Islamic Revival

World Food Prices Rise to Record on Dairy, Grains, UN Says World food prices climbed to a record in February on surging dairy, grain and meat costs, the United Nations said. An index of 55 food commodities rose 2.2 percent to 236 points from 230.7 in January, the eighth straight gain, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said on its website today.Rising food costs helped to fuel social unrest and riots in North Africa and the Middle East that toppled presidents in Tunisia and Egypt this year. Prices surged globally as a drought in Russia prompted the country to ban grain exports last year and adverse weather threatened crops in nations from wheat exporter Canada to soybean producer Brazil. “Unexpected oil-price spikes could further exacerbate an already precarious situation in food markets,” David Hallam, the Rome-based FAO’s director of trade and markets, said in a statement. “This adds even more uncertainty concerning the price outlook.” Global food prices probably will rise i

Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an: { يا أيها الذين آمَنوا قُوا أَنفُسَكم وأهْليكم ناراً } {O believers, save yourselves and your family from the Hellfire whose fuel is men and stones} * Whenever Allah (swt) begins anything with the phrase ‘o believers!’, it means He is alerting our attention to something important for us to do or to avoid. Ibn Mas`ud (ra) says: وقال ابن مسعود: إذا قال اللَّه يا أيها الذين آمنوا فارعها سمعك فإنه خير تؤمر به أو شر تنهى عنه  “Ibn Mas`ud said: whenever Allah says ‘o believers’ then raise your hearing because it is a good you are being commanded to or a bad you are being told to avoid…”.1 The meaning of {save yourselves and your family from the fire} means turn them away from it, prevent them from it. Sayyiduna `Ali (ra) in his commentary of this verse as well as Qatada and Mujahid state: “Save yourselves from the Fire through your actions and save your family from the Fire through giving them all correct advice and guidance (bi-wasiyyatik

Book review: Baghdad’s Spy – A personal memoir of espionage and intrigue from Iraq to London by Corinne Souza Baghdad’s Spy was first published by Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd in 2003. This article is based on the 2004 edition. Baghdad’s Spy is a portrait of espionage as told from the perspective of the daughter of a senior British spy. Starting in Iraq, where her father was recruited by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) otherwise known as MI6, she recalls the nature of Baghdad’s elite in the 1960s; gives an insight into the social circles her father used to mix in as part of his work; how her father’s harmonious relationship with the SIS collapsed in the 1970s and 1980s and exposes problems within SIS prior to the 1991 Gulf War. This revealing memoir although at times is quite personal contains some interesting revelations. The father of the author was a confirmed MI6 agent as evidenced by the scanned copy of a letter to Miss de Souza from the British Pri

As anti-government protests sweep the Muslim world and tyrants begin to fall the question of who will replace them is now on the minds of the ummah. If we look back to the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his struggle to establish the first Islamic State, we see he صلى الله عليه وسلم approached many tribes seeking the support (nussrah) for establishing the authority of Islam. He صلى الله عليه وسلم suffered persecution and difficulty in seeking the nussrah most notably in Ta'if where they hurled insults and stones at him until the whole of his body including his feet bled. Whilst the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and sahaba were struggling in the dawah in Makkah, Allah سبحانه وتعالى was preparing two tribes with the honour of becoming the future Ansar who supported the establishment of the first Islamic State in Medina. These two tribes were Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj and five years before the hijra a severe battle took place between them called the Battle of Bu

The English translation of the excellent Arabic book ‘Da’wah ilal Islam’ (Da’wah to Islam) by Sheikh Ahmad Mahmoud has finally been published in paperback. It is now available from Revival Publications The 377 page book is a quality translation including the Arabic ayat and ahadith, the original Arabic book was published in Lebanon by Al-Waie Publications. The following is the Introduction from the book: Introduction Praise be to the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessing be upon the seal of the Prophets and Messengers, the one sent as a mercy to the worlds; Muhammad al-Ameen, and on his family, companions and those who followed him with Ihsaan until the Day of Judgement. As for what follows: * This book, “The Da’wah to Islam”, deals with one of the most important subjects presented in the Islamic arena. This subject is wide, with many branches, and delicate. It is a subject whose terrain is rugged and not smooth. The Alimmah (scholors) and mujtahidoon from our past - may

FALL OF CAPITALISM is a comprehensive guide that provides a critical analysis of the current financial crisis in the US and the world at large. It concludes that the current crisis could very well be a sign of failure of the underlying system of capitalism. It shows that the system of capitalism contains serious faults and defects at the core theory level. Through its pages, readers will learn that economic and financial crisis periodically occur whenever these defects are triggered by various conditions and political decisions during the life of capitalism. It also takes a close look at the collapse of financial institutions, the crash of the housing market, the evaporation of trillions of dollars, the creation of virtual unreal wealth, and the decline of productivity are symptoms of the potential failure of the ideology of capitalism. This failure has serious impact on the life quality of billions of people around the world who suffer from poverty, hung

The following is an extract from the translation from the adopted booklet 'Access to Society' by Hizb ut-Tahrir published in Muharram 1377 / July 1958. This pamphlet is part of a series of four known as 'Nasharat ur-Sayr' (The Progress Leaflets) that were issued as the party entered different phases of its methodology, they elaborate upon many of the concepts discussed in the party's book entitled ''At Takkatal Hizbi' (Structuring of a party).  However, it should be always remembered, that the objective is not the rule, the objective is rather the resumption of the Islamic way of life and the carrying of the Islamic Da’awah to the world, and that the method of this would be the rule. Hence, the seizing of power would in fact be a method in order to turn the current way of life into an Islamic way of life, i.e. in order to turn the established relationships between people into Islamic relationships. It would be forbidden to regard the rule as being more