Hayaam sis You ask: "Nur, I was wondering, with your argument than can we safely assume that *if* we lived in an Islamic society with sharia implemented, acts that lead to "death by stoning" should be almost non-existent, that the whole idea is an extreme that the state should rarely or never resort to, but equally not deny its legitimacy? Answer: Walaalo, Yes, if an impartial message is delivered and a well publicised case or two is televised, rest assured that it will be nonexistent in no time, how many times have the world used nuclear bombs? You ask: "I mean how do we come to define an adulterer? Are there degrees of severity...can a simple minded person who is seduced be compared to someone who viciously targets others weakness? Answetr. Adultry cases are the most difficult to prove in a court of law in Islam, practically someone has to blatantly do it on Oprah Show, because it takes four reliable adults to witness the act, graphically that nothing is left for the imaginaion. When that happens, or a peson willingly comes forward to be punished, there is no room to maneuver. You Ask: "Stoning to death, who administers the act of stoning, is it public? Answer: The Islamic court sentences, and the law enforcement executed in public right after Juma Prayers. You Ask: " Is there a time limit to it, what happens if the person doesn't die does it continue until death is proclaimed? Answer: This question I dont know, I have to look it up and come back soon inshAllah. Wallahu Aclam Nur

Xiddigo sis. You write: "Enlighten me, brother Nur " May Allah enlighten your heart with his love, your mind with His wisdom, your mouth with His dhiker, your soul with His devotion, your body with his obedience, may He provide you a torch of light with which you differentiate falsehood from truth, justice from injusice, good from evil and a friend from a foe. May He shine light infront of you, light behind you, light on your sides, and light below your feet and may He lift you to the light of the stars ( Xiddigaha) in iinaam. May Allah make you the light of your family and friends, and resurrect you in the day of judgement with light on the siraat, light upon light, may Allah guide us all to His light, amin. Nur

Khalaf bro. You write: "and yeh i think stoning someone is creepy and torture" Answer: You are right, stoning is indeed a harsh punishment, its also torture if that is what you want to call it, and that is how it works , it discourages people like me and you from doing it, it was not a law passed by humans that we can debate its validity, its ordained by Allah SWT to punish adulterers and it has been on the books since the Torah was revealed to this day. Does this contradict with the Hadeeth of cruelty to animals in which the Prophet SAWS taught us to make slaughtering animals as humane as possible? No, it does not, let us compare the two ordinances: 1. Slaughtering animals is a daily utility in which the humane measures was introduced as a token of Allah's mercy. 2. Animals are not given intelligence, nor are honored by a Divine revelations to follow, thus they are neither responsible, nor accountable, they have not committed a crime to be punished for, so torturing them does not serve a purpose. 3. Humans are given intelligence, orders to follow, and free choice, thus they are accountable and responsible. A would be adulterer has the choice of not committing adultery, no one forces him to do it, besides by enforcing this ordinance, it discourags many others from doing it, and that is its value. 3. Punishments are meant to be a deterrent, a price we pay to protect a greater good, a higher value, that of the welfare of society, Allah has ordained that the hand of a thief to be cut, a murderer to be killed, and a fornicator (who has not married before) to be whipped, and an adulterer to be stoned.. 4. Allah is not Democratic, he is a Sovreign, He dictates, and we follow willingly, its called Islam, he questions and He is not questioned, and what He says is always right even if you dont understand the wisdom behind it due to your limited capacity of intellect. You say you want an answer, I answered but you are choosing to listen what you want, the severity of this punishment is eqivalent to the impact of this crime on society, go visit Hospitals to see illigitimate infants thrown on garbage bins, ask social workers cases involving adultery's impact of broken homes, runaway kids, and so on, the punishment is a strong signal, and those who dare to cross the line deserve no mercy, they should be prepared to taste the pain as they have tasted the pleasure of the major sin. Lastly, if you think that this stoning business is pretty bad, you may be in for a surprise in the day of judgement, because for those who did not pay the price on earth fully and have not repented, they will be tortured in Hell, like secular governments, Allah does not allow protests against torture on earth as well as in Hell, if that was on your mind. Nur

Duaa, or supplication is a SOS ( Save Our Souls) distress signal and connection between man and his maker, it works when used in the proper context, ( when we are initially in line with our makers commandments, have exhausted all of our abilities and resources, came short of our desirable condition), it does not work when applied cosmetically for others to see on TV, while the inside is rotten, and our state of affairs speaks of our utter hypocracy, like Naden has brilliantly described. Misfortumes happen for a purpose, mainly as a punishment, and are only lifted after a price is paid, when we wake up and look at the mirror to see the culprit of our misfortunes in the eyes, and that is the gist of what Naden may be saying as I understand. Acceptance of Duaa supplications has some conditions: 1. Ikhlaas, Sincerity, no other intentions behind it. 2. Living within ligitimate sources of income. 3. Not an aggressive duaa, that calls for unjust distruction of human life or property, severing of family relationships, etc. 4. Postive thinking about Allah's response that He will accept your duaa no matter how long it takes (Note: Time scale of delivery of help after duaa can take several thousand years, like Allah delivered the children of Israel from the oppresion of Pharoah and made a covenant with them that He will wait and see what they do when their turn of supremacy comes around, which is today, and in Gazza). Allah SWT says : "Allah does not change condition of a folk up until they change their inner conditions" Mutanabee, the famous Arab poet has once sang: Wa lam ara fi naasi cayban, ka naqsil qaadiriina cala tamaami. Meaning: I have not seen a defect in a person worse than his/her falling short of completing a task he/she is fully able to perfect. Have we done our homework before we have lifted our hands to the heavens for help? Nur

Khalaf bro. Punisment in Islam has a purpose, its a deterrent to discourage violating devine ordinances, thus the severity of the punishment is proportional to the importance of the devine order, in this case the protection of the social relationships. Social relationships if not protected with laws that safeguard them, can get out of hand to cause many social problems: 1. Child neglect and abuse when they are born out of wedlock. 2. Deseases 3. Crimes ( when a spouse finds his wife with another man, which can be more barbaric than stoning) 4. Economic cost of the problem can cost the entire society ( judicial, broken family, law enforcement etc) 5. Failure to worship Allah SWT, which is the purpose of existence. Barbarism is a term used to define when mischief is committed, people killed for no reason, buildings destroyed or torched, childern slaughtered, women raped etc. Allah, does not do these things, people do, so thinking about Allah in the wrong sense can be a major sin, subxaanallah. Allah says: " And if you utter what is in your minds or conceal it, Allah knows it and will judge you accordingly. Allah is just, kind, wise, and 96 more attributes of perfection are His, where do you find an attribute named Barbaric in Asmaa'ul xusnaa? Tawheed in Isalm has three parts. 1. Surrender to absulute Sovreignty ( Uluhia) 2. Dependence on a single source as a care taker ( Rububia) 3. Satisfaction and acceptance of the ultimate attributes of the Sovreign. ( Asmaa wa sifaat) A doubt of Allah's attributes, can be equivalent to Kufr. May Allah protect you and me. amin Nur

Reminding you all again about the Mustapha Nur

Allan You are indeed blessed for feeling the guilt of a sin. most people around have lost their sense of this sin. My advice for you: if you really want to make it up; is to casually tell your manager that you have taken some choco bars home and realized that you have not paid for it, dont make a big deal out of it, just pay and get a receipt for the payment, that will is enough to wipe your slate shining clean. Nur

My Prediction for the year 2013 was that America will be lead by a Jewish Ameican convert I named Abdullah Tannenbaum from New York. If you follow the news these days, we have Barak Obama, wearing Somali head dress in Wajir, the Somali province of Kenya. If this guy wins the election, my predictions will come to light. Nur

Calls to reform Islam are not new, specially when they come from western influenced Muslim institutions like those in Turkey. The more they attempt to rewrite Islam to fit their skewed world vision, the more Islam's simplicity and purity glitters and attracts more adherents, Islam even benefits from negative media campaigns. I think that this is another thought provoking controversy that like other past controversies will attarct those on the sidelines to study Islam before coming face to face with its splendour. Nur

Nomads As Spring time gets closer, marriage bound nomads need some catch up with this old eNuri post, it just might spark an idea, I mean, a good idea, or two before taking the final step. Nur

Salaams Nomads I have been too busy the past few weeks, and other than a quick look at the SOL page, I had no thoughtful time to post some of the eNuri ideas filling my jotter. So, before these ideas die out, I periodically list them here on SOL in case some of them can be brought to life by your keen interest, so let me know which one will be worth your time if I download my insightful thoughts on this board. 1. Genetically Modified Politicians: Built For Purpose Politicians, supported by Foreign Governments. 2. Free Burgers for Macdonalds employees! So, what do Islamic Dawa Workers get? 3. Missiles Vs Minarets, the 21st Century Dilemma, when materially and militarily Superior Ethiopians and AU troops loses out to a morally superior ragtag Somali Resistance! 4. " Islam a Seventh Century Backwardness?" Saaxib, Which Is More Modern, Islam or Democracy? 5. Hello.. I am trying to reach cave # 3456799 West, of depth 125 Meters below bounty hunters seeing level, in Waziristan Hights, This is eNuri Sensionals Network, I need to interview Sheikh Usama for my Somaliaonline audinece ? 6. Pursuit of Happiness! Islam = Others Happiness, Democapitalism = Individual Happiness. 7. Islam: An Enabling Faith For A Morally Disabled World! .........Islam Is Not About What You Can't Do! Its About What You Can Do! 8. Lessons to be learned in Prayers, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj! 9. The Muslim Marriage Contract: A Service Level Agreement! Core Skills in Contract Management! 10. Political Match Fixing! Judaism vs Islam! Nur

Swan Song for NATO The Real Cost Of Defeat In Forgettistan By Mike Whitney "It is our right to defend our country. We are not a threat to other countries. But we have to use our rights when our country is occupied by foreign forces." - Mullah Omar, Taliban leader 13/02/08 "ICH" -- - It was supposed to be "the good war"; a war against terror; a war of liberation. It was intended to fix the eyes of the world on America's state of the art weaponry, its crack troops and its overwhelming firepower. It was supposed to demonstrate—once and for all-- that the world's only superpower could no longer be beaten or resisted; that Washington could deploy its troops anywhere in the world and crush its adversaries at will. Then everything went sideways. The war veered from the Pentagon's script. The Taliban retreated, waited, regrouped and retaliated. They enlisted support from the Pashtuns and the tribal leaders who could see that America would never honor its commitments; that order would never be restored. Operation Enduring Freedom has brought neither peace nor prosperity to Afghanistan; just occupation. Seven years have passed and the country is still ruled by warlords and drug-merchants. Nothing has gotten better. The country is in shambles and the government is a fraud. The humiliation of foreign occupation persists while the killing goes on with no end in sight. War is not foreign policy. It is slaughter. Seven years later; it's still slaughter. The Taliban have taken over more than half of Afghanistan. They have conducted military operations in the capital of Kabul. They're dug in at Logar, Wardak and Ghazni and control vast swathes of territory in Zabul, Helmand, Urzgan and Kandahar. Now they are getting ready to step-up operations and mount a Spring offensive. That means the hostilities will progressively intensify. The Taliban's approach is methodical and deliberate. They've shown they can survive the harshest conditions and still achieve tactical victories over a better-equipped enemy. They are highly-motivated and believe their cause is just. After all, they're not fighting to occupy a foreign nation; they're fighting to defend their own country. That strengthens their resolve and keeps morale high. When NATO and American troops leave Afghanistan; the Taliban will remain, just as they did when the Russians left 20 years ago. No difference. The US occupation will just be another grim footnote in the country's tragic history. The United States has gained nothing from its invasion of Afghanistan. US troops do not control even a square inch of Afghan soil. The moment a soldier lifts his boot-heel; that ground is returned to the native people. That won't change either. General Dan McNeill said recently that "if proper US military counterinsurgency doctrine were followed; the US would need 400,000 troops to defeat Pashtun tribal resistance in Afghanistan." Currently, the US and NATO have only 66,000 troops on the ground and the allies are refusing to send more. On a purely logistical level; victory is impossible. The battle for hearts and minds has been lost, too. A statement from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) sums it up like this: "The reinstatement of the Northern Alliance to power crushed the hopes of our people for freedom and prosperity and proved that, for the Bush administration, defeating terrorism has no meaning at all....The US doesn’t want to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, because then they will have no excuse to stay in Afghanistan and achieve their economic and strategic goals in the region....After seven years, there is no peace, human rights, democracy or reconstruction in Afghanistan. The destitution and suffering of our people is increasing everyday. ...We believe that if the troops leave Afghanistan, our people will become more free and come out of their current puzzlement and doubts...Afghanistan’s freedom can only be achieved by Afghan people themselves. Relying on one enemy to defeat another is a wrong policy which has just tightened the grip of the Northern Alliance and their masters on the neck of our nation." (RAWA www.rawa.org) Gradually, the Allies are beginning to see that Bush's war cannot be won and that continuing the fighting is counterproductive. There is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and the political objectives are getting murkier all the time. The lack of direction just adds to the growing frustration. Recently Secretary of Defense Robert Gates tried to bully the allies into sending more combat troops to fight in the South, but he met with stiff resistance . He said: "I am concerned that many people on this continent may not comprehend the magnitude of the direct threat to European security," Gates said. "We must not become a two-tiered alliance of those who are willing to fight and those who are not. Such a development, with all its implications for collective security, would in effect destroy the alliance." But public support for the war is waning in Europe. This is America's war, not theirs. Europeans don't need to occupy foreign nations to meet their energy needs. Their economies are thriving and they can simply pay for their fuel on the open market. Only America wants the war. It's all part of a crazy geopolitical "grand strategy" to project US power into the region to control its resources. So far, there's no indication that the plan will succeed. Germany has the third biggest economy in the world. Over the last few years, they have strengthened ties with Russia and made agreements that will satisfy their long-term energy needs. But German involvement in Afghanistan has put a strain on relations with Moscow. Putin thinks that the US is using the war to put down roots in Central Asia so it can control pipeline-routes from the Caspian Basin while surrounding Russia and China with military bases. Putin is right. Naturally, he'd like to persuade German Chancellor Angela Merkel to withdraw from Afghanistan which would strike a blow against the US-led alliance. And, that is the way it will probably turn out, too. Eventually, German leaders will see that its foolish to tweak the nose of the people who provide them with energy (Russia) just to support Washington's adventures. When Germany withdraws from Afghanistan; NATO will disband, new coalitions will form, and the transatlantic alliance fall apart. The cracks are already visible. President Bush has said that the war in Afghanistan must continue or the country will become a haven for drugs, terrorism and organized crime. He says we are fighting a “poisonous ideology of Islamic extremism which threatens to become a global movement”. But the Taliban and Pashtun tribesmen see it differently. They see the conflict as an imperial war of aggression which has only added to the suffering of their people. A recent report by the United Nations Human Development Fund appears to support this view. It shows that Afghanistan has fallen in every category. The average life expectancy has gone down, malnutrition has risen, literacy has dropped, and more than half the population is living below the poverty-line. Hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced by the war. The occupation has created plenty of misery, but no democracy. The war was a failure. Afghanistan now produces 90% of the world's opium; more than any other country. The booming drug trade is the direct corollary of the US invasion. No one even denies this. Bush has created the world's largest narco-colony. Is that success? Presently, there are no plans to improve the lives of ordinary Afghanis or to remove the warlords. Reconstruction is at a standstill. If the US stays in Afghanistan, the situation 10 years from now will be the same as it is today, only more people will have needlessly died. Most Afghanis now understand that the promise of democracy was a lie. The only thing the occupation has brought is more grinding poverty and random violence. There's no back-up plan for Afghanistan. In fact, there is no plan at all. The administration thought the Taliban would see America's high-tech, laser-guided weaponry and run for the hills. They did. Now they're back. And now we are embroiled in an “unwinnable” war with a tenacious enemy that grows stronger and more resolute by the day. Eventually, the Europeans will see the futility of the war and leave. And that will be the end of NATO.

I was talking to this Austrian person about business when somehow the dscussion veered toward banking practices and the concept of Ribaa aka interest, usury in the west. The Austrian a Christian, explained to me that the practice of Usury was introduced in Europe by the immigrant Jewish traders, as it was forbidden in Europe by the established churches. Initially, the Europeans were against the practice, but slowly it became acceptable until it lead to major wars engulfing all of Europe and the world, the Austrian explained. At that point, I remembered the meaning of a verse in the Quraan in which Allah said, " .......and if you do not stop dealing with Usury ( Ribaa, Interest etec) then be aware of a declaration of war from Allah and his apostle" I remembered the two world wars, and the ongoing wars in the world at large, so many organizations and no peace! We may not be aware, but the world is in a war not with terrorism, nor with hunger, nor with AIDS, nor with floods, but with Allah, the culprit? our blatant defiance in dealing with the forbidden practice of usury. Mankind is in defiance of his Maker, the curse from allah will manifest itself in many forms like desease ( AIDS), and the fear of the 30000 nuclear warheads the big boys are playing with over our heads! Its all about man's greed, lies and illegal desire of aqusistion of others wealth, all of it stemming from the abominable practice of Usury Nur

As predicted by eNuri Future Forcasters, Africa is in ethnic rivalry flames, from Kenya to Chad, Ethiopia is also sitting on a ethnic time bomb, all the while, world leaders aka as the "international Community of the Rich" are enjoying the sights of agony on nightly news, as it represents the "liberation of African Natural Resources". Nur

The “Brutal World” How did Western Civilization get a monopoly on “moral conscience” when it has no morality? By Paul Craig Roberts “The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.” Five Western military leaders. 23/01/08 "ICH" -- -- I read the statement three times trying to figure out the typo. Then it hit me, the West has now out-Owellled Orwell: The West must nuke other countries in order to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction! In Westernspeak, the West nuking other countries does not qualify as the use of weapons of mass destruction. The astounding statement comes from a paper prepared for a Nato summit in April by five top military leaders--an American, a German, a Dutchman, a Frenchman, and a Brit. It can be found here: [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,,2244782,00.html ] The paper, prepared by men regarded as distinguished leaders and not as escapees from insane asylums, argues that “the West’s values and way of life are under threat, but the West is struggling to summon the will to defend them.” The leaders find that the UN is in the way of the West’s will, as is the European Union which is obstructing NATO and “NATO’s credibility is at stake in Afghanistan.” And that’s a serious matter. If NATO loses its credibility in Afghanistan, Western civilization will collapse just like the Soviet Union. The West just doesn’t realize how weak it is. To strengthen itself, it needs to drop more and larger bombs. The German military leader blames the Merkel government for contributing to the West’s inability to defend its values by standing in the way of a revival of German militarism. How can Germany be “a reliable partner” for America, he asks, if the German government insists on “special rules” limiting the combat use of its forces in Afghanistan? Ron Asmus, head of the German Marshall Fund and a former US State Department official, welcomed the paper as “a wake-up call.” Asmus means a call to wake-up to the threats from the brutal world, not to the lunacy of Western leaders. Who, what is threatening the West’s values and way of life? Political fanaticism, religious fundamentalism, and the imminent spread of nuclear weapons, answer the five asylum escapees. By political fanaticism, do they mean the neoconservatives who believe that the future of humanity depends on the US establishing its hegemony over the world? By religious fundamentalism, do they mean “rapture evangelicals” agitating for armageddon or Christian and Israeli Zionists demanding a nuclear attack on Iran? By spread of nuclear weapons, do they mean Israel’s undeclared and illegal possession of several hundred nuclear weapons? No. The paranoid military leaders see all the fanaticism, religious and otherwise, and all the threats to humanity as residing outside Western civilization (Israel is inside). The “increasingly brutal world,” of which the leaders warn, is “over there.” Only Muslims are fanatics. All us white guys are rational and sane. There is nothing brutal about the US/Nato bombing of Serbia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, or the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, or the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, or the genocide Israel hopes to commit against Palestinians in Gaza. All of this, as well as America’s bombing of Somalia, America’s torture dungeons, show trials of “detainees,” and overthrow of elected governments and installation of puppet rulers, is the West’s necessary response to keep the brutal world at bay. Brutal things happen in the “brutal world” and are entirely the fault of those in the brutal world. None of this would happen if the inhabitants of the brutal world would just do as they are told. How can the civilized world with its monopoly on morality allow people in the brutal world to behave independently? I mean, really! God forbid, they might attack some innocent country. The “brutal world” consists of those immoral fanatics who object to being marginalized by the West and who reply to mass bombings from the air and to the death and destruction inflicted on them through myriad ways by strapping on a suicide bomb. Unable to impose its will on countries it has invaded with conventional arms, the West’s military leaders are now prepared to force compliance with the moral world’s will by threatening to nuke those who resist. You see, since the West has the monopoly on morality, truth, and justice, those in the outside world are obviously evil, wicked and brutal. Therefore, as President Bush tells us, it is a simple choice between good and evil, and there’s no better candidate than evil for being nuked. The sooner we can get rid of the brutal world, the sooner we will have “freedom and democracy” everywhere that’s left. Meanwhile, the United States, the great moral light unto the world, has just prevented the United Nations from censuring Israel, the world’s other great moral light, for cutting off food supplies, medical supplies, and electric power to Gaza. You see, Gaza is in the outside world and is a home of the bad guys. Moreover, the wicked Palestinians there tricked the US when the US allowed them to hold a free election. Instead of electing the US candidate, the wicked voters elected a government that would represent them. The US and Israel overturned the Palestinian election in the West Bank, but those in Gaza clung to the government that they had elected. Now they are going to suffer and die until they elect the government that the US and Israel wants. I mean, how can we expect people in the brutal world to know what’s best for them? The fact that the UN tried to stop Israel’s just punishment of the Gazans shows how right the five leaders’ report is about the UN being a threat to Western values and way of life. The UN is really against us. This puts the UN in the outside world and makes it a candidate for being nuked if not an outright terrorist organization. As our president said, “you are with us or against us.” The US and Israel need a puppet government in Palestine so that a ghettoized remnant of Palestine can be turned into a “two state solution.” The two states will be Israel incorporating the stolen West Bank and a Palestinian ghetto without an economy, water, or contiguous borders. This is necessary in order to protect Israel from the brutal outside world. Inhabitants of the brutal world are confused about the “self-determination” advocated by Western leaders. It doesn’t mean that those outside Western civilization and Israel should decide for themselves. “Self” means American. The term, so familiar to us, means “American-determination.” The US determines and others obey. It is the brutal world that causes all the trouble by not obeying. Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan administration. He is credited with curing stagflation and eliminating “Phillips curve” trade-offs between employment and inflation, an achievement now on the verge of being lost by the worst economic mismanagement in US history.

Nomads Its another reminder to unglue our minds from the traps set by the media to foment activities that cleverly play into hands of those keen to cause mischief on earth. They can not make enough evil and mischeif witout tagging Muslims as the bad guys, while they are always the good reasonable guys, its not easy to act justly to an enemy bent on your destruction, while you are trying to save him from helfire. Allah SWT says: " O ye who believe, do not let anger toward a folk (who do injustice to you )cause you not to be just toward them, be just, that is closer to piety" Remember, that we have an eternal responsibility to portray our faith to non-Muslims as Allah wanted, true, kind and make no mistake about it, no compromising on its message to mankind. The way we behave in such a testing time, can help others see us fairly enough. Lets untangle mental chains from within and from without that limit our perception of our preaching responsibilities in light of the situation we find ourselves in, after all, we are supposed to be serving Allah SWT. Nur

Nomads Time to calibrate our purpose in life, in light of political landscape changes, turmoil and non-ending Tom and Jerry chases between US and Islam. Share us with your purpose re-alignments of late. Nur

The Hands of Esau By Uri Avnery 15/01/08 "ICH" -- - Which of the two men is the leader of the greatest power on earth and which is the boss of a small client state? A visitor from another planet, attending the press conference in Jerusalem, would find it hard not to answer: Olmert is the president of the great power, Bush is his vassal. Olmert is taller. He talked endlessly, while Bush listened patiently. While Olmert anointed Bush with flattery that would have made a Byzantine emperor blush, it was quite clear that it is Olmert who decides policy, while Bush humbly accepts the Israeli diktat. And Bush's flattery of Olmert exceeded even Olmert's flattery of Bush. Both, we learned, are "courageous". Both are "determined". Both have a "vision". The word "vision", once reserved for prophets, starred in every second sentence. (Bush could not know that in Israel, "vision" has long become a jocular appellation for highfaluting speeches, usually in combination with the word "Zionism".) The President and the Prime Minister have something else in common: not a word of what they said at the press conference had any connection with the truth. One OF the most moving dramas in the Bible tells about our old blind forefather, Isaac, who wanted to bless his eldest son, Esau, a reddish and hairy hunter. But the second son, the homebody (or rather tent-body) Jacob, exploited the absence of his brother and went to his father in order to steal the blessing. He wore Esau's clothes and covered his arms with hairy goat skins. The ruse nearly failed, when the father felt the arms of Jacob and his suspicion was aroused. That's when he uttered the famous words: "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." (Genesis, 27: 22). Yet Jacob, the impostor, did receive the blessing and became the father of the nation which was named after him (he was also called Israel). It seems that Ehud Olmert is a true successor: there is no connection between his voice and his hands. Anyone who listens to him - not just at the press conference, but also on every other occasion - hears words of peace and reason: The Palestinians must have a state of their own. The "vision" must be realized while Bush is president, because Israel has never had and never will have a truer friend. The settlement outposts must be removed, as promised by us again and again. The settlements must be frozen. Etc. etc. That is the voice of Jacob. But the hands, well, they are the hands of Esau. * * * BEFORE ANNAPOLIS, during Annapolis and after Annapolis, nothing at all was done to promote the Two-State Solution. The negotiations were about to begin - any moment now - a year ago, and now they are again about to begin - any moment now. Yes, the "core issues" - borders, Jerusalem, refugees - will be addressed. Sure. Any moment now. But in the meantime, the hands of Esau are working feverishly. All over the occupied territories, the settlements are being enlarged. The existing outposts remain untouched, new ones spring up from time to time. Around them, a well choreographed dance has evolved, a kind of formal ballet executed by the settlers and the army. The settlers set up a new outpost, the army removes it, the settlers return and set it up again, the army dismantles, and so forth. In the meantime the outpost gets bigger and bigger. The government connects it to the electricity and water systems and builds a road. And the army, of course, protects it day and night. We cannot leave good Jews at the mercy of the evil Palestinian terrorists, can we? Bush knows all this and still continues to blabber that "the illegal outposts must be removed". And so it continues: the voice is Jacob's voice, the hands are the hands of Esau. But one cannot fool all of the people all of the time, to quote another American President who was slightly more intelligent than the present incumbent. And so, after Olmert and Bush repeated the mantra about removing the outposts and freezing the settlements, one of the journalists popped an innocent question: How does this fit together with the announcement about the building of a huge new housing project at Har Homa? If anyone thought that this would embarrass Olmert, he was sadly mistaken. Olmert just cannot be embarrassed. He simply answered that this promise does not apply to Jerusalem, nor to the "Jewish population centers" beyond the Green Line. "Jerusalem" - since the time of Levy Eshkol - is not only the Old City and the Holy Basin. It is the huge tract of land annexed to Israel after the Six-Day War, from the approaches to Bethlehem to the outskirts of Ramallah. This area includes the hill that was once forested and called Jebel Abu-Ghneim, now the site of the big and ugly Har Homa settlement. And the "population centers" are the big settlement blocs in the occupied Palestinian territories, which President Bush so generously presented to Ariel Sharon. This means that almost all the extensive building activities that are now going on beyond the Green Line are not covered by the Israeli undertaking to freeze the settlements. And while Olmert publicly announced this, President Bush was standing at his side, smiling foolishly and painting on another layer of compliments. The following day, Bush visited Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and told the shocked Palestinians that the innumerable Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank, which turn the life of the Palestinians into hell, are necessary for the protection of Israel and must remain where they are - until after the establishment of the hoped-for democratic Palestinian state. Condoleezza Rice was quick to remind him in private that this was not very wise, since he was about to visit half a dozen Arab countries. So Bush hastened to call another press conference in Jerusalem, talking about the "core issues": there would be a "contiguous" Palestinian state, but the 1949 borders (the Green Line) would not be restored. He would not speak about Jerusalem. Also, the refugee problem would be settled by an international fund - meaning that none at all would be allowed to return. Altogether, much less than Bill Clinton's 2000 "parameters", and less than most Israelis are already prepared to accept. It amounts to 110% support for the official Israeli government line. After that, Bush had dinner with Israeli cabinet ministers. He cordially shook the hand of Minister Rafael Eitan, the former spymaster who controlled the Israeli spy in Washington, Jonathan Pollard, whom Bush refuses to pardon. (Eitan would be arrested the moment he set foot on American soil.) He spoke cordially with the ultra-rightist Minister Avigdor Liberman, urging him to support Olmert. Throughout the dinner, he talked and talked, until Condi sent him a discreet note suggesting that he shut up. Bush, in high spirits, read the note out loud. * * * I HAVE mentioned more than once the British World War II poster which was pasted up on the walls in Palestine: "Is this trip really necessary?" That is again the question now: Is this trip of Bush's really necessary? The answer is: Of course. Necessary for Bush. Necessary for Olmert. Necessary for Abbas, too. For Bush, because he is a lame duck, in the last year of his term, and therefore almost paralyzed. In the United States he is rapidly becoming irrelevant. His touted Middle East tour has been drowned out by the primary elections mayhem, which produces a new drama almost every day. While Hillary wrestles with Obama and the glib Bill competes with an impressive black grandma, who cares where the worst president in American history is traipsing around? Olmert is well aware of the situation. When he declares that the last year of the term of his noble friend must be used, what he really means to say is: he cannot exert any pressure on us, he cannot even "nudge" us, as he promises. There is no need to remove even one single outpost for him. So let us squeeze the last drop of juice out of his presidency, before he is thrown onto the trash pile of history. But Olmert needs the presence of Bush at his side, because his position is not much more secure than Bush's. Bush is bankrupt in a big way, after starting one of the most pointless and unsuccessful wars in US history. That is true for Olmert in a small way. He is bankrupt too, and he also started a pointless, failed war. In two weeks time, the Winograd Commission will publish its final report on Lebanon War II, and everyone expects it to come down on Olmert like a 16 ton weight. He may survive, if only because there is now no credible substitute. But he needs all the help he can get - and what better help than the "Leader of the Free World" gazing at him with liquid eyes? It's the old story about the lame and the blind. * * * THIS WAS NOT Bush's last presidential visit to Israel. He has already promised to return on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state, which falls this year (in accordance with the Hebrew calendar) on May 8. What else can a president do in his last months in office, except star in ceremonies with kings, presidents and prime ministers? Perhaps he had intended to finish with a big bang, a historic climax that would overshadow even his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, such as a grand attack on Iran. But it seems that the US intelligence community, in a patriotic act that makes up for some of its earlier sins, has prevented this by publishing its sensational report. True, this week something happened that put on a warning light. Some small Iranian boats were reported to have made a provocative gesture against the powerful American warships in the Strait of Hormuz. That takes us right back to 1964 and to what has become known as the "Gulf of Tonkin incident". President Lyndon Johnson announced that Vietnamese vessels had attacked American warships. That was a lie, but it was enough for Congress to empower the president to widen the war that killed millions of people (and buried Johnson's career). But this time the red light went out quickly. The US Congress is not what it was, it seems that the Americans have no stomach for another war, the historical parallel was too obvious. Bush has been left without an option for war. He has been left with nothing. Apart from Olmert's flattery, of course. Uri Avnery is an Israeli peace activist who has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He served three terms in the Israeli parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc)

Nomads I am reposting this thread to complement the line up of other threads addressing our destiny as a nation and a faith, I hope this time around, more Nomads participate with their valuable thoughts. Nur

Xiin walaal I am sorry to let you down, don't drop ball on me so quickly bro. I was not done yet!, I took your question very seriously, and since the day you've posted, it remains to be a mind-power consuming question. Your questions have a long and short format of answers: 1. Shortest Solution: Please read " Open Letter to Ehud Olmert" But right after posting that open letter, Americans and Ethiopians were pounding Somalia mercilessly, I guess Mr. Olmert was irritated by my letter. 2. Long Term Solution: is the one I am trying to engage you with, some patience please. To address your long set of questions, I have made a prelude, to prepare you for a long journey, at the same time, gave you short answers for your mind teasing questions, the best I can, given available time in my busy schedule. but, as you have known me by now, questions like yours have no ready-made answers on the eNuri Shelves, nor a fast food order from a motorsists window, yours are more like a fancy dinner order in a five star restaurant, you are supposed to wait longer, to get a jucier meal steaming with spices and nutritious menues. To do just that, I have broken the problem in the following way: 1. What is the Nature of the Problem at hand? 2. What is the ultimate goal to be reached? 3. How to get there? 4. What is the break down of activities that will lead us to that ultimate goal. So far, I am at the first question, trying to agree with you on the nature of the problem, we can not proceed further until we have a unified vison on nature of problem. Later, we need to agree on the final settelement of the problem, because te final settlement is so important, all of your suggestions that you have hastely suggested have to be tested if indeed they can deliver, or lead us to a dead end. Consequently, the otput from this stage will open another discussion on how to get there which is what you have already began hitting me hard with your hoobiye, and finally the structured activities that can help us in this maze. Now, if this approach is fine with you, I can proceed, and it can be a learning journey for all viewers, so let me know, because, I am not ready answering questions that I have not developed their background drivers. Nur

Thugged If you base your standard on Sunnah of Prophet Muhammads SAWS, you are also an Extremist in the eyes of the Media. The Classification of Extremeist and Moderate is not found in Islamic literature, so we ae only talking about the Media here. As for the example of the ICU and the Warlords, regardless of what side a warlord is found, warlords have a criminal record, so in a way, if an attrocity committed during the ICU era, its the Warlords, not the managing Directors of the ICU, which wa my point saaxib. Thus stil a good example of who is an extremist and moderate in the eyes of the Media that forms the opinions of people on currnet issues. Nur

thugged out but cant feel my feet Somali Warlords, blooddy as their 16 years of criminal records in Somalia is, are seen as " Moderates" by the mainstream Media, While the Islamic Courts Union who gave a brilliant example of Peace for the 6 months they ruled the Country are classified as Extremists. Nur

T.O.B.C.F.M.F Sharia in Arabic means WAY, Path, etc. in the legal context it means the straight path to reach our destination safely ( Siradul Mustaqeem). Its the road that connects the present life to the permanent life, in that regard, unlike the Christian west, our faith and life are intimately connected. The Sharia Law's origin is called Maqasidul Sharia, or the moral of the law, its meant to protect, The Faith, Lives, Dignity, Property, and Offsping ( Kids). The specific rules it uses to protect the above can change from generation to generation, and that is the part that needs revision from time to to time. Wallahu Aclam Nur

FB The classification of Muslims as Moderates and Extremists is a timely topic, we need to agree on what Islam means to set the standards of deviation from its normal settings. Its your topic, its your call. Nur

Khalaf bro. Ijtihad is a concept that never dies, as long as humans live on earth as Muslims, like everything else, it has classes: 1. Laymen, regular people 2. Students of knowledge 3. Scholars In the first category, if you find yourself in a new city, country, you make Ijtihad on finding direction of Makkah for prayers. Foods that are Halaal etc. In the second category, as student of knowledge ( Talib al cilm al sharci), when you exhaust the research resources available to you for a particular topic, you make Ijtihaad. In the last category, scholars who attained maturity level known as MUJTAHID after mastering the key sciences of Islamic studies such as: 1. Arabic Language and related sciences ( Poetry, Naxw, Sarf, etc) 2. Quraan sciences ( naasikh, mansookh, etc) 3. Hadeeth Sciences ( Biographies, sanad,etc) 4. Usul al Fiqh ( also maqaasidul Sharia) The scholar makes ijtihaad when a problem arises with no precedents in Quraan, Hadeeth, Qiyaas, Ijmaac, and so, he makes best judgment in issuing an edict based on Ijtihad. The golden days of Ijtihad was in the first 5 centuries, afterwards, decadence in all walks of life shrank the pool of qualified scholars to make Islamic sciences stagnant unable to address new questions of the time. Today, there is a new rennaisance sweeping the Muslim world, and thus, many PhD thesis have been written by able scholars addressing timely issues. One such topic is addressed by a PhD Book I am reading discussing payment of a loan on a different currency than the one borrowed with. I can tell you, its very interesting. Nur