BEIJING, Aug 13 (AFP) - China has executed two Muslims who were among 18 Uighurs convicted of separatism in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang, local officials said Friday.


The group, all alleged members of the little-known East Turkestan People`s Party, were sentenced on July 21 by the Intermediate People`s Court in Aksu city in Xinjiang, said Ma Lin, deputy director of the court in Shaya county, where the defendants lived.


"Two were sentenced to death and have been executed," Ma told AFP.


Two others were sentenced to life imprisonment.


The Aksu court could not be reached for comment.


A spokesman for the Germany-based overseas Uighur activist group World Uighur Congress said the other 14 defendants were sentenced to five to 20 years in prison.


"Some of them were businessmen, some were religious people. Others had been harassed by the Chinese government," said the spokesman Dilxat Raxit.


All 18 defendants were charged with illegally organizing a political party, using armed tactics to split the country, concealing guns, ammunition and explosives, and illegally producing, buying and selling as well as transporting weapons and explosives, Raxit said.


The court official did not name the defendants, but Raxit said the two executed men were Akmed Tash, president of the group, and Lokman Mamet, treasurer, using the phonetic spellings of their names.


The case highlights what many believe is growing dissatisfaction among Uighurs in China, given the Chinese government`s stepped up crackdown against them after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.


A reporter of a local paper in Aksu indicated Friday there were many groups formed by dissatisfied Uighurs in the area -- a sign of continuing tension in the region despite government efforts to quell dissent.


"The East Turkestan People`s Party is one of many such terrorist groups in this area," said Gong Xise, a reporter for the Aksu Daily.


He said one of the 18 people sentenced were trained in Afghanistan and had fought against American troops and then returned to China from Afghanistan.


This could not be immediately confirmed.


"They participated in setting off explosions, kidnapping and robbery and other terrorists activities," Gong said.


Most Uighur political parties in Xinjiang support independence, Raxit said, adding China`s tactics created more dissent.


Human rights groups have accused the Chinese government of using the global anti-terror campaign to harshly punish Uighurs who held dissenting fews, even those who were non-violent.


"We hope the international community will pay attention to this," Raxit said. "We`re being sacrificed in the global anti-terrorism cause. We`ve become the only people in China sentenced by death because of political activities since 1989."


A local official told AFP in August ethnic and religious tensions are flaring up again in a Muslim-majority district in Hotan, southern Xinjiang, neighboring Aksu.


Uighurs make up the predominant majority of the population in southern Xinjiang while more Han Chinese live in the north, which is better developed.

As Salam alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuhu.....


Iv not been on islammassage for a while, but as i logged on i see we have a new section on who is celebrating there birthday today.


This brought me to think........ from my understanding we as muslims should not celebrate our birthday as the prophet Mohammad (pbuh) never used to celebrate his birthday, infact he used to fast on his birthday, so we as muslims should follow the sunnah.


He Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was asked about fasting on Monday, he said: That is the day i was born and the day (the first Revelation) was send down on me. (Muslim)


This hadith to me shows we are alloud to acknowledge that it is ones birthday, but i have come across nothing to say we are alloud to celebrate it.


Please correct me if im wrong...this is to my knowledge and open to discussion, if it has not been discussed already on this forum.


Salam.

Iraq handover was only a media-hype


----------------------------------------------


By Tariq Ali


Most legends contain a small grain of truth, but none is to be found in the fraudulent images being presented each day by the BBC (and the US networks). The print media is not much better.


Official propaganda is constantly repeated in sentences such as: "On June 28 the United States and its coalition partners transferred sovereign control of Iraq to an interim government headed by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. The transfer of sovereignty ended more than a year of American-led occupation".


Meanwhile, US intelligence agencies admit that the size of the resistance increases every day. If Moqtada al-Sadr were to be captured or killed in the fighting taking place in Najaf, the steady trickle of recruits could become a flood.


In such a situation and with no official opposition to the occupation in the Commons it should be the responsibility of the media to ensure that some truth, at least, is regularly reported.


The capitulation of the BBC has been in evidence ever since the Hutton whitewash. This is not just a question of journalists censoring themselves. Earlier this summer the new director- general Mark Thompson reportedly told a meeting of the corporation's news board there was a "perception" that BBC news was too leftwing and critical of the government - a perception which needed to be corrected. He must be happy now.


The notion that Iraq today is a sovereign state governed by Iraqis is a grotesque fiction. Every Iraqi citizen, regardless of political views or religious affiliation, is aware of the actual status of the country. And if the BBC carries on in this fashion, its credibility, already at an all-time low, could disappear altogether.


Condoleezza Rice, the US national security adviser, declared some months back: "We want to change the Iraqi mind." But the US-funded Arab TV channel called Truth has proved a dismal failure. And now, to prevent any alternative images from reaching Iraqis and the rest of the world, a plucky puppet at the "ministry of information" has banned al-Jazeera TV from reporting out of Iraq - a traditional recipe from an oppressive cookbook.


The "handover", designed largely to convince US citizens that they could now relax and re-elect Bush, was also an invitation to the western media to downgrade coverage of Iraq, which it dutifully did.


As Paul Krugman noted in the New York Times last week: "Iraq stories moved to the inside pages of newspapers, and largely off TV screens. Many people got the impression that things had improved. Even journalists were taken in: newspaper stories asserted that the rate of US losses there fell after the hand-off. (Actual figures: 42 American soldiers died in June, and 54 in July)."


Like previous confections to justify the war, this one is not working either. Of the two Iraqis plucked from obscurity to be the front men for the occupation, "President" Yawar is a relatively harmless telecoms manager from Saudi Arabia.


He was perfectly happy to don tribal gear for official functions and photo-ops with Rumsfeld and the boys. "Prime minister" Allawi was at one time a low-grade intelligence employee for Saddam, reporting on dissident Iraqis in London.


Subsequently, Anglo- American intelligence outfits recruited him. After the first Gulf war he was sent to destabilize the regime. His hirelings bombed a cinema and a bus carrying children.


Before the war Allawi helped manufacture the 45-minute WMD delivery systems warning for the dodgy dossier men in No 10. After the occupation he was rewarded and put on the "governing council". He then hired a lobbying firm, which spent $370,000 campaigning in Washington for him to be made prime minister, and also got him a column in the Washington Post.


As "prime minister" he cultivates a thuggish image. On July 17 in a remarkable despatch from Baghdad, Paul McGeough, the Australian correspondent, (and former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald) alleged: "Iyad Allawi, the new prime minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.


"They say the prisoners - handcuffed and blindfolded - were lined up against a wall in a courtyard adjacent to the maximum- security cell block in which they were held at the al-Amariyah security centre ... They say Dr Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as 50 Iraqis and they 'deserved worse than death'."


McGeough's report continued: "The prime minister's office has denied the entirety of the witness accounts in a written statement ... saying Dr Allawi had never visited the centre and he did not carry a gun. But the informants told the Herald that Dr Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the prime minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence." McGeough appears regularly on TV and radio to defend his story, which does not go away.


The fact is that Iraq is in a much bigger mess today than before the war. The situation was summed up by a former inmate of Abu Ghraib prison: "We want electricity in our homes, not up the arse."


The citizens of the aggressor states can see this for themselves and regardless of the media will, one must hope, punish their leaders for taking them to war - regardless of the fact that the alternatives on offer are so weak.


The defeat of the warmongers, if it happens, will be the outcome of what is happening in Baghdad and Basra, Fallujah and Najaf. Even if they try and brush aside the 37,000 Iraqi civilians killed in this conflict, according to a recent estimate by an Iraq-based NGO, Bush and Blair will not forget the names of the cities whose people refuse to surrender. There is only one serious option: the unconditional withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. -Dawn/The Guardian News Service.

He Demolished Babri Masjid That Day - Seeks Forgivness Today !


Ayodhya - Dec. 6, 1992


Among the fears of lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of Kar Sevak who had gathered to demolish the Babri Masjid , few furiously climbed on the majestic minaret of the mosque. The most important among the few were Shive Sainik. A resident of Faisabad, where Ayodhya is situated, Shive Prasad was the captain of Bajrang Dal. He was given the responsibility to guide four thousand Kar Sevak in the demolition of mosque.


It was he who gave training to four thousands of people under him, on how to carry the demolition. On seeing the majestic minarets of the mosque come down Captain Prasad was overjoyed and shouted the "Ram! Ram!" This happened seven years ago.


On Dec. 6 ,1999 the same Shive Prasad was seeking forgiveness from Allah for his cruel act seven years back. This 6 Dec.1999 he was fasting (non-obligatory) and regretting for the act with tears and was seeking forgiveness from Allah in his prayers. Yes ! Shive Prasad has embraced Islam. He has changed his name to Mohammed Mustafa. One will be moved to learn how he embraced Islam.


This change in Shive Prasad's heart was published by Malayalam News (7.12.99) issued by "Arab News Publications" in Saudi Arabia. Shive Prasad's father Trigal Ramanathan was chief among the heads of Sangh Parivar. His whole family was actively involved in demolishing the Babri Masjid.


Soon after the demolition of the mosque, Shive prasad felt a depression in his heart. He had no peace of mind. He felt that he had committed a great sin. In 1997 he went to Sharjah in order to seek employment. But even at work his mind was restless.


On Dec. 4, 1998 as he was walking along the streets of Sharjah, he happened to hear a speech before Friday prayer held in a mosque which was in Hindi. When he heard the speech, which he felt was something different. He wanted to listen the complete speech. That message about Allah created a revolution in his rest less mind. He continued to listen to such speeches thereafter. The revolution in his heart was completed.


All praise be to Allah ! Allah has shown him the right path. He has forfeited the ignorance and chosen the righteous path. When Shive Prasad embraced Islam he was driven out by his family members who were strong RSS activists. He is praying to God that his family members should also choose the righteous path as he did. Shive Prasad says that among those who led the demolition on the spot were Ashok Singhal and Advani. On the day of demolition the police and CRPF connived with the leaders of BJP, Bajrang Dal and RSS. Both these law enforcing agencies greatly helped in the demolition.


He recalls that on that day Ashok Singhal dressed himself in military uniform and gave orders. He also recalls, soon after the demolition of the mosque they entered the muslim areas in the Faisabad and shouted "Jai Shriram". Now, Shive Prasad is receiving continuous threatenings from RSS, BJP and Bajrang Dal. Sangh Parivar has threatened to kill if he returns to India. But Mohammed Mustafa (Shive Prasad) says firmly that he will never turn away from Islam - the righteous path even if death comes his way.


Having learnt 17 Surahs in the Holy Qur'an, he is anxious to complete learning the whole of the Holy Qur'an. His ambition is to become a true Islamic preacher and and bring ignorant people to light. If Allah wishes, his ambition will be fulfilled and the very same hands which demolished the Babri Masjid will built up again.


http://www.mediareviewnet.com/DEMOLISHER%2...PTS%20ISLAM.htm

Khattab, the man who died for the cause of Chechnya


Born in a northern border city in Saudi Arabia in 1969, he was a brilliant student who scored 94 percent in the secondary school examination


by Mowaffaq Al-Nowaiser


May 04, 2002, 02:12 PM


JEDDAH — Mansour Al-Suwailem, elder brother of the leading Chechen fighter Khattab, who was recently assassinated by Russians, said it was an old Chechen woman who inspired Khattab to fight for the Chechens.


Khattab’s real name is Samir Saleh Abdullah Al-Suwailem. In his early youth he wanted to study in the United States. Mansour shed light on several aspects of Khattab’s personal life in an interview with Arab News. The interview was conducted at his father’s house in Alkhobar in the Eastern Province.


Mansour said Khattab used to call their mother in Saudi Arabia before he carried out attacks against the Russians. Last week, Russian state television broadcast pictures of Khattab’s body and said he had been killed on March 19-20 after a yearlong operation by Russian special forces. The station said he did not die in a battle but did not elaborate on how he died. Khattab is the most important Mujahedeen commander killed since Russian troops launched their latest campaign against the Chechen freedom struggle two and a half years ago.


Mansour said there were two differing reports of how his brother had been killed. According to one report, it was five minutes after he opened a poisoned letter given him by a trusted aide two weeks ago. The second report says that he was given poisoned food in a private party about a month ago. The last time Samir called his family was three months ago. He had visited Saudi Arabia only twice since he decided to go to Afghanistan in 1987.


"He called our parents whenever he had a chance and specially called our mother before carrying out any operation," he added. Samir was an ambitious child who had dreams of owning a castle with "a garage big enough for five cars". He also wanted all family members to live together and was concerned about the welfare of all family members and used to weep for the slightest reasons. He was loved by all. No one remembered him seeing angry. He loved jokes and used to play with children.


Samir, who was born in an Arar, a northern border city in Saudi Arabia in 1969, was a brilliant student who scored 94 percent in the secondary school examination.


Unlike other family members, he used to evince more interest in Islamic periodicals and tapes. He was very much impressed by the history of the second Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and therefore accepted the title Khattab. He joined a training course conducted by the Aramco. He planned to continue his studies in the United States. He used to be very kind and helpful to others.


Once he found a stranger, a Sudanese expatriate, asking for a lift on the airport road. The man said his car broke down and he was afraid he may not reach the airport in time. The man was, apparently, worried about leaving his car on the road. After taking him to the airport, Samir went back to the car and towed it to a workshop for repairs. When the Sudanese man came back he was surprised to find his car repaired. Samir refused to accept the cost of the repair. There are several other instances of selfless service to others.


Mansour could not give any specific reason for Samir’s sudden change of mind about his plan to go to the United States for studies. He joined the Afghan Arabs fighting the Russians at the age of 17 in 1987. The young boy refused to come home even after his father promised to buy him a house. He did not visit the Kingdom in the past 14 years except two times, the last one in 1993. He was gravely wounded four times and the most serious of them was when he set foot on a land mine. He was the lone survivor when his truck exploded, it was reported.


Mansour explained how Samir got the idea of going to Chechnya after watching a news broadcast on the Afghan TV. The news broadcast showed several Chechen groups wearing headbands with "No God But Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger" written on them. They shouted Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Samir felt curious about the jihad going on in Chechnya and decided to go there. But he did not know how to go there and the map he bought did not show Chechnya. So he set out to Baku in Azerbaijan which is close to Chechnya.


While he was making inquiries about how to reach Chechnya, he received a letter from Fathi Abu Sayyaf, a Chechen of Jordanian origin describing about the land of which he wrote, "a man who enters it is lost and one who gets out of it is like a reborn."


Somehow or other, he managed to reach Chechnya where he first went about as a TV reporter meeting with people and inquiring about the common man’s attitude toward the jihad. His proficiency in Arabic, Russian, English, and Pashtu helped him mix with all kinds of people. In his travels he also met with Shamil Basayev.


It was about this time that he met an old Chechen woman who stressed the need for jihad against the Russians. She told him confidently: "We want them to quit our land so that we can return to Islam." When he asked her how she would help in a jihad against Russians, her reply was that she possessed only a jacket and she would donate it for the cause of Allah.


Suwailam said his brother had sobbed until "his beard became wet with his tears" when he spoke to the woman, and that the meeting had been a turning point in his life.


Khattab’s actions were based on certain strong principles drawn from the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. They can be summed up as follows: The objective of jihad should be the establishment of the religion of Allah, there is no negotiation with the enemy, the fight should not end until the enemy’s threat was totally removed, jihad does not depend on the life of a leader, leadership does not mean comfortable position, unity is the most important requisite for fighting against Russia. He also stressed the need for treating civilians gently and not doing any harm to them.


Samir had been seeking martyrdom for the past 14 years, Mansour said. He failed to achieve it in Afghanistan, then he sought it in Tajikistan. He was again disappointed, so went to Chechnya where finally Allah granted it to him, the brother said with pride.


Samir was married to a Dagistani woman and has three children.


http://johnw.host.sk/articles/war_jihad_...hattab.htm

It did not happen.


No fatwa against the author. No sudden disappearance into hiding. No public book-burnings. Weeks after its publication, Irshad Manji's The Trouble With Islam still has not drawn even the mildest condemnation from any Canadian Islamic organization.


Prominent Muslim leaders have declined invitations to debate her on TV talk shows. And she has not become the widespread subject of Friday Khotbas (sermons) by Imams in Canadian mosques.


Instead, Manji is freely traveling across Canada to personally promote her new book. As a founding member of a new Toronto-based Muslim group, she has been given the strong support to which she is entitled. And that's as it should be. After all, this is Canada in 2003.


But all this quiet recognition must be a<b> great disappointment </b>to the author, her publisher, and some of this country's sensation-seeking media, who'd predicted a major backlash from hordes of so-called “fundamentalists.” It did not happen. Not one Canadian Muslim -- "fundamentalist" or otherwise -- bothered to picket any outlets selling the book. It's all been <b>a big yawn</b>, in spite of the media hype, some of which Manji herself encouraged.


"A Canadian Muslim who tomorrow releases a book critical of her religion is drawing a very high level of awareness from police because of a feared backlash from fundamentalists," proclaimed The National Post, which led the Canadian print media in running long excerpts from The Trouble With Islam amid alarmist reports of its supposed volatile effect on the national Muslim community.


“In some countries, <b>Irshad Manji would be buried up to her neck and stoned to death</b>," The Ottawa Citizen assured its readers.


"Call her crazy or call her courageous...,” said the Toronto Star in an interview with the author.


And the Globe and Mail reported, "Some weeks ago, Irshad Manji suggested to her downstairs tenant that it might be a good idea if she packed up and left." That accompanied few days later a long book review and even a column by one of Canada's leading writers.


But this is Canada, and it is 2003.


Canadian Muslims are, above all, Canadian. And Canadians are nice folks, with the best sense of decency in the world. Their protests are usually mild, reflecting the hope that people in general are smart enough to decide for themselves if a book like The Trouble With Islam is worth its hype.


More importantly, Canadian Muslims have learned a hard lesson from the Salman Rushdie affair in 1989. It began when British Muslims burned his novel, The Satanic Verses, triggering violent protests in India, Mr. Rushdie’s country of birth. The Indian government gave in to international pressure to ban the book. And then a fatwa was issued for Rushdie's death by the spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, for allegedly spreading hate against Islam, for being blasphemous, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammed. The rest is history, a bitter history for all Muslims, but especially those living in the West.


I have always maintained, however, that Islam doesn't need this kind of negative defense. After all, it is a world religion. It is robust. For more than 1400 years, it has consistently attracted at least 20% of the world's population. It still attracts many millions every year among those who seek, learn, and come to believe that Islam is the best faith for them.


Islam does not have a hierarchical priesthood, nor any provision (like excommunication) for revoking membership. Muslims are forbidden to prejudge others, whether they are of the same faith or not. Islam also teaches that actions, deeds, and the art of persuasion -- including dialogue, debate, logic, and rational argument -- are superior means of proactively engaging those with opposing views. Thus Ms. Manji, a Toronto journalist, lesbian, and active feminist, can go on calling herself a Muslim for as long as she feels like it


Although I believe Islam needs no defense, the same is not true for Muslims themselves, and this tension is vividly illustrated by The Trouble With Islam. Ms. Manji is entitled to speak her mind, but <b>the book's title is misleading</b>. It should have been called The Trouble With Irshad Manji’s Life. Now in her 30s Ms. Manji reveals that she did not enjoy her parent's love and affection in her formative childhood and teenaged years. And like many who've experienced similar disappointments, she blames her religion, its Holy Book and its teachings. She has not found enough reason, however, to leave Islam altogether. Instead, she calls for reform, holding Islam responsible for all the ills she has observed among Muslims.


Fair enough.


But as much as Ms Manji has the right to speak her mind, the religious interpretations of other Muslims must also be defended. No one has ever suggested (successfully, at least) that the Old Testament, holy to both Jews and Christians, be revised so that verses advocating killings and violence, tribal or racial superiority, the suppression of women's or gay/lesbian rights, be deleted. This is because the writings in any holy book are subject to the diversity and fallibility of human interpretation. So it is false and disingenuous for Ms Manji to assume that the Qur’an is somehow different in this regard from other holy scriptures.


I doubt if any reputable publisher would touch a book written by a non-specialist that advocated a revision of the Old Testament, or questioned its divine origin. It would be a risky business, not because of any anticipated furor, but because the media would most likely ignore it. And faith-based groups, if they were to protest such a release at all, would give it mere token attention.


<b>When it comes to anti-Islam, Muslim-bashing, smearing the Qur’an, or insulting the Prophet Muhammed in print, however, both publishers and authors stand to make money from the venture. </b> But here in Canada, the land where decency and sober second thought prevail? I hope not.


(Dr. Mohamed Elmasry, a professor of computer engineering at the University of Waterloo, is national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. He is the author of several books on Islam, faith and spirituality, including his upcoming The Qur’an: 365 Selections for Daily Reading. He can be reached at np@canadianislamiccongress.com)


http://www.ottawamuslim.net/Ottawa_News/fe...misry_Manji.htm

Islam Bashing: A Popular Sport


By Hasan Abdullah


Anti-Islam prejudice is not a new phenomenon, it has existed for centuries. As a matter of fact this cycle of disinformation gained momentum with the advent of Islam, when the Arabs accused Prophet Muhammad of being a ‘madman’, a ‘poet’ and a ‘soothsayer’; and warned others to stay away from him, otherwise they would fall for his “magic” and join his ranks. However, they failed to mention that this “magical” effect was owing to the teachings of the Prophet, that: new born girls are not to be buried alive, slaves are not to be treated with harshness, animals are not to be overloaded, only God is worthy of worship and not idols which themselves are created, women are not to be treated as sex objects and so on.


The same Anti-Islam prejudice lead Pope Urban II to “liberate” the holy land from the “barbaric” Muslims. Again, the Pope failed to state that the Christians living under the rule of these “barbaric” Muslims were better off than their counterpart living in Europe.


The situation is not too different today. This prejudice is still there, thriving, and perhaps more widespread than ever at every level – from politicians to the uneducated labour class. It has become rather fashionable to talk about “Islamic Fundamentalism”, “Militant Islam”, “Oppression of women”, “the Taliban”, “Osama bin Laden”, etc in gatherings and on other occasions. We find in the overwhelming majority of cases the same old baseless myths being repeated, with a bit of added spice.


There has been a coinage of terms such as “Islamists” and “Islamic Fundamentalists” and these terms are used whenever an opportunity exists. It is astonishing that the actions of a few individuals bring Islam under the spotlight. More generally if the person involved happens to be a Muslim then Islam gets the blame. However, the actions of IRA, the loyalist groups, the Basque Separatist Groups, Eric Robert Rudolph, etc do not bring Christianity under the spotlight nor do we hear terms such as “Christian Fundamentalists”, “Christianists”, “Christian Terrorists”, etc. In April 1995, immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing, fingers were pointed at “Islamic Fundamentalists”. However when Timothy McVeigh was found guilty, it was simply “Timothy McVeigh” and not “Christian Fundamentalists”.


Similarly the actions of Ariel Sharon, Dr Baruch Goldstein, IDF, Jewish Defence League, etc are not attributed to Judaism nor do we hear terms such as “Jewish Fundamentalists”, “Jewish Terrorists”, etc.


The West commonly uses two labels when describing Muslims, the “moderate” Muslims and the “fundamentalist” Muslims. So who is who? Generally the “fundamentalists” are those who oppose any western policies or interests. The definition of “moderates” can now be guessed.


Secondly, who has the right to label someone as a “fundamentalist” and by what standards? The Taliban were “mujahadieen” as long as their actions were in accordance with the US interests. As the interests changed, the “mujahadieen” turned into “fundamentalists”.


The double standards are obvious and quite frankly anyone who takes part in this Islam-Bashing is either ignorant of Islam or a bigot.


Source: www.iacn.org.uk

Please listen to the Dua below.. It may take a few moments to load. The Imam gave the dua after Taraweeh last year. He was arrested afterwards as reported.


http://www.soislam.com/duafull.swf


Ignore the background pictures!

VIDEO OF US MAN ALLEGEDLY BEHEADED IN IRAQ FAKE.


FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS


SAN FRANCISCO — A video aired today that purportedly showed an American being decapitated in Iraq was a hoax.


The American, Benjamin Vanderford, reached by The Associated Press in San Francisco, said he videotaped the staged beheading at his friend's house using fake blood.


Vanderford, 22, said he began distributing the video on the Internet months ago in hopes of drawing attention to his one-time campaign for city supervisor. When his political aspirations waned, he thought the video would serve as social commentary.


"It was part of a stunt, but no one noticed it up until now," Vanderford said. "I did this for a couple of reasons. One is to attract attention. But two is to just make a statement on these type of videos and how easily they can be faked."


On the tape, Vanderford, 22, sat on a chair in a dark room, his hands behind his back, trembling and rocking back and forth. The tape showed a hand with a knife cutting at the motionless man's neck, but did not show any militants.


"We need to leave this country alone. We need to stop this occupation," he said on the video, adding that he had been offered for exchange with prisoners in Iraq. "Everyone's going to be killed this way."


Vanderford was clad in a T-shirt, not the orange jumpsuit that other hostages have been dressed in.


The video was titled `Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Slaughters an American.' Zarqawi is an Al Qaeda-linked militant whose group, Tawhid and Jihad, has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks across Iraq, including the beheading of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg.


Vanderford's video also showed images of disfigured and injured people in Iraq. A recording of the Quran, Islam's holy book, played in the background.


Sipping soda in his kitchen, a shirtless Vanderford said he spliced images he took from a Hamas Web site showing mutilated bodies. He later edited the 55-second video to downgrade the quality so it would look similar to beheading tapes distributed since the war in Iraq began.


Vanderford offered no apologies for his stunt.


"That was another experiment that was part of this to see how quickly that system will spread news," Vanderford said.


Source: Toronto Star (www.thestar.com)


__________________________________________________

<b>The Holy Prohpet Muhammad, Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him and his family said:</b>



1) <span style="font-size:21pt;line-height:100%;"><b>Surah Fatiha</b>
is a cure from every illness. (Darmi, Bahiqi)</span>


2) Do not make your home a graveyard, the Shaitan runs from the home in which <b>Surah Baqrah </b>
is recited. (Sahih Muslim)


3) Whoever memorized the first ten ayahs of <b>Surah Kahf</b>
will be saved the Dajjal. (Sahih Muslim)


4) Whoever recites <b>Surah Kahf </b>
on the day of Jummah, there will be a Nur brightened for him between two Jummahs.


5) Everything has a heart and the heart of the Quran is <b>Surah Yaseen</b>
, whoever read Yaseen, Allah will write the reward of reading the Quran ten times from him. (Tirmizi and Darmi)


6) Whoever reads <b>Surah Yaseen</b>
for the pleasure of Allah, his past sins will be forgiven so read this near your deceased. (Bahiqi)


7) <b> (Reading) Qul hu WAllahu Ahad (Surah Ikhlas)
</b> is equal to [reading] one third of the Quran.


8) Whoever read <b>Ayatul Kursi</b>
after every Fard Salah, he will be under the protection and security of Allah. (Dailmi on the Authority of Sayeduna Ali)


9) (On the Day of Judgement) a caller will say<span style="color:#FF0000;"> <b>O Recitor of Surah Inaam</b>
</span>, come to Jannat for loving Surah Inaam and its recitation.


10) <b>Surah Tabarak (Surah Mulk)</b>
saves one from Hell.


11) Whatever task is not begun with <b>Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem</b>
remains incomplete and unfinished.