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Valley tense after Army kills protesters Click to Read

Case against the Babri trio to continue Click to Read

'Muslim edge' crucial in Kerala Click to Read

Signpost: The Unity of Religions Click to Read

Mainstream media sustain partners in crime Click to Read

Speak up before it's too late! Click to Read

Muslims rush relief for quake victims Click to Read

Nayanar's Assurance to Muslim Women Delegation Click to Read

TMMK stir for CD-CID probe Click to Read

They fell dead celebrating... Click to Read

Babri trio not abosolved Click to Read

Rao takes a U turn, denies babri rebuilding promise Click to Read

Dateline: Srinagar Click to Read

The Great identity robbery Click to Read

Collective efforts needed to uplift AMU Click to Read

Centre for Women's Study at AMU Click to Read

AMU NEWS Click to Read

Afghanistan on the edge of catastrophe

Extra-judicial execution confirms Israel's criminal nature

Hilmi's killer is a free man

A Palestinian strategy to counter Sharon's Apartheid

Germany submitting to blackmail: Jewish scholar

The pan am 103 verdict

The myth of Israeli restraint, unraveled by state soldiers

Algerian whistle-blower accuses US, France of ignoring massacres

The Right to Return, a basic right still denied

The next generation of Arab leaders

US-Britain isolated on Iraq

Numerous Mosques Desecrated Click to Read

Loopholes in census exercise infuriate minorities Click to Read

Islamic economics a distinct discipline 

Directory of Fiqh Terms

Did you perform your Hajj?

Savings for Hajj given to Relief Fund

Q&A: Spending money on Hajj or on people dying from starvation?

The Spirit of Hajj

Firoz bakht Amed: The man who gave Ghalib his haveli and Zauq the mazar

Al-Azhar strives to retain past glory

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Taliban defy world outcry...

Afghanistan seems to have unlimited capacity to surprise the world. First they, with the help of many, including the CIA, defeated one of the superpowers leading to its disintegration and emergence of the other superpower as the sole master of the world. As soon as they made it to Kabul they started fighting each other to the point of bombarding their own capital. Outsiders thought that once the Taliban emerged as victors the internecine tribal and clan-based war will end, but no, that war continues and the new regime refuses any compromise with other powers on the Afghani soil. As a result of the on-going war and turmoil millions of Afghanis are still living as refugees in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran while another one million are facing slow death due to starvation inside their own country according to UN estimates. The Taliban regime could end the country’s misery quickly by coming to terms with its adversaries but several meetings in Pakistan and elsewhere have proved futile due to Taliban’s refusal to compromise and share power.

Drug cultivation and trafficking is another problem area which blemishes the Taliban record as poppy farming is said to be regarded as permissible under Islam! Another problem area is Taliban’s support of terrorism in neighbouring countries under a misguided notion of ‘Jihad.’ This is further complicated by giving shelter to Usama Ben Laden and his men who are wanted by many for their acts of terrorism including his own country Saudi Arabia which was one of only three countries in the world which recognized the Taliban regime. Their refusal to hand him over for trial has led Riyadh to derecongnize the Kabul regime.

Now, as if all this misery was not enough for Afghanistan whose majority has not seen anything in their lives save war and destruction, came the edict to destroy ‘idols’ in order to purify the country of all manifestations of shirk! The act is justified by Prophet Abraham’s destruction of idols and the Prophet’s destruction of the idols in the House of Allah in Makkah after its conquest in 8H (629 CE) This justification is utterly misplaced for many reasons including the fact that Muslims in Afghanistan were not worshipping these idols and there was no fear that this could happen ever and that the Prophet destroyed the idols that were later placed in the mosque Abraham built and there was no question to retain them once all Makkans embraced Islam. Islam gives iron-clad guarantees to the Ahl al-dhimmah, non-Muslims in a Muslim state, to worship their gods and to retain their places of worship. This right is enshrined in the Shari’ah and was actively practiced all these centuries. The temples, synagogues and churches found in the world of Islam, stretching from Morocco to Indonesia are living testimony to this fact. Many of these lands were conquered during the time of the Rightly Guided caliphs who allowed the conquered people to retain their places of worship and idols. There are religious minorities in Afghanistan which respect the ‘idols’ Taliban are destroying utterly violating their religious rights. Moreover, there are millions of people around the world who hold those statues in respect; others consider them part of the common world heritage. This act is wrong both in the light of the teachings of Islam and goes against the world brotherhood and harmony which we must seek with other countries, peoples and nations. It destroys the goodwill which each country has to enjoy and afford others in a world which is a large village today.

It was due to this sense of alarm and outrage that the MG took the initiative to issue a statement by leading Muslim intellectuals from all over the world (p. 3). The text was prepared and consent obtained via telephone and email within 24 hours before its release late on 3 March. - Zafarul-Islam Khan

...Their Indian counterparts cross all limits

Hindutvaites, who perpetrated greater crimes by demolishing the Babri Masjid which led to the demolition of hundreds of mosques, dargahs, imambaras and the murder of thousands of innocent Muslims in the riots that erupted all over the country as a result, took the Taleban demolitions to indulge in their favourite game of hate-mongering. The climax was the burning of the Holy Qur’an in Delhi by the World Hindu Council (VHP) activists in Delhi on 5 March. The above picture, taken by Kamal Kishore and distributed by Reuters news agency may be seen on the following internet site: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010305/ts/mdf21501.html . Since the so-called national press chose to ignore this picture as usual when it concerns a ‘particular community’, we are printing it so that the Supreme Court, the high court, National Minorities Commission, CBI and police authorities may take congnizance of this flagrant attempt to damage communal harmony and insult the feelings of over 150 million citizens of this country. As we go to press, no government action has yet been reported against the criminals who burnt the Qur’an held sacred by over a billion people in the world.

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