Al-Qaeda claims It's too easy to blame bin Laden Jason Burke Sunday September 5, 2004 The Observer Heads of security services and governments around the world have something in common with Osama bin Laden. They all stand to benefit from exaggerating the capabilities of al-Qaeda. The idea that bin Laden is a global terrorist mastermind, able to engender violence worldwide, flatters him and helps in the competition with other terrorist outfits for recruits and funds. The benefits of myth-making are also clear to the Russians (and the Uzbeks, Filipinos and Algerians, to name but three serial human-rights abusing governments who constantly claim, disingenuously, that the insurgents that they are fighting in their respective lands are linked to 'al-Qaeda'). Active participation in the 'war against terror' triggers a flood of material and moral support from Washington as well as legitimising tactics the West otherwise wouldn't approve of. It means long-term grudges underpinning any insurgency - discrimination, economic mismanagement, repression - can be ignored and the 'al-Qaeda bogeyman' blamed instead. So it is unsurprising Russian security services have, on the basis of 10 'citizens of the Arab world' being among 20 militants killed in the hostage siege last week, decided that the operation was the work of 'al-Qaeda'. We must be wary. It is true that Chechen warlord Khattab, a Jordanian-born militant leader killed in 2002, met bin Laden while both men were fighting the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan but there is no evidence that Khattab joined his group. Thousands of militants fought the Soviets; only a handful established links with al-Qaeda. A second point is that Chechen militants' main conduit for cash appears to have been a Saudi charity that is part of the royal establishment. Rich Saudis donate huge sums to a whole range of Islamic militants and groups, not just al-Qaeda. A link to Saudi funding is not a link to bin Laden. And individuals connected to 9/11 were indeed planning to travel to Chechnya. But so were most of the thousands of young men who travelled to Afghanistan to get military training between 1993 and 2001. Chechnya has become - like Kashmir, Palestine and Afghanistan - a rallying call for Muslims worldwide. The violence there is held as evidence that the Islamic world is under attack by belligerent Christians. To believe this does not make you 'al-Qaeda'. Finally, it is often claimed that hundreds of Chechen militants have fought alongside al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. In fact, most are Uzbeks or Tajiks; very few are from the Caucasus. Last week's atrocity was not the work of 'al-Qaeda'. It is a result however of the spread of 'al-Qaeda-ism' and, in particular, the ability of the radical new discourse to 'plug into' existing insurgencies, many of which were nationalist or ethnic to start with but have become Islamicised. By misrepresenting the problem, we make the solution harder to find. The greatest hope is the horrified reaction of the world's moderate Muslims - the vast majority. The increasing brutality of the militants will undercut their support and eventually isolate them. But this is a long process and the West is doing precious little to expedite it. Jason Burke's Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam was published in paperback by Penguin last month . http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1297657,00.html This is dated a while back. Brother Bob We must also not be blind to the wrong doings of our muslim brothers and sisters even if it is against the non-muslims. It is not how the prophet (saw) would have behaved. We also shouldnt discriminate and we shouldnt ignore the oppression of our muslim brothers even if it is our families. Islam commands its followers to be just even in the face of strong conflicting emotions. In dealing with other human beings, two major impediments to justice are love and hatred. See how the Qur'an teaches us to overcome the first impediment when we are dealing with our closest relatives or even ourselves. "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." [An-Nisa 4:35] My point is..there are muslims bent on destruction (like those with the placards in Central London) and we should fight with them as much as we fight against the non-muslim oppressors. We dont know who is Alqaeda and we dont know for sure who committed the 911 attrocities but we do know that those orchestrated it were heartless murderers. If they were muslims, May Allah forgive them and show them the error of their ways.

Salaam aleykum I have come across this article which is beneficial to all of us. Al-Tawhid The Islamic Concept of Knowledge Dr. Sayyid Wahid Akhtar Vol XII No. 3 While it is an open question whether an explicit and systematically worked out Islamic epistemology exists, it is undeniable that various epistemological issues have been discussed in Muslim philosophy with an orientation different from that of Western epistemology. Today attempts are being made to understand the basic epistemological issues in terms of that orientation. This is a valuable effort that deserves our interest and encouragement. However, it can be fruitful only if the practice of rigorous analysis is kept up, with close attention to the precise definitions of the various concepts involved. With this view, an attempt is made in this paper to delineate the different shades and connotations of the term 'ilm, i.e., knowledge, in the Islamic context. It is hoped that this brief attempt will serve as a step for future groundwork for the construction of a framework for an Islamic theory of knowledge. In the Islamic theory of knowledge, the term used for knowledge in Arabic is 'ilm, which, as Rosenthal has justifiably pointed out, has a much wider connotation than its synonyms in English and other Western languages. 'Knowledge' falls short of expressing all the aspects of 'ilm. Knowledge in the Western world means information about something, divine or corporeal, while 'ilm is an all-embracing term covering theory, action and education. Rosenthal, highlighting the importance of this term in Muslim civilization and Islam, says that it gives them a distinctive shape. In fact there is no concept that has been operative as a determinant of the Muslim civilization in all its aspects to the same extent as 'ilm. This holds good even for the most powerful among the terms of Muslim religious life such as, for instance, tawhid "recognition of the oneness of God," ad-din, "the true religion," and many others that are used constantly and emphatically. None of them equals ilm in depth of meaning and wide incidence of use. There is no branch of Muslim intellectual life, of Muslim religious and political life, and of the daily life of the average Muslim that remains untouched by the all pervasive attitude toward "knowledge" as something of supreme value for Muslim being. 'ilm is Islam, even if the theologians have been hesitant to accept the technical correctness of this equation. The very fact of their passionate discussion of the concept attests to its fundamental importance for Islam. It may be said that Islam is the path of "knowledge." No other religion or ideology has so much emphasized the importance of 'ilm. In the Qur'an the word 'alim has occurred in 140 places, while al-'ilm in 27. In all, the total number of verses in which 'ilm or its derivatives and associated words are used is 704. The aids of knowledge such as book, pen, ink etc. amount to almost the same number. Qalam occurs in two places, al-kitab in 230 verses, among which al-kitab for al-Qur'an occurs in 81 verses. Other words associated with writing occur in 319 verses. It is important to note that pen and book are essential to the acquisition of knowledge. The Islamic revelation started with the word iqra' ('read!' or 'recite!'). According to the Qur'an, the first teaching class for Adam started soon after his creation and Adam was taught 'all the Names'. Allah is the first teacher and the absolute guide of humanity. This knowledge was not imparted to even the Angels. In Usul al-Kafi there is a tradition narrated by Imam Musa al-Kazim ('a) that 'ilm is of three types: ayatun muhkamah (irrefutable signs of God), faridatun 'adilah (just obligations) and sunnat al-qa'imah (established traditions of the Prophet ). This implies that 'ilm, attainment of which is obligatory upon all Muslims covers the sciences of theology, philosophy, law, ethics, politics and the wisdom imparted to the Ummah by the Prophet (S). Al-Ghazali has unjustifiably differentiated between useful and useless types of knowledge. Islam actually does not consider any type of knowledge as harmful to human beings. However, what has been called in the Qur'an as useless or rather harmful knowledge, consists of pseudo sciences or the lores prevalent in the Jahiliyyah. 'Ilm is of three types: information (as opposed to ignorance), natural laws, and knowledge by conjecture. The first and second types of knowledge are considered useful and their acquisition is made obligatory. As for the third type, which refers to what is known through guesswork and conjecture, or is accompanied with doubt, we shall take that into consideration later, since conjecture or doubt are sometimes essential for knowledge as a means, but not as an end. Beside various Qur'anic verses emphasizing the importance of knowledge, there are hundreds of Prophetic traditions that encourage Muslims to acquire all types of knowledge from any corner of the world. Muslims, during their periods of stagnation and decline, confined themselves to theology as the only obligatory knowledge, an attitude which is generally but wrongly attributed to al-Ghazali's destruction of philosophy and sciences in the Muslim world. Al-Ghazali, of course, passed through a turbulent period of skepticism, but he was really in search of certainty, which he found not in discursive knowledge but in mystic experience. In his favour it must be said that he paved the way for liberating the believer from blind imitation and helping him approach the goal of certain knowledge. In the Islamic world, gnosis (ma'rifah) is differentiated from knowledge in the sense of acquisition of information through a logical processes. In the non-Islamic world dominated by the Greek tradition, hikmah (wisdom) is considered higher than knowledge. But in Islam 'ilm is not mere knowledge. It is synonymous with gnosis (ma'rifah). Knowledge is considered to be derived from two sources: 'aql and 'ilm huduri (in the sense of unmediated and direct knowledge acquired through mystic experience). It is important to note that there is much emphasis on the exercise of the intellect in the Qur'an and the traditions, particularly in the matter of ijtihad. In the Sunni world qiyas (the method of analogical deduction as propounded by Imam Abu Hanifah) is accepted as an instrument of ijtihad, but his teacher and spiritual guide, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq ('a), gave pre-eminence to 'aql in this matter. In the entire Shi'i literature of fiqh and usul al-fiqh, 'aql is much more emphasized, because qiyas is only a form of quasi-logical argument, while 'aql embraces all rational faculties of human beings. Even intuition or mystic experience are regarded as a higher stage of 'aql. In Shi'i literature in particular, and Sunni literature in general, 'aql is considered to be a prerequisite for knowledge. Starting from Usul al-Kafi, all Shi'i compendia of hadith devote their first chapter to the merits of 'aql and the virtues of 'ilm. In Sunni compendia of hadith, including al-Sihah al-sittah and up to al-Ghazali's Ihya, a chapter is devoted to this issue, though it is not given a first priority. This shows that there is a consensus among the Muslims on the importance of 'aql which is denoted by such words as ta'aqqul, tafaqquh and tadabbur in the Qur'an. Exercise of the intellect ('aql) is of significance in the entire Islamic literature which played an important role in the development of all kinds of knowledge, scientific or otherwise, in the Muslim world. In the twentieth century, the Indian Muslim thinker, Iqbal in his Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, pointed out that ijtihad was a dynamic principle in the body of Islam. He claims that much before Francis Bacon the principles of scientific induction were emphasized by the Qur'an, which highlights the importance of observation and experimentation in arriving at certain conclusions. It may also be pointed out that Muslim fuqaha and mufassirun made use of the method of linguistic analysis in interpreting the Quranic injunctions and the sunnah of the Prophet (S). Al-Ghazalis Tahatut al-falasifah is probably the first philosophical treatise that made use of the linguistic analytical method to clarify certain philosophical issues. I personally feel that he is rather maligned than properly understood by both the orthodox and liberal Muslim interpreters of his philosophy. His method of doubt paved the way for a healthy intellectual activity in the Muslim world, but because of historical and social circumstances, it culminated in the stagnation of philosophical and scientific thinking, which later made him a target of criticism by philosophers. There was made a distinction between wisdom (hikmah) and knowledge in the pre-Islamic philosophy developed under the influence of Greek thought. In Islam there is no such distinction. Those who made such a distinction led Muslim thought towards un-Islamic thinking. The philosophers such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina are considered to be hakims (philosophers) and in this capacity superior to 'ulama', and fuqaha This misconception resulted in al-Ghazali's attack on the philosophers. Islam is a religion that invites its followers to exercise their intellect and make use of their knowledge to attain the ultimate truth (haqq). Muslim thinkers adopted different paths to attain this goal. Those who are called philosophers devoted themselves to logic and scientific method and they were derogated by the Sufis, though some of them, such as Ibn Sina, al-Farabi and al-Ghazali took recourse to the mystic path in their quest of the truth at some stage. As I said earlier, 'ilm may not be translated as mere knowledge; it should be emphasized that it is also gnosis or ma'rifah. One may find elements of mystic experience in the writings of Muslim philosophers. In Kashf al-mahjub of al-Hujwiri a distinction is made between khabar (information) and nazar (analytic thought). This applies not only to Muslim Sufis but also to most of the Muslim philosophers who sought to attain the ultimate knowledge which could embrace all things, corporeal or divine. In the Western philosophical tradition there is a distinction between the knowledge of the Divine Being and knowledge pertaining to the physical world. But in Islam there is no such distinction. Ma'rifah is ultimate knowledge and it springs from the knowledge of the self (Man 'arafa nafsahu fa qad 'arafa Rabbbahu, 'One who realizes one's own self realizes his Lord'). This process also includes the knowledge of the phenomenal world. Therefore, wisdom and knowledge which are regarded as two different things in the non-Muslim world are one and the same in the Islamic perspective. In the discussion of knowledge, an important question arises as to how one can overcome his doubts regarding certain doctrines about God, the universe, and man. It is generally believed that in Islam, as far as belief is concerned, there is no place for doubting and questioning the existence of God, the prophethood of Hadrat Muhammad (S) and the Divine injunctions, that Islam requires unequivocal submission to its dictates. This general belief is a misconception in the light of Islam's emphasis on 'aql. In the matter of the fundamentals of faith (usu-l al-Din), the believer is obliged to accept tawhid, nubuwwah and ma'd (in the Shi'i faith, 'adl, i.e. Divine Justice, and imamah are also fundamentals of faith) on rational grounds or on the basis of one's existential experience. This ensures that there is room for doubt and skepticism in Islam before reaching certainty in Iman. The sufis have described iman as consisting of three stages: 'ilm al-yaqin (certain knowledge),'ayn al-yaqin (knowledge by sight) and haqq al-yaqin (knowledge by the unity of subject and object). The last stage is attainable by an elect few. 'Ilm is referred to in many Quranic verses as 'light' (nur), and Allah is also described as the ultimate nur. it means that 'ilm in the general sense is synonymous with the 'light' of Allah. This light does not shine for ever for all the believers. If is hidden sometimes by the clouds of doubt arising from the human mind. Doubt is sometimes interpreted in the Quran as darkness, and ignorance also is depicted as darkness in a number of its verses. Allah is depicted as nur, and knowledge is also symbolized as nur. Ignorance is darkness and ma'rifah is light. In the ayat al-kursi Allah says: (Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth ... Allah is the Master of the believers and He guides them out of the darkness into light). Usually darkness is interpreted as unbelief and light as faith in God. There are so many verses in the Quran as well as the traditions of the Prophet (S) that emphasize that light may be attained by those who struggle against darkness. Among Muslim philosophers, particularly some Mu'tazilites, like Nazzam, al-Jahiz, Aba Hashim al-Jubbai and others, adopted the path of skepticism. Al-Ghazali was the most eminent among Muslim philosophers who, in his spiritual auto-biography, al-Munqidh min al-dalal, elaborated the path of skepticism which he travelled to attain the ultimate truth. There have been some Muslim thinkers, like Abu Hashim al-Jubba'i, al-Baqillanis al-Nazzam and others, who advocated skepticism in order to arrive at certain religious faith. Skepticism is a philosophy that has three different meanings: denial of all knowledge, agnosticism, and a method to approach certainty. Most of the Muslims philosophers sought the goal of certainty. Skepticism in the general sense of the impossibility of knowledge is not compatible with Islamic teachings. It is acceptable only when it leads from uncertainty to certainty. The skeptical method has two aspects, rejection of all absolute knowledge, and acceptance of the path to overcome uncertainty. Muslim philosophers have followed the second path, because there has been an emphasis on rejecting blind faith. Shaykh al-Mufid (an eminent Shi'i faqih) said that there was a very narrow margin between faith and disbelief in so far as the believer imitated certain theologians. In his view, an imitator is on the verse of unbelief (kufr). In Islam 'ilm is not confined to the acquisition of knowledge only, but also embraces socio-political and moral aspects. Knowledge is not mere information; it requires the believers to act upon their beliefs and commit themselves to the goals which Islam aims at attaining. In brief, I would like to say that the theory of knowledge in the Islamic perspective is not just a theory of epistemology. It combines knowledge, insight, and social action as its ingredients. I would like to cite here a tradition of the Prophet (S) narrated by Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib: Once Gabriel came to Adam. He brought with him faith, morality (haya') and 'aql (reason) and asked him to choose one of the three. When he chose 'aql, the others were told by Gabriel to return to heaven, They said that they were ordered by Allah to accompany 'aql wherever it remained. This indicates how comprehensive are the notions of intellect and knowledge in Islam, and how deeply related they are to faith and the moral faculty. The all-round development of various branches of knowledge pertaining to physical and social phenomena, as well as the process of logical argumentation for justification of Islamic doctrine and deduction of Islamic laws (ahkam) with reference to Qur'anic injunctions and the Prophetic tradition, is indebted to Islam's notion of 'ilm. Scientific knowledge, comprising natural and physical sciences, was sought and developed by Muslim scientists and mathematicians vigorously from the beginning of the last decades of the first century of Hijrah. The scientific endeavour found its flowering period with the establishment of the Bayt al-Hikmah in the reign of al-Ma'mun. Undoubtedly the major contributions in philosophy and sciences were made by Iranians, but the myth created by the orientalists that the fundamental sources of Islam, viz. the Qur'an and Sunnah, did not contain scientific and philosophical ideas is totally false. As said earlier, not only the Qur'an and hadith encouraged Muslims or rather made it obligatory for them to pursue truth freely from all possible sources, but also contained certain guiding principles that could provide a secure foundation for the development of religious and secular sciences. Some Prophetic traditions even give priority to learning over performing supererogatory rites of worship. There are several traditions that indicate that a scholar's sleep is more valuable than an ignorant believer's journey for pilgrimage (hajj) and participation in holy war, and that the drops of a scholar's ink are more sacred than the blood of a martyr. Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ('a) said that the reward for piety in the other world would be bestowed upon a believer in proportion to the degree of his intellectual development and his knowledge. Islam never maintained that only theology was useful and the empirical sciences useless or harmful. This concept was made common by semi-literate clerics or by the time servers among them who wanted to keep common Muslims in the darkness of ignorance and blind faith so that they would not be able to oppose unjust rulers and resist clerics attached to the courts of tyrants. This attitude resulted in the condemnation of not only empirical science but also 'ilm al-kalam and metaphysics, which resulted in the decline of Muslims in politics and economy. Even today large segments of Muslim society, both the common man and many clerics suffer from this malady. This unhealthy and anti-knowledge attitude gave birth to some movements which considered elementary books of theology as sufficient for a Muslim, and discouraged the assimilation or dissemination of empirical knowledge as leading to the weakening of faith. Apart from Shaykh al-Mufid and other Shi'i scholars, a number of classical Sunni fuqaha and 'ulama,' even those considered to be conservative, like Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, regarded emulation or imitation (taqlid) as religiously unauthorized and harmful. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti held that taqlid was forbidden by both the salaf and the khalaf (early and later generations of scholars). He cited al-Shafi'i's opposition to taqlid. Ibn Hazm followed the same line. These and many other fuqaha' and theologians emphasized the exercise of 'aql and ijtihad as obligatory for the believers. Imam 'Ali ('a) gave a place of pride to reason even in the matters of religion. Abu 'Ala' al-Ma'arri believed that there was no imam except reason. Thus it is obvious that the Shi'ah and Sunnis, not withstanding their differences on several issues, agreed on the role of reason and the necessity of ijtihad. It is unfortunate that some recent movements of Islamic resurgence in the Sunni world, e.g. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan etc., are opposed to reason and preach emulation, distorting the role of ijtihad and disregarding even major Salafi theologians. This attitude, they do not realize, is self-contradictory and self defeating for their own cause. It is a good sign that apart from the rejection of 'aql in recent times by some Sunni quarters, attempts have been made and are still being made to revive the practice of ijtihad and combining social, scientific and secular knowledge with the teaching of theology, fiqh, usul al-fiqh, hadith, 'ilm al-rijal, kalam and tafsir, whose acquisition is essential for ijtihad in the matters pertaining to the faith and its practice. Another myth propagated by the orientalists, that the Arab mind was not akin to philosophizing and that it was the Aryan mind, i.e. of the Iranians, which introduced philosophy in the Muslim world, is equally unfounded and a conspiracy against the history of Muslim philosophy and its significant contribution to the development of sciences which not only benefited Muslim world but also contributed to the enrichment of human learning, culture and civilization. Ironically, despite the claim that the Aryan mind introduced philosophical and scientific thinking and research, Muslim philosophy is called 'Arab philosophy' by the orientalists, implying a contradiction inherent in their prejudice against the Semites. In Islam-of course, after the Qur'an and the Prophet's hadith-'Ali's sermons and letters, later collected under the title of Nahj al-halaghah, contained the seeds of philosophical and scientific inquiry, and he was an Arab. Similarly, the Mu'tazilah, known as the first rationalists among Muslims, consisted of Arabs. Even the officially recognized first Muslim philosopher, al-Kindi, was an Arab. After the decline of philosophical and scientific inquiry in the Muslim east, philosophy and sciences flourished in the Muslim west due to endeavours of the thinkers of Arab origin like Ibn Rushd, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Bajah, and Ibn Khaldun, the father of sociology and philosophy of history. Ibn Khaldun's philosophy of history and society is the flowering of early work by Muslim thinkers in the spheres of ethics and political science such as those of Miskawayh, al-Dawwani, and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. The credit for giving serious attention to socio-political philosophy goes to al-Farabi, who wrote books on these issues under the titles of Madinat al-fadilah, Ara' ahl al-madinat al-fadilah, al-Millah al-fadilah, Fusul al-madang, Sirah Fadilah, K. al-Siyasah al-madaniyyah, etc. Muslims never ignored socio-political economic and other problems pertaining to the physical as well as social reality. They contributed richly to human civilization and thought by their bold and free inquiry in various areas of knowledge even at the risk of being condemned as heretics or rather unbelievers. True and firm believers in Islamic creed, like al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Bajah, al-Haytham, Ibn 'Arabi and Mulla Sadra, and in recent times Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Iqbal and al-Mawdudi were not spared fatwas of kufr by the partisans of blind imitation who were hostile to the principle of ijtihad, research and critical thought. Along with the Muslim astronomers, mathematicians, natural scientists and physicians like Ibn Sina, Zakariyya al-Razi, and others who were instrumental in the development of human knowledge and civilization, it would be unjust not to mention the significant contribution of Ikhwan al-Safa (The Brethren Purity) a group of Shi'i-Ismaili scholars and thinkers who wrote original treatises on various philosophical and scientific subjects, an effort which signifies the first attempt to compile an encyclopedia in the civilized world. In brief, it may be justifiably claimed that the Islamic theory of knowledge was responsible for blossoming of a culture of free inquiry and rational scientific thinking that also encompassed the spheres of both theory and practice.

Salaam aleykum Br Bob You are doing a wonderful job. You have the patience (which I lack) to deal with them. I would have given them more credit, had they research it (Islam) and came to their conclusion instead of rejecting it off hand, for they show clear misunderstanding. See, If one has doubts, you'd think that they would make their mission to investigate (I am sure some do) and receive clarity, cosidering what is at stake. But what they do is continue happily in their ignorance and mouth off as if they were on authority when Islam is discussed. The great scholar Imam Al Ghazali went through a stage of doubt and criticism. We can learn a lot from how he dealt with his spiritual crisis.

I know how you feel Castro. That is exactly my predicament. Real people are being destroyed day in and out. If it aint the bullet, it is the diseases. We need to wisen up and learn something from the Jews. We as a Muslim are back in the stone age when it comes to political activism for our own ideals, we simply dont care (which is basically being lazy & no excuse) however our Jewish brethren are leagues ahead. They dont try to beat the system by force, they infiltrate and take over. Then beat you at your own game. Hats off to them as they have the political system cornered. With all their expulsion from countries and the scars of the holocoust, they appear to have risen, with all that behind them. I aint advocating that we do what they do i.e oppressing others to acheive your goals but I love how they beat the system and turn situations into their own advantage. However this mentality of violence and killing each other has never gotten the Palestinians, Kashimiris, Chechneyans, Iraqis and Afghanis very far. We must be smart and play the system. We cant beat them with violence, for they are mightier and stronger than us. So lets have a dialogue, try to plant seeds within the government, campaign for your policies, get more people on your side and change the system within.

Somali pop stars take on tradition By Daud Aweis BBC News website, Nairobi Deep in the heart of Little Mogadishu, a suburb in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, a pop group called Waayah Cusub (New Era) is causing a storm. We are not happy with what is happening back home Jamila Jamma Waayah Cusub member Frustrated with the traditional norms of living within the Somali community, which to a large extent restricts open expression; this group of young men and women are now using music to break the barriers. Most of them are in their early twenties and have been living as refugees in Kenya for more than a decade. They have stepped out of the old poetic tradition and introduced more creative and modern lyrics to the Somali music industry. "We do not copy songs from old musicians, we come up with our own ideas and sing about what is happening by the day, something that rarely happens," says group member Jamila Jamma. The group, which has been enjoying a lot of airtime on Somali radio stations and music programmes on Kenyan television channels, has been pushing for reconciliation in their country. "We are not happy with what is happening back home, in fact we have recorded a thought-provoking song that we hope will bring our leaders back to their senses," Ms Jamma says. The song, entitled Somalia, rebukes the country's leadership and warlords for causing the pain and destruction as they fight for power and challenges them to outline what they will do to restore order to the country. 'Bold step' Apart from singing about the war and destruction in their homeland, Waayah Cusub is equally convinced that there are current social issues which are being ignored to the danger of the Somali community. For instance, they say Aids is a reality among Somalis but no-one talks about it or if the disease is discussed, it is a low-key affair. Most Somalis are Muslims and according to Islamic teaching, the disease is mainly associated with adulterers and people with HIV are often ostracised. "Most Somalis are not educated and they do not know what causes Aids, so we decided to take the bold step and tell them what this is and its dangers," explains Ms Jamma, who is one of the female members of the group. Shino Abdullahi Ali, who features in the song Ka digtoonow Aids Ka, says they decided to be blunt in their message that Aids is dangerous and has no cure. Apart from breaking from tradition and talking about the disease, Waayah Cusub has been careful not to cause a furore by suggesting ways of prevention like the use of condoms and simply advocate abstinence. Diaspora appeal Having lived in Kenya for the better part of their teenage life, the group members have also drawn fans from their host country by singing in Kiswahili, a language widely spoken in East Africa. It's an open secret that if you do not come from a noble clan, no matter how much you love a girl, she will never be your wife Abdimalik Awil Isaac Film producer "Swahili has become a major mode of communication among us and our peers, we cannot match Kenyan musicians but singing in the language in Somali style has been appealing to our fans," says Shino Abdullahi Ali, who raps on the popular track Sina Mwingine - Kiswahili for I Do Not Have Another Lover. The group also has a big fan base among Somalis elsewhere in the diaspora. They performed in the Somali movie Ali and Awrala about the caste system of marriage within Somalia communities. The producer of the film, Abdimalik Awil Isaac, who lives in Denmark, says his intention was to show Somalis that the taboo of marrying across the castes has caused much pain. "It's an open secret among our people that if you do not come from a noble clan, no matter how much you love a girl from that kind of family, she will never be your wife. "These guys conveyed the message pretty well," he said of group members who had leading roles in the movie, which has been screened widely in Europe and the United States. And what are Waayah Cusub's future plans? "Just like everyone says, the sky is the limit. But our mission is to put Somalia on focus in every area and we will be bold in our music," says Ms Jamma. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/6662813.stm Published: 2007/05/18 09:37:20 GMT © BBC MMVII

Horta, I wont come to the dirin until bun la isoo dhigo Joking aside, I disagree with this notion of fighting with the Tigree to death or till they flee. Never gonna happen as long as they have Uncle Sam onside. Look at what is happening with Afghanistan and Iraq..no one knew that it was gonna last this long. We dont want the same level of casualties. We have suffered enough. I say let sit down and arrimaha lakala dhigo. That is our only hope. Lets not underestimate the power of dialogue. It can help enemies talk constructively across the issues that divide them. The people of Muqdishu (at least those I speak to) need this. They want peace and a chance to feed their families. And here we are..having this gung-ho attitude behind our screens...oh how brave we are.

How Mohammed became Ed A much-praised new book about Muslim extremism reinforces all the usual stereotypes. Riazat Butt There is much excitement about The Islamist, a first-hand account of life inside a radical Muslim group, written by "recovering" fundamentalist Ed Husain. In an interview for the Guardian's weekly Islamophonic podcast, Ed says he wrote the book for non-Muslims. No kidding. He also reveals why he changed his name from for a western audience. He didn't feel comfortable with Mohammed - one of the most popular names in the world - so it became Ed, and his friends couldn't pronounce his surname - Mehboob. Pundits have fallen over themselves to praise the book. Ed has been described as a "true Islamic voice" by one critic while another said he "should be applauded for his intellectual honesty and guts" - this last tribute by Melanie Phillips. Amid sighs of relief that all prejudices about Muslims have been confirmed - they're alienated, recruited and indoctrinated - few have dared to suggest that Ed is blaming everyone but himself for his decisions. Almost as absent is any reaction from Muslims, though some individuals have criticised him for being opportunistic and profiteering from the current climate of fear and anxiety. Ed's flirtation with extremism is down to his choices, yet he is forgiven because he has apologised. That's OK then. Next time a young Muslim man calls me a Hindu ***** because I don't wear a veil I'll put it down to their vulnerability and lack of cuddles. There are Muslims who become more radical or extreme in their interpretation of Islam because they want to. They have not been groomed - a technique employed by stable hands and paedophiles - but they consciously reject the western way of life because they think it is incompatible with practising what they see as the "correct" form of Islam. To the inevitable question - "why don't they leave Britain?" - my response is that much as these people hate Britain, they are too cowardly to strike out on their own. By diligently c*****ng his involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir, Hussain has employed a simplistic and back-pedalling narrative that will be seen by many as the definitive portrait of fundamentalist Muslims. He is happy to reinforce sterotypes and justifies this by saying he knows what inspires terrorists - the likely inference being that his book is an educational tool. But Husain was not a terrorist and his account is dated and misleading. The groups he mentions, and their modus operandi, are more fluid and sophisticated now. Husain provides no new answers and no fresh information. The activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir and their ilk have been well documented already. I have to ask why, when his experiences are firmly based in the 1990s, this book is being published now and is being greeted with an adulation that is both embarrassing and unwarranted. http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/riazat_butt/2007/05/there_is_much_excitement_about.html Check out the comments it got: The rhetoric of Mad Mel Phillips and now Hussain is worrying. They seem to be paving the road to a perpetual war against the Muslim world under the guise of the "war on terror" and continued support for dictatorship and oppression. On the domestic front in the West, they will heighten fear, suspicion and alienation by branding "extremists" all those who want peaceful regime change in the Muslim world through the return of the caliphate. .

It is all coming out now lol. Xanthus..you sly fox! Mz D&D waa la casilay long time ago. Now she is pre-occupied of making her hubby pop and lock!

Bad bad DhucDhuc, Bad naughty DhucDhuc! Talaaba aan ka qaadeyna inantaas!

Peacenow Admit now..Who is the Arab/Asian woman that let you down? Surely one cant hate a whole section of people that much. We were friends with bearded pakistani blokes, he went to masjid with them, ate with them etc and still they havent even shown interest in his body

lool, the first 6 months is make or break. After that, love will surely come. Now..how can I make my two left-feet of a husband to dance like this:

^^ He has many issues..period. Munira Sis most cornershops are run by pakistanis and indians and whilst they pray (if they do), they still sell alcohol, porno, lottery etc. I commend these Somalis standing for their rights. Nothing is more important than a prayer. I too would have left my job if they'd refused me to pray. So if these somalis have decided that this job is interfering with their prayers, I am with them.

lol@ running with milkman. I think love is waxa qariba dadka. Dont fall in love at the begining. Cos if you do, all his/her faults will be covered and sugared with love. It blinds you as we all know. So dont let yourself wear the rose tinted blinkers. Then you ask yourself, with all the faults my bloke/my lady has, ma u adkeysan karaa after 10, 20 years? Is he/she worth the effort? If it is yes, then go for it. But believe love will come later

I love this.

darn it.. I cant help it but talk of the M word..it si hard especially when Xanthus forbade me to speak of it!

^^ lool muniira. I didnt know you were married before. But this is exactly what I mean. Trading is what I have done when I got married. It was cold hearted business decision. Love didnt come into it at all. With such clarity, (of course with Allah's help), you cant go wrong. Also training them from the word go is essential. So Serenity sis, make him think it was his ideas all along . Niman wax xoog kuma laha lol

why is this in the female section then?

lol Xanthus... Peacenow..who brainwashed you into thinking that somalis were arab slaves?

Baashi, No one is perfect brother but as long as we strive to do our best, that is all one can ask for. It really does help to have a partner who will make loving him/her easier. When someone follows his/her deen and know his/her rights and those of his/her partner, life will really be grand and inshallah the afterlife too. Sis Munira, I have been married for 5years now alhamdulilaah.

Salaam aleykum brother Nur I love reading the Quran. For me, I find that the Quran answers a lot of questions about morality and the purpose and meaning to this life. The message of the Quran is compelling and I personally have a deep emotional attachment. It has an extraordinary beauty when recited which is difficult to explain in words. But time takes me away and the dunya has a habit of making me forget of my duties. With regards to sura Rum, here is a commentary on that surah: Name The Surah takes its name Ar-Rum from the second verse in which the words ghulibat-ir-Rum have occurred. Period of Revelation The period of the revelation of this Surah is determined absolutely by the historical event that has been mentioned at the outset. It says: "The Romans have been vanquished in the neighboring land."In those days the Byzantine occupied territories adjacent to Arabia were Jordan, Syria and Palestine, and in these territories the Romans were completely overpowered by the Iranians in 615 A. D. Therefore, it can be said with absolute certainty that this Surah was sent down in the same year, and this was the year in which the migration to Habash took place. Historical Background The prediction made in the initial verses of this Surah is one of the most outstanding evidences of the Quran's being the Word of Allah and the Holy Prophet Muhammad's being a true Messenger of Allah. Let us have a look at the historical background relevant to the verses. Eight years before the Holy Prophet's advent as a Prophet the Byzantine Emperor Maurice was overthrown by Phocus, who captured the throne and became king. Phocus first got the Emperor's five sons executed in front of him, and then got the Emperor also killed and hung their heads in a thoroughfare in Constantinople. A few days after this he had the empress and her three daughters also put to death. The event provided Khusrau Parvez, the Sassanid king of Iran; a good moral excuse to attack Byzantium. For Emperor Maurice had been his benefactor; with his help he had got the throne of Iran. Therefore, he declared that he would avenge his godfather's and his children's murder upon Phocus, the usurper. So, he started war against Byzantium in 603 A. D. and within a few years, putting the Phocus armies to rout in succession, he reached Edessa (modern, Urfa) in Asia Minor, on the one hand, and Aleppo and Antioch in Syria, on the other. When the Byzantine ministers saw that Phocus could not save the country, they sought the African governor's help, who sent his son, Heraclius, to Constantinople with a strong fleet. Phocus was immediately deposed and Heraclius made emperor. He treated Phocus as he had treated Maurice. This happened in 610 A. D., the year the Holy Prophet was appointed to Prophethood. The moral excuse for which Khusrau Parvez had started the war was no more valid after the deposition and death of Phocus. Had the object of his war really been to avenge the murder of his ally on Phocus for his cruelty, he would have come to terms with the new Emperor after the death of Phocus. But he continued the war, and gave it the color of a crusade between Zoroastrianism and Christianity. The sympathies of the Christian sects (i. e. Nestorians and Jacobians, etc.) which had been excommunicated by the Roman ecclesiastical authority and tyrannized for years also went with the Magian (Zoroastrian) invaders, and the Jews also joined hands with them; so much so that the number of the Jews who enlisted in Khusrau's army rose up to 26,000. Heraclius could not stop this storm. The very first news that he received from the East after ascending the throne was that of the Iranian occupation of Antioch. After this Damascus fell in 613 A. D. Then in 614 A.D. the Iranians occupying Jerusalem played havoc with the Christian world. Ninety thousand Christians were massacred and the Holy Sepulcher was desecrated. The Original Cross on which, according to the Christian belief, Jesus had died was seized and carried to Mada'in. The chief priest Zacharia was taken prisoner and all the important churches of the city were destroyed. How puffed up was Khusrau Parvez at this victory can be judged from the letter that he wrote to Heraclius from Jerusalem. He wrote: "From Khusrau, the greatest of all gods, the master of the whole world : To Heraclius, his most wretched and most ****** servant: 'You say that you have trust in your Lord. why didn't then your Lord save Jerusalem from me?'" Within a year after this victory the Iranian armies over-ran Jordan, Palestine and the whole of the Sinai Peninsula, and reached the frontiers of Egypt. In those very days another conflict of a far greater historical consequence was going on in Makkah. The believers in One God, under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him), were fighting for their existence against the followers of shirk under the command of the chiefs of the Quraish, and the conflict had reached such a stage that in 615 A. D., a substantial number of the Muslims had to leave their homes and take refuge with the Christian kingdom of Habash, which was an ally of the Byzantine Empire. In those days the Sassanid victories against Byzantium were the talk of the town, and the pagans of Makkah were delighted and were taunting the Muslims to the effect: "Look the fire worshipers of Iran are winning victories and the Christian believers in Revelation and Prophethood are being routed everywhere. Likewise, we, the idol worshipers of Arabia, will exterminate you and your religion." These were the conditions when this Surah of the Quran was sent down, and in it a prediction was made, saying:"The Romans have been vanquished in the neighboring land and within a few years after their defeat, they shall be victorious. And it will be the day when the believers will rejoice in the victory granted by Allah." It contained not one but two predictions: First, the Romans shall be Victorious; and second, the Muslims also shall win a victory at the same time. Apparently, there was not a remote chance of the fulfillment of the either prediction in the next few years. On the one hand, there were a handful of the Muslims, who were being beaten and tortured in Makkah, and even till eight years after this prediction there appeared no chance of their victory and domination. On the other, the Romans were losing more and more ground every next day. By 619 A. D. the whole of Egypt had passed into Sassanid hands and the Magian armies had reached as far as Tripoli. In Asia Minor they beat and pushed back the Romans to Bosporus, and in 617 A. D. they captured Chalcedon (modern, Kadikoy) just opposite Constantinople. The Emperor sent an envoy to Khusrau, praying that he was ready to have peace on any terms, but he replied, "I shall not give protection to the emperor until he is brought in chains before me and gives up obedience to his crucified god and adopts submission to the fire god." At last, the Emperor became so depressed by defeat that he decided to leave Constantinople and shift to Carthage (modern, Tunis). In short, as the British historian Gibbon says, even seven to eight years after this prediction of the Quran, the conditions were such that no one could even imagine that the Byzantine Empire would ever gain an upper hand over Iran. Not to speak of gaining domination, no one could hope that the Empire, under the circumstances, would even survive. http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/maududi/mau30.html

Caano D Elsewhere(The one with the yellow shirt in your video) is wicked. Here is one I saw a while back: Ad for heinikin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRuaUNXZDGk&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUw-LFPJoPE&mode=related&search= Norf I tink Mr Wiggles has good moves. There are great ones..keep them coming please

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBpbzx-9FOI&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBpbzx-9FOI&mode=related&search= I wish I was able to do that

I happen to believe that kuli fitna cinda geel inuu yahay ninkaan la yiraahdo Gaagaab. He is the most morally corrupted and a crook who has crippled Puntland. What an incompetent administration.

Lily That is my impression too About work..It is getting boring and not very challenging. We are expected to merge with another and perhaps win couple of contracts and I am truly hoping that this would once again wet my apetite and stimulate my mind. Otherwise I will open a cornershop somewhere

Bokero What exactly are suggesting that we do? Could you put them in order?