Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.


If your pastor or priest told you that you will be doomed for being gay or lesbian, don't worry, <b>you can still be saved according to CHRISTIANS </b>(although <i>some Christians </i>will say that <i>those Christians </i>are <i>actually <b>NOT</b> Christians</i>) however, you can check up the Christian GAYS websites to see by your own eyes that <b>they believe in actually everything that other protestant and Catholics believes in</b>, but simply they are GAYS AND LESBIANS. not only that, they also believe that <b>the Bible do not condemn homosexuality.</b>


Check out their websites.


GayChristian 101


GayBibleChristians.ORG


What else do you think, that the Christains might do and attribute to God in the future?


Salam


Wael.

Muslim Ghettoisation


We live in a shrunken world and millions of people are on the move; one of our biggest challenges is how we learn to live in proximity to difference – different skin colours, different beliefs and different way of life. According to a study by COMPAS, Muslims born and educated were given the impression of outsiders. The perception among Muslims is that they are unwelcome in Britain is undermining efforts to help them integrate into wider society. Most of them say that they have experienced race discrimination and religious prejudice. Muslims and Islam is promoted a fundamentalist and separatist by the western elite, which have negative impact on community and social cohesion. The number of racist incidents occurring in London Borough of Redbridge’s schools have reached their highest levels since record begin.


A City or a locality, where Muslims are in majority is a ghetto. There is a tendency for people of similar backgrounds to live together in neighourhoods. The term”ghettoisation” is inappropriate. The original ghettos in Europe during the middle ages were set up by law to confine the Jewish population to one area of a city. According to a research by an Australian academic that Muslim communities in Britain are being increasingly ghettoized in a trend that set back hopes of assimilation by years. Britain has now eight cities in the top 100 most ghettoized cities. The people from the Pakistani community in Bradford and Oldham and Leicester had trebled during the decade. A report by an academic Dr Alan Carling, that Bradford risks becoming a front line in the global clash between the West and Islam. But Islam and Muslims do not clash with the concepts of pluralism, secularism and globalisation. The native flight from Bradford’s inner-city wards showed clear evidence of an increase in segregation in the city since 1991. Native parents are avoiding sending their children in state schools where Muslims and other minorities are in majority. The dominance of Pakistani Muslims in the city has meant that Bradford has become bi-cultural.


Immigrants are the creators of Britain new wealth, otherwise, inner cities deprived areas could not get new lease of life. The native Brits regard such areas as ghettoes. Integration is not religious and cultural, it is economic and Muslims are well integrated into British society and at the same time they are proud of their Islamic, linguistic and cultural identities, inspite of discrimination they have been facing in all walks of life. According to UN, 80% of British Muslims feel discriminated. They are less burden on social services. Immigrants made up 8.7% of the population, but accounted for10.2% of all collected income tax


It is often quoted by the Western media that Muslim schools ghettoizse the children, and even lead to their radicalisation if they are not integrated. There is no evidence that faith schools lead to a “ghettoized education system. In British schools, pupils are encouraged to focus too much on their similarities rather than their differences. The integrationist approach merely results in Muslims feeling that their faith, language and culture is not respected.


Iftikhar Ahmad


www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Bismillah


http://www.4newmuslims.org/e/women/story2.htm


To every woman who is thinking of embracing Islam and has problems. Just read and be inspired, see for yourself how Allah Works miracles when you really depend sincerely on Allah. When you feel the powerful words of Quran and see them materilaise right before your eyes. Allah Uses people, in some cases, to demonstrate to others how Quran is enforceable.


May Allah Keeps her and those who are like her fixed and strong.


Aminah Assilmi


A Girl On A Mission


It all started with a computer glitch. She was a Southern Baptist girl, a radical feminist, and a broadcast journalist. She was a girl with an unusual caliber, who excelled in school, received scholarships, ran her own business, and were competing with professionals and getting awards – all these while she was going to college. Then one day a computer error happened that made her take up a mission as a devout Christian. Eventually, however, it resulted into something opposite and changed her life completely around.


It was 1975 when for the first time computer was used to pre-register for a class in her college. She was working on her degree on Recreation. She pre-registered for a class and then went to Oklahoma City to take care of a business. Her return was delayed and she came back to college two weeks into the class. Making up the missed work was no problem for her, but she was surprised to find that the computer mistakenly registered her for a Theatre class, a class where students would be required to perform in front of others.


She was a very reticent girl and she was horrified to think about performing in front of others. She could not drop the class for it was too late


to do so. Failing the class was also not a choice, for she was receiving a scholarship that was paying for her tuition and receiving an ‘F’ would have jeopardized it.


Advised by her husband, she went to her teacher to work out some other alternative to performing, such as preparing costumes, etc. Assured by the teacher that he would try to help her, she went to the next class and was shocked by what she saw. The class was full of Arabs and “camel jockeys”. That was enough for her. She came back home and decided not to go back to the class anymore. It was not possible for her to be in the middle of Arabs. “There was no way I was going to sit in a room full of dirty heathens!”


Her husband was calm as usual. He pointed out to her that God has a reason for everything and that she should think about more before quitting. Besides, there was the scholarship that was paying her tuition. She went behind locked doors for 2 days to think about. When she came out, she decided to continue the class. She felt that God gave her a task to convert the Arabs into Christianity.


Thus she found herself with a mission to accomplish. Throughout the class, she would be discussing Christianity with her Arab classmates. “I proceeded to explain to them how they would burn in the fires of hell for all eternity, if they did not accept Jesus as their personal savior. They were very polite, but did not convert. Then, I explained how Jesus loved them and had died on the cross to save them from their sins. All they had to do was accept him into their hearts.” They still did not convert, and so she decided to do something else: “I decided to read their own book to show to them that Islam was a false religion and Mohammed was a false God”.


At her request, one student gave her a copy of the Qur’an and another book on Islam. With these two books she started on her research, which she was to continue for the next one and half years. She read the Qur’an fully and another fifteen books on Islam. Then she came back to the Qur’an and re-read it. During her research, she started taking notes that she found objectionable and which she would be able to use to prove that Islam was a false religion.


Unconsciously, however, she was changing from within which did not escape the attention of her husband. “I was changing, just in little ways but enough to bother him. We used to go to the bar every Friday and Saturday, or to a party, and I no longer wanted to go. I was quieter and more distant.” She stopped drinking and eating pork. Her husband suspected her of having an affair with another man, for “it was only for a man that a woman changes”. Ultimately, she was asked to leave, and she soon found herself living in a separate apartment.


Watching A Rose Open - Petal By Petal


Throughout these times, she continued studying Islam and although she was changing subtly from within, she remained a devout Christian. Then one day, there was a knock on her door. It was a man in traditional Muslim robe, who appeared to her as a “man in a long white night gown with a red and white checkered table cloth on his head”. His name was Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik and he was accompanied by three other men in similar dress. She was very offended by Muslim men coming to her in nightgowns and pajamas. She was further shocked when Abdul-Aziz told her that he understood that she waited to be a Muslim. She replied that she was a Christian and she did not have any plan to become a Muslim. However, she had some questions to ask if they had the time.


At her invitation, they came inside. She now brought up the questions and objections that she noted down while she was researching. “I will never forget his name”, she said of Abdul-Aziz who proved to be a very patient and soft-mannered person. “He was very patient and discussed every question with me. He never made me feel silly or that a question was stupid.” Abdul-Aziz listened to every question and objection and explained it within the proper context. “He explained that Allah had told us to seek knowledge and questions were one of the ways to accomplish that. When he explained something, it was like watching a rose open – petal by petal, until it reached its full glory. When I told him that I did not agree with something and why, he always said I was correct up to a point. Then he would show me how to look deeper and from different directions to reach a fuller understanding.”


It would not be long before she would externally submit to what she had already been submitting to internally during the last one and half years. Later in that same day, this Southern Baptist girl would declare in front of Abdul-Aziz and his companions: “I bear witness that there is no god but God and Mohammed is His Messenger.” It was May 21, 1977.


A Sacrifice For Faith & Conviction


Conversion to Islam, or to any other religion for that matter, is not always a simple thing to do. Except for a few fortunate ones, a new Muslim usually face consequences. The convert may face isolation from family and friends, if not pressure to go back to the family faith. Sometimes, a convert may even face sever economic hardship, as in the case of those who are asked to leave the house because of converting to Islam. Some converts are fortunate to continue to be well respected by family and friends, but most of them face minor to severe hardship especially during the first few years after the conversion.


But the difficulty that Aminah Assilimi had to go through and the sacrifice that she had to make for the sake of her conviction and faith is almost unheard of. There are few who could rely so much on Allah as she did, standing firm and meeting the challenges, making sacrifices, and yet maintaining a positive posture and influencing people around with the beauty of what she found and believed in.


She lost most of her friends, for she was “no fun anymore”.


Her mother did not accept her becoming a Muslim and hoped that it was a temporary zeal and that she would soon grow out of it.


Her “mental health expert” sister thought that she lost her mind. She attempted to put her in a mental health institution.


Her father was a calm and wise man. People would come to him for advice and he could comfort anyone in distress. But when he heard that his daughter became a Muslim, he loaded his double-barrel shotgun and started on his way to kill her. “It is better that she be dead rather than suffering in the deepest of Hell”, he said.


She was now without friends and without family.


She soon started wearing hijab. The day she put it on, she was denied her job. She was now without family, friends, and job. But her greatest sacrifice was yet to come.


She and her husband both loved each other very much. But while she was studying Islam, her husband misunderstood her for her apparent changes. She became quieter and stopped going to the bar. Her changes were visible to him and he suspected her of having affair with another man, for whom she must have been changing. She could not explain to him what was happening. “There was no way to make him understand what was changing me because I did not know.” Eventually he asked her to leave and she started living separately.


After she openly accepted Islam, it went worse. A divorce was now inevitable. This was a time when Islam was little known, much less understood for what it is. She had two little children whom she loved dearly and whose custody should have rightfully be given to her. But in a grave violation of justice, she was denied their custody just because she became a Muslim. Before giving the formal verdict, the judge offered her a harsh choice: either renounce Islam and get custody of the children, or keep Islam and leave the children. She was given 20 minutes to make a decision.


She loved her children very dearly. It is perhaps the worst nightmare that a mother can have: asked to willfully leave her child - not for one day, month, or year, but forever. On the other hand, how could she keep the Truth away from her children and live as a hypocrite? “It was the most painful 20 minutes in my life”, she said in an interview. Those of us who are mothers and fathers, especially of young children, little imagination is needed to feel the pain and torment that she must have passed every second in those 20 minutes. What added further to her pain was that according to doctors, she could never bear another child because of certain complications. “I prayed like I had never done before … I knew that there was no safer place for my children to be than in the hands of Allah. If I denied Him, there would be no way in the future to show my children the wonders of being with Allah.”


She decided to retain Islam. Her two dear children – one little boy and one little girl – were taken away from her and given to her ex-husband.


For a mother, is there a sacrifice greater than this – a sacrifice that is done for no material reason but only for faith and conviction?


“I left the court knowing that life without my babies would be very difficult. My heart bled, even though I knew, inside, I had done the right thing” . She found comfort in the following verse of the Qur'an:


Allah! there is no god


But He – the Living,


The Self-subsisting, Eternal.


No slumber can seize Him


Nor sleep. His are all things


In the heavens and on earth.


Who is there can intercede


In His presence except


As He permitteth? He knoweth


What (appeareth to his creatures


As) Before or After


Or Behind them.


Nor shall they compass


Aught of His knowledge


Except as He willeth.


His throne doth extend


Over the heavens


And the earth, and He feeleth


No fatigue in guarding


And preserving them


For He is the Most High,


the Supreme (in glory).


(Quran 2: 255)


Help of Allah Is Always Near!


Or do ye think


That ye shall enter


The Garden (of Bliss)


Without such (trials)


As came to those


Who passed away


Before you?


They encountered


Suffering and adversity,


And were so shaken in spirit


That even the Messenger


And those of faith


Who were with him


Cried: "When (will come)


The help of Allah?"


Ah! Verily the help of Allah


Is (always) near!


(Quran 2: 214)


Perhaps the air of Colorado was too thin for justice. Or perhaps there was a plan in Allah’s greater scheme of affairs. Aminah Assilimi later fought back and took her case to the media. Although she did not get custody of her children again, a change was made in the Colorado law that one cannot be denied child custody on the basis of his or her religion.


Indeed Allah’s love and mercy engulfed her so much that, as if, she has been granted the touchstone of Islam. Wherever she goes, people are touched by her beautiful words and Islamic manners and become Muslim.


By accepting Islam, she became a changed person, and a much better person. So much so that her family, relatives, and people around her started appreciating her mannerism and the faith that brought about such changes in her. Despite her family’s initial reaction, she remained in touch with them and addressed them with respect and humility, just as the Qur’an enjoins the Muslims to do. She would send cards to her parents on different occasions, but she would always write down a verse from the Qur’an or the Hadith without mentioning the source of such beautiful words of wisdom. It was not long before she started making a positive influence among her family members.


The first to become Muslim was her grand mother. She was over 100 years old. Soon after accepting Islam, she died. “The day she pronounced Shahada, all her misdeeds had been erased, while her good deeds were preserved. She died so soon after accepting Islam that I knew her “book” was bound to be heavy on the good side. It fills me with such a joy!”


Next to become Muslim was her father, the one who wanted to kill her after she became Muslim. Thus he brought alive the story of Umar ibn Khattab. Umar was a companion of the Prophet who persecuted the early Muslims before he converted to Islam. When he heard one day that his sister became a Muslim, he went out with an open sword to kill her. But upon hearing some of the verses from the Qur’an that his sister was reciting, he recognized the truth and went straight to the Prophet and accepted Islam.


Two years after she (Assilmi) accepted Islam, her mother called and said that she appreciated her faith and hoped that she would keep it. Couple of years later, she called again and asked her about what one would need to do to become a Muslim. Assilmi replied that one had to believe that there is only One God and Muhammad was his Messenger. “Any fool knows that. But what do you have to do?”, she asked again. She replied that if that is what she believed, then she was already a Muslim! At this, her mother said, “Well … OK. But let’s not tell your father just yet”.


She was not aware that her husband (Assilmi’s step father) had had the same conversation with her a few weeks earlier. Thus the two lived together as Muslims for years in secret without knowing that the other was also a Muslim.


Her sister who wanted to put her in mental institution accepted Islam as well. She must have realized that becoming Muslim is indeed the most healthy and sound thing to do.


Her son, upon becoming adult, accepted Islam. When he turned 21, he called her and said that he wanted to become a Muslim.


Sixteen years after the divorce, her ex-husband also accepted Islam. He said that he had been watching her for sixteen years and wanted his daughter to have the same religion that she had. He came to her and apologized for what he had done. He was a very nice gentlemen and Assilimi had forgiven him long ago.


Perhaps the greatest reward for her was yet to come. Assilmi later married another person, and despite the doctors’ verdict that she could never conceive another child, Allah blessed her with a beautiful boy. If Allah (swt) makes a gift to someone, who can prevent Him? It was truly a wonderful blessing from Allah (swt), and so she named him “Barakah”.


Radiating With Allah's Love


it was for me to share the truth of Islam with


The sacrifice that Assilmi made for the sake of Allah (swt) was tremendous. And so Allah (swt) turned in mercy to her and rewarded her with enormous blessings. Her family discarded her after she accepted Islam, and now by Allah’s mercy, most of them are Muslim. She lost her friends because of Islam, and now she is being loved by so many. “Friends who loved came out of nowhere”, she said. Allah’s blessings came upon her so much that wherever she goes people are touched by the beauty of Islam and accept the Truth. Both Muslims and non-Muslims now come to her for advice and counseling.


She lost her job because of wearing hijab, and now she is the President of the International Union of Muslim Women. She delivers lectures nationwide and is on high demand. It was her organization that successfully lobbied for the “Eid Stamp” and had it approved by the United States Postal Service, but it took many years of work. She is now working on making the Eid Day as a national holiday.


She has tremendous trust on Allah’s love and mercy and she never looses faith on Him. She was once diagnosed with cancer some years ago. Doctors said that it was in an advanced stage and that she would live for another year. But her faith in Allah (swt) remained strong. “We must all die. I was confident that the pain I was experiencing contained blessings.” As a brilliant example of how much one can love Allah, she mentions about a friend of her named Kareem Al-Misawi who died of cancer when he was in his 20’s:


"Shortly before he died, he told me that Allah was truly Merciful. This man was in unbelievable anguish and was radiating with Allah’s love. He said: “Allah intends that I should enter heaven with a clean book.” His death experience gave me something to think about. He taught me of Allah’s love and mercy."


All praise is due to Allah, she continues to live in good health. She now thinks that having cancer was the greatest blessing that she ever had.


Assilmi’s is a story of faith and conviction. It is a story of test and tribulation and success. It is a story of triumphant victory of faith. It is a story of inspiration for the rest of us, and it is a story of confidence and reliance on Allah. It is story of Allah’s love and mercy, and it is a story of Allah’s promise come true. “True, Allah has tested me as was promised, and rewarded me far beyond what I could ever hoped for”.


May Almighty Allah continue to shower His love, mercy, and blessings on this wonderful Muslima. May Allah grant her long life and enable her to do more and more work for Islam. May Allah benefit more and more people by her story and example, and turn their hearts to the Message of Truth, and to His love and mercy.


Bibliography


Aminah Assilmi, Choosing Islam (The Introduction and Decision)


Scripps Howard News Service: Former Baptist Explains why she is now a Muslim, Nov 1, 1997


The Post (Ohio Univ Student Newspaper), Veil is Not Oppressive, Oct 25, 1995


Aminah Assilmi, Getting to Know Allah Through Nature (video)


Welcome Back, a radio interview of Aminah Assilmi by Islamic Foundation of America, August, 2001


The Religion of Islam


The Noble Qur'an


Prophet Muhammad


Pillars of Islam


Articles of Faith


Worship


Articles


Other Topics


Woman in the Faith Islam


The fastest growing religion


Why did I embrace Islam? m


The Muslim Woman


Woman's rights in Islam


Family Values in Isalm


Marriage in Islam


Polygamy in Islam


The Virtues of Hijab


Links


Copyright © All Rights Reserved , International Association For New Muslims 2003

Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.











salam


Wael.

What do people think?


Hizbollah right or wrong to take over Beirut in order to protect its telecoms network?


Should Brigadier General Wafiq Shuqeir have been fired from the airport?


Shutting down of Al-Mustaqbal media outlets good or bad?


Did the Lebanese Army handle the situation well?


Al-Qaeda declares war on Hizbollah? http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=54916...ionid=351020203


US blames Hizbollah, Iran and Syria?


Iran blames US and Israel?


Government blames Opposition, Opposition blames Government?


Anyone dare to comment?


Ps. Im strongly pro-Hizbollah incase anyone was wondering.

Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.


Yes that's right, a <b>NEW</b> Bible is out now, however, <b>the game is not new</b>, the "holy" Bble which is considered to be "the word of God" by Christians, is available in <b>thousands + forms</b>, and each one of them is called "<i>God's words</i>" despite the revisions that were made through out the history.

Quote:A new publication of the Bible by a Dutch organization could take a lot of the stress out of reading the Holy Book's instructions for contemporary Christians, according to its publisher.
That's because those troublesome verses about justice for the poor, responsibility for the rich to address their neighbors' needs, and all that talk about money, are gone. Not just edited out, cut out.


A report from Assist News Service said the Western Bible Foundation published the book to meet the "growing wish of many churches to be market-oriented and more attractive."

Quote:"Jesus was very inspiring for our inner health, but we don't need to take his na?ve remarks about money seriously. He didn't study economics, obviously," said a Mr. De Rijke, the chairman of the foundation, in a news release obtained by ANS.

Quote:"What if all Christians stopped being anxious, for example, and started expecting everything from God? Or gave their possessions to the poor, for that matter. Our economy would be lost," he said.
"The truth is quite the contrary: a strong economy and a healthy work ethic is a gift from God," he said.


The foundation's announcement said that it wanted to "boldly go where no one else has gone before" by eliminating those texts.


"We don't use them anyway! There's no single Christian selling his possessions and giving them to the poor," De Rijke added.


The publication, so far, is available only in Dutch, from the well-known Christian publisher Buijten & Schipperheijn. It has discarded passages of the Ten Commandments, sections of Isaiah, the Proverbs, and the Sermon on the Mount. It contains just holes where the original texts urged "radical" actions around money, justice or affluence.


The publisher has reported that it has sold hundreds in just the first few weeks of availability.


However, the names listed for the officials of the foundation, "De Rijke" and "Fortuijn" give away the joke, which sometimes has produced more anger than humor among Christians.


"De Rijke" means "rich," and "Fortuijn" means "fortune," and the Bible actually is published by Time to Turn, a network of Dutch Christian students "who want to choose a sustainable and just way of life, based on their faith in Jesus Christ."


"They do not believe in a new legalism, or in a utopian state, but in a God who is willing to deliver the world from materialism and injustice. Time to Turn is linked to the international student movement Speak," the announcement said.


There was some surprise at the reaction. Frank Mulder, chairman of Time to Turn, said, "Many Christians accept the Western lifestyle, including the degradation of creation and the injustice of our trade, and they only take the easy parts of the gospel. But it isn't until we publish this gospel with holes, that they get confused!"

Sami al-Hajj hits out at US captors


Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj has hit out at the US treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison where he was held for nearly six and a half years.


Saying that "rats are treated with more humanity", al-Hajj said inmates' "human dignity was violated".


Al-Hajj, who arrived in Sudan early on Friday, was carried off the US air force jet on a stretcher and immediately taken to hospital.


Later, he had an emotional reunion with his wife and son.


His brother, Asim al-Hajj, said he did not recognise the cameraman because he looked like a man in his 80s.


Still, al-Hajj said: "I was lucky because God allowed that I be released."


But his attention soon turned to the 275 inmates he left behind in the US military prison.


'Dignity violated'


"I'm very happy to be in Sudan , but I'm very sad because of the situation of our brothers who remain in Guantanamo . Conditions in Guantanamo are very, very bad and they get worse by the day," he said from his hospital bed


"Our human condition, our human dignity was violated, and the American administration went beyond all human values, all moral values, all religious values.


"In Guantanamo ... rats are treated with more humanity. But we have people from more than 50 countries that are completely deprived of all rights and privileges.


"And they will not give them the rights that they give animals," he said.


Al-Hajj complained that "for more than seven years, [inmates] did not get a chance to be brought before a civil court to defend their just case".


Free man


The US embassy in Khartoum issued a brief statement confirming that a "detainee transfer" to Sudan had taken place and saying it appreciated Sudan 's co-operation.


In video


Sami al-Hajj speaks about detention in Guantanamo


Former Guantanamo detainee on al-Hajj


A senior US defence official in Washington speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that al-Hajj was "not being released [but] being transferred to the Sudanese government".


But Sudan 's justice minister told Al Jazeera that al-Hajj was a free man and would not be arrested or face any charges.


Two other Sudanese inmates at Guantanamo , Amir Yacoub al-Amir and Walid Ali, were freed along with al-Hajj.


The two said they were blindfolded, handcuffed and chained to their seats during the flight home.


The Reprieve organisation that represents some Guantanamo inmates said Moroccan detainee Said Boujaadia was also released and flown home on the same aircraft as the three Sudanese.


Al-Hajj was the only journalist from a major international news organisation held at Guantanamo and many of his supporters saw his detention as punishment for the network's broadcasts.


Seized in 2001


He was seized by Pakistani intelligence officers while travelling near the Afghan border in December 2001.


Despite holding a legitimate visa to work for Al Jazeera's Arabic channel in Afghanistan , he was handed to the US military in January 2002 and sent to Guantanamo Bay .


Al-Hajj, who is originally from Sudan , was held as an "enemy combatant" without ever facing trial or charges.


Al-Hajj was never prosecuted at Guantanamo so the US did not make public its full allegations against him.


But in a hearing that determined that he was an enemy combatant, US officials alleged that in the 1990s, al-Hajj was an executive assistant at a Qatar-based beverage company that provided support to Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya .


The US claimed he also travelled to Azerbaijan at least eight times to carry money on behalf of his employer to the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a now defunct charity that US authorities say funded armed groups.


The US also clamed he met Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, allegedly a senior lieutenant to Osama bin Laden who was arrested in Germany in 1998 and extradited to the United States.


His lawyers have always denied the allegations.


'Element of racism'


Al-Hajj had been on hunger strike since January 7, 2007.


David Remes, a lawyer for 17 detainees at Guantanamo Bay , told Al Jazeera that the treatment al-Hajj received "was more horrific than most" and that there was "an element of racism" in the way he was treated.


He said he had been in contact with the lawyer representing al-Hajj and it appeared the cameraman had been "psychologically damaged".


"The Europeans would never receive this treatment," Remes said.


About 275 detainees remain at Guantanamo and the lawyer said European detainees had all been returned to their country, leaving nationalities such as Yemenis - who now constitute one third of the inmate population.


Al Jazeera had been campaigning for al-Hajj's release since his capture in 2001 [EPA]


Remes said al-Hajj had been released because the Bush administration "wants to flush as many men out of Guantanamo as quickly as possible … as Guantanamo has become such an international badge of shame".


"Once the Supreme Court said the men could have lawyers the pressure increased [on the US ] and condemnation isolated the US administration. Guantanamo was a PR disaster," he said.


"Unfortunately Americans appreciate violations of rights but they have no sympathy for men held at Guantanamo as the [bush] administration has done such a good job in portraying them as the worst of the worst and as evil doers.


"I've met many prisoners, gotten to appreciate their suffering ... we know them as humans not as worst of worst, we've met their families.


"I've been to Guantanamo and the human dimension of Guantanamo is a story yet to be told," Remes said.


Al Jazeera concerns


Al Jazeera had been campaigning for al-Hajj's release since his capture nearly six and a half years ago.


Wadah Khanfar, the network's director-general who was in Khartoum to welcome al-Hajj, said "we are overwhelmed with joy".


But he criticised the US military for urging al-Hajj to spy on his employers.


"We are concerned about the way the Americans dealt with Sami, and we are concerned about the way they could deal with others as well," he said.


"Sami will continue with Al Jazeera, he will continue as a professional person who has done great jobs during his work with Al Jazeera.


"We congratulate his family and all those who knew Sami and loved Sami and worked for this moment."


PHOTO CAPTION:


Al-Hajj had an emotional reunion with his son


Al-Jazeera


Friday : 02/05/2008

How can i join the banat section?

السلام عليكم


كيف حالكم


أنا معلم للغة العربية


.هل تريد تعلم العربية؟


I can exchange language with u .lf u want , add me at Messenger (Bagheri10@hotmail.com) or


at Skype (Teacher106) or (Teacher).

Bismillah


as salam alykom


Because we see ourselves as a virtual family, I m pleased to announce that our dear brother Wael had a baby boy named him Ibrahim on the 10th of April. May Allah Makes him a comfort of the eye to both parents, may Allah Makes him grow as a good pious Muslim, May Allah Grant Him useful knowledge ameen...


Mubarak Wael for what Allah Provided and give the same to Umm Habibah.