<b>More Americans charged in Iraq rape-murder case</b>


7/9/2006 2:00:00 PM GMT


Four U.S. soldiers have been charged with the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and killing the rest of her family, bringing to 5 the number of U.S. military men accused in the crime that took place in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, last March, the U.S. military said on Sunday.


A fifth soldier has been accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report the case.


"On July 8, 2006, the four soldiers were charged in connection with their alleged participation in the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and three members of her family," the 101st Airborne Division said in a statement.


The fifth soldier "was charged with dereliction of duty for his failure to report the rape and murder of these Iraqi civilians, but is not alleged to have been a direct participant in the rape and killings.


"All are charged with conspiring with former Private First Class Steven D. Green to commit these crimes."


“Personality disorder”


Last week, former soldier Steven Green, 21, was accused of carrying out the rape and killings on March 11 in Mahmoudiya, just south of Baghdad.


Court documents show that Green was discharged from the army due to a “personality disorder” before the Mahmoudiya case came to light.


Green pleaded not guilty in federal court in Kentucky.


Prosecutors said that Green shot and killed an Iraqi man, woman and child and then grabbed the 15-year old Iraqi girl, raped her then killed her.


A U.S. official, who demanded not to be named, said that Green and other soldiers who were manning a checkpoint close to the girl’s house, spent nearly a week plotting an attack on the family house, south of Baghdad to rape her.


According to Justice Department affidavit, three soldiers accompanied Green into the house, and another monitored the radio while the rest carried out their crime.


A U.S. military statement challenged the charges raised against the soldiers, describing them as "merely an accusation. Those accused are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."


The statement did not identify the soldiers newly charged in the crime.


The four soldiers will face an Article 32 investigation, similar to a grand jury hearing in civilian law. The Article 32 proceeding will decide whether there is enough evidence to put them on trial.


• Muslims’ Condemnation


The Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni organisation in Iraq, issued a strong condemnation over the rape of the Iraqi girl and the brutal killing of her family by U.S. troops.


"Raping this girl then mutilating her is shameful and will remain as a sign of shame to American invaders," the organisation said in its statement.


"The mean behavior and terrible violations committed by the invaders show the truth of the ugly American face and shows that their claims of supporting humanity and liberation are false," said the Sunni association.


"We call the world and all humanitarian organizations as witnesses to this ugly crime and urge them to face the American recklessness that went way too far".


http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=11648

Questions arisen out of Hadith "Sahih Al-Bukhari"


Does Mohammed say that a woman isn't as smart as a man?


<b>Mohammed asked some women, "Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half that of a man?" The women said, "yes," He said, "This is because of the deficiency of the woman's mind. " Vol. 3:826</b>


<b>"I have not seen any one more deficient in intelligence and religion than you." Vol. 2:541</b>


The Majority of people in hell are women?


<b>"I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women. " Vol. 1:28, 301; Vol. 2:161; Vol. 7:124</b>


Women are harmful to men?


<b>"After me I have not left any affliction more harmful to men than women." Vol. 7:33</b>)OK I agree with that one. :P


Do all prophets have such sexual proweress?


<b>"The prophet used to visit all his wives in an hour round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number." I asked Anas, "Had the prophet the strength for it?" Anas replied, "We used to say that the prophet was given the strength of thirty (men). " Vol. 1:268</b>


What about assurance of salvation? Christians rest assured in their relationship with God because of the work of Christ. It seems that even Mohammed didn't know of his salvation.


<b>"By Allah, though I am the apostle of Allah, yet I do not know what Allah will do to me." Vol. 5:266</b>


God punishes the dead if the their relatives weep?


<b>"The deceased is punished because of the weeping of his relatives." Vol. 2:375</b>


If you speak badly against somebody they will go to hell?


<b>"You praised this, so Paradise has been affirmed to him, and you spoke badly of this, so hell has been affirmed to him. You people are Allah's witnesses on earth." Vol. 2:448</b>


Urine on your clothes will bring damnation?


<b>"The deceased person is being tortured in the grave not for a great thing to avoid, it is for being soiled with his urine. " Vol. 2:460</b>


Holy War Fighting is a one way ticket to Paradise?


<b>"The person who participates in (Holy battles) in Allah's cause and nothing compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostle, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will be admitted to paradise (if he is killed). " Vol. 1:35</b> (So as a side note, did not Mohammed himself fight in a Holy War? Then how come he had no assurance? I guess because he didn't die in battle? Therefore wouldn't it better to die in battle, for all to die in battle rather then win and live and face possible damnation later in life?


Drinking camel urine makes one healthy?


<b>"The prophet ordered them to follow his camels, and drink their milk and urine , so they followed the camels and drank their milk and urine till their bodies became healthy." Vol. 7:590</b>


Huh?


<b>"If a housefly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease. " Vol. 4:537</b>


I think we can safely say that this is false...


<b>"As for the child, if the man's discharge precedes the woman's discharge, the child attracts the similarity of the man, and if the woman's discharge precedes the man's, then the child attracts the similarity of the woman." Vol. 5:275</b>


Shoe law?


<b>Mohammed said, "If you want to put on your shoes, put on the right shoe first, and if you want them off, take the left one first." Vol. 7:747</b>


Don't breath in your cup!


<b>Mohammed said, "Don't breath into your drinking utensil." Vol. 1:156</b>


We all know what causes an eclipse.


<b>Mohammed said, "The sun and the moon are two signs amongst the signs of Allah and they do not eclipse because of the death of someone but Allah frightens His devotees with them. " Vol. 2:158</b>


Yawning is from satan?


<b>The prophet said, "Yawning is from Satan and if anyone of you yawns, he should check his yawning as much as possible, for if anyone of yuo (during the act of yawning) should say: "Ha", Satan will laugh at him." Vol. 2:158</b>

What is a Fatwa?


Who can issue a Fatwa?


Are Fatwas binding?


What happens if one breaks a Fatwa?


What happens if one Fatwa contradicts another Fatwa?

Theres an old thread on here about womens rights in Islam, which has thrown up some questions for me.


I've seen it mentioned on here before that forced marriages are not allowed under Islamic law, but I've seen many stories that say otherwise, or at least that mulims don't agree on this point. The UK government recently tried to pass a law that outright banned forced marriages, but it was dropped after pressure from islamic groups. It was said that, due to the nature of the law, it would unduly focus on the muslim community, but how can that be possible if forced marriage is not allowed in Islam?


Theres also been more than one case of 'honour' killings. The worst one so far has to be:


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,...05,00.html


I've also read that her parents had arranged for to marry someone in Pakistan, although that doesn't seem to be mentioned in that story.


I don't doubt that most on here will condemn that murder, but there seems to be vast gulf between what I read on this board, and what seems to pass for Islam in the real world. :(

Yet another bizarre fatwa which has come out of the mouth of an Arab Sunni Muslim:


Pray or die, Somali sheikh tells Muslims


Some excerpts:

Quote:A leading Mogadishu sheikh said on Friday Muslims who do not pray five times a day should be put to death -- the latest sign of a fast-emerging hardline face to Somalia's newly-powerful Islamists.
The sheikh's statement -- which he confirmed to Reuters after it was broadcast on local media -- caused consternation among residents and will fuel foreign fears the Islamists are planning a hardline Taliban-style rule.


"He who does not perform prayer will be considered as infidel and our sharia law orders that person to be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, who runs a sharia court in the Somali capital which the Islamists took last month.

Many of Saudi Arabia's 6-million foreign workers labor under conditions that are sometimes compared to "modern-day slavery.''


By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN, Times Senior Correspondent


© St. Petersburg Times


published July 23, 2002


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- When 29-year-old Ramani Prianka accepted a job in Saudi Arabia, she thought it would be a pleasant way to earn more money than she could ever make in her native Sri Lanka.


After all, she would be working indoors -- as a housemaid -- for a well-to-do, educated Saudi couple. He was the manager of a big hospital; she was the principal of a school.


How tough could it be? Very tough, Prianka quickly discovered. The house had 20 rooms and 13 bathrooms, and Prianka, the only maid, was expected to clean every one every day. There were nine children, and Prianka had to wash all their clothes and cook all their food. Seven days a week, she was up at 4:30 a.m. and never got to bed before midnight. All this for the equivalent of $26 a week.


After nine months, depressed and exhausted, Prianka had enough. As the family slept, she sneaked out of the villa, flagged down a taxi and told the driver to take her to the Embassy of the Republic of Sri Lanka.


Prianka was not the only Sri Lankan maid to seek refuge in the embassy's safe house this hot June morning. There was Pushpa Chandra, 30, who was sick of fighting off sexual advances from her sponsor's teenage son. And as tears slid down her smooth brown cheeks, a tiny 26-year-old woman whispered that she had been raped by her sponsor's adult son.


Now, she sobbed, she thought she was pregnant.


Last year, at least 2,800 Sri Lankan housemaids ran away from their Saudi sponsors, claiming they had been overworked, sexually abused or physically mistreated by jealous wives. They are among the countless foreign "guest workers" in Saudi Arabia who live and work under conditions that are sometimes compared to modern-day slavery.


"The world must know about this," says Mohamed Sakoor, a Sri Lankan driver and translator who works at Riyadh's international airport. He shares a roach-and-rat-infested shed, just 8 feet by 10 feet, with three other men hired by two rich Saudi brothers.


Despite efforts to "Saudize" the work force by replacing foreigners with Saudis, the kingdom remains highly dependent on foreign labor. About two-thirds of all jobs are still held by foreigners, including almost 90 percent of those in the private sector.


No foreigner can work in the kingdom without a Saudi sponsor, who typically provides accommodations and pays travel expenses, including a trip home every one or two years. In most cases, the sponsor holds the employee's passport, and an employee cannot leave the country or change jobs without the sponsor's permission.


For nurses, engineers and other professionals from First World countries like the United States, working in Saudi Arabia can be extremely lucrative and surprisingly pleasant. Most Westerners live in walled compounds with swimming pools, tennis courts, attractive landscaping and well-stocked commissaries.


But for unskilled workers from poor countries, life in Saudi Arabia can be a very different story -- one of broken promises and stomach-churning squalor.

As Salamu Alaikum


Dawah Apparel is sole proprietor currently looking for halal Investors, Business partners and/or Sponsors in order to expand company growth. Dawah Apparel creates clothing for Men and Children and plans to offer accessories for Men, Women and Children Inshallah. Business plan and additional designs are available upon request. If interested, please send an e-mail with any questions and concerns to AqilSadiiq@DawahApparel.com to discuss further. Serious inquiries only please. http://DawahApparel.com


Wa Salam

Bismillah


As Salam alaikum


Insha'Allah this will be a humble undertaking of the 99 names of Allah. I started a new thread in order to in sure congruity. Be forewarned that I will edit out posts that do not add to the information here, eg "Great post." If someone has more information about a particular Attribute or Name of Allah, please please post it in order for us all to benefit, insha'Allah


1) ar-Rahmân



The Most Lovingly Beneficent, The Most Kind and Giving, The Most Gracious, The Infinitely Good


The One who continually showers all of creation with blessings and prosperity without any disparity. The One who is most kind, loving and merciful.


The One whose endless, loving mercy is perfect and inclusive. The One who is overflowing with the quality of loving mercy and is continually pouring it upon all of creation.


The One whose perfect mercy and loving beneficence endlessly embrace all of creation. The One who loves and cherishes all of creation. The One who is most loving, gentle and merciful.


From the root r-h-m which has the following classical Arabic connotations:


to have tenderness, gentleness, kindness


to love


to have mercy, to have pity


to show favor and goodness


to have all that is required for beneficence


This name is used in the Qur'ân. For example, see 1:1


The root r-h-m also indicates womb; meaning that which provides protection and nourishment, and that from which all of creation is brought into being.


Rahmân conveys the idea of fullness and extensiveness, indicating the great quality of love and mercy which engulfs all of creation without any effort or request on our part, while Rahîm conveys the idea of constant renewal and giving liberal reward to those who are deserving.


Al-Rahmân is the Beneficent One whose endless outpouring of love and mercy are continually showered upon all of creation, while al-Rahîm is the Merciful One whose love and mercy are manifested as that which is received as the consequence of one's deeds.


According to Ibn Qayyum (1350 AD), Rahmân describes the quality of abounding Grace which is inherent in and inseparable from the Almighty.


In Muhammad Ali's translation of the Qur'ân, he refers to classical sources (as indicated by the initials in parenthesis) who said:


Rahmân and Rahîm are both derived from the root rahmat, signifying tenderness requiring the exercise of beneficence [kindness] ®, and thus comprising the ideas of love and mercy.


Al-Rahmân and al-Rahîm are both active participle nouns of different measures denoting intensiveness of significance, the former being of the measure of fa'lân and indicating the greatest preponderance of the quality of mercy, and the later being of the measure of fa'îl and being expressive of a constant repetition and manifestation of the attribute (AH).


The Prophet is reported to have said: "Al-Rahmân is the beneficent One whose love and mercy are manifested in the creation of the world, and al-Rahîm is the merciful One whose love and mercy are manifested in the state that comes after" (AH), i.e as a consequence of the deeds of men. Thus the former is expressive of the utmost degree of love and generosity, the latter of unbounded and constant favor and mercy.


Lexicologists agree in holding that the former includes both the believer and the unbeliever for its objects, while the latter relates specifically to the believer (LL).


In the Dictionary of the Holy Qur'ân, Abdul Omar quotes from classical resources:


Rahmân is an active participle noun of the measure fa'lân which conveys the idea of fullness and extensiveness and indicates the greatest preponderance of the quality of love and mercy which comprehends the entire universe without regard to our effort or asking, even before we are born. The creation of the sun, the moon, air and water, etc are all there because of this attribute.... the term Rahmân circumscribes the quality of abounding Grace inherent in and inseparable from the Almighty.


Rahîm is in the measure of fa'îl and denotes the idea of constant repetition and giving of a liberal reward to those who deserve it and seek it. The Manifestation of this attribute is in response to and is a result of the action of the human being. That is, Rahîm indicates that which is extremely and continuously loving and merciful, and who is the dispenser of grace and love as a result of our deeds and supplications, and the One in whom the attribute is constantly and [endlessly] repeated.


Your God is One God; there is no God save him, THE BENEFICIENT, the Merciful.



(2:163)

<b>unbeliever is like the depth of darkness in a vast deep ocean
</b>


Professor Durgarao, who is an expert in the field of ‘Marine Geology’ who is teaching in the university of King Abdul Aziz in Jeddah, he was asked to give his comments on a verse of the Holy Qur'an. From Surah Nur, Ch. No. 24, Verse No. 40, which says that… ‘The state of the unbeliever is like the depth of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with waves topped with waves, topped with dark clouds, the depths of darkness, one layered over the other. When a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it, Allah gives light to whom He wishes. If He does not give light you cannot see’. Professor Durgarao, he said that… ‘This verse of the Holy Qur'an is not speaking about a normal sea – It is speaking about a deep sea. And today, only with the help of things like submarines, we have come to know the depths of the oceans - It is dark. Previously, we did not know that, because a man cannot go unaided, more than 20 to 30 metres under water - And if he goes more than 200 metres unaided, he dies. It is today, we have come to know, by the instruments that we have, that the depths of ocean is dark’. And he said… ‘This darkness is due to two phenomena - first is due to successive absorption of the colours in layers’. As we all know, the light has got Seven colours - And we learnt in school for remembering easy: VIBGYOR, the colours of the rainbow. Vibgyor - V for violet, I for Indigo, B for blue, G for Green, Y for Yellow, O for Orange, and Red… R for Red – Vibgyor… Seven colours. Professor Durgarao said, that ‘When the light enters the ocean - by the first 15 to 20 meters, the Red colour is absorbed’. And if a man goes under water about 30 meters deep, and if he bleeds, if he has a wound, he will not be able to see his own blood - because Red colour does not reach there. Later on, 30 to 50 metres absorbs Orange. Yellow is absorbed by next 50 to 100 metres, green by 100 to 200 metres, and blue beyond 200 metres, and violet and indigo much above 200 metres. Therefore, the layers of darkness you see in the ocean, is due to the absorption of light in successive layers’. ‘The second reason for these layers’, Professor Durgarao said… ‘is due to barriers, like the clouds’. When the sunlight hits is the cloud, the cloud absorbs the light - therefore there is darkness below the cloud, then the light is scattered. After getting scattered, it hits is at the superficial waves of the ocean. This is the second barrier, the waves reflect the light further, the superficial waves of the ocean. Those light rays which are not reflected, they enter the ocean. Therefore, you have two types of layers in the ocean: ‘the superficial layer and the deep layer’. The superficial layer is warm and lit up, the deep layers, they are dark. And this superficial and deep layer of the ocean - it is divided by internal waves. We human beings did not know, that even there were internal waves - We only knew of superficial waves. It was only in 1900, that we have come to know that there are even waves deep in the water. They are known as internal waves, which divide the superficial part of the ocean and the deep part of the ocean. Imagine the Qur'an mentions that… ‘the unbelievers' state is like the depth of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with waves topped with waves’. That means - deep waves are there, internal waves are there, topped with superficial waves. And it further continues… ‘topped with dark clouds’. The clouds are the barriers, and even the clouds are in layers. And when a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it. ‘Only if Allah gives light, can they see’. Even the fish that swim in the deep part of the ocean, they cannot see unless they have their own light with them. They have their own lights with them. Even the submarine that goes underwater, it carries its own light, otherwise they cannot see underwater. So when Professor Durgarao was asked, how come this is mentioned in the Qur'an 1400 years ago, he said – ‘It is impossible for any human being to mention this verse - This Qur'an has to be a Divine Revelation’.

Bismillah:


just wanted to share this great flash with all new and Non Muslims members. hope you enjoy it insha'Allah.


From darkness to light AMAZING FLASH


Salam


Wael.