sitting position. He could hear sounds of footsteps approaching. Fear crept over him as he braced himself for the act that he was about to perform.
He picked up the rifle and carefully took aim. He struggled to keep his balance due to the weight of the gun. Through the eyepeice, he saw a man carrying a little girl through the woods. She was a tiny thing, he said to himself, barely four years old. He re-adjusted his position so he could see the mans face, fear clearly visible on his face. The man looked as if he had been running for hours, his breath was heavy and his shirt was blood stained. He held the little girl tightly to his chest, she looked like his daughter.
A tear rolled down his cheek, the sight before him reminded him of his father who used to carry him to school every morning. He liked going to school. It was the only place where he felt he was really something. The sound of a snapping twig brought him back to reality and to the daunting task ahead of him. As he set his eyes on the approaching man, an inner voice told him to just throw away the gun and run. But then he remembered his sister and cousins who were being held captive by his master. Their lives depended on him, he had to gather the courage and perform this task. But she was just a little infant, what would happen to her? He tried convincing himself that maybe his master was right, maybe blood needed to be shed so that the government would realise its mistakes and everything could go back to normal.
For him,a normal life was no longer possible. His father and mother had been taken away, he did not know if they were alive or dead. He had no family left, apart from his sister who was being held captive by the master and his men.
He heard the infant begin to cry. He carefully took aim. A knot formed in his stomach as he wrapped his little fingers around the trigger and squeezed it with all his strength. With a heavy heart, he watched as a tiny red dot appeared on the man's shirt. He fell to the ground, trying as much as possible to protect his daughter from the impact of the fall.
The gun fell from his hands as an aura of shame surrounded his soul. He felt a pat on his back. He turned around and saw his master smiling at him. 'You have done well, my son' he whispered in his ear.
Would God ever forgive me? thought the little 9 year old boy.

VOICES OF THE INNOCENT

"I had a friend, Juanita, who got into trouble for sleeping around. We had been friends in civilian life and we shared a tent together. The commander said that it didn’t matter that she was my friend. She had committed an error and had to be killed. I closed my eyes and fired the gun, but I didn’t hit her. So I shot again. The grave was right nearby. I had to bury her and put dirt on top of her. The commander said,”You did very well. Even though you started to cry, you did well. You’ll have to do this again many more times, and you’ll have to learn not to cry"
Angela, joined the FARC-EP in Colombia at age twelve

“Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers couldn’t serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two younger brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until they died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old.”
Martin, recruited by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda at age twelve

"When they came to my village, they asked my older brother whether he was ready to join the militia. He was just 17 and he said no; they shot him in the head. Then they asked me if I was ready to sign, so what could I do - I didn't want to die."
A former child soldier taken when he was 13

"There was no one in charge of the dormitories and on a nightly basis we were raped. The men and youths would come into our dormitory in the dark, and they would just rape us - you would just have a man on top of you, and you could not even see who it was. If we cried afterwards, we were beaten with hosepipes. We were so scared that we did not report the rapes The youngest girl in our group was aged 11 and she was raped repeatedly in the base."
19-year-old girl describing her experience in the National Youth Service Training Program.

"They give you a gun and you have to kill the best friend you have. They do it to see if they can trust you. If you don't kill him, your friend will be ordered to kill you. I had to do it because otherwise I would have been killed. That's why I got out. I couldn't stand it any longer."
17-year-old boy, joined paramilitary group aged 7, when a street child.

Over 250,000 children are currently being used in wars. Show your support towards the innocent children who are being abused in all parts of the world.
Show your RED HAND!

For more info, visit
www.redhandday.org

The Worth of Life, £5 ??

The British mass was in shock today as news of a horrifying attack on a 23 year old mentally challenged boy was reported. Three teenagers, aged 21, 17 and 16 bet £5 to each other that they could knock Brent Martin out. Brent Martin had spent 9 years of his life in mental hospitals and he regarded the three teens as his mates. They behaved like a pack of animals as they repeatedly punched, kicked, headbutted and stamped on him. Both the 17 and 16 year old boys were trained boxers.

There were four separate attacks of violence on Brent, and between each of them, he would apologise to the youths, shake their hand and buy them cigarettes and alcohol. As soon as they would finish the cigarette, they would continue punching him. One witness described them as "appearing to be happy from what they had done - getting a buzz out of it". The post mortem revealed that Brent suffered from 18 separate blows to the head and neck. He died 2 days later in the Royal Sunderland Hospital, having never regained consciousness.

Such events have become a norm in UK. With no religious/moral boundaries in life, troubled teens grow up to become gun-toting, bitter adults who are nothing but a waste of human resource for any country.

Many people argue that Muslims can't separate their religious and social life, but to those people I say, it is the discipline of religion that shows you what's right and wrong. Man is the most intelligent being on earth, but he is also very ignorant. The importance of a religion has clearly been noticed by the UK government as they have now introduced and encouraged religious subjects at GCSE level. On a final note, I'd like to offer my condolence to the family of Brent Martin. RIP !

How to fight with intellect

The recent statement by renowned scholar Dr. Zakir Naik has raised a big controversy in the Muslim community. In India, he was asked a question on the event of Karbala and on Yazid, and his reply was,

"To understand any religion, don't look at the followers. To understand Islam don't look at what the followers did. If you want to look at the followers, the best example is the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him. As far as my understanding about the world of Karbala, you said that Yazid, May Allah( S.W.T) be pleased with him, was ferocious and a villain. There was a difference of opinion. I don't want to discuss history and neither do I want to create a difference in the Muslim ummah, what we say is that there was a difference of opinion between the sahaba's, that's history, what we have learnt about following Islam, is the Quran and the authentic sayings of the Holy Prophet(S.A.W). There was a political war that was fought"

How ironic it is that he says Peace be upon the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and then asks Allah (S.W.T) to be pleased with the very killer of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) !! His reply has enraged muslims all over the world and many have responded to his statement. Unfortunately majority of the muslims have resorted to sending curses and trying to defame Dr. Naik. In 2006, a Canadian journalist, was asked about his opinion when the magazine he works for published the cartoons that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as a terrorist and his reply was,

"We know nothing about the Prophet or about Islam, we just published the cartoon as a news story, but the way the Muslims reacted confirmed our suspicions"

After the publication of these cartoons, many muslims took to the streets chanting slogans of 'Freedom, Go to Hell!'. One man had a poster that read ' EUROPE, YOU WILL PAY, YOUR 3/11 IS ON ITS WAY'. (3/11 is in reference to the Madrid train bombings). How sad it is, that Muslims use death threats to retort the accusation of their Prophet being called a war-loving, terrorist. The reaction of a community to a crisis is what defines them. We can fight fire with fire, but we have to fight an ideology with intellect. Simply telling our children, family and friends that Dr. Naik is a bad man is not helping the cause of Islam. We have to educate ourselves on how to combat any threat that tries to stop the message of Imam Hussain (A.S). Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, an Iraqi born scholar and lecturer, currently residing in London has replied to the Zakir Naik issue in his lecture on the 10th Muharram 1429 in Sydney, Australia. The following are some of the points that he has addressed :

1. Who is Dr. Zakir Naik and what position has he achieved in Islam ?
2. Is this a Shia-Sunni issue or is it a clash of principles ?
3. Who was Yazid ? How did he become the Caliph of the Muslims ? Who was his mother and what effect did she have on him?
4. What is the opinion of the Sunni Ulema on Yazid ?
5. Did Yazid kill Imam Hussein ? If yes, how is it so if Yazid was in Syria and Imam Hussein was in Karbala ?
6. What is the meaning of 'Raziyallah Anh' ( May Allah (S.W.T) be pleased with him) ?
7. Who was Mukhtar Athaqafi ? And how did he avenge the death of Imam Hussein ?
The points that he chosen are very interesting and informative. In his lecture, he also analyzes Yazid's rule after the tragedy of Karbala, something that we rarely hear about. I recommend that all brothers and sisters listen to the lecture (link attached below) and circulate this message to all their family and friends. 'Every day is Ashura, Every land is Karbala'
Upon pondering on this statement, we realize that it warns us that every day we are faced with a Yazid and every day we have to save Islam. Please take part in the fight against all the Yazids' of our time.

Link to Dr Zakir Naik reply
Sayed Ammar Nakshawani reply

"It is Hussain's (AS) sacrifice that has kept Islam alive or else in this world there would be no one left to take Islam's name."
Swami Shankaracharya