As-salaam Alikum,


Hadith Number 001 : The Authority Of Omar bin Al-Khattab


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


I heared the messenger of Allah salla Allah u alihi wa sallam say : "Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated."



Bukhari and Muslim.

July 21, 2004


Abu Ghraib Cover-up Intensifies


The Abu Ghraib investigation whitewash I reported on last week is intensifying as the Defense Department moves to squelch document production in response to Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") requests by public interest groups and members of the media.


The Project on Government Secrecy, headed by FOIA guru Steven Aftergood, reported today that:


PENTAGON "CONSOLIDATES" ABU GHRAIB DOCUMENT REQUESTS


Freedom of Information Act requests that were sent to the Pentagon for additional documentation and imagery concerning the abuse of Iraqi prisoners held in U.S. custody in Iraq (SN, 05/12/04) were forwarded by the Pentagon to U.S. Central Command for processing.


But now U.S. Central Command is sending them back to the Pentagon.


"We have been instructed to refer all requests for information referring to detainee abuse to the Department of Defense [Pentagon FOIA office]," a CENTCOM FOIA officer wrote.


"In order to provide you with as much information as possible, all detainee requests are now being consolidated and will be answered by [the Pentagon]."


Meanwhile, Congressional efforts to gain access to documents on the Abu Ghraib case and related issues have been frustrated.


"Time and again attempts by this House to acquire documents related to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal have been defeated, largely on party line votes," said Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) on July 19, citing several initiatives that had been blocked by the Republican majority.


This is just the tip of the iceberg. New Yorker columnist Seymour M. Hersh, who has already broken several important stories on the invasion of Iraq and the "War on Terror," reportedly has new information that is even more disturbing than his May 2004 article, The Gray Zone.


The Independent reported on July 16, 2004, that videotapes exist of US soldiers sodomizing Iraqi boys. The Independent quotes Mr. Hersh, at a speaking engagement before a San Francisco ACLU meeting, as saying: "The boys were sodomised with the cameras rolling, and the worst part is the soundtrack, of the boys shrieking. And this is your government at war."


The horrifying story of Abu Ghraib is going to get worse. If our professional US Army officer corps continues to "play ostrich," or allows itself to be further politicized as a means of escaping or minimizing the consequences of this grave leadership failure, the damage to the US Army will be lasting and to the core. The "Nuremberg defense" and careerist political moves just won't cut it. Brave officers who honor their oath of office, their commission and the Constitution they swore to defend must inititiate the desperately needed correction from within the US Army, now. Slow-walking, stonewalling or waiting for civilian politicians to "provide guidance" is not an acceptable or honorable course of action.


http://www.washingtondispatch.com/opoint/a...ves/000415.html

Alsalam 'alaykom,


This is a Islamic-Kuwiati Organization that explains and exchanges Culture and relations between Westrners and Arabs, and making them understand the truth of Islam.


http://www.aware.com.kw/html/default.asp


Hope u will enjoy


Wasalam

By Benjamin Robertson in Beijing


Wednesday 21 July 2004, 13:23 Makka Time, 10:23 GMT


China faces accusations of civil oppression of Uyghur Muslims


One of the first nations to express its condolences to the United States following the September 11 attacks, China was quick to respond to President Bush's invitation to join what he described as the war on terror.


Two recent events, however, have spotlighted China's use of this ambiguous phrase in a manner that the US State Department would now be hard put to approve.


The first occurred in early June when eleven railway workers - part of several hundred Chinese labourers now operating in Afghanistan on reconstruction projects - were mowed down in their tents.


The following day, while the motive behind the assault was still unclear, China's leaders blamed "terrorists", a charge that still sticks in official statements, although the Chinese media has speculated that neighbouring warlords and/or competing economic interests might have been to blame.


Beijing's haste in condemning "terrorists" has been given a further twist by a new report of the human-rights group, Amnesty International, which accuses China of arbitrarily using terms such as "war on terror" and "terrorist" to justify a policy of political, cultural, economic and civil oppression in the traditionally Muslim province of Xinjiang.


Eye on Uyghurs


Restrictions on religious practices, closing down of mosques, use of torture to extract confessions and slanted trial procedures are some of the complaints listed in the 40-page report, that concludes with a plea to Beijing to put an end to violations of human rights across the province.


Xinjiang is seen by China's rulers


as an area of potential trouble


That a country should seek to interpret the word "terrorist" to suit its own ends may not come as a surprise to observers of recent US actions in the Middle East. Even so, Mark Allison of Amnesty International says China is guilty of reneging on basic human-rights commitments made when signing the UN Declaration on Human Rights.


"Since September 11, China has tried to dress up its actions in the region but some of the arrests we know of involve people who were demonstrating through peaceful means," said Allison.


A place of exile in imperial times, Xinjiang has long been seen as an area of potential trouble, with local minority groups speaking languages and following cultures more closely attuned to Central Asia than Eastern China.


An ongoing policy of economic development is aimed at rejuvenating Western China, but this has also brought in millions of Han Chinese who have descended on the oil-rich region, fuelling claims of racial bias in the job market, insensitivity to local culture, heavy-handedness by officials when resolving problems, and even claims by some activists of an official policy of Han colonisation.


Perceived threat


"My feeling was that the local Muslims are not very devout, not very observant in their religion. It is more a part of their identity rather than a great cause," Christian Tyler, a former journalist and author of a book on Xinjiang, told Aljazeera.net.


"My feeling was that the local Muslims are not very devout, not very observant in their religion. It is more a part of their identity rather than a great cause"


Christian Tyler, author of book on Xinjiang


"China sees Islam as a political threat that motivates people to break away. They fear Islam and anything that goes on in Xinjiang nowadays is blamed on Islamic zealots.


"However, they do not realise that the reasons some minority groups members are breaking away is because of the way China is treating them."


In official literature blaming "outside forces", the Chinese Government has gone to great pains to stress the links between so-called Xinjiang separatist movements and groups like al-Qaida.


During the initial US assault on Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks, Chinese authorities maintain, some 300 Uyghurs (one of the minority groups in Xinjiang) were captured by US troops while over 600 escaped to Pakistan.


By contrast, Amnesty International says it only knows of 22 Uyghurs being held by US forces One Western diplomat told Aljazeera.net that the claims made by Beijing linking Xinjiang to al-Qaida are tenuous at best.


Other hot spots


Wang Yizhou of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says "outside forces" are to blame for aggravating local tensions and encouraging violence. An expert on terrorism, Wang pointed to the late 1990s when a series of riots and deadly bus bombings shook the region.


China blamed 'terrorists' for the


June 10 assault in Afghanistsan


"Al-Qaeda has tried to separate Xinjiang from China. They want to create a separate Muslim state in Central Asia and are using existing tensions between ethnic groups to achieve it.


"You must also remember that, in China, the major policy of the government is to ensure national cohesion," Wang says, suggesting that the government will countenance no opposition or suggestion of local autonomy for fear of the message that might send to other potential flashpoints, namely Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong.


In addition, Wang says, China faces terrorist threats to its interests abroad – most notably to its fuel needs of which more than 40% comes from overseas. Only last week, a Hong Kong-registered oil tanker refused to stop at the Iraqi port of Basra after reports that an armed group had threatened to attack any vessels appearing to aid the US.


"China does suffer from terrorist attacks in Xinjiang," says Mei Renyi, a specialist in Sino-US relations at the Beijing Foreign Languages University. "Since the break-up of the USSR, Central Asia has been very unstable, with many extreme Muslim groups spread across the region."


Realpolitik


The presence of such groups in Central Asia is already well documented but, according to Col. Christopher Langton of the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), the connections these groups may have with Xinjiang are unclear based on the limited information available.


"Since the break-up of the USSR, Central Asia has been very unstable, with many extreme Muslim groups spread across the region"


Mei Renyi, specialist in Sino-US relations at the Beijing Foreign Languages University


Despite the doubts expressed by some specialists about the real nature of "terrorist" activity in Xinjiang, the US administration post-September 11 agreed to include a number of Uyghur Muslim groups in its list of "international terrorist organisations" – something it had previously refused to do given the scanty evidence and concerns over human-rights abuses.


At the time, with Washington looking to build its alliance against "terror", the move looked like a victory for realpolitik over idealism.


But Mei cautions against seeing the turn of events as mere opportunism on Beijing’s part.


China's attitude to 'separatists''


hardened after the 9/11 attack


"Before 11 September 2001, China took the view 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter'. The government and media used phrases such as 'splittist' or 'separatist' rather than 'terrorist' when discussing problems in Xinjiang," he said.


"After September 11, though, the picture became much clearer with regard to the scale of al-Qaida/Taliban operations and links with China."


China has also been using the "war on terror" to help cement relations with its co-members at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).


Founded initially to resolve long-standing border disputes with neighbouring countries, the SCO counts as it members Russia and various Central Asian states – all of whom have large Muslim populations and poor human-rights records.


Deft diplomacy


Meeting last month in the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent – the centre for SCO anti-terrorism operations – China pledged to provide $900 million in loans to Central Asia in what experts saw as a means to expand its own influence in the area.


"China has traditionally seen Central Asia as being within its orbit," Adam Ward, a China specialist at IISS, told Aljazeera.net.


Central Asia's Muslim states are


being wooed with economic aid


"Since US involvement in Afghanistan, the region has become very complicated and China is now trying to push back US influence via a whole host of issues such as trade agreements and border-security issues."


All of which will be of concern to the US, which faces pressure from vocal human-rights campaigners to take a tougher stand vis-a-vis the same Central Asian states that China is trying to woo.


Ward says Beijing is becoming deft with diplomacy.


"By stressing links to the al-Qaida/Taliban, China was able to subsume the issue of Xinjiang into the 'war on terror' and so gain international backing," he said.


"Now Beijing realises the need for a 'hearts and minds' campaign through economic cooperation, for allaying other nations' fears of a hegemonic rise and acknowledging their security concerns."


Aljazeera

By Felix Corley, Editor, Forum 18 News Service, and


Magda Hornemann, Forum 18 News Service


Chinese web-users are denied access to a range of religious sites based abroad, Forum 18 News Service has found after a two-month survey of how far the Chinese government's Golden Shield firewall, used to censor the internet, affects access to religious websites. Sites blocked include those related to the persecution of Christians and other religious faiths, the Dalai Lama, the Falun Gong religious movement, the Muslim Uygurs of Xinjiang and a number of Catholic sites, including the website of the Hong Kong diocese and the Divine Word Missionaries in Taiwan.


In what is believed to be the largest survey to date of how far the Chinese government's Golden Shield internet firewall denies access to religious websites, Forum 18 News Service has established that while Chinese internet users do have access to a range of websites based outside the country that cover religious themes in Chinese or other languages, certain religious sites appear to be consistently blocked because the Chinese government does not like their content. Victims of automatic barring are sites that cover the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, the Falun Gong spiritual movement, sites about the Muslim Uyghurs of Xinjiang, sites run by the Islamist Hizb-ut-Tahrir movement, sites in Chinese detailing persecution of religious communities in China and a perhaps surprising number of Catholic sites. Not blocked are sites in European languages covering religious freedom issues, even those covering repression within China.


Internet censorship


While overall internet usage in China may be low by developed country standards, it has been rapidly growing, especially in the capital Beijing and the developed coastal region. The official China Internet Network Information Centre put the number of Chinese with access to the internet in June 2004 (its most recent figures) at 87 million. This number had been doubling every six months, but is now levelling off.


Internet censorship is part of a comprehensive attempt to censor all means of communication. While printed publications have long been censored in China, the authorities have also tried to keep up with technological developments. The Global Internet Policy Initiative warned in June of new technology from a Chinese firm that monitors "subversive" SMS text messages sent by mobile phone.


In a bid to maintain control over the internet, all internet service providers (ISPs) as well as internet content providers are required to be licensed by the government. Organisations such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China have reported extensively in recent years on China's denial of access to specific political, human rights, opposition and independent news websites.


In a bid to help remove "unacceptable" content from the web, the authorities launched a website in June encouraging web-users to report such "illegal" sites, including those on religious cult activity, violence, pornography or politically sensitive subjects. The website, http://net.china.cn/chinese/, is sponsored by the Internet Information Service Work Committee of the China Internet Association. After getting on the relevant page, which is indicated at the top of the homepage, "reporters" must provide their real name, gender, email address, telephone number, addresses, and the name and URL of the offending sites. They are then asked for details of the violations by the offending websites and the category of violations. There are eight categories, including "promoting cults" and "promoting violent superstitions". Other categories include sites that "violate constitutional principles", "attack the party and the government" and "violate social ethics (or morality)". There is one all-encompassing category called "other illegal and harmful messages". The "reporters" are assured of the confidentiality of the information they provide, but are warned that they bear personal responsibility for reporting erroneous information.


Forum 18's tests


To provide a reliable snapshot of the extent of censorship of specifically religious sites, Forum 18 tested several hundred religious sites of all sorts, including sites in a variety of languages (Chinese, Korean, Russian and Western languages) maintained by different denominations (including Christian, Muslim, Daoist, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha'i, Mormon, Falun Gong and Jehovah's Witness), overseas Chinese-language religious communities in South East Asia, Australasia and North America, religious rights groups, human rights groups, religious news agencies and magazines, religious educational institutions, religious political movements and foreign governments.


The tests were carried out over a two-month period - from mid-May to mid-July, which included the politically-sensitive date of 4 June, which marked the fifteenth anniversary of the violent crushing of pro-democracy student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing - and looked at access in a variety of locations in China. All the sites found by Forum 18 to be inaccessible in China were accessible in Europe and North America.


Some religious sites blocked


Access was impossible to the wide range of sites maintained by the Falun Gong movement (including www.falundafa.org, www.faluninfo.net and www.flgjustice.org, which details the Chinese government's campaign against the movement). Sites relating to the Dalai Lama were almost entirely inaccessible (including www.dalailama.com and even www.dalailama.org, a site held by a commercial company which has no information about the Dalai Lama himself). However, Forum 18 gained access to specific sites in Western languages covering the Dalai Lama's visits to Western countries (such as the site covering his May/June 2004 visit to the Scottish city of Glasgow, www.dalailama2004.org.uk), although it was unable to gain access to an Australian site (www.dalailama.org.au), which covered his 2002 visit to that country. Material in English on the Dalai Lama's receipt of the Nobel Peace prize in 1989 is accessible in China on the Swedish-based website of the Nobel Foundation.


Permanently inaccessible were various websites of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation), an Islamist political movement that aims to establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate (www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org, www.khilafah.com, www.khilafah.com.pk). The sites have material in up to seven languages and offer information by email in up to nine, though Chinese is not among them. Curiously, two other sites - www.hizbuttahrir.org and the Danish-based site www.khilafah.dk - seem to have avoided barring so far. An apparently unrelated US-based site, www.alkhilafah.info, an "anti-terrorism portal" which contains English-language reports and often graphic pictures of what it regards as victims of "atrocities against Muslims", including in the traditionally-Muslim province of Xinjiang, is not blocked.


The barring of the sites maintained by the human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and Chinese exile human rights groups like Human Rights in China has long been documented, but Forum 18 found that specific Christian religious rights sites that report on persecution within China – especially those in Chinese – were also inaccessible. China Aid Association (www.chinaaid.org), a US-based group with up-to-date reporting on harassment of Protestant house churches, was inaccessible at all locations and on all the occasions Forum 18 tried to gain access. Also inaccessible were the sites of the US-based Committee for the Investigation of Persecution of Religion in China (www.china21.org and religiousfreedomforchina.org), which contain information in Chinese and English on persecution of Protestants. Indeed, on two separate occasions when trying to access religiousfreedomforchina.org in Beijing, Forum 18 was directed to a commercial site www.prescriptiondieting.com.


Similarly inaccessible was the site of US-based religious freedom group Free Church for China (www.freechurchforchina.org), as was the site of Free the Fathers (www.ftf.org), a US-based group highlighting the plight of Catholic priests who reject the government-sponsored Catholic Patriotic Association and remain loyal to the Vatican. Also inaccessible was the Italian-based site Asia News (www.asianews.it), which has a wide range of religious news in Chinese, Italian and English covering a variety of faiths.


The Fides Vatican missionary agency site (www.fides.org), which was reported to have been blocked when it added a Chinese-language section, was accessible, as was Vatican Radio's Chinese section and Taiwan-based Radio Veritas in Chinese. Beijing officials declared back in 1998 when Fides launched its Chinese-language service that they hoped the Vatican would not use the Internet to "interfere in China's internal affairs, including religious affairs".


Although a range of Chinese and English-language sites run by religious communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and other countries of the region (including Muslim, Daoist, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Adventist, Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness and Mormon sites) were accessible, a handful were inaccessible. Catholic sites in the region were generally accessible, including the official Church site in Taiwan and that of the Jesuit-run Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong. However, the main site of the Hong Kong diocese (www.catholic.org.hk) was mostly inaccessible. On one occasion, Forum 18 could gain access to the English-language section of the site, but not to the Chinese-language section. On another occasion the page started to load, only to fail. Also inaccessible was the Taiwan-based website of the Chinese Divine Word Missionaries (www.svdchina.org). Freely accessible was the site of the official Church agency, the Union of Catholic Asian News.


One source told Forum 18 that the Hong Kong Catholic diocese's website was blocked after the deterioration of relations in 2003 between Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and the mainland authorities. Improved relations as evidenced by his recent visit to Shanghai have not so far led to the renewal of access from China to the diocesan website.


Sites about missionary activity in China and those aiming to convert readers to a particular faith were not generally blocked. Forum 18 found only the Taiwan-based site of China Ministries International (www.cmi.org.tw), a Protestant missionary and aid group founded by the late Jonathan Chao, and its South Korean-based counterpart www.cmikr.com to be permanently inaccessible.


Sites containing religious scriptures and other holy books in Chinese (Muslim, Christian, Daoist and others) did not appear to be blocked. Nor was the Russian Orthodox Church's site on Orthodoxy in China blocked, although it contains historical information on the Church in China and prayers in Chinese.


Forum 18 found no sites by the international headquarters of major faiths (such as those of the Vatican, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other Orthodox patriarchates, the Adventist Church, the Baha'is, the Mormons) or of international religious organisations (such as the Muslim World League, the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Baptist World Alliance and the World Evangelical Alliance) to be blocked. Nor was the site of the Hong Kong Christian Council (despite its criticisms of Hong Kong's Basic Law) or the Christian Conference of Asia.


Websites which present a rosy picture of religious freedom in China - such as the US-based site of the Amity Foundation of the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement (www.amityfoundation.org), the US-based Christianity in China


(www.christianityinchina.org) which declares that it "aims to be positive", or the British-based Friends of the Church in China (www.thefcc.org) – are not blocked.


General religious freedom and religious tolerance sites in Western languages (such as www.religioustolerance.org, www.religiousfreedom.org and the site of the International Religious Liberty Association and of Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom) are not blocked. Nor is the site of the Atheist Network. Sites relating to persecution of faiths not related to China (such as www.thepersecution.org, covering persecution of Ahmadi Muslims, or www.muslimuzbekistan.com, covering persecution of devout Muslims and Hizb-ut-Tahrir members by the Uzbek authorities) are not blocked. Nor are sites run by foreign governments relating to religious freedom (such as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and the US State Department, where even the annual religious freedom report on China is freely available in English).


The decision by the Chinese government to prevent the use of foreign internet search engines as a surrogate way to retrieve webpages from blocked sites has already been widely reported. A search for "Dalai lama" in English on the Chinese version of Google brought up numerous references on foreign websites, but Forum 18 could not access most of the actual pages either directly or through the cached version, though references on domestic websites were accessible. Searches on the Chinese version of Yahoo – whether in English or in Chinese characters - and on the English-language Google site from within China brought similar results. On one occasion when Forum 18 tried to search for "Dalai lama" using the Chinese characters on the Chinese version of Google, the server could not be found.


Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where for specific blocked sites a message appears stating bluntly that access is "not allowed", Chinese servers either tell the customer that the site is unavailable, that there is an error, or that the site cannot be found. On other occasions the attempt to access the site simply times out.


More research needs to be done on where the barring is taking place, whether at the national gateway or on ISP servers, although it is known the Chinese government is devoting a vast level of resources to creating increasingly sophisticated software to bar "unwelcome" material more efficiently.


Penalties for "unacceptable" web use


Not only is the government working hard to deny access to unwelcome content. It has taken steps to prevent religious communities and individual believers within China trying to use the internet for what it regards as unacceptable purposes. Article 19 of China's regulations on registering domain names, which went into force in September 2002, bars the registration of domain names if the site is used to harm state interests. Clause 5 of the regulations bans websites that violate "state religion policies or propagate cult and feudal superstition".


Amnesty International reports that Zhang Haitao, a computer engineer from Jilin Province, was arrested as far back as July 2000 for creating a Falun Gong website within China. Charged with subversion, it remains unknown whether he has been sentenced or where he is being held.


Just as those posting what are regarded as subversive political contributions to bulletin boards have on occasion been given long prison terms, those using the internet to post religious news the authorities does not like can be punished. Several Falun Gong practitioners who used the internet to distribute news about the plight of fellow-practitioners have been given long sentences.


In the first known crackdown on Christians who used the internet for similar purposes, in November 2003 the police arrested a computer technician who posted articles online supporting Protestant house churches. Zhang Shengqi was detained in the northeastern city of Jilin and charged with leaking state secrets. The police suspected Zhang of helping Protestant church historian Liu Fenggang post information about the crackdown on house churches in the eastern city of Hangzhou. Liu, a veteran pro-democracy campaigner, was also detained in Hangzhou on state secrets charges. The two – together with a third man who had printed Liu's reports – were originally charged with "inciting the gathering of state secrets" but this was changed to "providing intelligence to organisations outside China". They were tried in March 2004, though no sentence is yet known.


Despite the ever-present threats, internet users often contribute direct comment to political and even some religious bulletin boards. One viewed by Forum 18 contained discussions about religion, including Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama, which were quite supportive of these communities and critical of the government. Even more interestingly, most of the discussants were based in China. Another bulletin board on house church issues is billed as the only internet bulletin in China that serves "spiritually pure and upright brothers and sisters". Forum 18 found the discussions on this board to be particularly fierce, with several participants vehemently criticising the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the churches it sponsors. Other contributors took a more moderate line, but were instantly attacked as "unbelievers" (a common epithet among house church adherents for members of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement). Another Chinese-based religion site included discussions primarily on the metaphysical aspect of religion.


Why are sites blocked?


The findings of Forum 18's survey correspond with the general perception of a Chinese state that remains deeply concerned about maintaining internal stability and by extension, the continuation of Communist rule. Nearly all blocked websites have content critical of the government's policy on religion, while groups like the China Aid Association and the Committee for the Investigation of Persecution of Religion in China provide detailed accounts of state repression. From the state's perspective, these websites, by virtue of their content, publicly question the legitimacy of the Communist state and may thus serve as agents of agitation and "public disorder" within China.


Alongside persistent worries over internal stability, the Communist government remains highly sensitive to perceived threats to China's territorial integrity. This appears to be the primary factor behind the decision to block websites that support the Dalai Lama or the Uyghur Muslims, who advocate territorial independence, or "separatism" in official Chinese parlance. This "external" factor may also account for the surprisingly large number of Roman Catholic websites blocked, albeit with a slightly different twist.


The Roman Catholic Church has never been known to be a supporter of "separatism". However, in its ongoing dispute with the Chinese government, it has retained diplomatic ties with Taiwan (against the Chinese government's express wishes) and has insisted that the Vatican has the right to train and appoint Chinese Catholic clerics. The Chinese Communist state vehemently opposes this view, insisting that all religious communities in China be "self-supporting" and not subject to foreign influence, a perspective based on the historical view that Western religions were instrumental in creating China's semi-colonial status for the 100 years between the middle of the 19th century and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Today, this perception – that foreign states harbour little genuine goodwill toward China – has been applied to the state's crackdown against Falun Gong, which may provide another justification for the blocking of Falun Gong websites.


These factors certainly do not discount the significance of ideological "contradictions", to use Marxist parlance, in the state's decision to block certain religious websites. However, that many others are accessible in China provokes speculation about the state's attitude toward religion. While proclaiming that the Communist state has now embraced religions in general would be going too far, the decision to permit access to some religious websites may reflect a more utilitarian conception of religion. In other words, while Communism remains antithetical to religion, religion can still serve as an instrument to realise Communist objectives. This utilitarian view of religion can be seen in internal Communist Party and government documents.


Given the plethora of websites with religious content deemed to be "anti-China", it is surprising that the Chinese state has not encouraged the mass organisations representing the five "recognised" religions, as well as appropriate state agencies, to use the same medium for a "counter-offensive". Other than the Amity Foundation, which essentially serves as an Internet surrogate for the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and the China Christian Council, neither the Daoist Association of China, the Catholic Patriotic Association nor the Islamic Association of China hosts or sponsors websites.


The Chinese Association of Buddhism sponsors a website (www.buddhism.com.cn) that functions somewhat like the Amity Foundation for the Protestant Christian groups. Other related groups operate websites too. A qigong site (www.chinaqigong.net) seems to be affiliated with the China Qigong Scientific Research Society. The China Anti-Cult Association also maintains a website (www.anticult.org), which mainly attacks Falun Gong. A Chinese government site gives its views on Tibet (www.tibetinfor.com.cn), which contrasts sharply with the blocked foreign site www.tibet.com. The government's State Administration for Religious Affairs does not appear to host any website of its own.


Just as the state seems to be under-utilising the power of the Internet, there is also little indication that repressed religious groups other than the Falun Gong movement have used it as a platform for information exchange, mobilisation and coordination. For example, none of the unregistered Protestant "house church networks" has an Internet portal. This does not mean that individuals are not using electronic mail to communicate with each other regularly. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, at least some Chinese religious adherents are prepared to engage openly online in fierce discussions about religious doctrines and state policies toward religious communities. However, these individuals are certainly concerned that a website, even as it may advance the cause of the group, can also bring publicity that might harm their existence and that of their groups.


Censorship is religious freedom violation


Censorship of websites by restrictive governments has been noted in a range of countries, from China to Saudi Arabia to Iran to Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan. All of these to a greater or lesser extent bar access to religious websites the authorities do not like. Forum 18 has established that in Uzbekistan, sites deemed sympathetic to Muslims opposed to the regime of President Islam Karimov are routinely blocked (see F18News 19 June 2003 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=86 ). Saudi Arabia bars Arabic-language and foreign-language Christian, Baha'i and numerous other religious sites.


But the censorship of religious websites in China is more extensive and more expensive than in any other country of the world. The sheer number of Chinese with access to the internet and number of religious websites with Chinese-language content, combined with the level of state control over free religious practice, makes the censorship of religious sites a severe restraint on the religious rights of all residents of China.

http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article254421.ece


KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY:


Right-wing politicians want to ban Islam


Carin Pettersson 19.07.04 12:00


Central members of Kristiansand Progress party claims Hitler’s «Mein Kampf» and the Koran are one of the same, and they want Islam banned in Norway.


According to the Norwegian paper Dagbladet, central figures in Kristiansand Progress party (Frp) wants to ban Islam in Norway.


«We are not the only ones demanding this ban,» said Halvor Hulaas, chairperson in Krstiansand Frp to the paper. «This is an opinion that is well established in Scandinavian countries. We are now importing people with a religion that is practiced in the same way it was practiced when it was established in year 600. The freedom we have in Norway may be taken away from us if we do not start to have some demands to these immigrants.»


Karina Udnوs, deputy leader of the Progress party’s city council group in Kristiansand is pushing it even further.


«It is about high time Norway and Europe make the ideology Islam and the practice of this, illegal and punishable in the same way as Nazism,» Udnوs said. «The prophet Muhammad urged them to kill everyone infidel.»


«Udnوs’ comparison of Nazism and Islam is supported by many in Frp,» Hulaas said. «The religion as it is practiced is a threat against our social system and way of life.»


He said that Kristiansand now lives under the threat of getting a large mosque in town.


«Of course, we are aware of what these mosques are used for,» Hulaas said.

by Harun Yahya


(Friday 16 July 2004)


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"Indeed, the disbelievers of our time are determined not to abandon their "religion" because their ancestors, Darwin, Lenin, Stalin and Mao, had put their faith in it and worshipped its gods. Their ancestors believed that life came into existence from lifeless matter, that living beings evolved from one another as a result of mutations, and that there is no Creator who created everything from nothing.."


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RELIGIONS OF IRRELIGION: MATERIALISM AND DARWINISM


Materialism is an ideology that has existed since time immemorial and holds that the only absolute being is matter. According to this false belief, matter has existed from the infinite past and will remain forever. The most significant feature of materialism is its rejection of the existence of a Creator and other religious beliefs. There are many movements and ideologies in the world that hold irreligion as their main dogma, and materialism is the foundation of a great majority of them. To put it another way, the most effective influence in irreligion is materialism.


Since the time of the Sumerians and ancient Greeks, materialist thinking has permeated human history. However, it was mainly in the 19th century that this superstitious belief made its way to a well-established system of thought. But one obstacle to materialist understanding as it gathered momentum was the question, "How did the universe and living beings come into existence?"


It was within the same century that the theory of evolution, presented by Charles Darwin, provided an answer (which actually had no scientific validity) that the materialists had sought for so long. According to this baseless theory, lifeless materials came together coincidentally due to random forces to form the first cell. And according to Darwinism, all living beings on the earth subsequently developed thanks to the evolution of that very first cell.


Through these claims Darwin quickly became the architect of the greatest falsehood in the history of science. His theory, grounded on not a speck of scientific finding, is but fallible reasoning, as he himself admitted. Indeed, Darwin confessed in his book The Origin of Species that the evolution theory was lacking in the face of many important questions.


Still, he expected that advances in science would make it possible to overcome those difficulties and that new scientific findings would consolidate his theory. He often mentioned this in his book, but contrary to what Darwin hoped, advances in science actually disproved the fundamental assumptions of the theory, one by one. Indeed, in spite of all the evolutionist propaganda, the theory of evolution is, as stated by Michael Denton, an Australian biologist, "a theory in crisis."


Throughout the 19th century scientific facts pertaining to the theory of evolution were totally unknown. Meanwhile, for materialists in search of scientific support, this theory was seized as an unprecedented opportunity since what Charles Darwin presented was denial of the existence of a Creator. At that period the assertion that human beings had developed from inanimate materials by pure chance was exactly what the materialists wanted to hear.


Phillip Johnson, a professor at the University of Chicago, renowned and well respected in academic circles for his books and criticisms of the theory of evolution, makes clear what the theory represents for irreligious systems of thought:


...The triumph of Darwinism implied the rejection of God and set the stage for replacing biblical religion with a new faith based on evolutionary naturalism. That new faith would become the basis not just of science but also of government, law and morality. It would be the established religious philosophy of modernity.1


The words of Phillip Johnson indicate the real aim of the advocates of this philosophy of irreligion. Materialists, driven to form an irreligious society that rejects the existence of Allah and His law, claim that there is no one to whom human beings must feel responsible. The misguided rationale satisfies their desire for a kind of human being who is not accountable to anyone. Their ambition is summed up by one of their scientists as follows:


Man stands alone in the universe, a unique product of a long, unconscious, impersonal, material process, with unique understanding and potentialities. These he owes to no one but himself, and it is to himself that he is responsible.2


Any person of sound mind and conscience can see, without difficulty, the senseless reasoning inherent in the statements above. The author of these statements, a scientist with a material outlook on life, attributes man's existence to his own success. However, it is obvious that at no stage of this process did man exercise his own faculty of decision-making or authority. It was Allah who created man on earth in perfect form, but the passion for being "accountable to no one" led materialists to expect that unconscious and mindless matter could form conscious and intelligent beings.


It should be remembered that the longing of disbelievers for freedom from accountability is not peculiar to materialists and evolutionists of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the Qur’an, Allah informs us about the existence of previous peoples who shared the same mind-set:


“Does man think that he will be left neglected? Had he not been a sperm from semen emitted? Then he was a clinging clot, and [Allah] created [his form] and proportioned [him] and made of him two mates, the male and the female? Is not that [Creator] able to give life to the dead?” (Surah al-Qiyama 75:36-40)


As the verse points out, Allah created man from a drop containing sperm and proportioned him. By no means could man have had any authority to exercise over his own creation because he himself was created. However, despite the explicit description by Allah, some people still dare to attribute their existence on earth to themselves and claim to be "unaccountable" beings.


The concept of man's unaccountability, encouraged by materialist thinking and supported by the theory of evolution, dominates modern social structure and the scientific and ideological world of today. This deviant understanding which wages war against the moral values that provide order and unity to society has resulted in generations exposed to ever increasing decline.


Today, science has proved that materialist conceptions as well as the theory of evolution are false, that they are not based on any scientific evidence whatsoever, and that they continue to be refuted by scientific findings. Yet, under the persistent social inculcation of the last 150 years, materialism and the theory of evolution are still being advocated by many people as though they were proven facts. That is because the advocates of irreligion desperately need them both to deny the existence of Allah and to distance people from religion and moral values. Otherwise, they would be deprived of any grounds on which to defend their irreligion.


DEFENDING A THEORY ABANDONED BY SCIENCE


Many scientists of our day clearly admit why they continue to defend the concepts of evolution and materialism despite more recent scientific facts. For instance, Phillip Johnson quotes and comments on statements by Richard Lewontin, a geneticist from Harvard University and fervent advocator of the evolution theory with blind faith in materialism:


"The primary problem is not to provide the public with the knowledge of how far it is to the nearest star and what genes are made of... Rather, the problem is to get them to reject irrational and supernatural explanations of the world..." What the public needs to learn is that, like it or not, "we exist as material beings in a material world, all of whose phenomena are the consequences of material relations among material entities. In a word, the public needs to accept materialism, which means that they must [reject] God..."


These statements clearly indicate the materialists' outlook on life based on misguided rationale. Facts introduced by science today reveal that the claims asserted are contrary to logic and reason. But despite all scientific data, they are blindly committed to their beliefs and continue in efforts on behalf of their cause. Dr. Michael Walker, an anthropologist from the University of Sydney, explains why the theory of evolution is still being promoted:


One is forced to conclude that many scientists and technologists pay lip service to Darwinian theory only because it supposedly excludes a creator.


Phillip Johnson, who refuses the scientifically unjustifiable claims of Darwinism, elaborates on why it has had such an "irreplaceable" importance for the unbelieving leaders of science and why they maintain it at all costs:


Leaders of science see themselves as locked in a desperate battle against religious fundamentalists, a label which they tend to apply broadly to anyone who believes in a Creator who plays an active role in worldly affairs... Darwinism plays an indispensable ideological role in the war against fundamentalism. For that reason, the scientific organizations are devoted to protecting Darwinism rather than testing it, and the rules of scientific investigation have been shaped to help them succeed.


The prominent advocates of materialist and atheist philosophies committed to promote them throughout the world have, as stated by Johnson, embraced Darwin's theory of evolution solely because it provides a so-called scientific basis for their own ideologies. This was observed from the time the theory of evolution was first put forward. Karl Marx, the founder of dialectic materialism who harbored enmity against religion, often stressed the significance of the theory for his ideology. And in a letter Marx wrote to his close friend Engels, he made clear his thoughts on Darwinism:


...This is the book which contains the basis in natural history for our views.


And after having read Darwin's book, The Origin of Species Friedrich Engels commented:


Our theory is a theory of evolution, not a dogma to be learned by heart and to be repeated mechanically.


An American botany professor, Conway Zirkle, explains why the founders of communism, Marx and Engels, adopted Darwinism:


Marx and Engels accepted evolution almost immediately after Darwin published The Origin of Species… Evolution, of course, was just what the founders of communism needed to explain how mankind could have come into being without the intervention of any supernatural force, and consequently it could be used to bolster the foundations of their materialistic philosophy. In addition, Darwin's interpretation of evolution – that evolution had come about through the operation of natural selection – gave them an alternative hypothesis to the prevailing teleological explanations of the observed fact that all forms of life are adapted to their living conditions. Actually, natural selection made it possible to drop teleology completely and, as a result, the scientists could explain the organic world in materialistic terms.


As these statements make clear, the sole reason why Marx and Engels supported Darwin was the aversion they felt for religion. That is why they held on to mechanisms which had no scientific value and were merely figments of the imagination. Indeed, Friedrich Engels explains in his book why he considers the theory of evolution important:


He [Darwin] dealt the metaphysical conception of nature the heaviest blow by his proof that the organic world of today – plants, animals, and consequently man too – is the product of a process of evolution going on through millions of years.


Obviously, Engels also made the mistake of assuming that the theory of evolution gave an explanation for how the millions of different types of living beings on earth came into existence. It was not only Engels who assumed that Darwin's theory was a verified fact, but Joseph Stalin, the bloodiest communist leader of history, also stressed the significance of the theory in his autobiography:


In order to disabuse the minds of our seminary students, of the myth that the world was created in six days, we had to acquaint ourselves with the geological origin and age of the earth, and be able to prove them in argument; we had to familiarize ourselves with Darwin's teachings.


Clearly, the common point between the materialist systems of thought and Darwin's theory of evolution is, without doubt, irreligion, and the sole purpose of their advocates is to make people deny the existence of God. In the Qur’an, Allah points to the end of those who deny and lead people to denial:


Then who is more unjust than one who denies the verses of Allah and turns away from them? We will recompense those who turn away from Our verses with the worst of punishment for their having turned away. (Surah al-An‘am, 6:157)


The refutation of materialism will bring an end to the disbelief which is presently in rapid social ascent with each passing day. Toward this end, it is essential to make people aware of the fact that matter is not of an eternal nature and that, in terms of science, the theory of evolution is entirely unjustifiable. Thus, all ideologies that reject the existence of God can be eliminated, and this will be the inescapable end of materialist thought. As Allah stated:


What those [people] are engaged in is destined for destruction, and worthless is what they have been doing. (Surah al-A‘raf, 7:139)


Idolaters of the 20th Century


Allah informs us in the Qur’an about people who worshipped beings other than Him and took statues as deities, giving detailed accounts of His prophets' struggles with those people. Many assume that societies of the past that worshipped idols had a primitive lifestyle and therefore held such a religious view. Consequently, they think that some African tribes currently worship totems because of their primitiveness.


However, on closer examination of the beliefs and viewpoints of societies identified as idolatrous in the Qur’an, it is noticed that those societies bear striking similarities to some contemporary ones. Just as the peoples of the past took lifeless statues or wooden and stone objects as deities, the rationale that accepts lifeless matter as a form of deity is also prevalent in our day. Before proceeding with comparisons between past and contemporary rationales, some information provided in the Qur’an about idolatrous societies should first be reviewed.


One of the communities identified in the Qur’an is that of Prophet Abraham:


“[Mention] when he said to his father, 'O my Father, why do you worship that which does not hear and does not see and will not benefit you at all?”


“When he said to his father and his people, 'What are these statues you are devoted?' they said, 'We found our fathers worshipping them.' He said, 'You were certainly, you and your fathers, in manifest error.'”


As stated in the verses above, Prophet Abraham's father and people embraced lifeless matter as deities which they themselves made with their own hands and which lack any power to create. Considering anything to be a deity means the attribution to it (either in part or in full) of the powers of creation, sustenance, blessing, healing, reckoning, and controlling natural occurrences.


The Idolatrous Belief That Dominates Societies of Today


Idolaters of the past claimed that lifeless statues carved from wood and stone, unable to speak or move, possessed power and even that they created the universe and exercise control over it, so they bowed before them and called on them for health, sustenance and blessings. In light of these facts, it is obvious that people in our day hold the same idolatrous rationale as did idolaters of the past who worshipped lifeless statues. Materialists and evolutionists believe that inanimate substances formed of unconscious atoms possess power. They claim that as a result of chance, lifeless matter organized itself to create complete and complex living beings.


Furthermore, they attribute all occurrences in the universe to lifeless and unconscious atoms in nature. For example, materialists and evolutionists imply that a tornado or an earthquake (which they call "the wrath of mother nature" or "a calamity of nature") occurs at the discretion of "nature." However, they fail to explain what this force called "nature" is or from where it springs. The elements they call "mother nature" or "nature" are actually no different from deities of past idolatrous societies called "earth mother" or "fertility goddess." Only their symbols have been removed; divinity is now attributed to invisible, inanimate matter and to coincidence, which are believed to possess the power of creation.


Pierre Paul Grassب, a French zoologist and fervent evolutionist, explains the hidden gods of evolutionists and materialists as follows:


Chance becomes a sort of providence, which, under the cover of atheism, is not named but which is secretly worshipped.


For example, evolutionists consider a rose blooming in its vivid red color out of muddy soil divine because they believe that the rose came into being all by itself or that the inanimate elements constituting a rose can spontaneously design and form the flower. Similarly, the evolutionists view oranges, apples, strawberries, bananas, grapevines, flowers, deer, lions, elephants, ants, honeybees, flies, marine animals, melons, and parsley, in brief, all living as well as non-living beings to have been capable of creating themselves since they claim that all of these beings and millions of others developed to their current physical states through their own will and consciousness.


Evolutionists can tell countless similar stories about the billions of living beings dwelling on earth. Terms such as "natural selection," "random mutation," and "geographical isolation," which provide a so-called scientific touch, embellish the scenarios produced by evolutionists. What they ultimately advocate, in fact, is that lifeless matter in nature can spontaneously form perfect living beings: a banana, an orange, a fly, a stem of parsley, a cat, a carnation, a whale, a giraffe, an ostrich, a butterfly, a spider, an acacia, a mandarin, an ant, an elephant, a violet – as well as their next generations.


Again, according to this ridiculous belief, blind atoms first came together, then somehow organized themselves to form an eye that can see. Their behavioral pattern was so calculated and conscious that it ensured the organization of other atoms which would form the eye cavity and patiently waited for the coincidences which would shape the eye cavity before forming the eye. Evolutionists see the atoms that constitute the eye as deities because they assume them "capable" of creating such a perfect organ. Just as peoples of the past adopted deities associated with rain, the evolutionists also adopted deities – the atoms making up an eye.


From this standpoint one may conclude that the religion of materialists and evolutionists has more than billions times billions times billions of gods to revere. To claim that every being in the universe came into existence spontaneously through coincidence is to accept each one of those beings and forces as a creator. This is no different from the failure of logic which makes one prostrate himself before totems or call on wooden statues for health and prosperity; however, with one difference – the age in which the idolaters happen to live.


However, it is plainly obvious that nothing in the universe can be attributed to coincidences, that a superior consciousness and will is responsible for the life on earth. Every detail of the human body and of nature itself abounds with signs of a great wisdom. The owner of this wisdom is Allah, Lord of the heavens and earth.


False Religions Formed by the Materialistand Evolutionist Outlook on Life


At the root of materialist philosophy lies the desire for a society that rejects not only the existence of Allah but spiritual and moral values, so materialists must implant atheist ideology into people's minds and spread it within society. While rejecting Allah's religion, they can still accept an altered form of religion compatible with materialist views. George Gaylord Simpson, one of the leading names in the Neo-Darwinist movement, describes the sort of religion which is acceptable to evolutionists:


Of course there are some beliefs still current, labeled as religious and involved in religious emotions, that are flatly incompatible with evolution and therefore are intellectually untenable in spite of their emotional appeal. Nevertheless, I take it as now self-evident, requiring no further special discussion, that evolution and true religion are compatible.


Below, some of the attributes of false religion inclusive of distorted beliefs held extensively under the name of religion will be outlined. Unaccustomed to thinking deeply, however, people often fail to notice the faults inherent in those beliefs. It is an important responsibility for sincere believers in Islam to warn people against humanly devised false religions and convey to them the message of the Qur’an, which is the unique source of wisdom that Allah sent down to guide His servants.


1). A false religion holds that God is in the sky.


Despite having faith in the existence of Allah, many people hold extremely erroneous convictions about where He is. Because the materialist maintains that nothing really exists except matter, he inevitably assumes that Allah has to be within the material universe yet fails to imagine the kind of space He might inhabit.


But Allah is the Creator of space, and He is unbounded by it. It is only created beings that are bound by space, and Allah is exalted above all creation, while He encompasses all of it in knowledge.


People under influence of the materialist view of life fail to grasp this obvious truth, assuming that Allah resides in the heavens. Some people look up into the sky while praying, but a person who knows that Allah is all-aware feels His presence wherever he turns. Allah informs us of this reality:


And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.(Surah al-Baqarah, 2:115)


Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle, the Acquainted. (Surah al-An’am, 6:103)


2). A false religion is one that holds that God created the universe, including man, and then left them to their own devices..


False religion holds that Allah first created the entire universe with all its living beings and then left them on their own, simply watching from a distance. According to this understanding, people determine their destiny by themselves alone.


However, Allah is not only unbounded by space but also by time. Therefore, when He created the universe and man, He created them together with their past and future, as if in a single moment. That is to say, Allah created everything with its individual destiny. Without having experienced it, a person can never know his future. But Allah knows the future of every person and every single moment he will experience. He certainly did not create the entire universe and then leave it to its own devices; rather, He created every moment of the lives of all beings from their beginnings to their ends. Everything, whether the fall of a single leaf or the events a person experiences throughout life, takes place in accordance with the destiny predetermined by Allah, who conveys this fact to man in numerous verses:


And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.(Surah al-An’am, 6:59)


3). A false religion is one without belief in the existence of Paradise and Hellfire.


Some people under the influence of materialist thinking do not believe in Paradise and Hell although they might believe in Allah. The major reason for this is the claim that they cannot be sure about the existence of anything they are unable to see with their eyes or touch with their hands.


For a man of wisdom and intellect there are countless signs pointing to the existence of Allah and the Hereafter, such as the present heavens and earth, created with flawless design and unique harmony, and the cell, building block of all living beings. Any person of sound mind can readily understand that Allah created all living beings initially and thus He is able to bring them to life again after their death. Those who refuse to grasp this reality are described in the Qur’an as follows:


And they say, 'When we are bones and crumbled particles, will we [truly] be resurrected as a new creation?' Say, 'Be you stones or iron or [any] creation of that which is great within your breasts.' And they will say, 'Who will restore us?' Say, 'He who brought you forth the first time.'… (Surah al-Isra, 17:49-51)


It is actually the soul and not the body that makes a person what he is. It is not the heap of flesh and bones that constitutes a man; it is his soul. Death puts an end to the body, while the soul continues to live for all eternity. Death is only an experience of transition for the soul to the life of the Hereafter.


Regarding the struggle against the religion of irreligion, there are two important matters that need to be dealt with. One is to disprove the theory of evolution from a scientific perspective so that people will know they have not come into existence as a result of coincidence but through an act of Allah's creation.


The other is to inform people about the real essence of matter and thus help their understanding of the true religion. That Allah encompasses all things and is unbounded by time and space, that all beings are created with their individual destinies, that Paradise and Hell already exist, and that all acts of human beings are ultimately created by Allah are facts introduced by the true religion which are easy to comprehend.


LEADERS OF IRRELIGION WHO CALL PEOPLE TO THE FIRE


In the Qur’an, Allah relates that there have been cruel and tyrannical leaders who drew people away from Allah's path and ordered them to reject His religion. Allah defines them in one verse as "leaders summoning to the Fire." This type of leader is best illustrated by Pharaoh's character as described in the story of Moses, but similar types have existed throughout history. Employing the same methods, these leaders carried out atrocities against their peoples, distanced the masses from true religion, and dragged them to destruction in both this world and the Hereafter.


In our century leaders such as Adolph Hitler (known for his merciless and bloody massacres throughout Europe), Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, and their mentors, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, can be compared with Pharaoh. Charles Darwin nurtured the cruel views of those leaders and supported disbelief with his theory of evolution.


As declared in the Qur’an, Allah's messengers and pious believers always encountered cruel leaders as fierce enemies whenever they came to warn a society. The Qur’an points out that Moses was sent first to Pharaoh:


Then, We sent after them Moses with Our Signs to Pharaoh and his establishment, but they were unjust toward them. So see how was the end of the corrupters.


In our day the most important fronts of disbelief and irreligion have been communism and anarchism, both of which are based on materialism and the theory of evolution. The founders of these ideologies are no longer alive has not reduced their influence; rather, it still persists and is being further intensified by some circles. For a better understanding it might be beneficial to examine the attributes and methods of leaders who "call people to the Fire."


1). They are enemies of religion who hinder their peoples from faith by resorting to oppression.


The major motive of leaders such as Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and Mao, who adopt materialism and apply it to their political systems, is the elimination of religion. Karl Marx, the mentor of communism, shows how materialists view religion:


It [religion] is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.


In an essay entitled The Attitude of the Workers’ Party to Religion,, Lenin explains the stance of communism:


Marxism is materialism. As such, it is as relentlessly hostile to religion as was the materialism of the eighteenth-century Encyclopaedists or the materialism of Feuerbach. This is beyond doubt. But the dialectical materialism of Marx and Engels goes further than the Encyclopaedists and Feuerbach, for it applies the materialist philosophy to the domain of history, to the domain of the social sciences. We must combat religion: that is the ABC of all materialism, and consequently of Marxism..


Although Marx did not live long enough to realize his ambitions, Lenin embraced his evil heritage and established a regime based on irreligion. And the cruel regime of Stalin practiced it very strictly. He carried out the bloodiest massacres in world history, ordering the execution of more than 20 million people. Pol Pot, the communist dictator of Cambodia, who was responsible for the murder of three million people out of a population of only nine million, is also among the most notorious of irreligious leaders. And Enver Hoxha, Albania's communist leader, ordered heavy penalties for every kind of religious belief and worship and declared that he "had founded the first entirely atheist state in the world."


These "pharaohs of the 20th century," bereft of mercy, compassion and love, harbored bitter enmity towards religion as did the ancient Pharaoh, punishing and torturing those who believed. His oppression is depicted in the Qur’an:


[Pharaoh] said, 'You believed him [i.e., Moses] before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic, but you are going to know. I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you all.


2). Defenders of disbelief follow the religion of their predecessors.


It seems incomprehensible that tyrants who carry out pitiless massacres against thousands of people including women and children are followed by so many; however, it is not only true of our own age. In the Qur’an there is extensive mention of societies refusing to give up perverted beliefs, which they referred to as "the religion of our ancestors." One passage states:


And when it is said to them, 'Follow what Allah has revealed', they say, 'Rather, we will follow what we found our fathers doing.' Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided? The example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what he hears nothing but calls and cries [i.e., cattle or sheep] – deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand.


The situation of modern disbelievers who reject every kind of religious and moral value is accurately depicted in the verses above. Indeed, the disbelievers of our time are determined not to abandon their "religion" because their ancestors, Darwin, Lenin, Stalin and Mao, had put their faith in it and worshipped its gods. Their ancestors believed that life came into existence from lifeless matter, that living beings evolved from one another as a result of mutations, and that there is no Creator who created everything from nothing..


Today, many people who still have faith in "the religion of their fathers" blindly believe these fallacies which have now been repeatedly disproved by science. Allah draws attention to the fact that disbelief is passed down from one generation to another:


Similarly, there came not to those before them any messenger except that they said, “A magician or a madman.” Did they suggest it to them [i.e., their descendants]? Rather, they are a transgressing people.


Even when books of scientific evidence are presented to such people and abundant explanations provided regarding their erroneous mind-set, they would not abandon it. The loss of one's abilities to see and comprehend is described in the Qur’an as follows:


And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear.


METHODS OF FIGHTING AGAINST THE RELIGION OF IRRELIGION


The total eradication of disbelief from the face of the earth is essential for the salvation of all people, both in this world and the Hereafter. It is the responsibility of all believers to eliminate disbelief by communicating the message of the Qur’an.. Allah holds every believer responsible for safeguarding himself, his close relatives, and humanity in general from the torment of Hell.


Some people belittle themselves by thinking, "Am I strong enough to oppose disbelief?" This is but a negative suggestion from Satan to make people lose time and hinder the spread of the Qur’an's message. It should be remembered that, as stated by Bedi¸zzaman, "the consent given to ignorance is no different than ignorance; the consent given to error, ignorance and cruelty is erroneous, ignorant and cruel." Hence, those who remain silent, those who do not strive against disbelief although they have the means, and those who obstruct the efforts of others who fight disbelief instead of providing support to them are either knowingly or unknowingly supporting disbelief themselves and facilitating the accomplishment of evil goals.


A sincere believer can never remain uncommitted on such important matters. In compliance with the Qur’an's directives, he will remain extremely alert, vigorous and resolute. The plight of every person who is oppressed, who cannot afford a loaf of bread, who is homeless and out on the streets appeals to his conscience and he feels responsible for them. For example, millions of Muslims endure oppression in Kashmir, East Turkistan, and Palestine only because of their beliefs. In recent years in Kosovo and Bosnia hundreds of thousands of people were brutally tortured, forced out of their homes and lands, and even massacred before the very eyes of the world.. No person of sound conscience can ignore the dismal facts, and all Muslims must work together to remove the tyranny of disbelief over mankind as Prophet Muhammad (saas) stated:


Anas bin Malik narrated that Allah’s Messenger said: “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one. People asked, “O Allah’s Messenger! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor? The Prophet said: “By preventing him from oppressing others.”


The most effective method in fighting disbelief is, without doubt, that employed by Prophet Abraham. People at the time of Abraham worshipped idols they made with their own hands and then expected help from these so-called deities. Prophet Abraham reminded the people that these "deities" before which they prostrated were inanimate beings lacking ability to do a single thing. Just like those who idolized lifeless statues at that time, the disbelievers of our day take lifeless atoms, unconscious nature, and coincidence as deities.


The method used by Abraham to save his tribe from their erroneous beliefs and to awaken them is related in the Qur’an as follows:


When he said to his father and his people, 'What are these statues to which you are devoted?' they said, 'We found our fathers worshipping them.' He said, 'You were certainly, you and your fathers, in manifest error.' (Surah al-Anbiya’, 21:52-54)


“…‘And by Allah, I will surely plan against idols after you have turned and gone away.' So he made them into fragments, except a large one among them, that they might return to it [and question].” (Surah al-Anbiya’, 21:57-58)


When his people were away, Abraham broke the idols they worshipped and showed them the obvious fact that these lifeless statues were incapable of doing anything at all, much less creating something.


Upon the people's return they questioned Prophet Abraham. His response is quite significant because it demonstrates their inconsistent attitude:


“They said, 'Have you done this to our gods, O Abraham?' He said, 'Rather, this- the largest of them- did it, so ask them, if they should be able to speak' So they returned [blaming] themselves and said [to each other], 'Indeed, you are the wrongdoers.' Then they reversed themselves, [saying], ‘You have already known that these do not speak.'” (Surah al-Anbiya’, 21:62-65)


Abraham's people admitted awareness of the reality: “You have already known that these do not speak.” But they continued to accept those lifeless beings as deities solely because of their commitment to the beliefs of their ancestors and rejection of Allah.


The materialists and evolutionists of our day possess a very similar mentality. When considered with an open mind, any evolutionist would have to agree that life is much too complex and perfect to have been formed by mere coincidence. These scientists would also agree to the fact that life must have had a beginning, that is, it was not eternally existent. But despite these realizations they keep their bigoted attitude and deem it impossible to abandon their false deities and place faith in Allah.


Evolutionist scientists must believe in the theory of evolution based on materialism in order to be able to reject Allah, although they know the theory is false. And these individuals are but a few of the leading materialist evolutionists of our day.


Just as Prophet Abraham broke the idols of the idolaters and removed the basis of disbelief by exposing their foolishness, believers of today must break the idol of today and render disbelief ineffective. The methods can be listed as follows:


1. Being knowledgeable about the ideas and ideologies advocated by irreligious movements


2. Proving the invalidity of materialism and evolution with scientific evidences


3. Communicating the true religion related in the Qur’an


4. Explaining evidences pointing to the existence of Allah


5. Explaining the kind of life and morality taught in the Qur’an


6. Uniting men of conscience


When supporting one another, believers should motivate other believers to do good deeds and appreciate beneficial services rendered. Bedi¸zzaman pointed out that believers should encourage one another with feelings of brotherhood:


O people of faith! If you do not wish to enter a humiliating condition of slavery, come to your senses and enter and take refuge in the citadel of "Indeed, the believers are brothers” (Surah al-Hujurat: 49:10) in order to defend yourselves against those oppressors who would exploit your differences! Otherwise you will neither be able to protect your lives nor defend your rights… then make your guiding principle in life the exalted principle, "The believers are together like a well-founded building, one part of which supports the other." Then you will be delivered from humiliation in this world and from wretchedness in the Hereafter.

Asslamu Aalykum


have you ever wondered who is that guy in the very famous picture?





or that guy?





well...they are the same person...and his name is "Emad Aakl".


i translated this article about him from http://www.20at.com/article.php?sid=455


read...the Hero's profile


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1.

Emad Aakl


INTRODUCTION




his name is Emad Aakel but the Jews (Zionists) knew him by the name "The Ghost" and "The Scorpion"...and his most famous name is "the 7 souls man" because Zionists failed to kill or arrest him 7 times before the last time when they used an Anti Sheilds missle, 70 bullets and seiging a whole district.....and its God will that all this happened while Emad was less than 22 years old!!!!


let go back in time to see how the kid "Emad" changed from a regular child to a Mojahid who worshiiped God by killing Jews (zionists) as he was always telling those who knew him. which put him on the top of the Zionist assissnations list...just in 5 years of Jihad!


"Emad Hasan Ibrahim Aakel" was born in June 19th, 1971 in Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza strip, his father who was Imam of Al Shohdaa mosque chose the name Emad for his son after the name of the great hero "Emad al Deen Zenki".


INVINCIBLE TEENAGER




since he was a young children Emad got used to go to mosques and in his heart the love of Jihad and martyrdom growed up and as the 1st intfada begun Emad had important rule in it, where he recruited voulnteers to join Hamas and he was very active fighter in clashes and he also formed units to hunt settlers and spies, writing Anti-Israel slogans on walls and he was also known as a big fan of peacful demonstartions.


he studied in one of Jabiyla refugee camp schools and he was one the best 5 students, and in the primary school he was known for his intelligence and he finished high school in 1988 from Falluja school and he was number one on his school,Beit Hanoon city and the whole camp.


then he applied for Al Amal institute in Gaza to study Pharmacy and after he finished the proceduers the occupation forces arrested him and put him in Jail in Sept 23rd, 1988 and he was accused of being a member in Hamas and Intifada activist and he spent 18 month in jail and he went out in March 1990 as he was just 19 years old!


and in the next year he applied for Hattin college to study Sharia but the Zionist didn't allow him to go to Jordan because of his involvment in the first intifada


Emad was put again in Jail shortly after he left it in March 1990 after he was accused of recruitng a Mojahid to join Hamas and so he spent one month in Jail.


to be continued...

I read this exerpt and am curious what others' opinions are on this book and if anybody has read an actual copy. I think it is pertinent to situations going on in current events and as a student of history would like to study some of this work.


Any opinions feel free to add. I have only read this exerpt of one book but there are others which I know the titles of but finding them in English may be near impossible. I went to moragaat.com but was unable to find.


http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ayman_bk.htm

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/ri...2104.shtml


UZBEKISTAN WAGES WAR ON ISLAMIC DRESS


Esmer Islamov: 6/21/04


Samariddin Sharipov


Uzbekistan has recently stepped up a crackdown on female Islamic dress as part of its ongoing campaign against Islamic radicalism. The restrictions take place as official community councils, or makhallas, take on a growing role in providing religious counseling and education to Uzbek believers.


The Uzbek constitution bans wearing religious dress in public, but, to many, the official targeting of women in headscarves and hijab, a robe that covers the entire body, only reflects the government’s growing suspicion of independent practitioners of Islam. The government has blamed Islamic radicals for the March 28-31 bomb attacks on Tashkent and Bukhara, but some Western observers have stated that the violence appeared intended as an act of political protest against the rule of President Islam Karimov. [For background see the EurasiaNet Insight archive].


A controversial decision to ban Muslim headscarves in a school in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley, the country’s religious heartland, illustrates the political stakes involved. [For backgrounds see the EurasiaNet Insight archive].


Gulnora Salokhiddinova, a 14-year-old girl from the village of Margilan, was sent home from school earlier this year after wearing an Islamic headscarf to class. After a general assembly was held to criticize Salokhiddinova, she temporarily quit school, only to return to classes later without her scarf.


Speaking with EurasiaNet, Salokhiddinova’s grandfather stated that the family interprets the attack as an assault on their faith. Adding to the sense of injury; Salokhiddinov’s father is among the hundreds arrested as a suspected member of the Islamic radical group Hizb-ut-Tahir following the March attacks. [For background see the EurasiaNet Insight archive].


"There is no law prohibiting Muslim scarves!" said Sadriddin Salokhiddinov. "No such law! If parliament issues such a law, then OK, we would admit our fault."


So far, the Uzbek government has responded cautiously to reports of the incident. Shoazim Minovarov, chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers’ Committee on Religious Affairs, which has received numerous such complaints in recent months, stated that the school’s decision to "persecute" people for wearing headscarves was "unlawful." But the school’s principal, Zafar Amirov, believes that forbidding the scarf is his duty as a teacher.


"Students at school must wear a uniform," said Amirov, who asserted that he had not received orders "from higher up" to ban the scarf. "We must gradually reform this girl."


Such a desire to stay in line with – or even go beyond – the official policy on sanctioned forms of Islam has gained greater play in the two and a half months since the attacks that killed some 47 people in Tashkent and Bukhara. [For background see the EurasiaNet Insight archive].


Nonetheless, many Uzbeks are afraid to report harassment linked to their religious affiliations. Salokhiddinova said that the school’s staff and students would only express support for her decision to wear the headscarf in private. "Many students and even teachers told me, ‘We would love to wear Muslim scarves, follow the rules of God, but we are scared,’" she said.


That fear appears to also extend to the urban centers targeted in this year’s attacks. One Bukhara woman, a market vendor who asked not to be named, told EurasiaNet that police would only allow her to wear hijab in public if she would show her passport for authorization. The officers stated that the ban on hijab and headscarves was "a temporary measure," the woman said.


Such "temporary measures" have increased in frequency as neighborhood councils, or makhallas, have begun to assist police in their surveillance of citizens suspected of links to extremist groups. In Bukhara, for instance, Nazira Ismailova, the chairperson of makhalla #8, keeps a special file on "Dangerous Groups," families deemed security risks because they have relatives working abroad or children under the age of 18 whose "immature minds," according to Ismailova, could be influenced by Islamic extremists.


"There are two women in our makhalla who wear hijab," Ismailova said. "Presently, we take preventive measures for them. They wear headscarves and long dresses covering the whole body. They are very timid, but we still monitor them."


Shukhrat Ganiyev, a Bukhara-based human rights defender, said that in the past month he has received complaints from 25 groups of people related to violations of religious rights by the police or makhalla committees.


"They [the makhalla committees] hold so-called prosecutorial courts during which they remonstrate people who dress differently," said Ganiyev. "It is a dangerous trend. It is a divisive issue and ...they should stop it."


Each Tuesday, religious guides called "otin oyilar" or "learned women" gather at a neighbor’s house to instruct neighborhood women and girls on the essentials of Islamic beliefs and religious practices. Such "moving" mosques exist in almost all makhallas in the Ferghana Valley, often serving as a replacement for mosques that have been closed by the authorities.


In justifying their bans on hijab and headscarves, makhallas and schools explain that Uzbekistan is a secular state. Despite the constitutional ban on religious clothing, however, no clear consensus exists on whether that provision applies to women’s Islamic headscarves.


The growing role for makhallas in instructing Muslim women could take on even greater significance as authorities continue with arrests of Muslims seen as linked to Hizb-ut-Tahir or other unregistered, independent religious organizations – an illegal offense according to Uzbek law.


Most recently, police arrested some 100 Muslims in the southern Ferghana Valley region of Kashkadarya this May on charges of drug possession and membership in an alleged Islamic radical organization called Jamaat, Forum 18 has reported.


Among those caught up in the sweep is the oldest son of Abidkhan Nazarovon, a popular former immam of Tashkent’s Toktabai mosque, whose sermons calling for women to adopt hijab were heard by hundreds each week. Arrested on May 17, Nazarovon’s whereabouts remain unknown.


Editor’s Note: Esmer Islamov and Samariddin Sharipov are independent journalists in Uzbekistan.