Assalamu Alaikum / Hello,

It’s been a looong time since I posted on this blog  - been very very busy!

I’d just like to say I won’t be posting anything on the blog for a long time and email response will be very slow. I’m going to book myself a 2 week holiday for the end of Ramadhan in order to get all my coding done… unfortunately, this site is not my immediate priority at the moment, so I don’t know when I’ll get to finishing off the new site.

Ramadhan Mubarak everyone.

check out:

http://www.inspiredbymuhammad.com

Also check out these shocking stats about how Muslims are perceived in the UK!

Knowledge of Islam

• 60% say they don’t know very much about Islam
• 17% say they know nothing at all
• 33% would like to know more about Islam

Sources of Information on Islam

• 57% obtain most of their information about Islam from the TV news
• 41% obtain their information about Islam from newspapers
• Just 3% get most of their information on Islam from Muslim organisations
• 31% feel that information about Islam is not very accessible
• 5% say that information is not accessible at all

Perceptions of Islam

• 58% associate Islam with extremism
• 50% associate Islam with terrorism
• Just 13% associate Islam with peace
• 6% associate Islam with justice
• Only 16% think that Islam promotes fairness and equality
• Only 6% believe that Islam promotes active measures to protect the environment
• 41% disagree or strongly disagree that Muslims have a positive impact on British society
• 69% believe that Islam encourages the repression of women

http://www.inspiredbymuhammad.com/yougov.php

Some of my friends helped out with a charity called Facing Africa back in 2009 so I thought I’d promote the BBC documentary about the particularly gruesome disease Noma for the 2010 project:

BBC TWO this Wednesday 9th June at 9pm

A Press TV journalist detained on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla describes mistreatment of activists attacked on the aid convoy and his own ordeal in Israeli custody.

Still suffering from lack of sleep, Hassan Ghani explained how Israeli navy forces suddenly encircled the Turkish-flagged vessel he was traveling on and launched an attack on the aid Flotilla.

“We were some 90 miles off the Israeli coast and we were by no means within the so-called military exclusion area, which was originally 20 miles but later extended to 68 miles,” Ghani told Press TV on Thursday.

He described measures taken by the campaigners onboard the ships for repelling the invaders, saying water hoses were used to drive back the Israelis.

Meanwhile, helicopters belonging to the Israeli army landed on the deck and a number of frigates approached the vessel from either side.

Ghani added that Israeli commandos, each armed with at least two weapons, landed on the ship eventually.

“They came down and we heard gunfire… at this stage we did not know if they were rubber bullets or live ammunition but we heard gunfire,” he said, adding that the activists used any objects at hand, but mostly their bare hands, to defend themselves.

The soldiers tried to open fire, with their machine guns, when they faced resistance from activists who held them back, preventing them from approaching the cameras, which were broadcasting the course of events live from the main deck.

The Press TV correspondent added that the volunteers had successfully disarmed some of the soldiers, taking away their guns with their bare hands, when the Israeli side started using live bullets causing fatalities.

“A man was shot right in the head,” Ghani said, explaining that the murder indicated the soldiers had enough time to aim and that the decision to shoot was not made on impulse or out of fear.

According to Ghani, the gunfire continued for quite some time even after the activists had raised their white flags of surrender.

Rejecting Israeli media reports about the alleged use of guns by the activists, Ghani said the only weapons carried by the volunteers were those seized from the Israeli soldiers. The guns were taken and their bullets were removed from the weapons and preserved to be used as evidence later, he explained.

Ghani and his companions were held under gun point and constant threats for some 12 hours in the ship, with their hands tied tight behind their backs. He said his hands were tied so tight that the blood circulation stopped in his right hand.

The soldiers took the entire luggage onboard and went through it all while forcing the activists to lie on the deck. The belongings of those on the ship were smashed and thrown all around, he said.

“We were treated like animals, we were told when to sit when to stand up,” he recalled. “Nobody was allowed to stand up, nobody was allowed to go to the toilet,” he said, adding that the Israeli forces would refuse permission until after the civilians had begged and pleaded several times.

“Then we were taken to the port of Ashdod, where we were all taken down. We were not allowed to take any sort of personal belongings.”

Upon their arrival, the activists were forced to sign a statement in Hebrew which the volunteers did not understand. The international campaigners were interrogated and then sent to different Israeli prisons.

Prior to their departure, they were given another paper and were pressured to confirm that they agreed to being deported from Israel on charges of illegal entry — this is while the Israeli army had forcefully brought them in.

Those campaigners from countries which do not recognize Israel were bused away to Jordan while others were sent to Istanbul on Turkish airline planes.

Ghani said a number of volunteers refused to leave Israel and said they decided to file a complaint and defend their cases in an Israeli court.

However, their resistance was met with violence from the Israeli side and they were severely beaten and dragged to the bus to the airport, and eventually forced to get on the plane.

Throughout their detention, the activists were not allowed to contact a lawyer or call their families, in contrast to the Israeli prison law.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128860&sectionid=351020202

And here is a picture of one of the activists beaten by the Israelis.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129205&sectionid=351020202

So, tomorrow is voting day! Who are you guys voting for - Labour, Conservative, Lib-Dems, Respect, Green, UKIP… or BNP (lol)?

Did you know many more Muslims are standing to become MPs? Be sure to consider them alongside your usual candidates. Remember, you’re choosing the best man/woman for the job and religion, race or any other personal thing should not be the reason you choose one person over another.

First Muslim women MPs to be elected

Up to a quarter of the 16 Muslim females standing as candidates at the next month’s general elections are in prominent positions to win parliamentary seats for the first time, according to an analysis carried out exclusively by The Muslim News.

The total number of Muslim MPs could also continue to double, including at least one of two Conservatives being elected for the first time. The first Muslim MP was elected in 1997, the second in 2001 and the number doubled again at the last election to four, all have so far been Labour.

Among Muslim women, Yasmin Qureshi, Shabana Mahmood and Maryam Khan have all been selected to defend Labour seats respectively in Bolton South East, Birmingham Ladywood and Bury North. Respect Party – Unity Coalition leader Salma Yaqoob also is seen as having an outside chance of capturing Birmingham Hall Green.

In addition among male candidates, three of the four incumbent MPs, Sadiq Khan, Shahid Malik and Khalid Mahmood are seeking re-election, while in Glasgow Central, Anas Sarwar is seeking to replace his father, Mohammad Sarwar, who is stepping down.

Among Conservatives, Sajid Javid has been selected to defend the more than 10,000 majority of resigning MP Julie Kirkbride, while Rehman Christi is standing in Gillingham & Rainham, the party’s number one target seat. In Bradord West, Zahid Iqbal is seeking to unseat Labour MP Marsha Singh in the constituencies which has changed boundaries.

One seat certain to have a Muslim MP is Bethnal Green & Bow, following George Galloway seeking re-election in the newly created Poplar and Limehouse constituency next door. Respect’s Abjol Miah is defending the seat, Labour’s Rushanara Ali is trying to regain it, while Ajmal Masroor and Zakir Khan are also candidates for the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives respectively.

Full details, analysis and articles as well as an interview with Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be published in this month’s edition of The Muslim News.

For interviews with Opposition Leader, David Cameron and Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg, click here.

Iraqi, Lebanese candidates seeking become first Arab MPs in UK

London, (IRNA): Britain is certain to have its first Arab MP with an Iraqi-born candidate defending a safe Conservative seat and a Lebanese selected by Labour in a redrawn London constituency with a notion party majority, IRNA has learnt.

Nadhim Zahawi will stand down as the chief executive of online market research agency YouGov, if as expected he successfully defends the 12,000-plus majority of the outgoing former Conservative shadow foreign secretary John Maples in Strafford, central England.

Zahawi, an Iraqi, was a former Conservative councillor in Wandsworth, south London, before going on to co-found the successful polling company.

“I believe that what is needed is someone who will put local people first, someone who understands their problems, represents and fights for their interests,” he said after being selected.

“It is crucial that we restore trust in our democracy and our Parliament,” he said after inheriting the constituency of Marples, who was a casualty of the recently exposed scandal over the extent of MPs expenses.

Bassam Mahfouz, who is believed to be the only other candidate standing in the UK’s elections of Arab heritage, has a more difficult task of defending a much smaller majority for Labour in the redrawn constituency of Ealing Central & Acton.

Mahfouz, who was born in Lebanon, was also a former local councillor and has served as a parliamentary researcher before winning the party’s nomination.

“I am ambitious for what we can achieve here, and local residents will know that with me they would get a hard-working campaigning MP who is on their side,” he said.

The two Arab candidates are hoping to boost the number of Muslim MPs in parliament to more than a dozen, up from four in 2005.

Those successful could include up to four or five Muslim women, who will be first elected to the British parliament.

Iraqi securtiy forces disrupted an attempt to bomb the Imam Ali shrine in the holy city of Najaf, using an airplane in attacks planned to resemple the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., Al Arabiya reported on Wednesday.

According to Al Arabiya reporter Zeinab Bilal, members of al-Qaeda were planning to hijack an airplane after it took off from Najaf airport and fly it into the dome of the Shiite shrine in a scenario similar to the 9/11 attacks.

Security officials said they temporarily shut down at least two airports and have arrested two men — one of the intended pilots and an airport worker — suspected in the plot, which appeared aimed at undermining the country’s stability while U.S. troops prepare to go home.

The gold-domed Imam Ali shrine is one of the most revered Shiite religious mosques in the world

Najaf airport, 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, was shut on April 7 on orders from the transport ministry citing security concerns.

The airport remains closed because of its proximity to the shrine, but Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi told reporters in Najaf that it “will be reopened soon, after discussing the needed security measures.”

Around 800 people use the airport each day, most of them from Shiite-majority Iran and Bahrain, according to aviation officials

Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi told reporters in Najaf that the airport “will be reopened soon, after discussing the needed security measures.” He said the intelligence about the attacks is unclear but “at the same time, we can’t neglect them.”

But numbers surge during major festivals such as Ashura, when pilgrims flock to the Imam Ali shrine.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been blamed for a recent violence in Baghdad, and security officials believe the terror network is trying to regroup during the political disarray left by the March 7 parliamentary elections, which failed to produce a clear winner.

The alleged plot also comes as American forces plan to send home all but 50,000 troops by Aug. 31, with the rest scheduled to follow by the end of 2011 as required by a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/04/14/105854.html

Israeli soldiers have beaten up and made a Palestinian child drink sewage water after they caught him for alleged stone throwing in the West Bank City of al-Khalil.

According to a report published by the Palestinian Information Center on Thursday, the 15-year-old Sabri Awad was seized at the entrance to Beit Ummar Village, north of al-Khalil (Hebron), where a tight blockade has been imposed since last week.

All entries into the region have been sealed by interlocking concrete blocks and new military check points set up.

“Israeli troops handcuffed me and dragged me into an army jeep. They then hit me for nearly two hours before using me as a human shield to ward off stone throwing youths,” Awad said.

He added that the troopers questioned him about hurling stones at Israeli forces, which he denied. After that, the adolescent forced him to drink sewage water. He vomited and the soldiers beat him again.

Sabri said Israeli soldiers finally threw him out of the jeep with a teargas canister and drove away.

Israel is holding captive 300 children in its detention facilities under harsh and life-threatening conditions.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124083&sectionid=351020202

Disclaimer: Although I dislike Qaradawi, his stance in the article below promotes women’s rights.

Qatar-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday slammed the practice of denying women access to mosques by Muslims of South Africa as well as of the Indian subcontinent and said that he was surprised that women were not allowed to attend any of his lectures in Johannesburg during his recent visit there.

In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Qaradawi said that during his visit to South Africa, he was surprised by the “unreasonable practice” of not allowing women from entering mosques as well as by the ban to videotape his lectures in Johannesburg.

“It was my first visit to South Africa and I was impressed with its Muslim community’s commitment to Islamic rules as well as its unity, but it was the ban on women’s entry into mosques which drew my attention. I told the (community members) that this was un-Islamic and they should stop it,” he told a congregation in a mosque at Khalifa South.

“I know they did that because they follow the Abu Hanifa school of thought but they should know that time has changed. If Abu Hanifa himself were with us today, he would have changed his mind. It is unreasonable that women could now go to universities, markets and travel, but are not allowed to enter a mosque in some countries.”

http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2010/4/24/qaradawi-stands-up-for-womens-rights.html

The Swiss army recently approved an arrangement for non-Christian soldiers.

The regulations cover both dietary customs and hours of prayer.  Muslim soldiers can turn to Mecca, for example, only once a day. [Muslims are obliged to pray 5 times a day]

This document corresponds to a tradition in the Swiss army.  The army has always made exceptions, Martin Bühler, spokesperson for the federal ministry of defense told ATS.  He confirmed the information on NZZ am Sonntag.

There are already regulation for Jewish soldiers and recruits.  In another field, farmers are also entitled to exceptions, when they lack manpower, explains Bühler.

Muslim recruits can now report to their commanding officer before starting training that they do not eat pork. [There are quite a few more dietary considerations than just”no pork”] In certain recruit academies, Muslims make up practically 10% of the manpower.  They will now be offered an alternative menu.  They can also arrange for their own food.

In addition to the dietary requirements, the new document also regulates the issue of leave during religious festivals and prayer times.  As a Muslim in the armed forces can hardly pray five times a day, he must compact it into a single prayer after the end of his duty shift. [This is very wrong, Muslims should pray 5 times during allotted times in the day, with some given leniency] According to the army, the regulation was developed in collaboration with two Muslims who agreed to this solution. [Oh, I see, ask 2 idiots and pass regulations. How very intelligent]

Facilities are available to believers of all religions.  In some places the army arranges for a lace of meditation. [A What?] Otherwise, it’s possible to use a classroom.

http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2010/04/switzerland-new-arrangements-for-muslim.html

I know if I were Swiss or even a Swiss Muslim, I wouldn’t be joining the Army any time soon.