Wednesday 23 July 2014

MAI CONDEMNS ISRAELI OFFENSIVE IN GAZA

- Calls world leaders to end the massacre
by - Story by Rasheed Abubakar (rawshield123@gmail.com)
 
 
Gaza under fire
 Muslim Awareness International (MAI) has condemned in strong terms, the ongoing onslaught by Israeli government against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, calling on the international community and good-spirited fellows of the world to mount pressure on Tel-Aviv to stop the bombardment.

In a statement, the Director of the Nigerian-based NGO, Engr. Luqman Balogun said it is worrisome, though not surprising, that Israel could carry out this horrific crime against the Palestinians in Ramadan, Muslims' holiest month.

In the last one week, hundreds of lives, including that of 18 members of the same family have been lost and properties worth billions of dollars vandalised by the occupation government, yet the world shows apathy.

The body bemoaned the US and the international community for their double standard and unconditional support for Israel to kill innocent people in Palestine.
innocent children, victims of Israeli offensive

Engr. Balogun said, "We are not happy with the reaction of the United States that Israel has the right to defend itself by killings civilians in Gaza, as this would not bring an end to the crisis. It would rather fuel Israeli aggression to kill more people, in the name of fighting HAMAS. We believe that the world has been bias when it comes to Palestine especially the HAMAS leadership in Gaza.

"It's high time Israel and the international community stopped seeing HAMAS as a terrorist organisation if truly they want peace in the Middle East. It's a great injustice to compare HAMAS with other terrorist organisations. HAMAS is a legitimate government in Gaza. It won the mandate to govern the people since 2006 with a landslide victory, and despite Israeli's siege, the government has always been on the side of its people by providing dividends of democracy."

MAI called for an immediate end to the killings of civilians in Gaza and charge the United Nations to investigate Israeli's regime for unjustified military action against humanity.

It would be recalled that Israeli government accused HAMAS for the kidnap and eventual assassination of three Israelis. HAMAS denied involvement in such act, yet Israel insisted and used the opportunity to begin brutal airstrikes that have killed not only Muslims, but Palestinian Christians as well.
protest in Nigeria courtesy of MAI


"This is not just about Muslims, it's about humanity, because there are Christians in Palestine who are also victims of Israel aggression. Humanity is one irrespective of who they are. The world should collectively decry Israel and mount pressure on its leaders to stop the show of shame and disregard to human lives."

While we called on the United Nations to investigate the circumstances that led to the dead of Muhammed Abu Khudair - a Palestinian teen - who was found dead in Jerusalem, having been kidnapped and burnt at the stake.
We urged the body (UN) to enforce its resolutions against the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the settlements conflicting with international law in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

MAI is an non-governmental organisation based in Nigeria. It concerns itself with events that affect humanity globally and Muslims in particular.
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Thursday 12 June 2014

THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE CHIBOK ABDUCTION


...too many answered questions!

abducted school girls
Nigerians woke up on Thursday, April 14, 2014, to the news of the abduction of over 200 girls from Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Chibok town, Borno State by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents. The news came at a time when Nigerians were yet to recover from the Monday bomb blast that rocked Nyanya Motor Park, a few kilometres from the Federal Capital City, where scores of people lost their lives and property worth millions of naira vandalised.

It is over 50 days now and the helpless girls have not been found.


JANATHAN: Shekau, i am warning you ooo. surrender now and receive amnesty or else...

Secondary schools in Borno State had earlier evacuated their students from the schools after the insurgents killed 59 boys in Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, Yobe State on February 25.  However, some schools were selected for students in SSS3 to write their WASSCE. GGSS in Chibok was one of the schools where the examinations were conducted and students from different schools were merged to write their exams there.
On the fateful day, the Arts student were said to have completed their examination. They were reportedly told to go back home immediately after their exams. While some of them went home, others remained in school with the science students who were waiting to write their Physics paper.
254 girls were said to have been in their dormitory when the insurgents struck. 40 girls reportedly escaped while they were being transported leaving 234 girls behind. The escapees said the insurgents, who were dressed in the Army uniform, said they wanted to transport them to a safe place since they received reports that the school would soon be under attack. They said they jumped out of the vehicles when one of the other vehicles developed a fault. The other girls were reportedly transported to Sambisa forest, South of Borno State, the sect hideout.
A lot of mysteries have surrounded the kidnap of these girls and several questions have been raised by critics. One of the questions is the exact number of the abducted girls. Varying figures have been released among which are 219, 234, 254, 276 girls. This disparity, among others, have made some people (such as Asari Dokubo) to insist that are no missing girls.
One of the mysteries is how 40 girls would escape without being shot. One could argue that the insurgents left them because they already had a lot of girls. Another is how the girls were transported without being noticed, not to talk about being challenged by any of the villagers. If they had been transported by Hilux trucks as claimed, how many trucks would they have used for over 200 girls? Also a mystery is why the names and pictures of the abducted girls and those that escaped were not released by the school and WAEC. It was argued that the pictures and names of the escaped girls couldn’t be released in order to ensure their security.

SHEKAU: See you, do you think you can arrest me? i will sell the girls, there is market for them...

Another question is why the kingpin of the insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, releases videos to say exactly what people say happened to the girls? Shortly after the kidnap of the girls, the media speculated that the girls were being sold and married off to neighbouring countries of Chad and Niger with a bride price of N2000. Shekau released a video on the 5th of May to say he would marry them off and sell them saying there is a market for selling girls. Later, some people said he was forcefully converting the girls to Islaam. On the 12th day of May, he released another video of the girls dressed in Hijab and reciting the Qur’an. This video sparked controversies.
The first is how majority of the girls who were not Muslims and had never recited the Qur’an could recite fluently. The second is the exact location of the girls. Sambisa forest is said to be a “forest”, but in the video, the location of the girls didn’t portray the forest we were made to believe. One wonders if they are actually in a forest or not. The third is that the girls looked neat and well-fed. This generated a question of how the insurgents got the money to provide Hijab (Muslim attires) for all the girls. Definitely, the money would be coming from somewhere and the food items would be bought from a market.
Another bothering issue is the way the government is handling the issue. It took the President nineteen days to publicly speak on the abducted girls. He didn’t believe that the girls are abducted in the first instance. The Nigerian Armed Forces have not been able to find the exact location of the missing girls and their kidnappers. Truth be told, if they really want to locate them, they would have done that. The videos are being uploaded on the internet; the IP address can be traced to get the location. The Nigerian Forces looking for the girls can easily trace which bank large amounts of money are being withdrawn from and which markets food items were being purchased in large numbers. Also is how he is uploading the videos. Is he using a generator or he is PHCN powered? Who pays the PHCN bills or where do they buy large quantities of fuel to power their generator? 


PATIENCE JONATHAN: Na only you waka come?

The display of the First Lady on National television also prompted lots of reactions first of which was her reaction was 22 days late. Her exhibition prompted an article written by Tunde Asaju titled, Change the Joke Jesters. He wrote, “The First family is a circus, the security chiefs are the jesters the government is a comedy of errors and nobody is amused except the courtiers, contractors, the ten percenters and the rented crowd. The idiotic way of handling serious issue of embarrassment rubs off on the global recognition earned by our citizens abroad... What a shame that our ship of governance is sinking or at best adrift, our Captain is either too inebriated to handle the situation or at best has left the ship to hunt fingerlings. Change the joke jesters, nobody is laughing.”
One other developing issue is the foreign-aid. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and China offered to help Nigeria find the missing girls. While some Nigerians have hailed their efforts, others are against it. Personally, I believe if Nigerian government is serious about fighting the insurgents, they would have done so a long time ago. The reality of the situation with the United States and the so-called world super powers is that, whenever they go into a country for “interventions”, they leave it worse than they met it. Take a look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya and a host of others. Those countries are worse than when the U.S. went there. We also need to understand that they once predicted Nigeria would not remain as a country after 2015. This implies that when Nigeria was being created in 1914, it was not intended for it to last beyond a hundred years. It was an experiment. I wouldn’t be surprised if Boko Haram is their creation and being funded by them to destabilize Nigeria so that they can come in for assistance and split the country. After all, Taliban was a CIA creation to fight the former USSR.



- story by Safiyyah AbdurRasaq (Our correspondent, Abuja)









INSIDE NUSAYBAH/ABDULWASI’ ENCHANTING NUPTIAL


the couple
The adqun/walimatul Nikah of Nusaybah Dasola, the first child of seasoned Islamic scholar, Shaykh Dhikrullahi Shafi'i and AbdulWasi Ademola Orenaike, an Abu Dhabi-based Network Security Administrator, on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at Regal Hall, Solebo Estate, Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria, surpassed its billing.
The enchanting nuptial was graced by prominent islamic clerics and different Islamic organisations in Nigeria, particularly members of The Muslim Congress (TMC); Al-Mu'minaat; Muslim Students' Society of Nigeria. Among the personalities were Mudir, Markaz Salam, Shakh Ramadan Moshood Jubril; professor of Inter-Religious Dialogue, Prof. Murtador Bidmos; Shaykh Thaoban Adam; Chief Imam of Lekki, Shaykh Ridwanullahi Jamiu.
Others were Shaykh AbdulMajeed AbdulFatah, shaykh Abdul Fatah Kalejaiye, Mutiu Anthony (Easy and Quiet), Ustaz Qasim Bidmus, Ustaz Sulaiman Adedigba, Shaykh Is-haq Ayandiran, Shaykh AbdulGani Adenle, Shaykh Ibrahim Jeje, Shaykh Tajudeen Gbadamosi, Shaykh Qamardeen Bello, among others prominent guests.
The great occasion started with the opening prayer and recitation of the Qur'an, followed by the soul inspiring lecture by Ustaz Tajudeen Yusuf. The moment everybody was waiting for, the solemnization, was conducted by Ustaz Bilal Shittu, who declared the lovebirds man and wife, having fulfilled the rites of Nikah including the Mahr of One Thousand Riyal (Arabian currency).
It was indeed a great entrance for the new couple as they expressed their joy and hope of betting things. Claded in flowing Arabian outfit -Jelbaab with hijab and a pair of shoes, Nusdhik, as the bride is fondly called by friends, said, "I am short of words", when AL-FAHM asked her how she's feeling getting married, adding, "I have many reasons to be happy, not just because I am getting married, but because Allah has spared my life to witness this Day, Alhamdulillah - I am grateful to God."
The excited groom told AL-FAHM how the journey began. According to him, it started about six months ago. There wasn't any kind of physical meeting but there was conversation through phone calls, social medi; whatsApps and Viber, etc.
Nusaybah is a graduate of Islamic Studies from the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG). She hails from Iwo, Osun State, while the groom, who just flew-in into the country from Qatar is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from Lagos State University (LASU). He's proudly "Ijebu-ite", Ogun State born dawah worker.

AL-FAHM brings you the glamour of the nikah in pictures, as captured by Abdur-Rasheed Abubakar

guest lecturer, ustaz tajudeen yusuf (left)
 
bride with mum (right) and step mum (left)





groom's mother (left) and sister (right)
with smile, the groom asked bride's father, Would you give me your daughter to marry?
with joy, the bride's father replied the groom, "I give you my daughter wholeheartedly"


  
and now, the elated bride said she accepted AbdulWasi' wholeheartedly, with Islam.

receiving her Mahr of 1000 riyal

prof murtado Bidmos, thanks for coming
Sheikh Ramadan admonished the groom, "be a good husband"


PRAYER TIME: bride grand-ma (left) and siblings



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Monday 10 March 2014

COVER STORY: Abu ameenah Bilal Philips is not a TERRORIST

+My problem with UK, Germany... 
+ Plots to tarnish the image of Islam exposed again!
BY  ABDUR-RASHEED ABUBAKAR

Nigerian media have come under attacks from Muslims, home and abroad, for labelling an international Qatar-based Islamic scholar, Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, a "terror preacher".
Thousands of Muslims who read the news on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 lambasted the media for using a derogatory banner headline to describe the person of Dr. Bilal Philips, noting that it's not only unprofessional, but an attempt to tarnish the imagine of Islam.
It is unethical to use negative adjective like "famous terror" or "renowned extremist" as it was used by the Nigerian Christian dominated media to label Bilal Philips, especially when there is no solid evidence that such person has record of terrorist activities.
However, they ignored professionalism and called him all sort of names in their tabloids, days after he was granted Nigerian visa by the Federal government.
The founder and Chancellor of the Islamic Online University is billed to visit and deliver lectures in some cities, including Lagos and Abuja, in Nigeria, from Monday, March 3 to Wednesday 19, 2014 under the platform of 1UMMAH.
The erudite Islamic scholar celebrated the good news with his followers on facebook, saying, "Al-hamdu lillaah. I just got a visa for Nigeria and will be going there in a few days, in shaa Allaah. So, I hope to see all my Nigerian brothers and sisters. Baarakallaahu feekum.”
He arrived Nigerian on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 and his first lecture, entitled, "The Prophet: The Ideal Role Model for all Times", held on Sunday, March 9 at Diamond Hall, A-Class Park Wuse 2, Abuja.



WHY WE BROUGHT HIM TO NIGERIA - 1UMMAH
The convener, 1UMMAH's Amir (President), Mallam Abubakar Muhammad told AL-FAHM why they brought the revered scholar to Nigeria. According to him, “we brought him here, among other things, to change the perception that "Western Education is prohibited."
He said, "The recent appearance of a sect known as Boko Haram, meaning "Western Knowledge is Prohibited" has led to great atrocities being committed, including the killing of innocent men, women and children.
"Although this is such a sad and pathetic situation, what is more pathetic is our collective silence. Out of fear of being attacked by this same group of misguided elements, or fear of being linked to them, a lot of Muslims have kept mute as they continue to cause mayhem.”
The recent killing of innocent children in Yobe was just the height of it, and it has awoken a large number of us to raise our voices in unison and disagree with what they stand for, even if our lives are taken.
MPAC Nigeria also asserts that Dr. Bilal's visit to Nigeria is another very powerful way of spreading the correct Islamic ideology and take away from the hands of violent extremists the dictation of our public discourse agenda.




WE DID NOTHING WRONG GRANTING HIM VISA - FG
Replying State House correspondents in Abuja, Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro said the government has not done anything wrong in granting visa to the visiting scholar, saying that the he met all the requirements that ensured the granting of visa to him.
Moro said, "Every country has its own requirement for the grant of visa and in Nigeria's situation especially against "the backdrop of our security challenges, we also have our requirement for granting of visas. We have our own blacklist of people that because of our security situation should not be allowed into country.
"And if this preacher that you talk about for instance did not fall within the list of people black listed for their activities that are inimical to internal security. If he is preaching and the content of what he has submitted for the granting of visa that will not undermine the security of the country, then certainly we will grant him the visa. That is the purpose we have achieved here."
He further said it was double standards, as “when the Nigerian government signed the anti-law and the west was complaining, we stated that Nigerian nation is a sovereign country that should be allowed to determine its destiny and practices”.
He added that Nigeria will therefore not use: ”the refusal of visa by Germany, UK as a basis for refusing anybody visa here.
“I can assure you that the Nigerian security personnel are equal to the task of detecting whose activities that are inimical to the situation of this country.
“Any moment that his preaching and activities are seen to be inimical to the security of this country I can assure you that we are up to the task of repatriating him as soon as possible.
“And his specific activities in this country guide the request that he has made which has also guided the action of the Nigerian immigration service in granting the visa.
“Apart from the preacher any other person that gains entry to this country whose activities undermine the integrity and security of this country will be properly treated”.



IS DR. BILAL PHILIPS A TERROR PREACHER?
AL-FAHM's investigations revealed that the cleric had already been banned from countries like Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America, Kenya, amongst others, but the ban in most of these countries, we learnt, has been due to his stance against homosexuality, not terrorism as being speculated by the rumour merchants.
These are also the same Nations who are angry with Nigeria’s anti-gay bill, and are going to attempt to pressurize federal government to think otherwise. 
AL-FAHM's findings also revealed that there is no single clip, either video or audio where the learned scholar has encouraged terrorism. In fact, he's one of the few scholars that speak in strong term against killing of innocent souls unjustly.


 
PLOT TO TARNISH THE IMAGE OF ISLAM EXPOSED!
Labelling Dr. Bilal Philips a terror preacher is one of the ungodly campaigns of the Christian-dominated media to tarnish the image of Islam and the personalities of the Muslims. That's why the allegation against the shaykh was not verified by the newspapers and online journals who carelessly used such derogatory captions, especially at the time when the Northern part of Nigeria is boiling over the several killings on innocent souls being carried out by the dreaded boko haram sect.
This is happening a week after a reputable Nigerian weekly magazine, TELL published a misleading story about "The Evil men in the House of God", where it ignorantly or deliberately linked Islam with violence.
The writers, about 4 journalists, wrote: "...Over the years also, Muslim preachers have been accused of religious fanaticism: of spreading hate and "radicalising" young Muslims..." But, the writers only cited an instance, as if they have several cases to buttress their points! They cited a case of Dr. Muhammad Nazeef, a lecturer at Kogi State University accused of being a boko haram member, without carrying out independent investigations to affirm if truly their hypothesis was right.

Media Analyst and writer, Abdur-Rasheed Abubakar said Nigerian media is at war with Islam. In his book, entitled, Muslims and the threats of the Media, he said, "They have continued the campaign to extinguish Islam and its adherent with their powerful media from where their godfather, Henry Townsend, stopped. Hence, anybody who preaches any doctrine contrary to the one brought by the godfather will be crucified and that explains why Nigerian Muslims have always been painted black on the pages of Nigerian newspapers, television channels and radio stations."
Also reacting to the news, Media961, a media monitoring unit under the Public Relations (PR) Unit of MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, described it as unfortunate, saying, "It is high time we started monitoring what our media write about Islam, Muslims and the personality of our Prophet (Peace be upon him) passionately, before they start tagging our peace-loving scholars, who have been working for the unity of Nigeria, irrespective of their tribes, religious, terrorists like they captioned contemporary Muslim teacher, speaker, and author, cleric, Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.
The Unit therefore urged Muslim communities to constructively react to any offensive publications written about their faith, by writing a letter or rejoinder to the Editor; or notify #Media961 Team on media961@yahoo.com for appropriate actions to be taken.
MPAC, Nigeria, while reacting to the deliberate assault, said, "The Nigerian media is presently awash with hate-filled publications on the visit of Dr Bilal to Nigeria. While oxymoron like 'Islamic terror' is being used freely to target the Shaykh and the Islamic community, Muslim Nigerians, and especially its leadership, has an extraordinary challenge in front of them: to go out to university campuses, to television, to write in newspapers and write books, to communicate their distinctive perspective and to engage in meaningful media activism.
Due to the on-going security challenge in the country, it is too easy for the media to wrongfully look at Islam through the lens of extremism. It is time for our Friday Khutbas to focus more on means to end Islamophobia, and protect Muslims against a particularly virulent response to misinformation- the type that the publication on the respected Shaykh can generate.





MEET DR. BILAL PHILIPS
Dr. Bilal Philips was born on 6 January 1946 in Kingston, Jamaica, but grew up in Toronto, Canada, where he converted to Islam in 1972. Philips had encountered Islam several times in his travels, but the book that won him over was Islam, The Misunderstood Religion by Muhammad Qutb, the younger brother of Sayyid Qutb.
He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Medina and his M.A. in Aqeedah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh, then to the University of Wales, where he completed a PhD in Islamic Theology in 1988. Philips comes from a family of educators, as both his parents were teachers and his grandfather was a Christian minister and Bible scholar.
Islamic Information Center
In 1994 he founded (and continues to direct) an Islamic Information Center, now known as Discover Islam, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates Islamic Online University. The Islamic Online University has been founded by Philips as a completely tuition-free institution that is offering an online intensive, undergraduate, and graduate courses in Islamic Studies. The university offers a four year bachelor of arts degree in Islamic studies program.
The IOU was initially launched in 2001 from UAE with an offering of a few short courses. After a five year interlude, it was restarted in 2007 from Qatar with a greater offering of completely free short courses. He has now introduced an English Based curricula.
From this you can realize the power of his reach, especially to the English speaking audience. The motto of his institution is "Changing the Nation through Education." This obviously shows his sincere love for education, and how he would like it to be the saving grace for all people. These are not the things any radical person will want to talk about. For the fact that he owns and runs such a structure, the organization sort to bring him to help our teeming youths eschew violence and build themselves via education.

THE HYPOCRACY OF OUR SCHOLARS
The development has further exposed the hypocrisy of our scholars who have since the incident kept mum. Source who didn't want his name published said, "It's sad that most of them did not react to this provocative publication. This actually showed the continuation of ineptitude to issues affecting Muslims and Islam in Nigeria, except the ones that came with material gains for their own selfishness.
Apart from Shaykh Shafi'i, Dr. Lakin Akintola who have openly condemned the publication, I expect Muslim organisations to issue press releases, and speak against it."
Shaykh Dhikrullah Shafi'i, during his emotion-laden Friday sermon at NTA 10 mosque, Yaba, Lagos decried the story, describing Nigerian media as bunch of liars; mediocrities.
He said, "For calling Dr. Bilal Philips a terror preacher was an indication that they are not civilized. They need to travel wide, and improve their knowledge instead of misleading people ignorantly. Abu Ameenah is one of the moderate scholars in the world today. He's a lover of peace and knowledge, encourages youths to seek for knowledge, that's why he established an online islamic university. He has written books on several topics including Taoheed and Aqeedah.
Professor Is-haq Akintola also called Dr. Bilal Philips as a lover of peace, noting, "Those who love the Truth should ignore the rantings of bigots who label Dr. Bilal Phillips as a hate preacher and terrorist. I urge Nigerians to troop out to listen to him. Lets attend his programmes whenever and wherever they are held. Don't submit to blackmail.  

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