Discuss Islam

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Religious materials — including Qurans that were burned at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, sparking Afghan protests — were removed from the library of a detainee center “because of extremist inscriptions” on them, a military official said Tuesday.there was “an appearance that these documents were being used to facilitate extremist communications,” a military official said.”Additionally, some of the documents were extremist in and of themselves, apparently originating from outside of Afghanistan,” the official said.The official said the material was burned, but authorities are attempting to determine how much.The uproar prompted Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO’s International Security assistance Force, to issue a directive “that all coalition forces in Afghanistan will complete training in the proper handling of religious materials no later than March 3,” the NATO-led force said..The training will include “the identification of religious materials, their significance, correct handling and storage,” according to the statement from coalition forces.Earlier Tuesday, Allen said the materials were gathered for disposal from the airfield’s Parwan detention facility and inadvertently given to troops for burning.”This was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials,” he said. “It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. it was a mistake. it was an error. The moment we found out about it, we immediately stopped and we intervened.”Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the airfield Tuesday, furious over reports of the burning.Lt. Lauren Rago, a spokeswoman for the coalition forces, told CNN in an e-mail earlier Tuesday that an investigation was under way to determine whether any material was burned before the mistake was discovered and, if so, how much.”We are deeply concerned about the report of Qurans or religious materials being damaged, and will get to the bottom of what actually happened,” she said.But a coalition official acknowledged the materials were improperly burned.Allen said he immediately launched an investigation.”Something like this just cannot happen again,” Allen said.Muslims regard the Quran as the absolute word of God. it is so highly revered that many Muslims will not pick up the holy book without ablution, a ritual washing of the hands.Desecrating the book, such as burning it, is therefore seen as an unforgivable affront — as an act of intolerance and bigotry.Authorities are looking into the reasons why the material was gathered and why the decision was made “to dispose of them in this manner,” Allen said.some troops have been questioned, but there have been no arrests or detentions, according to a coalition official. Afghan officials have been invited to join the investigation.Allen said he has offered “sincere apologies” to Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai. Allen also offered apologies to the Afghan government and “the noble people of Afghanistan.”"This was unintentional,” he said. “There was no intention by any member of ISAF to defame the faith of Islam or to desecrate the precious religious materials of this faith.”"The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities,” Allen said earlier.Local citizens who work at the base discovered the material that had been put into a burn pit by NATO personnel and alerted officials.soon after, demonstrators massed outside the base, chanting “Death to America! Death to the Afghan government! Long live Islam!”As a NATO helicopter circled overhead and black smoke billowed from the ground, men shook their fists in anger. several men launched slingshots in the direction of the base.”The desecration of religious articles is not in keeping with the standards of American tolerance, human rights practices and freedom of religion,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday.”The concern is that some around the world will think that this represents an affirmative statement by the United States, and it does not represent our values or our view of how the Quran ought to be treated,” she said.Allen said, “This is not who we are. These are very, very isolated incidents. We’ve been here a long time. We’ve been shoulder to shoulder with the Afghans for a long time. We’ve been dying alongside the Afghans for a long time because we believe in them. we believe in their country. we want to have every opportunity to give them a bright future.”But “these kinds of incidents, when they do occur, we will move quickly to correct them,” he said. “We will move quickly to hold people accountable.”Photographs surfaced purporting to show the damaged Qurans. A photographer for Agence France-Presse said Afghans who work inside the airfield told him they obtained the Qurans there.But the U.S. military said that was unlikely.”When it became known that it was religious materials that were brought to the incinerator, the materials were secured by the military authorities in consultation with the local Afghan religious authorities, so it would be highly unlikely that the demonstrators would have any of the material from this incident,” said Col. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for the NATO-led force.The U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned on its Twitter feed that protests were possible throughout Afghanistan in the coming days and noted, “Past demonstrations in Afghanistan have escalated into violent attacks on Western targets of opportunity.”Last year, when controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones presided over what he called a trial of the Quran and burned a copy, Afghans took to the streets by the thousands. in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, demonstrators stormed a U.N. office and killed 12 people. in Kandahar, three people were killed in one demonstration, and nine in another when police and stone-throwing demonstrators clashed.American officials vociferously condemned the pastor’s act.”It was intolerant and it was extremely disrespectful and again, we condemn it in the strongest manner possible,” said Gen. David Petraeus, who headed the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan at the time.in 2010, Afghans protested outside the Forward Operating Base Mirwais in response to an alleged Quran burning inside the base. But coalition forces said the suspected burning was a routine burn-pit session in which military documents are destroyed.CNN’s Barbara Starr and Larry Shaughnessy in Washington, Masoud Popalzai in Kabul and Sarah Jones and Ashley Hayes in Atlanta contributed to this report.Copyright CNN 2012

Press TV

Large numbers of people have turned up for angry demonstrations in Afghanistan after US-led forces in the war-wracked country burned copies of the Holy Qur’an, Press TV reports.

The angry protesters on Tuesday held protest rallies in Kabul as well as outside the US Bagram Airbase and chanted anti-US slogans, demanding the trial of the perpetrators of the desecrating act.

At least one Afghan protester was injured after US troops opened fire to disperse the angry demonstrators near the airbase, about 60 kilometers north of Kabul.

The protests came after reports emerged saying that foreign troops had burned “a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Qur’ans” at the Bagram Airbase.

Mohammad Nabi, a protester who said he was an employee at the base, told reporters that US troops killed two Afghan employees and fired five more after they protested the burning of the copies of the Holy Qur’an inside the military base.

Meanwhile, similar protests were held in other parts of the capital and several other Afghan cities.

The US commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan in a statement apologized over the insulting move and ordered a full investigation into the incident.

“when we learned of these actions, we immediately intervened and stopped them,” said General John R. Allen.

“the materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities,” he added.

“we are thoroughly investigating the incident and we are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again. I assure you… I promise you … this was not intentional in any way,” he further said.

The US general also expressed his “sincere apologies for any offence this may have caused, to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan.”

In April 2011, at least ten people were killed and several others injured in successive days of protests in Afghanistan over the burning of the Holy Qur’an in the US.

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – More than 2,000 Afghans rallied Tuesday against the inadvertent burning of Qurans and other Islamic religious materials during trash disposal at an American air base. They demanded to meet the country’s president over the issue and threatened to demonstrate again if their demand was not met.

U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, apologized and ordered an investigation into the incident, which he was “not intentional in any way.”

The incident stoked anti-foreign sentiment that already is on the rise after nearly a decade of war in Afghanistan and fueled the arguments of Afghans who believe foreign troops are not respectful of their culture or Islamic religion.

Early Tuesday, as word of the incident spread, about 100 demonstrators gathered outside the sprawling Bagram Air Field, north of Kabul in Parwan province. as the crowd grew, so did the outrage.

“Die, die, foreigners!” the demonstrators shouted. Some fired hunting guns into the air. others threw rocks at the gate of the base.

Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials took him to a burn pit on the base where 60 to 70 books, including Qurans, were recovered. the books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base, he said.

“Some were all burned. Some were half-burned,” Zahed said, adding that he did not know exactly how many Qurans, the Muslim holy book, had been burned.

Zahed said five Afghans working at the pit told him that the religious books were in the garbage that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported to the pit in a truck late Monday night. When they realized the books were in the trash, the laborers worked to recover them, he said.

“The laborers there showed me how their fingers were burned when they took the books out of the fire,” he said.

Afghan Army Gen. Abdul Jalil Rahimi, the commander of a military coordination office in the province, said he and other officials met with protesters, tribal elders and clerics to try to calm their emotional response. “The protesters were very angry and didn’t want to end their protest,” he said.

One protester, Mohammad Hakim, said if U.S. forces can’t bring peace to Afghanistan, they should go home.

“They should leave Afghanistan rather than disrespecting our religion, our faith,” Hakim said. “They have to leave and if next time they disrespect our religion, we will defend our holy Quran, religion and faith until the last drop of blood has left in our body.”

Later, however, the protesters ended the rally and said they would send 20 representatives from the group to Kabul to talk with Afghan parliamentarians and demanded a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Rahimi said.

In a statement, Allen offered his apologies to the president and people of Afghanistan and thanked the local Afghans “who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action.”

“We are thoroughly investigating the incident and are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again,” Allen said. “I assure you, I promise you, this was not intentional in any way.”

The governor’s office in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan called the incident a “shameful move by some stupid individuals.”

Zia Ul Rahman, deputy provincial police chief, said between 2,000 and 2,500 protesters demonstrated at the base.

“The people are very angry. the mood is very negative,” Rahman said while the rally was going on. “Some are firing hunting guns in the air, but there have been no casualties.”

Police said a similar protest on Tuesday just east of Kabul ended peacefully.

In April 2011, Afghans protesting the burning of a Quran by a Florida pastor turned deadly when gunmen in the crowd stormed a U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and killed three staffers and four Nepalese guards.

Separately, officials in Helmand province in the south said insurgents beheaded four people Sunday night in Washer district on the charge that they were spies.

“The militants told the local people that they were guilty because they were carrying satellite phones,” provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said that the militant group was not involved in the killings.

Also in the south, a NATO service member died Tuesday as a result of a non-battle related injury. the U.S. led coalition gave no further details about the death. so far this year, 44 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan.

Copyright 2012 the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted on February 20, 2012, Monday

TAWAU: Balung assemblyman Datuk Syed Abas Syed Ali wants the teaching of the Arab language be introduced in schools.

According to Abas, the effort is not to burden Muslim students but rather to give them the benefit in terms of mastering another language.

He said non-Muslim students such as Chinese students are able to master at least three languages, namely Chinese, Malay and English.

“It is already proven that there are students in religious and government schools whoare able to master three languages, including Malay and English,” he said after opening the PPR Sri Balung Maulidur celebration.

He said the suggestion is appropriate as the Arab language is as important as other languages.

In fact, he said it also gives an opportunity to the Muslim community to master the language which is also the al-Quran language.

“By mastering the Arab language, our relationship, especially among the Muslims, will be more closer and becomes an identity of the Malay community,” he said.

He said though the implementation is difficult as there were no teachers available and the lack of awareness of the importance of the Arab language, these limitations should not be made an excuse to practice it in the future.

Feb. 17, 2012

Box Score

St. Bonaventure, N.Y. – Playing at Atlantic 10 opponent St. Bonaventure for the first time during the regular season in some time, the Fordham men’s tennis team took a big step in the Atlantic 10 rankings, posting a 6-1 victory over the Bonnies at the SBU Tennis Courts. The win improves Fordham’s record to 8-2 on the season.

“This was a statement win for our program,” said head coach Cory Hubbard, following the match. “St. Bonaventure has had some very good teams and is consistently in the top third of the conference, so for us to go on the road and win shows we can compete and be in the mix of the upper tier in the conference. This is just a first step in our goal to finish in the top four and get a bye in the conference tourney.”

After some struggles in doubles play against Cornell last week, the Rams began today’s match with Bonnies by taking the doubles’ point, 2-1. Fordham earned its first doubles win at the #3 slot, as Peder Gram and Max Peara defeated Miguel Suarez and Trevor Haskell, 8-4. then, Mischa Koran and Kuba Kowalski won at first doubles, 8-6, over Oscar Yanez and Luis Guevara to clinch the doubles point for Fordham.

“I thought the doubles point was very big for us today. they had won the doubles point against Duquesne last week, so we spent a lot of time this week working on doubles. even though our team shows a lot of fight, I did not want to have to come from behind again. we definitely have improved our doubles, but need to do a better job of holding serve and controlling the middle,” said Hubbard.

In singles, Fordham won five of six singles matches, all in straight sets to capture the 6-1 overall victory. Kowalski led the way at first singles with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Yanez, while Srikar Alla topped Guevara, 6-4, 6-3, at second singles.    Koran then defeated Elliot Fanshel, 6-3, 6-2 at third singles, which was followed by a 6-3, 6-2 win by Gram over Haskell at sixth singles. Peara wrapped up the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win at fifth singles over Javier Ortiz.

“Once again our guys played with more energy and were very vocal on the court and made it feel like a home match. That is what I have been preaching since day one when I started here is Fordham will be known as the toughest and most energetic team in the region.”

The Rams will be back in action on Saturday, February 25th, when the team travels to East Hartford, Connecticut, for a 3:00 PM match with the University of Hartford.

More than 2,000 angry Afghans, some firing guns in the air, protested on Tuesday against the improper disposal and burning of Qurans and other Islamic religious materials at an American air base north of Kabul.

Gen. John Allen, the U.S. commander of international troops in Afghanistan, has ordered an investigation into the incident.

The demonstrators — shouting “Die, die, foreigners!” — started gathering in the morning after learning of the incident at the sprawling Bagram Air Field in Parwan province. as the crowd grew, so did the outrage.

Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials gave him about 30 Qurans and other religious books that were recovered before they were destroyed.

“Some are burned. some are not burned,” Zahed said, adding that the books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base.

The materials were in trash that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported in a truck late Monday night to a pit where garbage is burned on the base, according to Zahed, who spoke with five Afghans working at the pit. he said that when the workers noticed the religious books in the trash, they stopped the disposal process.

Allen said he received a report overnight that “a large number of Islamic religious materials, which included Qurans,” had been improperly disposed of at the base.

“We are thoroughly investigating the incident and are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again,” Allen said in a statement. “I assure you, I promise you, this was not intentional in any way.”

He offered his apologies to the president and people of Afghanistan and thanked the local Afghans “who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action.”

Zia Ul Rahman, deputy provincial police chief, said between 2,000 and 2,500 protesters were demonstrating at the base.

“The people are very angry. the mood is very negative,” Rahman said. “Some are firing hunting guns in the air, but there have been no casualties.”

Police said a similar protest on Tuesday just east of Kabul ended peacefully.

In April 2011, Afghans protesting the burning of a Quran by a Florida pastor turned deadly when gunmen in the crowd stormed a U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and killed three staffers and four Nepalese guards.

this is not saying that my after-office activities are anything to shout about.   the fact is, my time at home is usually limited to sleeping and getting ready to go to work.  this is because my work often stretches into the night, and that is usually followed by late-night teh tarik sessions.   I try hard to spend time with my parents during my days off.  But that only happens if I have no plans to hang out with friends or colleagues.   I may be turning into the typical adult offspring who gets too caught up with work and social life that he could end up ignoring the two of the most important people in his life.   the only consolation is that my parents are quite apt at passing their time by themselves.   My mother is a member of a welfare association, and has taken up classes to learn the Al-Quran a few years ago. My father plays golf and loves to go walking whenever he can.   for them, age is but a number. they may not be as physically strong as they used to be, but their minds are still sharp and their zeal for life is as apparent as ever.   despite their abilities to while away their time, nothing compares to family time spent between parents and children.   It can often be seen whenever grown children visit their parents or elders. the wide smiles on the old folk’s faces at family gatherings during Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Christmas are displays of their joy.   whenever I feel I may be ignoring my parents, I would think of other ageing parents who face hardship in their lives.   some of these less fortunate folks have to spend their twilight years living a hand-to-mouth existence.   they may have been victims of unfortunate events or certain circumstances. But they too would want to lead a comfortable life during their old age.   a recent plight that was highlighted by the press was that of Raja Mariam Raja Abdullah, 84. She had  previously been living in a dilapidated hut situated among some bushes on railway reserve land.  Raja Mariam had spent about RM50 to build the hut near Kampung Haji Manan in Kluang. She lives there with her mentally-disabled son, who is in his 30s.    She recently received a new house at the Projek Perumahan Rakyat Termiskin in Jalan Hospital, Kluang.  her plight was taken up by representatives from the Community Development Department, or Kemas, which later informed the Kluang District Office.   when she received the new house, Raja Mariam was extremely modest.   "only Allah could repay the kindness of all who have helped me. now, I have a comfortable home," she told Kemas representatives when she received the keys to her new house.   It was learnt that Mariam had been surviving on a monthly aid from the Welfare Department.   She and her son had to survive with just oil lamps at night, and gathered rainwater for their daily use.  though I may not have experienced what Raja Mariam went through, I know everything in life is not permanent. We should be grateful for our prosperity and not take anything and anyone — our parents included — for granted.

As we hoped, the American Quran exhibit (thru March 18) at Grinnell College’s Faulconer Gallery is well worth a visit. (Although you can also see what I”m talking about via the DM Register’s good article on the show desmoinesregister.com/article/20120211/ENT/302110010/An-American-take-Quran or via the artist Sandow Birk’s website.)

Dozens of pages (including the ones below) of  L.A. Artist Sandow Birk Quran  line the walls of the large gallery inside the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts on the southwest corner of the small tidy campus. Each has an illustration of a classic American scene or snippet of recent U.S. history – smoke billowing out of the twin towers on 9/11; bodies floating in the flood waters of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans;l sandbaggers trying to hold back the floodwaters on what looks like the Mississippi River; shoppers at Walmart; a street scene in the multicultural soup of L.A. with shop signs in Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic.

Dropped into each scene is a page of religious text, written in English, done in an ornate calligraphy.  Then the “page” is decorated with an elegant border of delicate lines plus strips of what looks like gold leaf reminiscent of the “real” Qurans. the curators wisely included a few pages of ancient Qurans from the college’s collection which helped visitors see the connection between the old and new versions. There’s also a ceramic tile sculpture – resembling both an ATM and a mihrab (a Muslim prayer niche)  – that Birk did with another artist.

At times, I could make out how the illustration corresponded to the dense text. Much of the time though, I couldn’t – and I longed to be able to look at it in a more leisurely fashion, by having it all assembled in a book that I could leaf through (rather than having to stand, often with my neck craned, trying to read the pages hung on a wall.). I also longed to take home a piece of the exhibit for my wall – perhaps a page that has been converted to a poster.

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Human rights: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (left) shakes hands with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu at the Presidential Office on Monday. Ihsanoglu’s visit was in conjunction with the first Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC)’s meeting to be held from Monday to Friday. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

When asked for comments on rampant violence by the hard-line Islam Defenders front (FPI), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu questioned the group’s decision to label themselves as an Islamic community.

“From where did they get the license to do such things? When somebody says ‘I am doing this in the name of Islam,’ we have to question who gave them the license to speak on behalf of Islam,” Ihsanoglu told reporters at the Presidential Office on Monday.

He reiterated that Islam has a standard for the Holy Koran and sunnah (traditions of the Prophet Muhammad).

“Of course interpretation of the Holy Koran and the sunnah should only be by the authorities and it should be in context,” Ihsanoglu went on.

Ihsanogul spoke to the press after he, along with other OIC officials including members of the newly established Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the latter’s office.

Members of the IPHRC are holding their first meeting at the Aryaduta Hotel in Jakarta until Friday.

Human knowledge is a collection of metaphors and their correct application is the foundation of human wisdom that in addition to human language distinguishes them from the other apes. even the celebrated field of mathematics is a metaphor and no more and it is an amazing coincidence that the mathematical metaphors perfectly apply to Nature. According to Albert Einstein, “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.” the authority of the idea, all knowledge being metaphor only, is not only rooted in authority of celebrated intellectuals but also the word of God, as Allah says:

“Indeed, We (Allah) have set forth to men all kinds of metaphors in this Quran that they may take heed.” (Al Quran 39:28) and again, “And surely, We have set forth for mankind in various ways all kinds of similitude (metaphor) in this Quran, but most men would reject everything but disbelief.” (Al Quran 17:90)

A very wonderful metaphor mentioned in the Holy Quran to encourage men to become charitable is that of a corn cob. the Holy Quran states:

“The similitude of those who spend their wealth for the cause of Allah is like the similitude of a grain of corn which grows seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains. and Allah multiplies it further for whomsoever he pleases; and Allah is Bountiful, All-Knowing.” (Al Quran 2:262)

The metaphor of cob allows for a 700 fold multiplication, but there are additional metaphors that suggest even greater Providence of the Gracious God, as is suggested by the clause, ‘And Allah multiplies it further for whomsoever he pleases.’

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