Islamic Revival

No green shoots only economic misery Despite all the talk in some western capitals about how their economies are showing signs of recovery the exact opposite is transpiring. This week the US Federal Reserve forecast predicts that the US economy will contract by as much as 2% this year, an increase from the 1.3% contraction previously estimated. In addition, recovery in 2010 and 2011 will also be slower than first thought, increasing by up to 3% next year, from an earlier forecast by as much as 3.3%, and by up to 4.8% in 2011, from an earlier estimate of up to 5%. The reduction in forecasts by the members of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) suggests that the current recession will be deeper and more severe than first thought, and that that will have an impact on the strength of the eventual recovery. And for the UK economy things are looking gloomier by the day. The international ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Thursday downgraded its outlook on Britain's economy

UK Muslims feel most isolated in Europe Only one in ten Muslims in Britain see themselves as integrated into the rest of society, a large-scale international survey said last week. And it found that more than a third are dissatisfied with their standard of living. The levels of integration - or 'cohesion' as Labour ministers prefer to call it - compare badly with the way Muslims have mixed into the rest of the population in France and Germany. According to the Gallup Coexist Index, 35 per cent of German Muslims and 46 per cent of those in France regard themselves as integrated into their society. The findings sound a warning that despite the efforts of ministers and Islamic leaders since the 2005 London bombings to build common ground between some Islamic communities and their neighbours, doubts, mistrust and resentment continue to exist. The report, produced by the polling company and the Coexist Foundation, an interfaith think tank, said: 'The sizeable proportions of the

The following is a leaflet widely distributed recently in Pakistan. بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Stop America’s war which makes Muslims fight Muslims! On 8 May, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gillani, announced a war in Swat in a telecast address to the nation, in these words, “For the sanctity of this pure land, for national dignity, to suppress the extremists, to ensure the protection of people, the army has been deployed.” However, the Prime Minister’s venture is neither for the restoration of national dignity and nor for the public protection, rather it is to restore the dignity of the cowardly American occupying forces and for ensuring America’s survival in Afghanistan, where she is immersed in a deep quagmire. Keeping control of Afghanistan is not possible without crushing the Mujahideen, who are fighting against America in Afghanistan. But cowardly American and NATO forces, whilst possessing the latest weaponry, are afraid of confrontation with poorly equipped, small groups of

The following is an extract from the book 'The Islamic Way of Thinking' by Hasan Abdullah : The different approaches and methods mentioned all characterize the thinking of Muslims today. While they may not exist in each and every Muslim, all of these characteristics exist in the Ummah at different levels. These incorrect approaches could be one of many reasons that led to the intellectual decline in addition to being a product of the intellectual decline. Thus, it is not surprising to see the state of the Ummah today and its intellectual apathy. The Ummah has devolved to such a level that the total amount of literature published in Israel exceeds the amount that is published in all the Arab countries combined. And the quality of most of what is published in the Arab world amounts to no more than copying the Western culture in arts, literature, politics, economy, and other disciplines. The same applies to the amount of reading. The percentage of those who read in the Muslim coun

‘China cancels US credit card’ China, wary of the troubled US economy, has already “cancelled America’s credit card” by cutting down purchases of debt, a US congressman said last week. China has the world’s largest foreign reserves, believed to be mostly in dollars, along with around 800 billion dollars in US Treasury bonds, more than any other country. But Treasury Department data shows that investors in China have sharply curtailed their purchases of bonds in January and February. Representative Mark Kirk, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and co-chair of a group of lawmakers promoting relations with Beijing, said China had “very legitimate” concerns about its investments. “It would appear, quietly and with deference and politeness, that China has cancelled America’s credit card,” Kirk told the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American group. “I’m not sure too many people on Capitol Hill realize that this is now happening,” he said. UK police search powers alienate Muslims Po

Torture matter of policy under Bush A Senate inquiry published on Wednesday directly implicates senior members of the Bush administration in the extensive use of harsh interrogation methods against al-Qaida suspects and other prisoners round the world. The 232-page report, the most detailed investigation yet into the background of torture, undercuts the claim of the then deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, that the abuse of prisoners in Iraq was the work of "a few bad apples". The report says: "The abuse of detainees in US custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of "a few bad apples" acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorised their use against detainees." The report says that instructors trained CIA and other military personnel early in 2002 on the use of harsher

This is a translation of an Arabic article بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Question: Sheikh Shareef Ahmad has become the president of Somalia, so does this indicate the resurgence of the Shar'iah courts as they were two years ago. If it is so, why is the al-Shabab Mujahideen Movement opposed to them though they a part of the courts or at least very cloase to them? Has in the meantime Sheikh Shareef changed and the al-Shabab Mujahideen Movement is trying to sideline him, does this mean that the al-Shabab Mujahideen Movement is a sincere and dedicated force? Answer: Yes, Sheikh Shareef Ahmad is not what he used to be. He was the head of the Islamic courts in the past, and has now come to head the country. He was earlier fighting the greedy foreign kafir colonialists and was talking about implementing the Islamic Shariah, but his politicalacumen and awareness was very weak, just like most of the Islamic militant movements have. Therefore the sincere ones or al-Mukhlisoon sent him a delegation