DIGBOI, Sept 24 – Id-ul-Fitre was celebrated at Digboi on Monday as in the other parts of India with gaiety and a rich fund of good will for humanity at large.
The rains played the spoilsport and the Idd namaz could not be held as per an earlier plan, in the Iddgah Maidan of Digboi centrally. As such, the Idd namaz was performed separately in each one of the none mosques all over Digboi.
In Jame Masjid, the biggest mosque at Digboi, the namaz was conducted by Maulana Akhtarul Quadri and it was attended by around 4,000 devotees. The Maulana prayed for peace and amity for all the people living in India and exhorted in his speech for maintenance of harmony in the country.
He also called upon the congregation of worshippers to follow the holy tenets of the Quran to help build a peaceful society.
Ubedullah Khan, secretary of the Kabarsthan Iddgah Hefajat Committee of Digboi, offered the vote of thanks to IOCL (AOD), SDO (Civil) of Margherita sub-division, Bogapani TE, members of the local press and others for facilitating the celebrations.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Maulana Wali Rahmani espaces unhurt in stone-pelting at Munger Idgah
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Eminent spiritual leader, Sajjada Nasheen of Khanqah Munger Maulana Muhammad Wali Rahmani escaped unhurt when anti-social elements started pelting stone as the Maulana was about to entre the Idgah to lead Eid prayers on Monday. However, a namazi sustained injuries in head.
It was an apparent move to flare up communal passion leading to violence, but Maulana Rahmani wisely handled the issue and did not let the communalists succeed in their nefarious design. Munger has always been a communally sensitive town. Several communal riots have taken place here.
According to reports, when the Maulana reached the Idgah some anti-social elements threw stones from inside the R D & D J College overlooking the Idgah. The incident exposed the poor security arrangements around the Idgah on the day of Eid.
During the Khutba the Maulana did not talk much about the incident as it could have led to tension. However, he mentioned it. As soon as the news spread in the town condemnations poured in from all sides.
http://www.twocircles.net/2009sep23/maulana_wali_rahmani_espaces_unhurt_stone_pelting_munger_idgah.html
New Delhi: Eminent spiritual leader, Sajjada Nasheen of Khanqah Munger Maulana Muhammad Wali Rahmani escaped unhurt when anti-social elements started pelting stone as the Maulana was about to entre the Idgah to lead Eid prayers on Monday. However, a namazi sustained injuries in head.
It was an apparent move to flare up communal passion leading to violence, but Maulana Rahmani wisely handled the issue and did not let the communalists succeed in their nefarious design. Munger has always been a communally sensitive town. Several communal riots have taken place here.
According to reports, when the Maulana reached the Idgah some anti-social elements threw stones from inside the R D & D J College overlooking the Idgah. The incident exposed the poor security arrangements around the Idgah on the day of Eid.
During the Khutba the Maulana did not talk much about the incident as it could have led to tension. However, he mentioned it. As soon as the news spread in the town condemnations poured in from all sides.
http://www.twocircles.net/2009sep23/maulana_wali_rahmani_espaces_unhurt_stone_pelting_munger_idgah.html
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated in Kerala
By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent
Kochi: Muslims in Kerala celebrated Eid-ul Fitr on Monday with much fervor and rejoice after the month-long fast of Ramadan. Namaz of Eid was held at various Eid gahs and masjids all over the state. Men, women and children celebrated the Eid with delicious food items as well as visits to relatives and friends after the namaz.
The specialty of this year’s Eid was that the Kerala celebrated it with the rest of the country unlike in earlier times when Eid in the state came a day earlier when compared to the rest of India.
Kochi used to have three eidgahs in the past couple of years but this year there was only one. Eidgahs were announced in the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and the Maharaja’s College ground but had to be cancelled because of rain (water remained on the ground due to the previous day’s rain). So the only Eidgah at the Marine Drive ground was packed fully with believers. Imam Basheer Muhiyudheen led the prayers. Eid namaz was also held in different masjids in the city. TK Aboobaker Moulvi led the prayers at the Salafi Masjid in Vyttila, Kochi.
Eid namaz was held in different masjids and eid gahs in Malappuram district. KT Abdu Raheem, Jamat e Islami shura member, led the Eid gah at Kottappadi ground at Malappuram. Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, Muslim League state president, led the prayers at Panakkad Juma Masjid. Namaz was led by MP Abdussamad Samadani, Muslim League national secretary, at Randathani.
Eid gahs were arranged in the Mananchira ground, the Corporation Stadium and the beach in the Kozhikode city. Thousands thronged the various eid gahs and masjids for namaz and sermon.
Thakbeer was chanted and greetings and pleasantries exchanged by the believers. Fitr zakath was also distributed to the needy before the Eid namaz through zakath committees and masjids. Non-Muslims also attended the Eid celebrations.
Kochi: Muslims in Kerala celebrated Eid-ul Fitr on Monday with much fervor and rejoice after the month-long fast of Ramadan. Namaz of Eid was held at various Eid gahs and masjids all over the state. Men, women and children celebrated the Eid with delicious food items as well as visits to relatives and friends after the namaz.
The specialty of this year’s Eid was that the Kerala celebrated it with the rest of the country unlike in earlier times when Eid in the state came a day earlier when compared to the rest of India.
Kochi used to have three eidgahs in the past couple of years but this year there was only one. Eidgahs were announced in the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and the Maharaja’s College ground but had to be cancelled because of rain (water remained on the ground due to the previous day’s rain). So the only Eidgah at the Marine Drive ground was packed fully with believers. Imam Basheer Muhiyudheen led the prayers. Eid namaz was also held in different masjids in the city. TK Aboobaker Moulvi led the prayers at the Salafi Masjid in Vyttila, Kochi.
Eid namaz was held in different masjids and eid gahs in Malappuram district. KT Abdu Raheem, Jamat e Islami shura member, led the Eid gah at Kottappadi ground at Malappuram. Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, Muslim League state president, led the prayers at Panakkad Juma Masjid. Namaz was led by MP Abdussamad Samadani, Muslim League national secretary, at Randathani.
Eid gahs were arranged in the Mananchira ground, the Corporation Stadium and the beach in the Kozhikode city. Thousands thronged the various eid gahs and masjids for namaz and sermon.
Thakbeer was chanted and greetings and pleasantries exchanged by the believers. Fitr zakath was also distributed to the needy before the Eid namaz through zakath committees and masjids. Non-Muslims also attended the Eid celebrations.
Fiji `Eid... Family Time
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
CAIRO — In the small pacific nation of Fiji, `Eid Al-Fitr, a major occasion in the Islamic calendar, is all about festivities and gatherings for Muslim families, and a time when the tiny minority reaches out to share `eid joy with non-Muslim compatriots.
"After the 30-day fast, we celebrate normal life again and enjoy it with family and friends," Hafiz Khan, president of the Fiji Muslim League, told the Fiji Times on Tuesday, September 22.
Fiji's nearly 60,000 Muslims, who make up nearly 6.5 percent of its population, celebrated `Eid, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on Monday, September 21.
The day starts with a special prayer, usually organized in grand mosques and open areas.
"Only the males go to the mosque for prayers and devotion to mark the end of Ramadan," said Azad Ali.
After the prayers, festivities and merriment start and Muslims dedicate their time to the company of their immediate and extended family members.
"We visit our relatives and friends to wish them well," added Ali.
"We also visit the needy and we give what we can to them at the mosque."
`Eid Al-Fitr is one of the two main Islamic religious feasts, together with `Eid Al-Adha.
Non-Muslims Too
Celebrating Muslims in Fiji invited non-Muslim neighbors to their homes to join festivities and parties. (Fiji Times photo)
Muslims are also keen to share `Eid with non-Muslims in the predominantly-Christian tiny archipelago nation.
"`Eid mean's kushi yali or a time to make happiness and share love…that we offer out to everyone regardless of their race," asserts Mohammed Saizad, 65.
In Bua, one of country’s fourteen provinces, celebrating Muslims invited non-Muslim neighbors to their homes to join the festivities and parties.
"It was good moment for me and my family to be celebrating `Eid with villagers of Nawailevu because we mostly reach out to our relatives and friends," says Saizad.
"We made new friends and had a happy `Eid with the villagers so it made it a meaningful one for my family."
For Jokapeci Nautora, who joined Saizad’s `Eid celebration, the experience was an eye-opener for those who knew nothing about their Muslim compatriots.
"Our village is far away in Bua and many of us didn't even know what `Eid was all about," Nautora, 28, said.
CAIRO — In the small pacific nation of Fiji, `Eid Al-Fitr, a major occasion in the Islamic calendar, is all about festivities and gatherings for Muslim families, and a time when the tiny minority reaches out to share `eid joy with non-Muslim compatriots.
"After the 30-day fast, we celebrate normal life again and enjoy it with family and friends," Hafiz Khan, president of the Fiji Muslim League, told the Fiji Times on Tuesday, September 22.
Fiji's nearly 60,000 Muslims, who make up nearly 6.5 percent of its population, celebrated `Eid, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on Monday, September 21.
The day starts with a special prayer, usually organized in grand mosques and open areas.
"Only the males go to the mosque for prayers and devotion to mark the end of Ramadan," said Azad Ali.
After the prayers, festivities and merriment start and Muslims dedicate their time to the company of their immediate and extended family members.
"We visit our relatives and friends to wish them well," added Ali.
"We also visit the needy and we give what we can to them at the mosque."
`Eid Al-Fitr is one of the two main Islamic religious feasts, together with `Eid Al-Adha.
Non-Muslims Too
Celebrating Muslims in Fiji invited non-Muslim neighbors to their homes to join festivities and parties. (Fiji Times photo)
Muslims are also keen to share `Eid with non-Muslims in the predominantly-Christian tiny archipelago nation.
"`Eid mean's kushi yali or a time to make happiness and share love…that we offer out to everyone regardless of their race," asserts Mohammed Saizad, 65.
In Bua, one of country’s fourteen provinces, celebrating Muslims invited non-Muslim neighbors to their homes to join the festivities and parties.
"It was good moment for me and my family to be celebrating `Eid with villagers of Nawailevu because we mostly reach out to our relatives and friends," says Saizad.
"We made new friends and had a happy `Eid with the villagers so it made it a meaningful one for my family."
For Jokapeci Nautora, who joined Saizad’s `Eid celebration, the experience was an eye-opener for those who knew nothing about their Muslim compatriots.
"Our village is far away in Bua and many of us didn't even know what `Eid was all about," Nautora, 28, said.
Malawi's Solidarity `Eid
By Mallick Mnela, IOL Correspondent
BLANTYRE — The celebration of `Eid Al-Fitr in Malawi is all about social cohesion, with Muslims sharing `Eid’s joyous spirit with the poor and the needy through charity and Zakat Al-Fitr.
"Sharing is central to this celebration," Sheikh Ishmael Yahya, a Muslim leader from Dedza district in central Malawi, told IslamOnline.net.
"It is a time to give in charity to those in need."
Just like other Muslim communities around the world, Malawi Muslims start their celebrations with congregational `Eid prayers early in the morning before joining the community for the rest of the day.
In most predominantly Muslim regions, free-for-all food parties are being thrown during `eid days to help cash-strapped Muslims enjoy the festival.
“We realize that not all can afford to celebrate due to financial constraints, hence the need to make a collective party,” sheikh Yahya added.
He believes the tradition of collective `Eid celebration brings about social cohesion in the impoverished country where over 60 percent are the rural poor.
Sheikh Dinala Chabulika, of the Islamic Information Bureau, notes that the free-for-all `Eid parties have long been the tradition in Malawi.
"This is what our fathers used to do back then, celebrating `Eid as a society, not just family and friends."
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The celebration started in Malawi, where Islam is the second largest faith after Christianity, on Sunday, September 20.
According to state figures, Muslims constitute 12 percent of the entire population, though Muslim organizations put the figure at nearly 40 percent.
Zakah Awareness
Many also expand their social outreach during `Eid through paying Zakat Al-Fitr.
"The richer prefer to distribute more Zakat al-Fitr so that a majority of the poor can partake in the celebrations without a sense of being sidelined," notes Imraan Abdallah, a resident of Blantyre, Malawi’s largest city.
Zakat Al-Fitr is a special charity of Ramadan that is incumbent on every free Muslim who possesses one Sa` (2.176 kilograms or 4.797 pounds) of dates or barley which is not needed as a basic food for himself or his family for the duration of one day and night.
Every free Muslim must pay Zakat Al-Fitr for himself, his wife, children, and servants.
Though it is preferable that zakah is given to the poor in the shape of wheat, rice and grains, some jurists also allow paying in cash to the poor and needy.
It should be given during Ramadan anytime before the `Eid-ul-Fitr prayer.
Muslim leaders affirm that there is an increased awareness of the necessity of paying Zakat Al-Fitr among the community.
In big urban cities like Blantyre, Dedza and Balaka, the practice is now emerging back to the fore after having been abandoned for a while.
Not only the rich, Muslims in rural low-income regions were equally keen this year to pay their Zakat Al-Fitr to ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the celebration.
"Those people used to think they were not eligible to give zakat, a myth that we have managed to start breaking," stressed Sheikh Chabulika, of the Islamic Information Bureau.
"We are glad people now understand the need to share during this festival and beyond."
BLANTYRE — The celebration of `Eid Al-Fitr in Malawi is all about social cohesion, with Muslims sharing `Eid’s joyous spirit with the poor and the needy through charity and Zakat Al-Fitr.
"Sharing is central to this celebration," Sheikh Ishmael Yahya, a Muslim leader from Dedza district in central Malawi, told IslamOnline.net.
"It is a time to give in charity to those in need."
Just like other Muslim communities around the world, Malawi Muslims start their celebrations with congregational `Eid prayers early in the morning before joining the community for the rest of the day.
In most predominantly Muslim regions, free-for-all food parties are being thrown during `eid days to help cash-strapped Muslims enjoy the festival.
“We realize that not all can afford to celebrate due to financial constraints, hence the need to make a collective party,” sheikh Yahya added.
He believes the tradition of collective `Eid celebration brings about social cohesion in the impoverished country where over 60 percent are the rural poor.
Sheikh Dinala Chabulika, of the Islamic Information Bureau, notes that the free-for-all `Eid parties have long been the tradition in Malawi.
"This is what our fathers used to do back then, celebrating `Eid as a society, not just family and friends."
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The celebration started in Malawi, where Islam is the second largest faith after Christianity, on Sunday, September 20.
According to state figures, Muslims constitute 12 percent of the entire population, though Muslim organizations put the figure at nearly 40 percent.
Zakah Awareness
Many also expand their social outreach during `Eid through paying Zakat Al-Fitr.
"The richer prefer to distribute more Zakat al-Fitr so that a majority of the poor can partake in the celebrations without a sense of being sidelined," notes Imraan Abdallah, a resident of Blantyre, Malawi’s largest city.
Zakat Al-Fitr is a special charity of Ramadan that is incumbent on every free Muslim who possesses one Sa` (2.176 kilograms or 4.797 pounds) of dates or barley which is not needed as a basic food for himself or his family for the duration of one day and night.
Every free Muslim must pay Zakat Al-Fitr for himself, his wife, children, and servants.
Though it is preferable that zakah is given to the poor in the shape of wheat, rice and grains, some jurists also allow paying in cash to the poor and needy.
It should be given during Ramadan anytime before the `Eid-ul-Fitr prayer.
Muslim leaders affirm that there is an increased awareness of the necessity of paying Zakat Al-Fitr among the community.
In big urban cities like Blantyre, Dedza and Balaka, the practice is now emerging back to the fore after having been abandoned for a while.
Not only the rich, Muslims in rural low-income regions were equally keen this year to pay their Zakat Al-Fitr to ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the celebration.
"Those people used to think they were not eligible to give zakat, a myth that we have managed to start breaking," stressed Sheikh Chabulika, of the Islamic Information Bureau.
"We are glad people now understand the need to share during this festival and beyond."
US `Eid Defies Recession
By Farah Akbar and Tanvir Raquib, IOL Correspondents
NEW YORK — Abdul Khalique somehow managed to keep the tradition of hosting festive luncheons and dinners for his family and friends during this year’s `Eid Al—Fitr.
The Muslim New Yorker admits, however, it was no easy thing to do amid a severe financial chill gripping many households, including his own.
"Before we used to go to people’s homes and always give them `Eid gifts, especially the young," he told IslamOnline.net.
Abdul Khalique asserts that many Muslim Americans have felt the pain of the global recession that seems to sting a little more on the three-day `eid, which marks the end of the holy fasting month.
"For the unemployed and retired, it’s very hard for them."
But Abdul Khalique managed to throw the `Eid party which his children eagerly await every year to mingle with their many cousins and friends to celebrate Ramadan’s end.
Many Muslim families also defied the financial meltdown to bring the spirit of `Eid to their homes.
In Jackson Heights, Queens Muslim shoppers jam-packed the shops of many supermarkets and clothing stores.
They loaded their shopping carts with an array of vegetables, exotic spices and delicious lentils in preparation for the mouth-watering meals to be served the next day for friends and family.
Though business owners could not deny that sales had dropped this year due to the recession, they did not appear shaken.
"It’s not what it was last year," said one shopkeeper busily while she attended to customers.
"But we were not expecting last year’s sales. Things are still pretty good."
The US fell into the grip of the worst economic crisis since 1930s in September after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank, and the financial woes of a number of Wall Street giants.
The fallout has developed into a full-fledged recession, threatening personal finances as home prices fall, retirement funds shrink and access to credit and jobs evaporate.
Charity
Despite the economic hard times, American Muslims were also keen not to let the recession woes derail their charitable giving.
During Ramadan and `Eid Al-Fitr, many are determined to donate or volunteer to help the less-fortunate, and one example to that is Kity Khundkar and Mian Akbar’s charity project for which they held a fundraiser and an iftar party in their New York home.
“We know that people are more giving during Ramadan,” says Khundkar, who sponsors along with her husband a non-profit hospital in Bangladesh that offers eye-sight restoration surgery to impoverished individuals.
"That is why we chose to hold the fundraiser during this time.”
Remarkably, the couple surpassed their fundraising goal for the hospital by over fifty percent.
And though mosques too felt the pinch of the recession, the bleak financial outlook could not stop charity works.
In Al-Amin Jame Masjid & Islamic Center in Long Island City, Queens, the collection of donations was only slightly lower compared to previous `eids.
As nearly 2,000 people attended `eid prayers in the mosque, many worshippers were determined to contribute for charity as in previous years.
One mosque official affirmed that imams have received significant financial aid from mosque-goers.
“The community is strong,” the mosque official said.
New York City is home to a fast-growing Muslim community of nearly 80,000.
There are between six to seven million Muslims living in the entire United States.
NEW YORK — Abdul Khalique somehow managed to keep the tradition of hosting festive luncheons and dinners for his family and friends during this year’s `Eid Al—Fitr.
The Muslim New Yorker admits, however, it was no easy thing to do amid a severe financial chill gripping many households, including his own.
"Before we used to go to people’s homes and always give them `Eid gifts, especially the young," he told IslamOnline.net.
Abdul Khalique asserts that many Muslim Americans have felt the pain of the global recession that seems to sting a little more on the three-day `eid, which marks the end of the holy fasting month.
"For the unemployed and retired, it’s very hard for them."
But Abdul Khalique managed to throw the `Eid party which his children eagerly await every year to mingle with their many cousins and friends to celebrate Ramadan’s end.
Many Muslim families also defied the financial meltdown to bring the spirit of `Eid to their homes.
In Jackson Heights, Queens Muslim shoppers jam-packed the shops of many supermarkets and clothing stores.
They loaded their shopping carts with an array of vegetables, exotic spices and delicious lentils in preparation for the mouth-watering meals to be served the next day for friends and family.
Though business owners could not deny that sales had dropped this year due to the recession, they did not appear shaken.
"It’s not what it was last year," said one shopkeeper busily while she attended to customers.
"But we were not expecting last year’s sales. Things are still pretty good."
The US fell into the grip of the worst economic crisis since 1930s in September after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank, and the financial woes of a number of Wall Street giants.
The fallout has developed into a full-fledged recession, threatening personal finances as home prices fall, retirement funds shrink and access to credit and jobs evaporate.
Charity
Despite the economic hard times, American Muslims were also keen not to let the recession woes derail their charitable giving.
During Ramadan and `Eid Al-Fitr, many are determined to donate or volunteer to help the less-fortunate, and one example to that is Kity Khundkar and Mian Akbar’s charity project for which they held a fundraiser and an iftar party in their New York home.
“We know that people are more giving during Ramadan,” says Khundkar, who sponsors along with her husband a non-profit hospital in Bangladesh that offers eye-sight restoration surgery to impoverished individuals.
"That is why we chose to hold the fundraiser during this time.”
Remarkably, the couple surpassed their fundraising goal for the hospital by over fifty percent.
And though mosques too felt the pinch of the recession, the bleak financial outlook could not stop charity works.
In Al-Amin Jame Masjid & Islamic Center in Long Island City, Queens, the collection of donations was only slightly lower compared to previous `eids.
As nearly 2,000 people attended `eid prayers in the mosque, many worshippers were determined to contribute for charity as in previous years.
One mosque official affirmed that imams have received significant financial aid from mosque-goers.
“The community is strong,” the mosque official said.
New York City is home to a fast-growing Muslim community of nearly 80,000.
There are between six to seven million Muslims living in the entire United States.
`Eid Gifts Connect Aqsa, Kids
By Suleiman Besharat
OCCUPIED AL-QUDS — Ibrahim Abdullah would not have missed attending `Eid Al-Fitr prayers in Al-Aqsa mosque for anything this year.
For eleven long months, the Palestinian child has been impatiently waiting for the three-day `eid to pray at Islam’s third holiest shrine and, of course, receive Al-Aqsa’s special gift.
"I did not get the Aqsa gift last year unlike all my friends because my father did not take me with him to `eid prayers," Ibrahim told IslamOnline.net.
"This year, I am going to get it."
Thousands of children like Abdullah receive Al-Aqsa’s Gifts every year.
The project aims at securing a lasting relationship in the hearts of young Muslim children with the holy shrine.
The special gifts include toys, balloons and some carefully chosen children stories that bring `eid joy to the children who come to visit the mosque with their parents.
"We try to bind children's relation with Al-Aqsa as thousands of children attend `Eid prayers here," Mohammad, one of -Aqsa’s Gifts organizers said.
The project is sponsored by many bodies including Arab and Islamic charities and benevolent residents of Al-Quds.
Mohammad asserts that the project continues for the forth year on despite of the increasing Israeli restrictions on getting anything, even children’s toys to Al-Aqsa mosque.
"The Israeli forces made a strict cordon to bar any thing from entering Aqsa.
"But working from the early days of Ramadan, we managed to enter 5000 gift in small batches," he added.
Fruitful
Organizers of Al-Aqsa Gifts are already seeing the fruits of their hard work.
"We are gaining more success ever since we launched it," Mohammad said.
Abu-Ahmed, a Palestinian father, agreed.
"It is a Sunnah, Prophet Mohammad tradition, to accompany young children to attend `eid prayers," he said.
"We also want to connect Al-Aqsa mosque to the hearts and minds of our children."
In their simple words, children explained how they feel more connected to Islam’s third holiest shrine.
Wael Sadek, 11, got his first Aqsa gift during last year’s `eid.
But since then, Sadek says he got attached to Al-Aqsa mosque, not only for `eid gift.
"I love Aqsa mosque and come her regularly for prayers and reciting Qur’an."
"I even attended some iftars in Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan."
Al-Aqsa is the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and it is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad's Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al Isra'a and Al Mi'raj — the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him).
OCCUPIED AL-QUDS — Ibrahim Abdullah would not have missed attending `Eid Al-Fitr prayers in Al-Aqsa mosque for anything this year.
For eleven long months, the Palestinian child has been impatiently waiting for the three-day `eid to pray at Islam’s third holiest shrine and, of course, receive Al-Aqsa’s special gift.
"I did not get the Aqsa gift last year unlike all my friends because my father did not take me with him to `eid prayers," Ibrahim told IslamOnline.net.
"This year, I am going to get it."
Thousands of children like Abdullah receive Al-Aqsa’s Gifts every year.
The project aims at securing a lasting relationship in the hearts of young Muslim children with the holy shrine.
The special gifts include toys, balloons and some carefully chosen children stories that bring `eid joy to the children who come to visit the mosque with their parents.
"We try to bind children's relation with Al-Aqsa as thousands of children attend `Eid prayers here," Mohammad, one of -Aqsa’s Gifts organizers said.
The project is sponsored by many bodies including Arab and Islamic charities and benevolent residents of Al-Quds.
Mohammad asserts that the project continues for the forth year on despite of the increasing Israeli restrictions on getting anything, even children’s toys to Al-Aqsa mosque.
"The Israeli forces made a strict cordon to bar any thing from entering Aqsa.
"But working from the early days of Ramadan, we managed to enter 5000 gift in small batches," he added.
Fruitful
Organizers of Al-Aqsa Gifts are already seeing the fruits of their hard work.
"We are gaining more success ever since we launched it," Mohammad said.
Abu-Ahmed, a Palestinian father, agreed.
"It is a Sunnah, Prophet Mohammad tradition, to accompany young children to attend `eid prayers," he said.
"We also want to connect Al-Aqsa mosque to the hearts and minds of our children."
In their simple words, children explained how they feel more connected to Islam’s third holiest shrine.
Wael Sadek, 11, got his first Aqsa gift during last year’s `eid.
But since then, Sadek says he got attached to Al-Aqsa mosque, not only for `eid gift.
"I love Aqsa mosque and come her regularly for prayers and reciting Qur’an."
"I even attended some iftars in Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan."
Al-Aqsa is the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and it is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad's Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al Isra'a and Al Mi'raj — the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him).
`Eid Missing in Kashmir
By Farooq A Ganai, IOL Correspondent
SRINAGAR — For children across the world, `Eid Al-Fitr is the time of happiness, festivities and family gatherings, but not for Rabia, whose `Eid has become something of a misnomer since her father disappeared.
"For me `Eid has no importance," the young kid from Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administrated Kashmir, told IslamOnline.net.
Rabia’s father was taken by Indian security forces from their home when she was only five.
Since then, Rabia, who now lives with her grandmother after the death of her mother, has forgotten what `Eid is like.
"My biggest `Eid will be the day I will be in my father’s lap again."
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Kashmir on Monday, September 21.
But for many families, the joy of `Eid disappeared with the disappearance of their loved ones.
"Don’t ask me about `Eid," said Shameema, whose husband disappeared two years ago.
"I never celebrated it since my husband went missing."
Up to 10,000 Kashmiris have gone missing since 1989, mostly after being detained by Indian security forces who have broad powers of arrest.
At least 2,000 of the disappeared people were young married males, according to the independent Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP).
"`Eid is all about happiness but my heart is weeping all the time," said Maimoona, whose husband Akther Hussian disappeared from his tailoring shop in Srinagar 11 years ago.
"Believe me, I am half-dead and festivals like `Eid are meaningless for me."
Awaiting `Eid
For Parveena Ahanger, `Eid days pass by while her eyes are gazed at the door, praying for the return of her beloved son.
"I still prepare food and make cloths for my son and on `eid day I keep on waiting for his arrival," Ahanger, 75, told IOL.
"I keep doors open thinking he might come but every `eid my dreams are dashed to the ground," she somberly added.
Ahanger’s son, Javed, disappeared on August 18, 1990, when he was 16.
Since then, she has left no stone unturned in search of him.
Ahanger is not alone suffering to discover the fate of her son.
"I have not celebrated a single festival since my son disappeared from the custody of security forces," Muglai, 70, said.
Her son, Nazir, was also snatched from the heart of Srinagar, and since then she has not stopped searching for him.
"I went to every security agency and officers but no one could tell me where my son is," cried the elderly, who lives alone in a small house.
"I searched all the grave yards of the valley but could not find him and searched all the jails, but all in waste."
Muglai insists she will never lose hope and will continue her quest until being finally united with her son.
Ahanger, who dedicated her time for the cause of disappeared people, is no less resolved.
"We pray for the return of our loved ones."
SRINAGAR — For children across the world, `Eid Al-Fitr is the time of happiness, festivities and family gatherings, but not for Rabia, whose `Eid has become something of a misnomer since her father disappeared.
"For me `Eid has no importance," the young kid from Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administrated Kashmir, told IslamOnline.net.
Rabia’s father was taken by Indian security forces from their home when she was only five.
Since then, Rabia, who now lives with her grandmother after the death of her mother, has forgotten what `Eid is like.
"My biggest `Eid will be the day I will be in my father’s lap again."
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Kashmir on Monday, September 21.
But for many families, the joy of `Eid disappeared with the disappearance of their loved ones.
"Don’t ask me about `Eid," said Shameema, whose husband disappeared two years ago.
"I never celebrated it since my husband went missing."
Up to 10,000 Kashmiris have gone missing since 1989, mostly after being detained by Indian security forces who have broad powers of arrest.
At least 2,000 of the disappeared people were young married males, according to the independent Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP).
"`Eid is all about happiness but my heart is weeping all the time," said Maimoona, whose husband Akther Hussian disappeared from his tailoring shop in Srinagar 11 years ago.
"Believe me, I am half-dead and festivals like `Eid are meaningless for me."
Awaiting `Eid
For Parveena Ahanger, `Eid days pass by while her eyes are gazed at the door, praying for the return of her beloved son.
"I still prepare food and make cloths for my son and on `eid day I keep on waiting for his arrival," Ahanger, 75, told IOL.
"I keep doors open thinking he might come but every `eid my dreams are dashed to the ground," she somberly added.
Ahanger’s son, Javed, disappeared on August 18, 1990, when he was 16.
Since then, she has left no stone unturned in search of him.
Ahanger is not alone suffering to discover the fate of her son.
"I have not celebrated a single festival since my son disappeared from the custody of security forces," Muglai, 70, said.
Her son, Nazir, was also snatched from the heart of Srinagar, and since then she has not stopped searching for him.
"I went to every security agency and officers but no one could tell me where my son is," cried the elderly, who lives alone in a small house.
"I searched all the grave yards of the valley but could not find him and searched all the jails, but all in waste."
Muglai insists she will never lose hope and will continue her quest until being finally united with her son.
Ahanger, who dedicated her time for the cause of disappeared people, is no less resolved.
"We pray for the return of our loved ones."
Monday, September 21, 2009
Milan Muslims Enjoy `Eid Despite Restrictions
By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent
MILAN — Defying ferocious campaigns by right-wing politicians and restrictions on their faith practice, the Muslim minority in Italy’s second largest city are enjoying `Eid Al-Fitr.
“Milan Muslims are enjoying `Eid despite difficulties,” Ali Abu Shwaima, the director of the Islamic Center in Milan, told IslamOnline.net.
“`Eid is a time for joy and pleasure for all, elders and children, regardless of all difficulties and restrictions.”
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals, will fall in Italy on Sunday, September 20.
After special prayers to mark the day, festivities and merriment start.
During `Eid days, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Milan Muslims complain of official restrictions on performing the `Eid prayers.
The Milan Municipal Council turned down a request by Muslim leaders to hold the prayers at an affiliated sports center to accommodate the large numbers of Muslim worshippers.
The Council argued that the center is booked for a meeting of a political party during `Eid.
Muslim leaders have also sought to hold the prayers at an open playground of a local club.
"But the plans were shelved as weather forecasts tell of a rainy day on the first day of `Eid,” said Abu Shwaima.
Facing all these obstacles, Muslim leaders were forced to organize the `Eid prayers at the Islamic Center in Milan, which is not prepared to accommodate for the flow of worshippers during the prayers.
"We have no choice other than the Islamic Center," Abu Shwaima said.
"We will try to make the best use of every inch to accommodate the flood of worshippers who yearn to perform `Eid prayers."
Italy has a Muslim population of some 1.2 million, including 20,000 reverts, according to unofficial estimates.
Tough Time
Italian Muslims have been facing tough time since the far-right Northern League joined Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition government.
“The past 18 months, since the League jointed the government, saw restrictions not only on building mosques but also on holding Muslim celebrations and festivals in big halls,” Abu Shwaima said.
Milan Muslims, estimated at about 100,000 Muslims, are still without an official mosque.
For two years, Muslims have been using gyms and football pitches waiting for a definitive solution.
Dozens of Muslims pray on the paving outside the small scattered mosques.
In the past months, Muslim leaders were forced to rent a big hall with more than 5,000 euros a day to host the weekly Friday prayers.
Even this move is faced with opposition from the Northern League officials.
The Northern League is widely accused of racism with many critics calling it the BNP of Italy, a reference to the British right-wing party.
Its election campaign played on issues such as immigration, crime and economic and cultural fears from immigration.
Portraying itself as a defender of Italy's Christian roots, it started its mission in the new government in May 2008 with bringing down a mosque in the northern city of Verona.
Last September, the League rejoiced the success of its campaign to halt the building of a mosque in the northern city of Bologna.
Last year, League MP Mario Borghezio burst into a church in the northern city of Genoa shouting anti-Islam statements.
MILAN — Defying ferocious campaigns by right-wing politicians and restrictions on their faith practice, the Muslim minority in Italy’s second largest city are enjoying `Eid Al-Fitr.
“Milan Muslims are enjoying `Eid despite difficulties,” Ali Abu Shwaima, the director of the Islamic Center in Milan, told IslamOnline.net.
“`Eid is a time for joy and pleasure for all, elders and children, regardless of all difficulties and restrictions.”
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals, will fall in Italy on Sunday, September 20.
After special prayers to mark the day, festivities and merriment start.
During `Eid days, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Milan Muslims complain of official restrictions on performing the `Eid prayers.
The Milan Municipal Council turned down a request by Muslim leaders to hold the prayers at an affiliated sports center to accommodate the large numbers of Muslim worshippers.
The Council argued that the center is booked for a meeting of a political party during `Eid.
Muslim leaders have also sought to hold the prayers at an open playground of a local club.
"But the plans were shelved as weather forecasts tell of a rainy day on the first day of `Eid,” said Abu Shwaima.
Facing all these obstacles, Muslim leaders were forced to organize the `Eid prayers at the Islamic Center in Milan, which is not prepared to accommodate for the flow of worshippers during the prayers.
"We have no choice other than the Islamic Center," Abu Shwaima said.
"We will try to make the best use of every inch to accommodate the flood of worshippers who yearn to perform `Eid prayers."
Italy has a Muslim population of some 1.2 million, including 20,000 reverts, according to unofficial estimates.
Tough Time
Italian Muslims have been facing tough time since the far-right Northern League joined Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition government.
“The past 18 months, since the League jointed the government, saw restrictions not only on building mosques but also on holding Muslim celebrations and festivals in big halls,” Abu Shwaima said.
Milan Muslims, estimated at about 100,000 Muslims, are still without an official mosque.
For two years, Muslims have been using gyms and football pitches waiting for a definitive solution.
Dozens of Muslims pray on the paving outside the small scattered mosques.
In the past months, Muslim leaders were forced to rent a big hall with more than 5,000 euros a day to host the weekly Friday prayers.
Even this move is faced with opposition from the Northern League officials.
The Northern League is widely accused of racism with many critics calling it the BNP of Italy, a reference to the British right-wing party.
Its election campaign played on issues such as immigration, crime and economic and cultural fears from immigration.
Portraying itself as a defender of Italy's Christian roots, it started its mission in the new government in May 2008 with bringing down a mosque in the northern city of Verona.
Last September, the League rejoiced the success of its campaign to halt the building of a mosque in the northern city of Bologna.
Last year, League MP Mario Borghezio burst into a church in the northern city of Genoa shouting anti-Islam statements.
Half `Eid for Afghan Refugees
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
PESHAWAR — Before `Eid Al-Fitr, Gul Zameen Khan, an elderly Afghan refugee in Pakistan, used to get gifts and a small cash from donors and local authorities, drawing a smile on the faces of his young children.
But this year, the dearth of aid has cast a pall over the joy of the Muslim feast, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, among Afghan refugees in the southeast Asian Muslim country.
"`Eid Al-Fitr and `Eid Al-Adha are the two occasions when we used to get good and ample food, some amount of money and clothes for ourselves and our children,” Khan told IslamOnline.net.
"But the quantity of food and the other items have been reduced during the last few years as most of the NGOs and governments have halted their operations here.”
Pakistan has been hosting over two million refugees who trickled into the country after the Soviet and US invasions of their country.
Every year, chartered planes loaded with food, clothes and gifts used to land in Pakistan two weeks before `Eid, drawing a smile on the face of Afghan refugees in shelter camps.
"We have not been receiving sufficient `Eid grants for the last two years following closure of various refugee camps in different parts of northwestern frontier province,” said Khan.
`Eid Al-Fitr, of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Pakistan on Monday, September 21.
During `Eid, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Half Eid
Some of the refugees still maintain a glimmer of hope, thanks to efforts of Islamic and foreign NGOs operating in the country.
"I have got clothes for two out of my four children,” Ghous Khan, an Afghan settled in the Azakhela refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar, told IOL.
Many NGOs, including the UK Islamic Mission, Helping Hands, Islamic Relief, the US-based Islamic Circle of North America and some Turkish NGOs, have provided clothes and `Eid gifts for some refugees.
They also hosted `Eid festivals at refugee camps, featuring swings for children, football and cricket tournaments, and other traditional Afghan sports.
Ghous said the NGOs had allocated a quota for each family because of the limited resources available.
"This year, half of the total number of children and female members of a family got new clothes, while the quantity of the gifts have also reduced,” he asserted.
"But there is no Eidi (small `Eid money) and clothes for males this year.”
PESHAWAR — Before `Eid Al-Fitr, Gul Zameen Khan, an elderly Afghan refugee in Pakistan, used to get gifts and a small cash from donors and local authorities, drawing a smile on the faces of his young children.
But this year, the dearth of aid has cast a pall over the joy of the Muslim feast, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, among Afghan refugees in the southeast Asian Muslim country.
"`Eid Al-Fitr and `Eid Al-Adha are the two occasions when we used to get good and ample food, some amount of money and clothes for ourselves and our children,” Khan told IslamOnline.net.
"But the quantity of food and the other items have been reduced during the last few years as most of the NGOs and governments have halted their operations here.”
Pakistan has been hosting over two million refugees who trickled into the country after the Soviet and US invasions of their country.
Every year, chartered planes loaded with food, clothes and gifts used to land in Pakistan two weeks before `Eid, drawing a smile on the face of Afghan refugees in shelter camps.
"We have not been receiving sufficient `Eid grants for the last two years following closure of various refugee camps in different parts of northwestern frontier province,” said Khan.
`Eid Al-Fitr, of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Pakistan on Monday, September 21.
During `Eid, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Half Eid
Some of the refugees still maintain a glimmer of hope, thanks to efforts of Islamic and foreign NGOs operating in the country.
"I have got clothes for two out of my four children,” Ghous Khan, an Afghan settled in the Azakhela refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar, told IOL.
Many NGOs, including the UK Islamic Mission, Helping Hands, Islamic Relief, the US-based Islamic Circle of North America and some Turkish NGOs, have provided clothes and `Eid gifts for some refugees.
They also hosted `Eid festivals at refugee camps, featuring swings for children, football and cricket tournaments, and other traditional Afghan sports.
Ghous said the NGOs had allocated a quota for each family because of the limited resources available.
"This year, half of the total number of children and female members of a family got new clothes, while the quantity of the gifts have also reduced,” he asserted.
"But there is no Eidi (small `Eid money) and clothes for males this year.”
Egypt `Eid Defies Swine Flu
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
CAIRO — Egyptians from all ages thronged parks, cinemas and shopping malls to celebrate `Eid Al-Fitr despite warnings to avoid crowded places over swine flu fears.
"I am aware of the concerns about swine flu," Hatem Mahmoud told the Gulf News Monday, September 21, while holding a paper tissue to his nose.
"But we should not allow these worries to dampen our enthusiasm about enjoying the Eid."
The 19-years-old university student joined hundreds of movie-goers to pick a seat at one of Cairo cinemas.
"New films are usually released for public showing during this three-day holiday."
Egypt celebrated `Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, on Sunday.
During `Eid days, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
This year’s `Eid is being celebrated amid strict government measures to prevent the spread of the deadly swine flu virus.
Egypt has reported around 900 swine flu cases and two deaths since last April.
The swine flu (H1N1), a mixture of various swine, bird and human viruses, first emerged in Mexico in April.
As part of efforts to combat the virus, Egypt has delayed the start of the new school year by a week and slapped age restrictions on Muslim pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia.
The Egyptian government has also urged people to avoid crowded places for fear of virus spread.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the swine flu virus is moving around the globe at "unprecedented speed."
More than 3,205 people have been killed around the globe since the swine flu first surfaced in Mexico in April.
Eid Joy
Despite the concerns, `Eid celebrants turned up in their thousands to celebrate the Muslim feast.
"This is my last chance to spend a nice time with my friends before the start of the new academic year," Mahmoud said.
Thousands of Egyptian families also flocked to the streets and River Nile banks to mark the festival.
"I have not noticed any drop in the numbers of customers this year," Hasouna Shamel, a boat operator, said.
Many Egyptian families prefer a picnic near the Nile or a felucca (boat) ride on the river during `Eid.
"On the contrary, the riders this year may be higher because students want to enjoy themselves before schools re-open their gates.”
Shamel said most of his customers are teenagers, married couples and would-be spouses who prefer evening journeys to enjoy the refreshing breeze and the spectacular sight of the Nile.
Mustafa Chaker, a waiter at a restaurant in a Cairo mall, shares the same view.
The Egyptians are fond of celebrations and will not allow fears of swine flu to deprive them of joy, he said.
CAIRO — Egyptians from all ages thronged parks, cinemas and shopping malls to celebrate `Eid Al-Fitr despite warnings to avoid crowded places over swine flu fears.
"I am aware of the concerns about swine flu," Hatem Mahmoud told the Gulf News Monday, September 21, while holding a paper tissue to his nose.
"But we should not allow these worries to dampen our enthusiasm about enjoying the Eid."
The 19-years-old university student joined hundreds of movie-goers to pick a seat at one of Cairo cinemas.
"New films are usually released for public showing during this three-day holiday."
Egypt celebrated `Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, on Sunday.
During `Eid days, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
This year’s `Eid is being celebrated amid strict government measures to prevent the spread of the deadly swine flu virus.
Egypt has reported around 900 swine flu cases and two deaths since last April.
The swine flu (H1N1), a mixture of various swine, bird and human viruses, first emerged in Mexico in April.
As part of efforts to combat the virus, Egypt has delayed the start of the new school year by a week and slapped age restrictions on Muslim pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia.
The Egyptian government has also urged people to avoid crowded places for fear of virus spread.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the swine flu virus is moving around the globe at "unprecedented speed."
More than 3,205 people have been killed around the globe since the swine flu first surfaced in Mexico in April.
Eid Joy
Despite the concerns, `Eid celebrants turned up in their thousands to celebrate the Muslim feast.
"This is my last chance to spend a nice time with my friends before the start of the new academic year," Mahmoud said.
Thousands of Egyptian families also flocked to the streets and River Nile banks to mark the festival.
"I have not noticed any drop in the numbers of customers this year," Hasouna Shamel, a boat operator, said.
Many Egyptian families prefer a picnic near the Nile or a felucca (boat) ride on the river during `Eid.
"On the contrary, the riders this year may be higher because students want to enjoy themselves before schools re-open their gates.”
Shamel said most of his customers are teenagers, married couples and would-be spouses who prefer evening journeys to enjoy the refreshing breeze and the spectacular sight of the Nile.
Mustafa Chaker, a waiter at a restaurant in a Cairo mall, shares the same view.
The Egyptians are fond of celebrations and will not allow fears of swine flu to deprive them of joy, he said.
Lucrative `Eid for Pakistani Tailors
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
KARACHI — Mustafeezuddin, owner of a tailoring shop in Nazimabad in southern Karachi, is busy ordering his employees to speed up work to finish `Eid clothes for his clients.
"We are open 24 hours since the beginning of the last week of Ramadan to ready the orders on time,” Mustafeezuddin told IslamOnline.net.
He has hired additional workforce to help finish all `Eid clothes orders requested by his clients.
"I have hired additional ten women tailors who have been sewing women’s and children’s clothes while sitting at their homes,” he said.
"It does not merely earn extra money to them, but also helps us meet our commitment of timely delivery.”
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Pakistan on Monday, September 21.
During `Eid, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Days before the Muslim festival, tailoring shops work around the clock to meet the orders of their clients.
The high demand is forcing many tailors, who belong to upcountry, not to return to their home towns for `Eid celebrations with their families.
"I would love to celebrate `Eid with my parents, who live in Bahawalpur (a city of Punjab province), but I prefer to earn some money for them," said tailor Khuda Bux.
"That is why I am not going to my hometown on `Eid because of work burden."
Favourite Picks
Topping the list of favourites is Shalwar Kameez, a loose trouser and loose shirt, the national and most-popular dress.
"Mostly men like white Shalwar Kameez on `Eid,” says Tariq Waseem, who owns a tailoring shop in Clifton, one of the posh localities.
"Some of them like simple stitching, while some prefer embroidered ones. But white is the favorite color for `Eid.”
Besides white, light blue and brown Shalwar Kameez are also in high demand.
Prices of Shalwar Kameez varies from one area to another.
In posh localities, stitching price for a simple Shalwar Kameez ranges from Rs 300 (4.5 dollars) to Rs 1000 (12 dollars), while it costs between Rs 150 (2 dollars) to Rs 300 (4.5 dollars) in middle and lower-middle class areas.
For women, tailors and fashion designers have introduced new designs this year.
Boutiques in posh localities are witnessing late night visits by women, where dresses costing between RS 2000 (25 dollars) and Rs 24000 (300 dollars) are being sold.
Black, white, green and blue colors are high in demand this year.
Lucrative
Despite the price hikes and ever-increasing inflation, the irresistible charm of buying new clothes for `Eid has not died down among Pakistanis.
"There is no decline in my business. In fact I have got more orders as compared to previous year,” saysWaseem, the owner of a tailoring shop in Clifton.
"We have increased stitching charges by RS 100 (1.20 dollars) per Shalwar Kameez, and still there is no let up in new orders.”
Business is also booming for Mustafeezuddin, the Nazimabad tailor.
"It seems as if the charm of new clothes on `Eid is irresistible, particularly among children and women, despite increasing inflation and price-hike,” he notes.
"Last year, I had hired 8 women for sewing clothes for me, but this year I had to hire two more because of the increasing orders,” he added.
"I have been receiving orders in bulk,” said Mustafeezuddin.
“This year, I have got an order of 200 dresses by a local philanthropist, who have been distributing sewed clothes among needy people on `Eid for last ten years.”
Some philanthropists and charities like Al-Khidmat Foundation and Edhi Foundation provide hundreds of thousands of new dresses for the poor and needy every `Eid.
The Al-Khidmat, the country’s largest charity, distributes nearly 100,000 `Eid dresses throughout the country.
"Orders from these NGOs and philanthropists have been increasing by every passing year,” asserts Mustafeez.
"There is no decline in this phenomenon despite increasing poverty, inflation and price-hike.
"We are doing a roaring business also because of these NGOs and philanthropists.”
KARACHI — Mustafeezuddin, owner of a tailoring shop in Nazimabad in southern Karachi, is busy ordering his employees to speed up work to finish `Eid clothes for his clients.
"We are open 24 hours since the beginning of the last week of Ramadan to ready the orders on time,” Mustafeezuddin told IslamOnline.net.
He has hired additional workforce to help finish all `Eid clothes orders requested by his clients.
"I have hired additional ten women tailors who have been sewing women’s and children’s clothes while sitting at their homes,” he said.
"It does not merely earn extra money to them, but also helps us meet our commitment of timely delivery.”
`Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Pakistan on Monday, September 21.
During `Eid, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Days before the Muslim festival, tailoring shops work around the clock to meet the orders of their clients.
The high demand is forcing many tailors, who belong to upcountry, not to return to their home towns for `Eid celebrations with their families.
"I would love to celebrate `Eid with my parents, who live in Bahawalpur (a city of Punjab province), but I prefer to earn some money for them," said tailor Khuda Bux.
"That is why I am not going to my hometown on `Eid because of work burden."
Favourite Picks
Topping the list of favourites is Shalwar Kameez, a loose trouser and loose shirt, the national and most-popular dress.
"Mostly men like white Shalwar Kameez on `Eid,” says Tariq Waseem, who owns a tailoring shop in Clifton, one of the posh localities.
"Some of them like simple stitching, while some prefer embroidered ones. But white is the favorite color for `Eid.”
Besides white, light blue and brown Shalwar Kameez are also in high demand.
Prices of Shalwar Kameez varies from one area to another.
In posh localities, stitching price for a simple Shalwar Kameez ranges from Rs 300 (4.5 dollars) to Rs 1000 (12 dollars), while it costs between Rs 150 (2 dollars) to Rs 300 (4.5 dollars) in middle and lower-middle class areas.
For women, tailors and fashion designers have introduced new designs this year.
Boutiques in posh localities are witnessing late night visits by women, where dresses costing between RS 2000 (25 dollars) and Rs 24000 (300 dollars) are being sold.
Black, white, green and blue colors are high in demand this year.
Lucrative
Despite the price hikes and ever-increasing inflation, the irresistible charm of buying new clothes for `Eid has not died down among Pakistanis.
"There is no decline in my business. In fact I have got more orders as compared to previous year,” saysWaseem, the owner of a tailoring shop in Clifton.
"We have increased stitching charges by RS 100 (1.20 dollars) per Shalwar Kameez, and still there is no let up in new orders.”
Business is also booming for Mustafeezuddin, the Nazimabad tailor.
"It seems as if the charm of new clothes on `Eid is irresistible, particularly among children and women, despite increasing inflation and price-hike,” he notes.
"Last year, I had hired 8 women for sewing clothes for me, but this year I had to hire two more because of the increasing orders,” he added.
"I have been receiving orders in bulk,” said Mustafeezuddin.
“This year, I have got an order of 200 dresses by a local philanthropist, who have been distributing sewed clothes among needy people on `Eid for last ten years.”
Some philanthropists and charities like Al-Khidmat Foundation and Edhi Foundation provide hundreds of thousands of new dresses for the poor and needy every `Eid.
The Al-Khidmat, the country’s largest charity, distributes nearly 100,000 `Eid dresses throughout the country.
"Orders from these NGOs and philanthropists have been increasing by every passing year,” asserts Mustafeez.
"There is no decline in this phenomenon despite increasing poverty, inflation and price-hike.
"We are doing a roaring business also because of these NGOs and philanthropists.”
Thousands of West Bank Palestinians denied entry into Al-Aqsa Mosque
[ 20/09/2009 - 10:59 AM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--
The Israeli occupation government denied entry to thousands of West Bank Palestinian Muslims into occupied Jerusalem to attend the Eid prayers at the Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians present at the Qalandia checkpoint which disconnects the West Bank from Jerusalem confirmed that IOF troops manning the checkpoint stopped thousands of worshipers from entering occupied Jerusalem because they "did not have the necessary permits," the usual cited excuse.
The Israeli occupation soldiers denied West Bankers entry into occupied Jerusalem to attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque throughout Ramadan allowing only elderly people and those who have a pass from the occupation government.
The Israeli occupation government acts breach the Palestinians' right to freedom of worship.
Hamas calls all resistance factions to reply to violations of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque
[ 18/09/2009 - 05:45 PM ]
GAZA, (PIC)--
Hamas called on all Palestinian factions to retaliate to the violations by the Israeli occupation forces and illegal Israeli settlers against the holy city of Jerusalem and the third holiest shrine of Islam, Al-Aqsa Mosque.
MP Yusuf al-Sharafi said during a huge rally on the International Quds Day in the northern Gaza Strip said that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque are the subject of a conspiracy, never experienced before in the Palestinian issue, adding that the features of the conspiracy are becoming clearer as the occupation tries to cleanse the holy city from its indigenous population and the continued digging underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Sharafi added that Zionists would have not dared go this far if they did not have collaborators in Palestine who are guarding them and chasing resistance fighters and torturing them to death.
He said, resistance fighters should not surrender to those traitors and react to the crimes against Jerusalem and the Aqsa in "the way the Zionist enemy understands."
He greeted the residents of Jerusalem for their steadfastness in the face of the Zionist onslaught and their protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
His message to Arabs and Muslims was that their efforts to protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque should be proportional to the real dangers engulfing them rather than seasonal or occasional protests.
He said that it was a shame that Arab regimes are in the process of normalisation of relations with the occupation at a time when Al-Aqsa is being violated by that occupation.
Finally he said that Mahmoud Abbas was not entitled to compromise Jerusalem or any other Palestinian legitimate right.
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--
The Israeli occupation government denied entry to thousands of West Bank Palestinian Muslims into occupied Jerusalem to attend the Eid prayers at the Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians present at the Qalandia checkpoint which disconnects the West Bank from Jerusalem confirmed that IOF troops manning the checkpoint stopped thousands of worshipers from entering occupied Jerusalem because they "did not have the necessary permits," the usual cited excuse.
The Israeli occupation soldiers denied West Bankers entry into occupied Jerusalem to attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque throughout Ramadan allowing only elderly people and those who have a pass from the occupation government.
The Israeli occupation government acts breach the Palestinians' right to freedom of worship.
Hamas calls all resistance factions to reply to violations of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque
[ 18/09/2009 - 05:45 PM ]
GAZA, (PIC)--
Hamas called on all Palestinian factions to retaliate to the violations by the Israeli occupation forces and illegal Israeli settlers against the holy city of Jerusalem and the third holiest shrine of Islam, Al-Aqsa Mosque.
MP Yusuf al-Sharafi said during a huge rally on the International Quds Day in the northern Gaza Strip said that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque are the subject of a conspiracy, never experienced before in the Palestinian issue, adding that the features of the conspiracy are becoming clearer as the occupation tries to cleanse the holy city from its indigenous population and the continued digging underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Sharafi added that Zionists would have not dared go this far if they did not have collaborators in Palestine who are guarding them and chasing resistance fighters and torturing them to death.
He said, resistance fighters should not surrender to those traitors and react to the crimes against Jerusalem and the Aqsa in "the way the Zionist enemy understands."
He greeted the residents of Jerusalem for their steadfastness in the face of the Zionist onslaught and their protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
His message to Arabs and Muslims was that their efforts to protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque should be proportional to the real dangers engulfing them rather than seasonal or occasional protests.
He said that it was a shame that Arab regimes are in the process of normalisation of relations with the occupation at a time when Al-Aqsa is being violated by that occupation.
Finally he said that Mahmoud Abbas was not entitled to compromise Jerusalem or any other Palestinian legitimate right.
Prayers, feasts and love - India celebrates Eid with fervour
By IANS,
New Delhi: From Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai to Kolkata, India celebrated Eid Monday with millions of Muslims congregating at prayer grounds and mosques to bow down as one before Allah, greeting each other with the traditional embrace and gathering at homes for the festive feast.
From the common person to the film star, Eid was celebrated with equal fervour by all. Celebrated on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal, Eid-ul-Fitr -- Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity" while Fitr means "charity" -- marks the end of the period of fasting during the holy month of Ramzan. Hindus, too, joined in the fun while observing the nine-day navratri, which culminates in Dussehra Sep 28.
In Jammu and Kashmir, thousands gathered at grounds and mosques to offer a prayer for peace. Srinagar's famed Hazratbal shrine, the polo grounds and the Jamia mosque saw the largest number of devotees.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, union minister Farooq Abdullah, offered prayers at the Hazratbal shrine.
At many places in the city, paramilitary troopers were seen greeting the locals and children as a goodwill gesture.
"I have been manning this picket for so many months now that I recognise most of the residents in this area. It is nice to see people enjoying life today," said a trooper in Srinagar.
The narrow lanes of old Delhi in the national capital were abuzz with activity right from morning. After their prayers, people visited each other's homes, exchanging gifts and sweets while enjoying delicacies like kebabs, biryani and specially made sevian, or vermicelli.
In Madhya Pradesh, clerics stressed on communal harmony and the need to root out terrorism in their sermons.
Prayers were held at the main Namaz Eidgah in Bhopal, where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also visited to greet devotees. Shara Qazi Amirullah Khan, who led the prayers, said: "May Allah give us strength to fight out terrorism."
In Mumbai, children and adults met their Hindu friends and hugged each other with wishes of 'Eid mubarak'.
Attired in traditional finery, Muslims thronged mosques for the Eid namaz. They then shared sweets like "sheer-korma"- a dish prepared from vermicelli, garnished with dry fruits.
Similar festivities were seen in Pune, Nashik, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra.
In Kolkata, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee made it a point to walk across to Muslim dominated pockets like Topsia, Park Circus and Kaurya in the eastern part of the city and greet people.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also visited the family of Rizwanur Rahman, a Muslim youth who was mysteriously found dead by the railway tracks exactly two years ago.
The body of the 30-year-old graphic designer, was found nearly a month after he married industrialist Ashok Todi's daughter Priyanka.
Clerics in Uttar Pradesh had a noble cause in mind in their sermons -- to help eradicate polio.
"Soon after the congregational prayers were over at Aishbagh Eidgah (the biggest prayer ground in the city), I asked them (Muslims) to take a pledge to eradicate polio... The resistance among Muslims towards anti-polio drops has come down as a result of our efforts," Maulana Khalid Rasheed, a prominent Sunni cleric who heads Lucknow's oldest seminary, told IANS.
Down south, while Hyderabad exuded the warmth of Eid through prayers, greetings and charity, Kerala saw people attending prayers in droves with even superstars joining in.
Around 300,000 men and children gathered at the historic Mir Alam Eidgah in Hyderabad. Similar congregations were held at the Mecca Masjid, Public Garden mosque, the Eidgah Hockey Ground and the Military Grounds.
Before offering prayers Muslim families paid 'fitra' or charity on behalf of each member as per Islamic rules to enable the poor to also celebrate the festival.
In Kerala, superstar Mammootty joined thousands in the festivities by praying at an Eidgah in Kochi.
Dressed in a white dhoti and shirt and sporting the traditional Muslim cap, the actor sat through the morning prayers.
Eid celebrations were more visible and elaborate in the Muslim-dominated districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargode in north Kerala.
Orissa's coastal town of Bhadrak, where half the population is Muslim, a grand prayer meeting was held that was attended by more than 10,000 people.
http://twocircles.net/2009sep21/pray...d_fervour.html
New Delhi: From Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai to Kolkata, India celebrated Eid Monday with millions of Muslims congregating at prayer grounds and mosques to bow down as one before Allah, greeting each other with the traditional embrace and gathering at homes for the festive feast.
From the common person to the film star, Eid was celebrated with equal fervour by all. Celebrated on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal, Eid-ul-Fitr -- Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity" while Fitr means "charity" -- marks the end of the period of fasting during the holy month of Ramzan. Hindus, too, joined in the fun while observing the nine-day navratri, which culminates in Dussehra Sep 28.
In Jammu and Kashmir, thousands gathered at grounds and mosques to offer a prayer for peace. Srinagar's famed Hazratbal shrine, the polo grounds and the Jamia mosque saw the largest number of devotees.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, union minister Farooq Abdullah, offered prayers at the Hazratbal shrine.
At many places in the city, paramilitary troopers were seen greeting the locals and children as a goodwill gesture.
"I have been manning this picket for so many months now that I recognise most of the residents in this area. It is nice to see people enjoying life today," said a trooper in Srinagar.
The narrow lanes of old Delhi in the national capital were abuzz with activity right from morning. After their prayers, people visited each other's homes, exchanging gifts and sweets while enjoying delicacies like kebabs, biryani and specially made sevian, or vermicelli.
In Madhya Pradesh, clerics stressed on communal harmony and the need to root out terrorism in their sermons.
Prayers were held at the main Namaz Eidgah in Bhopal, where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also visited to greet devotees. Shara Qazi Amirullah Khan, who led the prayers, said: "May Allah give us strength to fight out terrorism."
In Mumbai, children and adults met their Hindu friends and hugged each other with wishes of 'Eid mubarak'.
Attired in traditional finery, Muslims thronged mosques for the Eid namaz. They then shared sweets like "sheer-korma"- a dish prepared from vermicelli, garnished with dry fruits.
Similar festivities were seen in Pune, Nashik, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra.
In Kolkata, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee made it a point to walk across to Muslim dominated pockets like Topsia, Park Circus and Kaurya in the eastern part of the city and greet people.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also visited the family of Rizwanur Rahman, a Muslim youth who was mysteriously found dead by the railway tracks exactly two years ago.
The body of the 30-year-old graphic designer, was found nearly a month after he married industrialist Ashok Todi's daughter Priyanka.
Clerics in Uttar Pradesh had a noble cause in mind in their sermons -- to help eradicate polio.
"Soon after the congregational prayers were over at Aishbagh Eidgah (the biggest prayer ground in the city), I asked them (Muslims) to take a pledge to eradicate polio... The resistance among Muslims towards anti-polio drops has come down as a result of our efforts," Maulana Khalid Rasheed, a prominent Sunni cleric who heads Lucknow's oldest seminary, told IANS.
Down south, while Hyderabad exuded the warmth of Eid through prayers, greetings and charity, Kerala saw people attending prayers in droves with even superstars joining in.
Around 300,000 men and children gathered at the historic Mir Alam Eidgah in Hyderabad. Similar congregations were held at the Mecca Masjid, Public Garden mosque, the Eidgah Hockey Ground and the Military Grounds.
Before offering prayers Muslim families paid 'fitra' or charity on behalf of each member as per Islamic rules to enable the poor to also celebrate the festival.
In Kerala, superstar Mammootty joined thousands in the festivities by praying at an Eidgah in Kochi.
Dressed in a white dhoti and shirt and sporting the traditional Muslim cap, the actor sat through the morning prayers.
Eid celebrations were more visible and elaborate in the Muslim-dominated districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargode in north Kerala.
Orissa's coastal town of Bhadrak, where half the population is Muslim, a grand prayer meeting was held that was attended by more than 10,000 people.
http://twocircles.net/2009sep21/pray...d_fervour.html
The Neo-Con Dream of Erasure of Islam
By Ziauddin Sardar
Philosophy Press, September 14, 2009
What Enlightenment? It may have been good for Europe, but for the rest of the world in general, and Islam in particular, the Enlightenment was a disaster. Despite their stand for freedom and liberty, reason and liberal thought, Enlightenment thinkers saw the non-West as irrational and inferior, morally decadent and fit only for colonisation. This legacy is not only with us but is positively thriving in the guise of neo-conservative thought, dogmatic secularism and scientism.
For key Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire, de Montesquieu, Volney and Pascal, Europe occupied a special place: it was to be the destiny of humanity, construed as Western man. They worked hard to provide a rational justification for colonisation. They rationalised the medieval images, anxieties and fear of Islam and its Prophet – so evident in the sections devoted to Muhammad in Pascal's Pensées – and presented them as evidence for the innate inferiority of Islam. They deliberately suppressed the Muslim contribution to science and learning and severed all intellectual links between Islam and Europe. Their Eurocentricism thus further locked Islam into an exclusive confrontation with the West, which continues to this day.
For thirteen and fourteenth century thinkers of Christendom, such as Roger Bacon and John Wycliff, Islam was simply a pagan, enemy Empire. To their credit, the Enlightenment thinkers saw Islam as a civilisation. But it was a civilisation grounded in a backward society and inferior political institutions and religious beliefs at its core. In Mohammad and Fanaticism, Voltaire denounced Islam in harsh and hostile terms. Later, in the Essai sur les moeurs, he was a little more restrained, but the judgement did not change. He still saw Islam as an embodiment of fanaticism, anti-humanism, irrationalism, and the violent will to power. But despite this, Muslims did have a few positive aspects. They could move towards greater tolerance thanks largely to Islam's loose sexual standards, which made it akin to a natural religion. While Jesus was good, Christians had become intolerant. But Muslims were tolerant despite their evil Prophet. Positive development in one case, negative in another. This is how Voltaire reconciled his deep seated prejudices about Islam and Muslims with reason.
For all their sabre-rattling against religion, Enlightenment thinkers saw Christianity as the standard of civilised behaviour and norm of all religion. In effect, they further naturalised the natural law theory of medieval Christianity which had always been vague in the sense of never precisely defined, yet also highly specific in being a universalising of Christian norms as the standard for human behaviour. Islam remained the antithesis to Christianity. Thus, in Les Ruines, Volney announced that "Mohammad succeeded in building a political and theological empire at the expense of those of Moses and Jesus' vicars." Or, in the scene where he has an imam speaking about "the law of Mohammad", "God has established Mohammad as his minister on earth; he has handed over the world to him to subdue with the sabre those who refuse to believe in his law." Volney described Muhammad as the "apostle of a merciful God who preaches nothing but murder and carnage," the spirit of intolerance and exclusiveness that "shocks every notion of justice". While Christianity might be irrational, Volney declared that it was gentle and compassionate but Islam had a contempt for science – a truly bizarre claim since Volney himself, and all his fellow Enlightenment thinkers, learnt most of their science and philosophy from such names as al-Frabi, Ibn Sina and ibn Rushd.
While the Enlightenment may have been concerned with reason, its champions were not too worried about truth when it came to Islam. They not only shamelessly plagiarised philosophy, science and learning from Islam, but the very hallmark of Enlightenment, liberal humanism, has its origins in Islam. It is based on the adab movement of classical Islam, which was concerned with the etiquette of being human. Islam developed a sophisticated system of teaching law and humanism that involved not just institutions such as the university, with its faculties of law, theology, medicine and natural philosophy, but also an elaborate method of instruction including work-study courses, a curriculum that included grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, medicine, and moral philosophy, and mechanisms for the formation of a humanist culture such as academic associations, literary circles, clubs and other coteries that sustain intellectuals and the literati. The adab literature and institutions were, in fact, what enlightenment was all about in Islam. One cannot have a revolt on behalf of reason in Islam because reason is central to its worldview: reason is the other side of revelation and the Qur'an presents both as "signs of God". A Muslim society cannot function without either. While Muslims can hardly be exonerated for the decline of reason and learning in Muslim civilisation, it was colonialism that as deliberate policy destroyed adab culture in Muslim societies.
But Enlightenment Europe swallowed the adab system, including textbooks, en masse. However, since it was a product of an inferior culture and civilisation its origins had to be shrouded. Thus, classical Arabic had to be replaced with another classical language, Latin. This was followed by a systematic expunging of all traces of the influence of Islamic thought on Europe. From the days of Voltaire right up to 1980, thanks largely to the efforts of Enlightenment scholars, it was a general western axiom that Islam had produced nothing of worth in philosophy, science and learning.
The Enlightenment legacy that Islam and Europe have nothing in common, that Islam is only a darker shadow of the West, that liberal secularism is the destiny of all human cultures, is much in evidence in our newspapers and television, literature and scholarship, as well as in our politics and foreign policies. It is the bedrock of Francis Fukuyama's "End of History" hypothesis, Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilisation" thesis, and the neo-conservative "Project for the New American Century". Voltaire's Bastards, to use the title of John Ralston Saul's brilliant 1992 book, are busy rationalizing torture, military interventions, and western supremacy, and demonising Islam and Muslims. The Enlightenment may have been big on reason but it was, as Saul shows so convincingly, bereft of both meaning and morality.
Forgive me if I don't stand up and salute the Enlightenment.
Ziauddin Sardar is the author of Balti Britain: A Journey Through the British Asian Experience (Granta)
http://www.philosophypress.co.uk/?p=288
Philosophy Press, September 14, 2009
What Enlightenment? It may have been good for Europe, but for the rest of the world in general, and Islam in particular, the Enlightenment was a disaster. Despite their stand for freedom and liberty, reason and liberal thought, Enlightenment thinkers saw the non-West as irrational and inferior, morally decadent and fit only for colonisation. This legacy is not only with us but is positively thriving in the guise of neo-conservative thought, dogmatic secularism and scientism.
For key Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire, de Montesquieu, Volney and Pascal, Europe occupied a special place: it was to be the destiny of humanity, construed as Western man. They worked hard to provide a rational justification for colonisation. They rationalised the medieval images, anxieties and fear of Islam and its Prophet – so evident in the sections devoted to Muhammad in Pascal's Pensées – and presented them as evidence for the innate inferiority of Islam. They deliberately suppressed the Muslim contribution to science and learning and severed all intellectual links between Islam and Europe. Their Eurocentricism thus further locked Islam into an exclusive confrontation with the West, which continues to this day.
For thirteen and fourteenth century thinkers of Christendom, such as Roger Bacon and John Wycliff, Islam was simply a pagan, enemy Empire. To their credit, the Enlightenment thinkers saw Islam as a civilisation. But it was a civilisation grounded in a backward society and inferior political institutions and religious beliefs at its core. In Mohammad and Fanaticism, Voltaire denounced Islam in harsh and hostile terms. Later, in the Essai sur les moeurs, he was a little more restrained, but the judgement did not change. He still saw Islam as an embodiment of fanaticism, anti-humanism, irrationalism, and the violent will to power. But despite this, Muslims did have a few positive aspects. They could move towards greater tolerance thanks largely to Islam's loose sexual standards, which made it akin to a natural religion. While Jesus was good, Christians had become intolerant. But Muslims were tolerant despite their evil Prophet. Positive development in one case, negative in another. This is how Voltaire reconciled his deep seated prejudices about Islam and Muslims with reason.
For all their sabre-rattling against religion, Enlightenment thinkers saw Christianity as the standard of civilised behaviour and norm of all religion. In effect, they further naturalised the natural law theory of medieval Christianity which had always been vague in the sense of never precisely defined, yet also highly specific in being a universalising of Christian norms as the standard for human behaviour. Islam remained the antithesis to Christianity. Thus, in Les Ruines, Volney announced that "Mohammad succeeded in building a political and theological empire at the expense of those of Moses and Jesus' vicars." Or, in the scene where he has an imam speaking about "the law of Mohammad", "God has established Mohammad as his minister on earth; he has handed over the world to him to subdue with the sabre those who refuse to believe in his law." Volney described Muhammad as the "apostle of a merciful God who preaches nothing but murder and carnage," the spirit of intolerance and exclusiveness that "shocks every notion of justice". While Christianity might be irrational, Volney declared that it was gentle and compassionate but Islam had a contempt for science – a truly bizarre claim since Volney himself, and all his fellow Enlightenment thinkers, learnt most of their science and philosophy from such names as al-Frabi, Ibn Sina and ibn Rushd.
While the Enlightenment may have been concerned with reason, its champions were not too worried about truth when it came to Islam. They not only shamelessly plagiarised philosophy, science and learning from Islam, but the very hallmark of Enlightenment, liberal humanism, has its origins in Islam. It is based on the adab movement of classical Islam, which was concerned with the etiquette of being human. Islam developed a sophisticated system of teaching law and humanism that involved not just institutions such as the university, with its faculties of law, theology, medicine and natural philosophy, but also an elaborate method of instruction including work-study courses, a curriculum that included grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, medicine, and moral philosophy, and mechanisms for the formation of a humanist culture such as academic associations, literary circles, clubs and other coteries that sustain intellectuals and the literati. The adab literature and institutions were, in fact, what enlightenment was all about in Islam. One cannot have a revolt on behalf of reason in Islam because reason is central to its worldview: reason is the other side of revelation and the Qur'an presents both as "signs of God". A Muslim society cannot function without either. While Muslims can hardly be exonerated for the decline of reason and learning in Muslim civilisation, it was colonialism that as deliberate policy destroyed adab culture in Muslim societies.
But Enlightenment Europe swallowed the adab system, including textbooks, en masse. However, since it was a product of an inferior culture and civilisation its origins had to be shrouded. Thus, classical Arabic had to be replaced with another classical language, Latin. This was followed by a systematic expunging of all traces of the influence of Islamic thought on Europe. From the days of Voltaire right up to 1980, thanks largely to the efforts of Enlightenment scholars, it was a general western axiom that Islam had produced nothing of worth in philosophy, science and learning.
The Enlightenment legacy that Islam and Europe have nothing in common, that Islam is only a darker shadow of the West, that liberal secularism is the destiny of all human cultures, is much in evidence in our newspapers and television, literature and scholarship, as well as in our politics and foreign policies. It is the bedrock of Francis Fukuyama's "End of History" hypothesis, Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilisation" thesis, and the neo-conservative "Project for the New American Century". Voltaire's Bastards, to use the title of John Ralston Saul's brilliant 1992 book, are busy rationalizing torture, military interventions, and western supremacy, and demonising Islam and Muslims. The Enlightenment may have been big on reason but it was, as Saul shows so convincingly, bereft of both meaning and morality.
Forgive me if I don't stand up and salute the Enlightenment.
Ziauddin Sardar is the author of Balti Britain: A Journey Through the British Asian Experience (Granta)
http://www.philosophypress.co.uk/?p=288
Secular Nepal celebrates first Eid with independent moon-sighting
By IANS
Kathmandu: Clad in white clothes and white caps, thousands of Muslims thronged to mosques to pray and celebrate as a newly secular Nepal announced the first public holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr and the first Nepali moon-sighting committee independently heralded the rise of the moon that marks the start of the festival after a month of fasting and intense prayers.
Nepal, once the only Hindu kingdom in the world where conversions were a punishable offence, marked its transformation into a secular democratic republic by declaring Monday a state holiday on occasion of Eid.
The communist-led government of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal announced that all its diplomatic missions abroad would also remain closed Monday for Eid.
Before he left for New York to attend the 64th UN General Assembly, the prime minister issued a message, hoping Eid, with its tradition of helping the poor, would strengthen mutual respect and harmony in Nepal.
The top leaders of the major parties also issued public messages, greeting the Muslim community on the occasion of Eid. They included former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, whose Maoist party, bent on a collision course with the government, has also called a truce to honour the string of different religious festivals that started this month.
It is estimated that about 10 percent of Nepal's over 29 million population are Muslims with major concentrations in the plains in the south. The Terai lowlands saw the first major Muslim penetration in the late 1850s after the failed Sepoy Mutiny in India against British rule when many people, including some of the leaders of the revolt, fled to Nepal.
Eid celebrations this year have been boosted by the recent arrest of the leaders of two militant Hindu underground organisations that had asked Muslims and Christians to leave Nepal or face dire consequences.
Earlier this month, Nepal police arrested Ram Prasad Mainali, the chief of the Nepal Defence Army, who had masterminded attacks against a church and two mosques in Nepal, killing at least five people.
Close on the heels of Mainali's arrest, police also nabbed Vinod Pandey, the chief of another shadowy Hindu militant group, the Ranavir Sena, which had been demanding the restoration of Hinduism as the state religion.
Also, for the first time, the Muslim community in Nepal determined on its own that Eid would be celebrated Monday.
The Ruel-e-Hilal Committee formed to sight the new moon sent observers to Rautahat and Sunsari districts in the Terai.
The committee announced Sunday that the new moon had been glimpsed around 6.30 p.m. local time. Based on the sighting, it was announced that Eid would be celebrated Monday.
The Muslim world still remains divided over the sighting of the new moon.
This time too, there have been two Eids with parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East and US celebrating Eid Sunday.
However, in Bangladesh, India and Nepal the festival is being celebrated Monday.
Kathmandu: Clad in white clothes and white caps, thousands of Muslims thronged to mosques to pray and celebrate as a newly secular Nepal announced the first public holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr and the first Nepali moon-sighting committee independently heralded the rise of the moon that marks the start of the festival after a month of fasting and intense prayers.
Nepal, once the only Hindu kingdom in the world where conversions were a punishable offence, marked its transformation into a secular democratic republic by declaring Monday a state holiday on occasion of Eid.
The communist-led government of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal announced that all its diplomatic missions abroad would also remain closed Monday for Eid.
Before he left for New York to attend the 64th UN General Assembly, the prime minister issued a message, hoping Eid, with its tradition of helping the poor, would strengthen mutual respect and harmony in Nepal.
The top leaders of the major parties also issued public messages, greeting the Muslim community on the occasion of Eid. They included former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, whose Maoist party, bent on a collision course with the government, has also called a truce to honour the string of different religious festivals that started this month.
It is estimated that about 10 percent of Nepal's over 29 million population are Muslims with major concentrations in the plains in the south. The Terai lowlands saw the first major Muslim penetration in the late 1850s after the failed Sepoy Mutiny in India against British rule when many people, including some of the leaders of the revolt, fled to Nepal.
Eid celebrations this year have been boosted by the recent arrest of the leaders of two militant Hindu underground organisations that had asked Muslims and Christians to leave Nepal or face dire consequences.
Earlier this month, Nepal police arrested Ram Prasad Mainali, the chief of the Nepal Defence Army, who had masterminded attacks against a church and two mosques in Nepal, killing at least five people.
Close on the heels of Mainali's arrest, police also nabbed Vinod Pandey, the chief of another shadowy Hindu militant group, the Ranavir Sena, which had been demanding the restoration of Hinduism as the state religion.
Also, for the first time, the Muslim community in Nepal determined on its own that Eid would be celebrated Monday.
The Ruel-e-Hilal Committee formed to sight the new moon sent observers to Rautahat and Sunsari districts in the Terai.
The committee announced Sunday that the new moon had been glimpsed around 6.30 p.m. local time. Based on the sighting, it was announced that Eid would be celebrated Monday.
The Muslim world still remains divided over the sighting of the new moon.
This time too, there have been two Eids with parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East and US celebrating Eid Sunday.
However, in Bangladesh, India and Nepal the festival is being celebrated Monday.
Kashmir celebrates Eid with prayer for peace
By IANS,
Srinagar ; Thousands of Muslims gathered at various prayer grounds and mosques across Kashmir Valley Monday to offer Eid-ul-Fitr prayers.
There were no reports of any untoward incidents and sources said Eid prayers concluded peacefully everywhere.
The holy month of Ramzan ended Sunday after the crescent was sighted at various places in the Valley heralding the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.
The largest number of devotees in this summer capital gathered at the Hazratbal shrine, the Eidgah grounds, the Polo ground and the Jamia Mosque.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, union minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, offered Eid prayers at the Hazratbal shrine and mingled with thousands of devotees who had gathered there to offer prayers.
As clerics prayed for peace in the world and unity amongst Muslims, youth and children wore new clothes and hugged each other in the traditional Eid greeting.
Unlike earlier years, no alarm was raised amongst the security forces or the general public in Srinagar and other major towns over the loud noise created by the bursting of firecrackers.
At many places in the city, officers and troopers of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were seen greeting the locals and patting children as a goodwill gesture.
"I have been manning this picket for so many months now that I recognise most of the residents in this area. It is nice to see people enjoying life today," said a CRPF trooper here.
As a goodwill gesture, authorities released some separatist leaders Sunday evening, including Muhammad Nayeem Khan, president of the separatist National Front and member of the moderate Hurriyat group led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and Asiya Andrabi, chief of the women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Milat.
Srinagar ; Thousands of Muslims gathered at various prayer grounds and mosques across Kashmir Valley Monday to offer Eid-ul-Fitr prayers.
There were no reports of any untoward incidents and sources said Eid prayers concluded peacefully everywhere.
The holy month of Ramzan ended Sunday after the crescent was sighted at various places in the Valley heralding the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.
The largest number of devotees in this summer capital gathered at the Hazratbal shrine, the Eidgah grounds, the Polo ground and the Jamia Mosque.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, union minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, offered Eid prayers at the Hazratbal shrine and mingled with thousands of devotees who had gathered there to offer prayers.
As clerics prayed for peace in the world and unity amongst Muslims, youth and children wore new clothes and hugged each other in the traditional Eid greeting.
Unlike earlier years, no alarm was raised amongst the security forces or the general public in Srinagar and other major towns over the loud noise created by the bursting of firecrackers.
At many places in the city, officers and troopers of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were seen greeting the locals and patting children as a goodwill gesture.
"I have been manning this picket for so many months now that I recognise most of the residents in this area. It is nice to see people enjoying life today," said a CRPF trooper here.
As a goodwill gesture, authorities released some separatist leaders Sunday evening, including Muhammad Nayeem Khan, president of the separatist National Front and member of the moderate Hurriyat group led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and Asiya Andrabi, chief of the women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Milat.
Prayers, feasts mark Eid celebrations
By IANS,
New Delhi : Thousands of people dressed in new clothes thronged mosques across the capital Monday to offer prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr before heading off to enjoy elaborate feasts with relatives and friends.
Eid, celebrated on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal, marks the end of the period of fasting during the holy month of Ramzan.
"After praying at the local mosque I will go to my friends place where all of us will enjoy sevian (a sweet made of vermicelli). Later in the evening we have planned a big family gathering," said Moinuddin, a resident of Jamia Nagar in south Delhi.
Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fitr means "charity".
The days leading up to Eid had seen people on a shopping spree, purchasing new clothes, utensils, dry fruits and other ingredients for the grand Eid feast.
Delhi Police have made elaborate security arrangements -- apart from diverting traffic at various places, particularly near mosques.
"We have made adequate security and traffic arrangements for the day to avoid any problems," a police officer said.
New Delhi : Thousands of people dressed in new clothes thronged mosques across the capital Monday to offer prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr before heading off to enjoy elaborate feasts with relatives and friends.
Eid, celebrated on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal, marks the end of the period of fasting during the holy month of Ramzan.
"After praying at the local mosque I will go to my friends place where all of us will enjoy sevian (a sweet made of vermicelli). Later in the evening we have planned a big family gathering," said Moinuddin, a resident of Jamia Nagar in south Delhi.
Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fitr means "charity".
The days leading up to Eid had seen people on a shopping spree, purchasing new clothes, utensils, dry fruits and other ingredients for the grand Eid feast.
Delhi Police have made elaborate security arrangements -- apart from diverting traffic at various places, particularly near mosques.
"We have made adequate security and traffic arrangements for the day to avoid any problems," a police officer said.
Muslims in Switzerland observe eid
By KUNA,
Geneva : Muslimms in Switzerland observed on Sunday eid prayers at the Geneva grand mosque and in all Muslim centers around the country. Hundreds of Muslims observed the prayers at the country's mosques and prayer corners.
Prayer leaders around the country concentrated today in their speeches on brotherhood and solidarity among Muslims in support of the most in need under occupation and with those suffering from internal conflicts.
In all Islamic centers, a box for Zakat was placed so that Muslims could contribute to the most in need around the globe.
Switzerland is home to more than 350,000 Muslims.
Geneva : Muslimms in Switzerland observed on Sunday eid prayers at the Geneva grand mosque and in all Muslim centers around the country. Hundreds of Muslims observed the prayers at the country's mosques and prayer corners.
Prayer leaders around the country concentrated today in their speeches on brotherhood and solidarity among Muslims in support of the most in need under occupation and with those suffering from internal conflicts.
In all Islamic centers, a box for Zakat was placed so that Muslims could contribute to the most in need around the globe.
Switzerland is home to more than 350,000 Muslims.
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