Islamic Revival

It hasn’t been a good week if you are an Arab ruler. Wikileaks exposed the subservience of the Arab leaders to the West and their contempt for the Muslims. While Thursday’s announcement that Qatar will stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup may have brought a smile or two, the news was slightly overshadowed by England’s humiliation in losing the 2018 bid, but Qatar will be the first Muslim country to host the tournament. Qatar beat other bids from Australia, Japan and South Korea and America to secure the tournament. The veiled xenophobia at Qatar hosting the tournament has already begun – its going to be too hot, too alcohol free and too football-yob unfriendly to warrant going anywhere near the place. One has to remember there remains 12 long years between now and the start of the tournament, Qatar still has time to sell it’s soul to appease the Western football fan. Qatar is well known already for being the home of Al-Jazeera and the Al Udeid Air Base which is used by the Americans to aid

The verdict imposed on Omar Khadr demonstrates to the world how corrupt the liberal-democratic system is. After 8 years of torture, do they really expect anyone to believe that Khadr pleaded guilty of his own accord? Omar Khadr is just another victim of the Capitalist system that victimizes not just Muslims, but also its own citizens. Only the Khilafah can offer a just system for all of humanity as it is based on the revelation from the Creator. As reported in the Toronto Star, by pleading “guilty to throwing a grenade when he was 15 that fatally wounded Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer, [Omar] Khadr is convicted of attempted murder, spying, conspiracy and providing material support to terrorism”. Soon after his plea, the military jury handed out a sentence of 40 years – 15 years more than the sentence recommended by the prosecution. However, due to a plea deal between Omar Khadr and the prosecution he will serve 8 years; one year in the US and the remaining years in Canada. How

The recent wikileaks releases have sent shock waves around the world exposing the views of western diplomats regarding foreign governments and individuals. Causing a mixture of embarrassment and political incidents, the leaks have left the American government scrambling around the world to maintain damage control. In addition to America's humiliation, the leaks have given the world a better understanding of western views of other heads of state, as well as confirmation of the true nature of the Muslim rulers. The leaked documents give candid accounts of meetings with many leaders, exposing their real concerns and views. A number of documents focus on the deep concern towards Iran, where many Arab nations repeatedly raised concerns over Iran. King Abdullah claimed Iran was meddling in ‘Arab matters' and called the state liars. Abu Dhabi's crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan also suggested that the US should send in ground forces if air strikes were not enough

Pakistan: The Most Dangerous Place on Earth.”-- Newsweek Magazine Pakistan faces a myriad of challenges that threaten its very existence. American threats of unilateral action in the tribal area, an Indian backed insurrection in Baluchistan, a dramatic increase in suicide blasts, and the economy in tatters are some of Pakistan’ s woes. But perhaps, the most significant issue is the leadership vacuum that pervades all segments of society. After the release of  leaked US cables the shadowy conspiracies and the tensions between the President and the powerful Army has come out as General Kayani is quoted as telling the U.S. Ambassador during a March 2009 meeting that he “might however reluctantly” pressure Mr. Zardari to resign. “Kayani made it clear regardless how much he dislikes Zardari, he distrusted Nawaz Sharif even more,” U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson wrote. The cables revealed that the U.S. Vice-President told British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that Mr. Zardari had told him

A few days ago the UN warned that food prices could rise by 10% to 20% next year after poor harvests and an expected rundown of global reserves. More than 70 African and Asian countries will be the worst hit, said the Food and Agricultural Organization in its monthly report. In its gloomiest forecast since the 2007/08 food crisis, which saw food riots in more than 25 countries and 100 million extra hungry people, the report’s authors urged states to prepare for hardship. “Countries must remain vigilant against supply shocks,” the report warned. “Consumers may have little choice but to pay higher prices for their food. The size of next year’s harvest becomes increasingly critical. For stocks to be replenished and prices to return to more normal levels, large production expansions are needed in 2011.” Furthermore the UN warned that international food import bills could pass the $1 trillion mark, with prices in most commodities up sharply from 2009. Global food reserves, which currently s

Amr ibn Al-‘As was commander of the army sent to conquer Egypt during the Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab. After the conquest Amr became Egypt's first Islamic governor (wali). The Muslim forces laid siege to the Babylon Fortress in 641CE (in the area known as Coptic Cairo today) where al-Muqawqis, the Egyptian Ruler was holed up. General Amr ibn Al-‘As sent a delegation of ten men, headed by Ubadah ibn as-Samit, to speak with al-Muqawqis. Ubadah was black, and when the delegation travelled by boat to al-Muqawqis and entered his place, Ubadah stepped forward and al-Muqawqis was alarmed because of his blackness. He said, "Take this black man away from me and let someone else come and speak to me!" They said, "This black man is the best of us in knowledge and wisdom. He is our leader and the best of us, and has been appointed over us. We all refer to his opinion, and our leader has appointed him over us and ordered us not to go against him." Al-Muqawqis

Muslims as an Ummah and as individuals bear the ultimate responsibility of living this life according to the teachings of Islam as revealed in the Quran and Sunnah. Islam comes with clear guidelines for every aspect of our lives and one of the most important responsibilities is raising our children according to the teachings of Islam. This obligation is especially difficult when societal norms are not Islamic, as is the case in the west. Nevertheless, living in the west, or anywhere else in this world, is not an excuse to relax our standards and surrender our identity as Muslims. Islam provides us with clear commandments that are valid in every time and place. Muslim families in the west are vulnerable to the overwhelming influence of secular values manifested in every aspect of daily life. The struggle to preserve our children’s identity starts from the very moment they are born. Regardless of the challenge, Islam gives us clear and categorical instructions for raising pious and

This article is written by brother Adnan Khan What has led to the current crisis? North Korea has fired artillery shells onto a South Korean island across its disputed western maritime border, injuring civilians, soldiers and property. South Korea has returned fire and raised its military alert to its highest non-wartime status. The Northern Limit Line (NLL) is disputed by North Korea and comes as South Korea's annual Hoguk military exercises get under way. The incident took place with renewed talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, including revelations of an active uranium enrichment site and preparations for another nuclear test. Taken together, the nuclear demonstration and the attack are widely interpreted as an effort to bolster the credentials of Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent as the country's leader, and the son and grandson of the only two men who have run the country. When his father, Kim Jong-il, North Korea's ailing leader, was establishing his cred

This article is written by brother Adnan Khan The IMF's annual gathering in Washington had one message, that the worlds economies need to work together to achieve sustainable economic growth. "The most important policy question we confront together is how to strengthen the pace of growth and repair," US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated the same remarks at a Brookings Institute speech. At the G-20 summit in June, world leaders pledged to coordinate their economic policies, putting particular emphasis on the need to refrain from currency actions that could endanger global economic health. But a sluggish global economic recovery set the stage for fractious talks on currencies and growth-rebalancing as financial leaders from the world's largest economies gathered at the G-20 conference in South Korea. Charles Dallara, head of the Institute for International Finance, which represents many of the world's largest private banks, said the lack of collabor

This article is written by Brother Saqib Bukhari 28 heads of state convened in Lisbon, Portugal, today to discuss a new ‘Strategic Concept' for the North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO) as a means to deal with the threats, issues and challenges it faces in the next decade. A lot of speculation is circulating amongst western academics in relation to the end result of such a convention and how it will shape global politics. A number of statements have been made by many a policy maker concerning the efficacy and purpose of NATO and such statements have ranged from the institution being an outdated coalition to a necessary mechanism in order to deal with security issues and the like. For one to better understand the current reality of NATO as well as its future forecasts, it is imperative to appreciate its history based on the causes for its inception in 1949. Following the end of WWII in 1945, European countries faced an array of problems. Economic hardship, inflation and i

Although no longer in the headlines, the floods continue to impact our brothers and sisters in Pakistan. According to the UN, 20 million people still continue to be affected by the floods. As an Ummah we cannot rely on the Pakistani government or any other Muslim government to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters. Instead, we must dissociate ourselves from these governments and work to re-establish the Khilafah Rashidah in Pakistan and in the rest of the Muslim world according to the method of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم. As reported in the Express Tribune, the UN High Commissioner of Refugees stated that, "the situation remained ‘critically difficult' in some areas, while shelter and recovery for hundreds of thousands of people was still short nearly 10 weeks since flooding began." He also stated that, "we need to draw the international community's attention that the emergency in Pakistan is not over...Making sure 20 million people are rehabil

Gold hits record as Fed signal sinks dollar Gold surged to a record high at $1,367.65 an ounce on Wednesday and silver to a 30-year peak after the Federal Reserve signalled the U.S. economy may need extra stimulus, which hit the dollar. Gold prices have rallied nearly 25 percent so far this year as investors turned to the metal as a haven from the effects of an increasingly loose monetary policy. Spot gold XAU hit a peak of $1,367.65 an ounce and was bid at $1,366.75 an ounce at 1417 GMT, against $1,349.60 late on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCZ0 rose $21.50 to $1,368.20, having earlier touched a record $1,368.90. France: Turkey can join the EU if it carries out the necessary reforms Turkey can join the EU if it carries out the necessary reforms, says French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, according to Today's Zaman. He added that the ball is in Turkey's court. Kouchner promised that France is willing to help Turkey in fulfilling its EU requirement

Global unemployment to trigger further social unrest, UN agency forecasts The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned of growing social unrest because it fears global employment will not now recover until 2015. This is two years later than its earlier estimate that the labour market would rebound to pre-crisis levels by 2013. About 22 million new jobs are needed – 14 million in rich countries and 8 million in developing nations. The United Nations work agency today warned of a long “labour market recession” and noted that social unrest related to the crisis had already been reported in at least 25 countries, including some recovering emerging economies. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom accuses the US of crimes against humanity The United States government has apologised for deliberately infecting hundreds of people in Guatemala with gonorrhoea and syphilis as part of medical tests more than 60 years ago. None of those infected - mentally ill patients and prisoners -