Skip to main content

Views on the News - 06/10/2009

Study finds Muslim population is 1.57billion
A report from an American think-tank has estimated 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world - with 60% in Asia . The report, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, took three years to compile, with census data from 232 countries and territories. It showed that 20% of Muslims lived in the Middle East and North Africa . The data also showed that there were more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon , and more in Russia than in Jordan and Libya together. Senior researcher Brian Grim told CNN that the overall figure was a surprise and said: "Overall, the number is higher than I expected." The report found that more than 300 million Muslims live in countries where Islam was not the majority religion. Of the total Muslim population, 10-13% are Shia Muslims and 87-90% are Sunni Muslims. Most Shias live in Iran , Pakistan , India and Iraq . Europe is home to 38 million Muslims - around 5% of its population with European Muslims making up slightly more than 2% of the world's Muslim population. More than half of the 4.6 million Muslims in the Americas live in the US - however they make up just 0.8% of the population there.

UK soldiers leading life of crime at home
A leading British newspaper reported that more than 20,000 armed services veterans are serving sentences for criminal offences. Shock figures show there are currently 12,000 vets on probation or parole and a further 8,500 in custody. That is twice as many as the number of British troops presently in Afghanistan . The damning statistics were compiled by a nationwide survey of probation officers who say many of the former military personnel were suffering from stress and depression from their service. Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of probation officers union Napo , said: "There is overwhelming evidence that there is not enough support for servicemen and women when they return to civilian life. The levels of post traumatic stress disorder and depression are alarming. If these men are brave enough to risk their lives for their country then surely they deserve proper care afterwards.” A survey carried out in 2007 by the group Veterans In Prison concluded that nine per cent of the prison population have served in the forces.

German official slanders Arabs and Turks
A top German central bank official has caused outrage by saying Turkish and Arab immigrants sponge off the state, are incapable of integrating themselves into German society and “constantly produce little girls with headscarves”. Thilo Sarrazin, a former finance minister of the city-state of Berlin who was appointed as a board member of the Bundesbank, Germany ’s central bank, this year made the comments in an interview with Lettre International, a cultural magazine, about Berlin ’s economic problems last week. “A large number of Arabs and Turks in this city, who have increased in number as a result of wrong policies, have no productive function other than the fruit and vegetable trade,” he said. “The Turks are conquering Germany in the same way the Kosovars conquered Kosovo: through a higher birth rate,” he said. “I don’t have to acknowledge anyone who lives off the state, rejects this state, doesn’t properly take care of the education of his children and constantly produces little girls with headscarves,” he said. About 70 per cent of the Turkish and 90 per cent of the Arab population in Berlin were like that, he said. “In addition they have a mentality that is aggressive and atavistic.”

Swiss poster defames Islam
Switzerland 's Commission Against Racism said Wednesday that an anti-minaret poster campaign by a far-right party defamed the country's Muslim minority and could threaten public peace. The Swiss People's Party has unveiled a campaign poster depicting a woman wearing a burka against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several minarets resembling missiles were erected. The commission said, “They suggest that the Muslim minority living in Switzerland represents a danger and send the message that the Muslim population is seeking to dominate the Swiss people, oppress women and disregard fundamental rights.” They “suggest that the Muslim minority living in Switzerland represents a danger” and send the message that the Muslim population is seeking to dominate the Swiss people, oppress women and disregard fundamental rights, it noted.

American soldiers have lost hope in Afghanistan
American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against the Taliban. Many feel that they are risking their lives — and that colleagues have died — for a futile mission and an Afghan population that does nothing to help them, the chaplains told The Times in their makeshift chapel on this fortress-like base in a dusty, brown valley southwest of Kabul.“The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here. They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families,” said Captain Jeff Masengale, of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2-87 Infantry Battalion. “They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern,” said Captain Sam Rico, of the Division’s 4-25 Field Artillery Battalion. “They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through.” The chaplains said that they were speaking out because the men could not.

America to focus its ‘terror war’ on Pakistan
President Obama’s national security team is moving to reframe its war strategy by emphasizing the campaign against Al Qaeda in Pakistan while arguing that the Taliban in Afghanistan does not pose a direct threat to the United States , officials said Wednesday. As Mr. Obama met with advisers for three hours to discuss Pakistan , the White House said he had not decided whether to approve a proposed troop buildup in Afghanistan . But the shift in thinking, outlined by senior administration officials on Wednesday, suggests that the president has been presented with an approach that would not require all of the additional troops that his commanding general in the region has requested. The approach described by administration officials on Wednesday amounted to an all out shift in fighting Al Qaeda in Pakistan .

Oct 6 2009

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An advice to Muslims working in the financial sector

Assalam wa alaikum wa rahmatullah wabarakatahu, Dear Brothers & Sisters, We are saddened to see Muslims today even those who practise many of the rules of Islam are working in jobs which involve haram in the financial sector. They are working in positions which involve usurious (Riba) transactions, insurance, the stock market and the like. Even though many of the clear evidences regarding the severity of the sin of Riba are known, some have justified their job to themselves thinking that they are safe as long as they are not engaged in the actual action of taking or giving Riba. Brothers & Sisters, You should know that the majority of jobs in the financial sector, even the IT jobs in this area are haram (prohibited) as they involve the processing of prohibited contracts. If you work in this sector, do not justify your job to yourself because of the fear of losing your position or having to change your career, fear Allah as he should be feared and consider His law regard

Q&A: Age of separating children in the beds?

Question: Please explain the hukm regarding separation of children in their beds. At what age is separation an obligation upon the parents? Also can a parent sleep in the same bed as their child? Answer: 1- With regards to separating children in their beds, it is clear that the separation which is obligatory is when they reach the age of 7 and not since their birth. This is due to the hadith reported by Daarqutni and al-Hakim from the Messenger (saw) who said: When your children reach the age of 7 then separate their beds and when they reach 10 beat them if they do not pray their salah.’ This is also due to what has been narrated by al-Bazzar on the authority of Abi Rafi’ with the following wording: ‘We found in a sheet near the Messenger of Allah (saw) when he died on which the following was written: Separate the beds of the slave boys and girls and brothers and sisters of 7 years of age.’ The two hadiths are texts on the separation of children when they reach the age of 7. As for the

Q&A: Shari' rule on songs, music, singing & instruments?

The following is a draft translation from the book مسائل فقهية مختارة (Selected fiqhi [jurprudential] issues) by the Mujtahid, Sheikh Abu Iyas Mahmoud Abdul Latif al-Uweida (May Allah protect him) . Please refer to the original Arabic for exact meanings. Question: What is the Shari’ ruling in singing or listening to songs?  What is the hukm of using musical instruments and is its trade allowed? I request you to answer in detail with the evidences? Answer: The Imams ( Mujtahids ) and the jurists have differed on the issue of singing and they have varying opinions such as haraam (prohibited), Makruh (disliked) and Mubah (permissible), the ones who have prohibited it are from the ones who hold the opinion of prohibition of singing as a trade or profession, and a similar opinion has been transmitted from Imam Shafi’i, and from the ones who disliked it is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal who disliked the issue and categorised its performance under disliked acts, a similar opinion has been tran