Uncle - Baba - Attorney: DAWOOD NGWANE
Born: Gabriel David Ngwane on the 30th March 1930
Died: 17 September 2009
28 Ramadaan 1430 AH
Trustee and Past Amir of IPCI & Chairman of African Muslim League. Passed away on the 17th of September 2009. From Youth he played a major role in the Catholic Church. Chairman of Family Life Committee of Marian Hill Ministry.
His Journey to Islam
When his son left home he was clearing up and came across the book, Cruci-fiction or Cruci-Fixion by Ahmed Deedat (Rahimullah) and went to challenge Ahmed on the Concept of Trinity NOT Being in the Bible. After meeting with Mr Ahmed Deedat he went right up to his Archbishop who could not convince him and told him just to believe in Trinity. After much Research, he embraced Islam and invited all his children to embrace Islam.
Baba Ngawane believed in continuous learning and started work as a labourer and also loaded trucks with goods. He completed his matric in his 30's, thereafter BA, then masters in law, whilst in his 50's qualified as an Attorney and opened his practice. He never stopped Dawah. On Tuesday the 15th of September came out of Hospital and called the IPCI for a quotation on a revised edition of his book, which was delivered to him on the 16th of September. He addressed many gatherings at Universities, conducted public lectures in various town and cities in South Africa.
Author of both Zulu and English versions of Ubhaqa (the instrument of Light) through his writings many became Muslims. Never afraid to do Dawah, he met with King Goodwill Zweletini on several occasions and invited him to Islam. He also met with Zweli Mkhize, Premier of Kwazulu Natal recently. He fully practiced Islam, picked up neighbours at Fajr time to join him. He was unique, he lived Islam fully to the end.
He also went for Hajj at the invitation of RABITA. He was a simple, humble and caring person and was a Khalifat ul Ard (representative of Allah on Earth).
The Muslim Community of South Africa will dearly miss him.
IPCI NEWSLETTER: AUGUST 2009
Download the newsletter
 On Thursday the 5th of February 2009, the IPCI had the honor of hosting the father of famous Islamic scholar Mufti Ismail Menk.
To coincide with his visit the IPCI re-launched the book “Basic Teachings” which also carries a “FREE” correspondence course on Islam.
Alhamdulillah the function was well attended and Moulana Moosa Menk delivered an excellent exposition on various issues regarding Islam. A lively question an answer session was also convened. The DVD of the function can be obtained from the IPCI.
 Marhoom Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, some 20 years ago, saw the necessity for such a publication that the got the IPCI to sponsor the printing of 10 000 copies in 1986. The IPCI, being primarily a Dawah body, has realized the need for this publication from their interaction and experiences with New Muslims and non-Muslims the world over. You will find that the main objective for the printing of this book is five fold:
- An introduction for new Muslims to the fundamental teachings of Islam as contained in the Holy Quran and teaching of (Sunnah) of the last Messenger of Islam
- To adherents of other faiths, as on objective study of one of the major religions of the world.
- A revision course for believers who find themselves willing to refresh the Basic fundamentals of their Deen
- A much needed Islamic correspondence course for the thousands of inmates in penitentiaries around the world who write to the IPCI. Also, for the people living in rural areas who find themselves far away from a Mosque, Islamic Centre or a community of Muslims.
- Ideal for use as a Madrassah (elementary Islamic classes) syllabus.
A correspondence course test which readers may answer and submit to: IPCI, P.O. Box 2439, Durban, 4000. |
Pastors from DRC
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Muslim-Christian dialogue can succeed only by recognizing realities : Tariq Ramadan
By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
mardi 8 juillet 2008
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New Delhi : Eminent theologian and writer Tariq Ramadan delivered a lecture on ‘Christianity and Islam : Values and History’ on 3rd July at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). The programme was organized under JMI’s Outreach programme.
Prof Ramadan’s talk focused on the similarities and differences between the two great religions of the world and the need to rise above differences and look at ways to live with harmony and trust. He stressed the need for honest self-appraisal, critical thinking and a commitment to the principles of one’s own religion while also showing respect for other traditions, beliefs and practices.
A Swiss Muslim, academic and theologian, Ramadan spoke passionately for the need to re-visit and re-appraise old, contentious issues. He advocated the studying and re-interpretation of Islamic texts, and emphasized the heterogeneous and diverse nature of Islamic society. He stressed that Muslims in Europe have to establish a new “European Islam” and emphasized the necessity for their engagement in European society.
A measure of his popularity was found in the lively Q&A session that followed his talk and the group of, mostly young, admirers, who besieged him at the tea that followed. Widely read in India, Ramadan is the author of 15 books on Islam, most readable among them if the biography of the Prophet, In the Footsteps of the Prophet : Lessons from the Life of Muhammad. His other books include Western Muslims and the future of Islam and To Be a European Muslim., Islam, the West, and the Challenge of Modernity.
Ramadan has taught Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg and the College de Saussure, Geneva and later at St Anthony’s College, Oxford. In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the Government of UK. He is also guest professor of Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University, Rotterdam and an advisor to the EU on religious issues.
He was introduced to the audience by JMI vice-chancellor Prof. Mushirul Hasan.
Addressing the audience, Ramadan said he had been among Christians for a number of years in order to comprehend this topical theme and traversed the space from experience to the text (Qur’an) and, then, it dawned upon him what he was going to convey.
Ramadan said we should admit that we can commit mistakes in understanding the text, whether from Qur’an or from Bible, and that whatever the Jews and Christians opine about us that ideology is based on their reading of Torah and Bible. He said usually we compare our ideals with others’ reality which is not correct, though we can compare our text with others’ text, our values with others’ values and our situation with others’ situation. He advised that we should study history because it makes a man humble and deepens the understanding of a mind. Knowing history we can understand the text properly, saying that all religions may be great or may not be so.
Ramadan said dialogue requires understanding other peoples’ psyche because we cannot understand other people without understanding it. Referring to truce of Hudaibiyyah, he said the Prophet of Islam (S.A.W.) was adept in understanding peoples’ psyche and their nature. He said we need to admit the mental trauma caused to others and ourselves as well as the excesses committed in past so that the dialogue may proceed. Citing the period of Ottoman Empire as an example, he said we should admit that the non-Muslim were required in that period to wear a particular type of dress and that excesses were committed against Ahl-e-Zimmah (non-Muslims living in a Muslim country).
He said three things are essential for a dialogue : intellectual empathy, deep faith and rationality and spirituality. He said it may be incorrect to ask any person to observe veil, it is equally wrong for a state to force anyone to not observe veil. He said the first thing required for coming out of the present situation is humility, education, self-knowledge and patient ears for others. Second point is dialogue that requires removing non-confidence from the mind of the other partner of dialogue. Third point is recognizing that all points are important and the fourth one is attachment of scholars participating in the dialogue with their own community. He said the last condition is working together and this requires respecting others’ nature and dignity as well as sense of justice.
Conspiracies against the Qur’an
Public Announcement: MUSLIM PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURES
There is agreement among leading Ulema, Community leaders and Muslim Organisations that Muslims in South Africa need to actively participate in the forthcoming general elections. Our participation is essential for the future wellbeing of the Ummah and the country.
Before any discussion on the merits of the different parties or how Muslims will contribute towards building stronger communities and furthering Islam, it is essential that every Muslim person is a registered voter.
For this, all our brothers and sisters must ensure they have bar-coded IDs and are registered on the correct voter’s roll in their area. The Independent Electoral Commission will shortly be launching the Voter Registration Process and all Muslims must register. Please ensure you have a barcoded ID before the registration period ends.
Muslim individuals and organisations are sincerely urged to assist people who cannot to pay for ID book applications with money and personnel resources to get ID books.
Message to Ulema, Governing Bodies and Community Organisations:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The attached message has been drafted in conjunction with leading Ulema in KZN for distribution and communication at all Masaajid, Jamaat Khanas, Musallahs and gatherings over the next few weeks.
Leaders in the community have for a long period being discussing the need for Muslims to be recognised and valued for their contribution in South Africa. Part of this is our need to be recognised as a valuable and influential voter unit irrespective of which parties individuals may choose to support.
Motivation of SA Muslim population for increasing Hajj Numbers which drawn from voters roll
“free“ Census of Muslim adults throughout country ward by ward
Use of data of the population numbers for use by ngos, dawah organisation, distribution of of welfare, ward by ward
We have seen that the various instances of profiling /arrest/harassment OF MUSLIMS AND THE AALIM IN PARTICULAR HAS, IN MOST CASES, BEEN SORTED OUT BY POLITICAL INTERVENTION, so our participation and influence in political parties and processes is essential to maintain and extend our influence.
Muslims in South Africa need only think about the challenges facing our communities, families and youth to realise that we need to take action to protect precious religious freedoms that many of our fellow Muslims have sacrificed so much for in the past.
Muslims have a long history during South Africa’s liberation of fighting for what is “right and forbidding that which is evil”. Ulema like Sheik Haroun, Hazradth Soofie Sahib and ........ dedicated their lives to the upliftment of the Ummah and the condition of all people. Since 1994 there has sadly been a steady decline in the contribution of Muslims in politics.
Muslim participation in the past few elections has been small and statistically insignificant resulting in little representation. Confusing messages have been delivered to the Ummah around participation in elections and this uncertainty has left the community limited in its ability to make its voice heard on critical issues like Abortion, Gay Marriages, Foreign Policy and Safety and Security.
In addition to all of these benefits there are spin-offs around information, demographics and organised representation to key political leaders that will further the needs of the Ummah.
The first step in fulfilling this important Islamic obligation is for us to ensure that Muslims are a measureable and important voting unit. For us to do this we must ensure that ALL Muslims, male and female, young and old are registered to vote.
In our numbers lies our ability to make a difference and “WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.”
Critical issues that need to be noted in delivering the attached message:
1. In delivering the attached message it must be clear that our current priority is to get our congregations and communities to be registered before the voters roll closes.
2. In doing so we must ensure that there is no indication/implication of support or objection to any political party or leader. Our neutrality at this time is essential.
3. We must ensure that there is no racial or cultural bias in our message as the appeal is the all Muslims to register.
4. This message is a call to action – the action being to register to vote. There should be not other expectation or guidance at this time.
5. This message must be viewed as a public service that is non-confrontational and free from bias
6. In delivering the message care must be taken that there is no opportunity for misrepresentation or misinterpretation of the message and objectives. The objective to keep in mind is that Muslim voters must be registered for the 2009 election.
7. It would be encouraged to adopt the phrase “WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE” as the catch phrase across all Masaajid, Jamaat Khanas and Organisations.
8. The message may delivered on its own or may be part of a larger discussion on the importance of the Muslim community participating in the next elections.
Timing of message:
The message is intended for the forthcoming last Ramadaan Jummah Lectures, Lectures on the 27th of Ramadaan and at Eid Gahs. It is hoped that by using these platforms we will be able to communicate a consistent message to as large a group as possible in the shortest time.
Motivations:
Hajj Numbers
Census by ward
Distribution of welfare by wards
Alim’s arrested in Uganda – Political intervention
Michael Wolfe is the author of numerous of books of poetry, fiction, travel, and history, some of his works include "The Hajj" (1993), a first-person travel account, and “One Thousand Roads to Mecca" (1997), an anthology of 10 centuries of travellers writing about the Muslim pilgrimage. In April 1997, he hosted a televised account of the Hajj from Mecca for Ted Koppel's "Nightline". In 2002 he produced a two-hour documentary, "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet," which won a 2004 Cine Award Special Jury Prize for best documentary and was aired around the world in a dozen languages on the National Geographic Channel. During the same year Wolfe helped produce "Taking Back Islam," a collection of articles by 40 Muslims responding to the 9/11 crisis. The collection won a 2003 Wilbur Award for best book of the year on a religious theme.
Islam: The Next American Religion?
by Michael Wolfe
The U.S. began as a haven for Christian outcasts. But what religion fits our current zeitgeist? The answer may be Islam.
Americans tend to think of their country as, at the very least, a nominally Christian nation. Didn't the Pilgrims come here for freedom to practice their Christian religion? Don't Christian values of righteousness under God, and freedom, reinforce America's democratic, capitalist ideals?
True enough. But there's a new religion on the block now, one that fits the current zeitgeist nicely. It's Islam.
Islam is the third-largest and fastest growing religious community in the United States. This is not just because of immigration. More than 50% of America's six million Muslims were born here. Statistics like these imply some basic agreement between core American values and the beliefs that Muslims hold. Americans who make the effort to look beyond popular stereotypes to learn the truth of Islam are surprised to find themselves on familiar ground. Is America a Muslim nation? Here are seven reasons the answer may be yes.
Islam is monotheistic. Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christians. They also revere the same prophets as Judaism and Christianity, from Abraham, the first monotheist, to Moses, the law giver and messenger of God, to Jesus - not leaving out Noah, Job, or Isaiah along the way. The concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition only came to the fore in the 1940s in America. Now, as a nation, we may be transcending it, turning to a more inclusive "Abrahamic" view.
Islam is democratic in spirit. Islam advocates the right to vote, educate yourself and pursue a profession. The Qur'an, on which Islamic law is based, enjoins Muslims to govern themselves by discussion and consensus. In mosques, there is no particular priestly hierarchy. With Islam, each individual is responsible for the condition of her or his own soul. Everyone stands equal before God. Americans, who mostly associate Islamic government with a handful of tyrants, may find this independent spirit surprising, supposing that Muslims are somehow predisposed to passive submission. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dictators reigning today in the Middle East are not the result of Islamic principles. They are more a result of global economics and the aftermath of European colonialism.
Islam contains an attractive mystical tradition. Mysticism is grounded in the individual search for God. Where better to do that than in America, land of individualists and spiritual seekers? Surprising as it may seem, America's best-selling poet du jour is a Muslim mystic named Rumi, the 800-year-old Persian bard and founder of the Mevlevi Path, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes.
Islam is egalitarian. From New York to California, the only houses of worship that are routinely integrated today are the approximately 4,000 Muslim mosques. That is because Islam is predicated on a level playing field, especially when it comes to standing before God. The Pledge of Allegiance (one nation, "under God") and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (all people are "created equal") express themes that are also basic to Islam.
Islam is often viewed as an aggressive faith because of the concept of jihad, but this is actually a misunderstood term. Because Muslims believe that God wants a just world, they tend to be activists, and they emphasize that people are equal before God. These are two reasons why African Americans have been drawn in such large numbers to Islam. They now comprise about one-third of all Muslims in America.
Meanwhile, this egalitarian streak also plays itself out in relations between the sexes. Muhammad, Islam's prophet, actually was a reformer in his day. Following the Qur'an, he limited the number of wives a man could have and strongly recommended against polygamy. The Qur'an laid out a set of marriage laws that guarantees married women their family names, their own possessions and capital, the right to agree upon whom they will marry, and the right to initiate divorce. In Islam's early period, women were professionals and property owners, as increasingly they are today. None of this may seem obvious to most Americans because of cultural overlays that at times make Islam appear to be a repressive faith toward women - but if you look more closely, you can see the egalitarian streak preserved in the Qur'an finding expression in contemporary terms. In today's Iran, for example, more women than men attend university, and in recent local elections there, 5,000 women ran for public office.
Islam shares America's new interest in food purity and diet. Muslims conduct a month long fast during the holy month of Ramadan, a practice that many Americans admire and even seek to emulate. Muslims also observe dietary laws that restrict the kind of meat they can eat. These laws require that the permitted, or halal, meat is prepared in a manner that emphasizes cleanliness and a humane treatment of animals. These laws ride on the same trends that have made organic foods so popular.
Islam is tolerant of other faiths. Like America, Islam has a history of respecting other religions. In Muhammad's day, Christians, Sabeans, and Jews in Muslim lands retained their own courts and enjoyed considerable autonomy. As Islam spread east toward India and China, it came to view Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism as valid paths to salvation. As Islam spread north and west, Judaism especially benefited. The return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after centuries as outcasts, only came about after Muslims took the city in 638. The first thing the Muslims did there was to rescue the Temple Mount, which by then had been turned into a garbage heap.
Islam encourages the pursuit of religious freedom. The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is not the world's first story of religious emigration. Muhammad and his little band of 100 followers fled religious persecution, too, from Mecca in the year 622. They only survived by going to Madinah, an oasis a few hundred miles north, where they established a new community based on a religion they could only practice secretly back home. No wonder then that, in our own day, many Muslims have come here as pilgrims from oppression, leaving places like Kashmir, Bosnia, and Kosovo, where being a Muslim may radically shorten your life span. When the 20th century's list of emigrant exiles is added up, it will prove to be heavy with Muslims, that's for sure.
Who knows? Perhaps it won't be long now before words like salat (Muslim prayer) and Ramadan join karma and Nirvana in Webster's Dictionary, and Muslims take their place in America's mainstream.
(Beliefnet 2001/08/9) - edited
When Will You Confront the Blood-Stained Face of History?
What About the War, Pope Benedict?
by Ray McGovern
Published 22 April 2008
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Washington last week against a macabre backdrop featuring reports of torture, execution, and war. He chose not to notice.
Torture: Fresh reporting by ABC from inside sources depicted George W. Bush’s most senior aides (Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rice, and Tenet) meeting dozens of times in the White House during 2002/03 to sort out the most efficient mix of torture techniques for captured “terrorists.”
When initially ABC attempted to insulate the president from this sordid activity, Bush abruptly bragged that he knew all about it and approved. That comment and the action memorandum Bush signed on Feb. 7, 2002 dispelled any lingering doubt regarding his personal responsibility for authorizing torture.
Execution: Meanwhile, the Supreme Court with a majority of judges calling themselves Catholic, was openly deliberating on whether one gram, or two, or perhaps three of this or that chemical would be the preferred way to execute people. Always colorful prominent Catholic layman Antonin Scalia complained impatiently, “Where does it say in the Constitution that executions have to be painless?”
Scalia did not seem at all concerned that the pope might remind him and his Catholic colleagues about the Church’s teaching on capital punishment; i.e., the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”
It was enough to bring this student of German history (and five-year resident there) vivid memories of frequenting those places where precisely these kinds of torture and execution policies were conducted at similarly high levels by Hitler’s inner circle--yes, including judges.
War: Can the pope possibly be so suffused with his peculiar brand of theology that he is oblivious to what happened when he was a young man during the Third Reich.
Is it possible that papal advisers forgot to tell him that the post-WW II Nuremberg Tribunal described an unprovoked war of aggression, of the kind that the Third Reich and George W. Bush launched, as the “supreme international crime, differing from other war crimes only in that it contains the accumulated evil of the whole?” Could they have failed to tell the pope he would be hobnobbing with war criminals, torturers, and the enabling cowards in Congress who refuse to remove them from office?
For this Catholic, it was a profoundly sad spectacle--profoundly sad. Not since WW II, when the Reich’s bishops swore personal oaths of allegiance to Hitler (as did the German Supreme Court and army generals) have the papacy and bishops acted in such a fawning, un-Christ-like way.
During the Thirties, with very few exceptions, the bishops (Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran) collaborated with the Nazis. Meanwhile, Hamlet-like Pius XII kept trying to make up his mind as to whether he should put the Catholic Church at some risk, while Jews were being murdered by the thousands.
Albert Camus
In 1948, in the shadow of that monstrous world war, the French author/philosopher Albert Camus accepted an invitation from the Dominican Monastery of Latour-Maubourg. To their credit, the Dominicans wanted to know what an “unbeliever” thought about Christians in the light of their behavior during the Thirties and Forties. Camus’ words seem so terribly relevant today that it is difficult to trim them:
“For a long time during those frightful years I waited for a great voice to speak up in Rome. I, an unbeliever? Precisely. For I knew that the spirit would be lost if it did not utter a cry of condemnation.
“It has been explained to me since, that the condemnation was indeed voiced. But that it was in the style of the encyclicals, which is not all that clear. The condemnation was voiced and it was not understood. Who could fail to feel where the true condemnation lies in this case?
“What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest man. That they should get away from abstraction and confront the blood-stained face history has taken on today.
“It may be… that Christianity will insist on maintaining a compromise, or else on giving its condemnations the obscure form of the encyclical. Possibly it will insist on losing once and for all the virtue of revolt and indignation that belonged to it long ago.
“What I know--and what sometimes creates a deep longing in me--is that if Christians made up their mind to it, millions of voices--millions, I say--throughout the world would be added to the appeal of a handful of isolated individuals, who, without any sort of affiliation, today intercede almost everywhere and ceaselessly for children and other people.”
(Excerpted from Resistance, Rebellion, and Death: Essays)
Sixty years ago!
Perhaps the Dominican monks took Camus seriously; monks tend to listen. Vatican functionaries, on the other hand, tend to know it all--and typically caution the pope to be “discrete.” You saw that this past week with the pope in Washington and New York, as he forfeited the opportunity to follow the biblical injunction to speak truth to power--to speak out clearly, as Camus insisted, with whatever moral authority he could summon.
Catholics All Around
Think back to last week and the many prominent Catholics who flocked to see the pope--many of them officials with considerable influence in the Judiciary and Legislature, with important players in the Executive Branch as well.
There they were, with their families, the five Catholic Supreme Court justices, fresh from detailed deliberations on how best to implement state-sponsored killings, executions that are banned by virtually every civilized country.
Justice Scalia audibly salivated over how much noxious chemical should be shot into the veins of a “condemned,” and how quickly. (For those with strong stomachs, C-SPAN captured the proceedings.)
I am embarrassed to acknowledge that, like me, Scalia is the product of a Jesuit education (Xavier H.S. in Manhattan and Georgetown College). Despite his advocacy of “soft” torture techniques like driving nails under fingernails, Scalia continues to be lionized by many Jesuits and bishops alike.
In the House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, erstwhile doyenne of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and now San Francisco and minority leader John Boehner (R, Ohio)--also a Catholic--seem about to allocate another hundred billion dollars to death and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan for the most reprehensibly crass of political purposes--the coming election. Congressman Jim McGovern (D, Massachusetts) last week tried to guild the lily, noting that Pelosi now insists that, in McGovern’s words, “We’re an equal branch of government; we’re no longer a cheap date.” Right.
Sadly, it appears that Pelosi’s key functionaries on House Appropriations (both of them Catholics) will cave in once again. It is not as though they do not know the right thing to do. Just six months ago Appropriations chair Dave Obey (D, WI) declared, “I have no intention of reporting out of committee anytime in this session of Congress any such [funding] request that simply serves to continue the status quo.”
Subcommittee chair John Murtha (D, PA) put it even more strongly a year before Obey did, and came close to calling the occupation of Iraq a lost cause--which, of course, it is. But it is not politic to say that before the election. Never mind the troops on the front lines.
Obey and Murtha caved last time. I will find it particularly devastating if Obey caves again now, for I have always considered him among the best legislators in Congress. And since he is from Wisconsin, Obey recognizes better than most others the McCarthy-ite demagoguery coming from the likes of Texas Republican Michael Burgess, to the effect that anything short of giving the president all the war funding he demands is “basically giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
Pelosi also has been unusually candid in admitting that it is electoral politics, pure and simple, that explain her resistance to holding President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney accountable for high crimes and misdemeanors via the orderly procedure given us by the Founders for precisely this purpose--impeachment in the House; trial in the Senate.
If, as widely expected, the war funding goes through, several hundred more American troops are likely to die before some common sense can be injected into U.S. policy next year--not to mention how many Iraqis.
Iraq is a shambles. Two million Iraqis have fled abroad; another two million are internal refugees. Am I the only one who finds macabre the raging debate as to whether the attack and occupation of Iraq has resulted in a million or “only 300,000” Iraqis dead?
Apparently, the pope did not have any opinion on the Iraq war.
But Torture?
Surely the pope would speak out against the kind of torture for which our country has become famous: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, CIA “black sites”--the more so, since Jesus of Nazareth was tortured to death. The pope chose silence, which presumably came as welcome relief to five-star torturer’s apprentice, Gen. Michael Hayden, now head of the CIA. The White House has made clear that Hayden is ready to instruct his torturers to water board again, upon Caesar’s approval.
Hayden proved his mettle when he was head of the National Security Agency. He saluted smartly when the president and vice president told him to disregard the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act and his oath to defend the Constitution. One of Hayden’s predecessors as NSA director asserted that Hayden should have been court-martialed. Pelosi was briefed both on the illegal surveillance and the torture, but did nothing.
Having demonstrated his allegiance to the president, Hayden was picked to head the CIA. The general likes to brag about his moral training and Catholic credentials. At his nomination hearing, he noted that he was the beneficiary of 18 years of Catholic education.
And all the while it was quite clear he was positively lusting to be in charge of water boarding and other torture techniques--whatever you say, boss. I was somewhat crestfallen after adding up my own years of Catholic education--only 17. Clearly I missed “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques 301.”
Keep It General; Focus on Others’ Sins
Saturday at the UN, the pontiff pontificated on “God-given human rights” and “massive human rights abuses,” but pretty much left it at that. The Washington Post reported that the pope was “short on specifics and long on broad themes.”
But there was one specific. Here in the U.S., the pope seemed to prefer to dwell again and again on the pedophilia scandal--to the exclusion of much else. He is to be applauded for meeting with victims of clergy sexual abuse and expressing deep shame, but he got a free pass from the media in disguising his own role in trying to cover the whole thing up.
While still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he headed The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith--the Vatican office that once ran the Inquisition. In that capacity he sent a letter in May 2001 to all Catholic bishops throwing a curtain of secrecy over the widespread sexual abuse by clergy, warning the bishops of severe penalties, including excommunication for breaching “pontifical secrets.”
Lawyers acting for the sexually abused accused Ratzinger of “clear obstruction of justice.”
Very few American bishops have been disciplined. And when Bernard Cardinal Law was run out of Boston for failing to protect children from predator priests, he was given a cushy sinecure in Rome; many believe he should be behind bars.
In an interview with the Catholic News Service in 2002, Ratzinger branded media coverage of the pedophilia scandal “a planned campaign…intentional, manipulated, a desire to discredit the Church.”
It is nice that the pope has now changed his tune. And nicer still for him as he found himself in the congenial atmosphere of Washington, where it has been a very long time since powerful miscreants have been held accountable.
So What Did You Expect?
I do wish my friends would stop asking me that.
While it was good that the pope addressed the pedophilia issue head on, it seemed as though he and his politically astute advisers made a considered decision to devote inordinate amounts of time and energy to the abuse. An all-too-familiar side-benefit of this focus on below-the-belt sexual issues enabled the pope to speak in glorious generality on other major issues--war, torture, capital punishment--in all of which, as we have seen, many of “the faithful” are deeply engaged--embarrassingly engaged. Or am I the only one embarrassed?
I had hoped--naively, it turned out--that the pope might encourage his brother bishops to find the courage to state plainly what 109 bishops of the Methodist faith, George W. Bush’s tradition, declared on Nov. 8, 2005:
“We repent of our complicity in what we believe to be the unjust and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq. In the face of the United States Administration’s rush toward military action based on misleading information, too many of us were silent.
“We confess our preoccupation with institutional enhancement and limited agendas while American men and women are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed, while thousands of Iraqi people needlessly suffer and die.”
I had thought that perhaps the U.S. Catholic bishops could adopt the kind of resolution that 125 Methodist bishops signed on Nov. 9, 2007. Speaking truth to power, the Methodists called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and the reversal of any plans to establish permanent military bases there.
The Methodist bishops’ resolution noted: “Every day that the war continues, more soldiers and innocent civilians are killed with no end in sight to the violence, bloodshed, and carnage.” Bishop Jack Meadors summed up the situation succinctly:
“The Iraq war is not just a political issue or a military issue. It is a moral issue.”
Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem
Visiting Yad VaShem, the Holocaust museum in West Jerusalem last summer, I experienced painful reminders of what happens when the church allows itself to be captured by Empire. An acquiescent church, it is clear, loses whatever residual moral authority it may have had.
At the entrance to the museum, a quotation by German essayist Kurt Tucholsky set a universally applicable tone:
“A country is not just what it does--it is also what it tolerates.”
Still more compelling words came from Imre Bathory, a Hungarian who put his own life at grave risk by helping to save Jews from the concentration camps. Explaining why, Bathory said this:
“I know that when I stand before God on Judgment Day, I shall not be asked the question posed to Cain: ‘Where were you when your brother’s blood was crying out to God?’”
Bush, Bible, and “Religion”
According to former President George H. W. Bush, George W. has “read the Bible straight through--twice.” Perhaps he skipped by that passage too quickly; or maybe he is highly selective with respect to whom he considers his brothers.
No excuse for Benedict, though; he knows better. And yet he opted to squander his glorious chance to speak out and make a difference.
Methodist bishop Meadors is right; the war is a moral issue. But President Bush has refused, time and time again, to meet with his Methodist bishops. And now he has the imprimatur of the pope.
The bottom line is challenging: to the degree that right and wrong, moral and immoral considerations are to be injected into discussions about war, executions, torture--well, let’s face it. There is only us.
Are we up to it? Shall we punt, like Benedict? Shall we behave like “obedient Germans,” waiting, as if for Godot, for top-down moral guidance we know in our hearts will never come?
Augustine wrote:
“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”
The Founders gave us incredibly precious gifts we dare not fritter away. I sense a lot of anger; I am confident we can summon the necessary courage. What about you?
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington, DC. He is on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). He is a contributor to Imperial Crusades: Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair (Verso).
This article first appeared on Consortiumnews.com.
Forced marriages disgrace Islam
by Ziauddin Sardar
Published 27 March 2008
The first step to dealing with honour killings in the UK is to criminalise forced marriage.
According to official figures, up to 17,000 women in Britain are subjected to honour-related kidnapping, sexual assault, beatings and murder every year. A new report by the Centre for Social Cohesion suggests these figures underestimate the true extent of honour-based violence. And what is even more worrying is that this crime is not limited to older, first- generation immigrants. Honour killings are now also being perpetrated, according to the report, by second and third generations of immigrants. Parents are passing on the customs they brought with them to their children.
Most cases of honour killing in Britain, such as the murder of Banaz Mahmod, involve Muslims. Twenty-year-old Banaz was killed because she refused to abide by a forced marriage. Her body was discovered in Birmingham in 2006; she had been raped and tortured by men hired by her uncle to kill her. Her father, who had unsuccessfully tried to kill her earlier, her uncle and one of her killers were sentenced to 60 years in total for her murder. Before Banaz, there was the case of Sha filea Ahmed, murdered in 2003, and before her a string of other unfortunates. Hardly surprising that, in the minds of some, honour killing and Islam go together.
In reality, honour killings are a direct outcome of forced marriage and have nothing to do with Islam. Indeed, one of the first acts of the Prophet Muhammad was to condemn and forbid such practices. In Islam, honour is connected with virtue, with righteous behaviour, obligations to one's parents and the elderly, good works and community development. It is all about human dignity and how that dignity should be upheld. For many Muslims, however, Islamic ideals are often subservient to tribal custom. Honour killings and forced marriages are tribal practices.
Among certain tribes in Asia, honour is asso ciated with women: izzat, as honour is called in Urdu, is quite literally located on the female body. Thus, women have to be guarded, protected and passed on to another member of the tribe. A woman dishonours her family and tribe if her body is violated - even by force. The shame can be cleansed only by killing the body in question.
Such primitively brutal ideas are not uncommon among British Muslims hailing from tribal areas of India, Pakistan and the Middle East. Brit ish Asians perpetuate tribal customs through what is known as the biradari system. This system, much in evidence in Asian communities in the Midlands, combines caste and honour with notions of blind loyalty to the clan. To guard the honour of a clan, marriages take place strictly within a biradari. These are not marriages of arrangement by mutual consent, but forced marriages where one partner is coerced into a union - sometimes both.
The first step to dealing with honour killings is to criminalise forced marriage. The Home Office is supposed to be drawing up an action plan to tackle these killings and improve police response, but before anything else we need to prevent victims from becoming victims. Making forced marriage illegal will send a strong message to those who maintain this obnoxious tribal custom that it has no place in contemporary Britain. It will also encourage potential victims to come forward and report the crime.
There is equally a need, I think, for a national strategy to identify potential victims. Schools, for example, ought to be able to recognise which girls are most likely to be victims of forced marriage by their background. Airport staff should be able to spot girls who are being forcibly carted off to India, Pakistan or Bangladesh to be married off to biradari cousins. The police must be able to offer potential victims adequate protection from any retribution.
Ultimately, honour killing is a conceptual phenomenon, and to beat this loathsome practice we need to undermine the very concept of tribal honour. The notion that honour has anything to do with the female body should be erased by the basic education of every Briton of Asian or Middle Eastern heritage. Tribal practices associated with honour bring not honour to biradari, clan, family and Islam, but disgrace.
FROM PASTOR TO ISLAMIC PREACHER
From being allowed to choose his own religion from the age of 12 by his liberal and loving parents, Areeb Islam born Gary Pelsar, saw himself leave the faith of his parents, Catholicism and move to the Protestant Church. At the age of 16, he began studying to be An Evangelist, Missionary and Youth Pastor. He was an Inter Denominational Youth Pastor and Evangelist for 8 years and even assisted other Christians with research to come and debate the late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat. He accompanied other Christians to the Centre who had encounters with the Late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat.
At a public talk at the Haleema Hall in Erasmia on Saturday night 29 June 2008 convened by the IPCI entitled ‘The Scientific and Historical analysis of the Quran & the Bible” Areeb Islam stated that while researching ways to counteract Ahmed Deedat he began contemplating the points and arguments Deedat was raising. Subsequently unable to get satisfactory answers from Christian clergymen his doubts about Christianity and the Bible led him to quit the Church.
After some 4 years of contemplation he decided it was time for him to submit totally to the will of the Creator and embrace Islam. After a sojourn in Malawi doing Islamic charitable work he returned to South Africa to work charting yachts to as far as the United States for owners who purchased them in South Africa.
Due to his deep inner conviction of serving the one true God and wanting to share that with his fellow Man, he has joined the IPCI’s learning Academy and lectures to students on Church History & comparative religion. He is part of the IPCI’s Dawah team and delivers public talks and pre Khutbah lectures at various Mosques.
Brother Areeb Islam has just embarked on the Muslim Chaplaincy to Hospitals, Police Stations and Military bases. If you like to contact him directly you may do so on: areebislam@gawab.com or via the IPCI on 083 982 8828 / 031 3060026.
IPCI dialogue with a Church in Port Elizabeth IPCI's response to John 3:16" date: 3 February 2008
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The Hajj and Its Impact on Saudi Arabia and the Muslim World
By David E. Long
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Prospectus 2008
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NARRATIVE ON PEOPLE WHO HAVE EMBRACED ISLAM & OTHER INTERESTING INSIGHT INTO ISLAM
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Science
student find peace and Logic in Islam.
A Fredericton university student
says he turned to Islam after feeling let
down by his Christian upbringing.
Fourth-year science student Steven Byers has
recently joined the Muslim faith, one of the
latest converts to one of the fastest growing
religions in North America.
Byers says he didn't have a
specific belief system five years ago when
he became burdened by a series of unfortunate
events beyond his control. He was raised Christian,
but says the Bible couldn't help him cope.
"I would question, why would God do that
to me, to my family, to my friends? It just
didn't make sense to me. And then I got really
angry, it was the only time I got angry about
a lot of stuff."
Last spring, Byers' friends
encouraged him to learn more about Islam.
He says he found a belief system that perfectly
matched his logical mind.
Then last summer, Byers spoke the Shahada
– the testimony of faith, saying Allah
is the only God, and Mohammed is the last
Prophet of Islam.
"Once you say that line
and you mean it in your heart and you're honest
with yourself, you are a Muslim," said
Byers.
The New Brunswick Muslim Association
believes there are approximately 500 Muslims
in each of the three major New Brunswick cities
and others scattered throughout smaller communities.
But the number of people choosing
the Islamic faith is growing through out the
world. In New Brunswick's 2001 census, numbers
show that the number of Muslims increased
five times in a 10-year span.
University of New Brunswick
science professor Abdulhaq Hamza says people
gravitate to Islam is because they're looking
for something to fill what's missing in their
lives.
Hamza is also president of the
Fredericton Islamic Association and says Islam
reminds people that they need to step away
from the material world to find peace from
within.
"Islam tells you, you have
to pray five times a day, so you have to disconnect
yourself from that growing and fast-pacing
life."
The idea of peace is integral
to Islam's message. Its message is two-fold;
first, a Muslim is called to submit to God
and through this submission comes peace.
Hamza says the only way to achieve
peace outside, is to achieve peace inside
through the will of God.
"It's like a glowing peace
of coal. If you look at it when it's not lit,
then it's just dark. And by radiating, it
can light other places."
The other major duties required
in Islam strengthen a Muslim's commitment
to God and to peace.
Abdulhaq Hamza says people
gravitate to Islam is because they're
looking for something to fill what's
missing in their lives
The responsibilities include, giving to charity,
praying five times a day and reading Allah's
book of Revelations – the Koran. They
also include fasting in daylight hours during
the lunar month of Ramadan, and, when financially
possible, taking a pilgrimage to the holy
city Mecca at least once in your life.
Byers hasn't been to Mecca yet,
but he did take part in the Fast of Ramadan
for the first time. "Not eating that
period of the day teaches you discipline,
and I just I guess knocks you down a step.
Makes you realize what it is like for those
people that can't eat."
Ramadan was just one of many
firsts for Byers.
He says despite the difficulty
of fasting, he is adjusting easily to this
faith. That's because he feels the fundamental
values of peace, charity and good will were
already part of his character.
"So just coming into it,
I guess would be just changing from the way
I was, to knowing that's how I was. Maybe
it was more of a way of understanding the
way I am."
Byers says it's important for
people to learn about Islam. He says if people
incorporate the goals and aims of Islam into
their lives, like him, they might find some
peace they didn't even know they were searching
for.
Mosque Tours / American Guest in the Mosque
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the IPCI receives guest daily and offers a
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Dinner 2006 PHOTOs
OPEN
CONTROVERSIES ADDRESSED
TO POPE BENEDICT VI
ABOUT ISLAM AND VIOLENCE
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A RESPONSE TO
POPE BENEDICT….
BY CATHOLIC AUTHOR ARCHIE AUGUSTINE…..(AUTHOR
OF “IN DEFENSE OF JIHAD”)
POPE BENEDICT: The controversy.
comment by Archie Augustine
Shortly after the publication
of the cartoons that maligned the Prophet
Mohammed(pbuh) Pope Benedict issued a statement
on the matter. At the Conference for Co-operation
between the Divine Religions held in Iran
shortly thereafter, I took issue with the
statement during a workshop in which several
Christian Bishops participated. I submitted
that notwithstanding that the Pope had condemned
the cartoons, he spent more time dealing with
the expected violent reactions and the possibility
oif the incident being hi-jacked by radical
Muslims. I was of the view that there was
a decided imbalance in his treatment of the
matter and that he should have leaned to stronger
condemnation of the cartoons and a parallel
call for calm and restraint on the part of
the Muslims.
I was met with fiery reprimand
by the Armenian Bishop who declared : "How
dare you criticise our Holy Father".To
this I responded that as a Catholic I was
entitled to expect proper assessment of world
affairs and corresponding diplomacy from the
new head of the Church.I emphasised that in
terms of the conference our purpose was not
purely to pay lip service to co-operation
between the divine faiths but to examine critically
our own standpoints lest we be perceived to
be aligned to the forces ranged against Muslims
and Islam.
I am therefore not surprised
that the Pope has allowed himself to be drawn
into the present controversy.From news reports
it appears that he was delivering a lecture
on the means of religious conversion and then
quoted a 14th Century Emperor who maligned
the Holy Prophet by declaring that he used
violence to convert people to Islam.How in
the light of recent cartoon controversy, he
could use that quotation stuns the senses!
Was the "Emperor" a snide approval
of the modern day emperors like Bush and Blair
who are forever mouthing the same sentiments?
In the absence of some rational explanation
Muslims can justifiably draw the inference
that the Pope has aligned himself with the
West and Israel.
The Pope had submitted that
violence was not consonant with religion.St.
Augustine the founder of Catholic theology
conceded that Christians have a right to physically
defend themselves in appropriate circumstances.So
also the Holy Qur'an countenances the use
of force to defend the life limb and property
of the faithful.The rules of engagement and
disengagement are clearly set out.
If the Pope rejects this theological
concession of St. Augustine then it becomes
necessary for him to condemn the violence
wreaked by the so called Christian West, Serbia
and Israel against the Muslims of the world.Current
events show that Muslims are undergoing international
violent persecution.He should say to the West:
"Violence is not consonant with your
religions!" When they cease these violations
he can then say to the Muslims : Lay
down your swords.
That would be Christian.
An Iranian cleric contended
that the Pope was not au faire with
Islam. This appears to be so. The Qur'an cathegorically
declares that "there is no compulsion
in religion"; that "to you be your
way and to me mine"; that "God would
be the judge of who believed and who did not";
that "Those who believe (in the Qur'an)
and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures)
and the Christians and the Sabians, Any who
believe in God and the Last Day, shall have
their reward with the Lord..(S.ii.62).
Others may well not agree with
the Iranian cleric and conspiracy theorists
may well contend that Pope Benedict has effectively
and deliberately sabotaged the credibility
of the Catholic Church.
A British Catholic archbishop
who appeared on TV was visbibly dismayed as
he apologised for the insinuation. The world
of catholics will also feel dismayed and would
need clarification of Vatican policy under
Pope Benedict. In contrast ,Pope John Paul
always struck the chords of international
harmony. The Vatican may well be confronted
with the politicisation of the personal views
of its Head of State. Unfortunately the repercussions
will be felt within the rank and file of the
Catholic Church.
But the Catholics worldwide
remain Catholics grounded in the Christianity
of Jesus Christ. We will continue to love
our neigbours as our friends irrespective
of race religion or creed and irrrespective
of the folly of our leadership.
A
response to the book The
Facts on ISLAM
By John Ankerberg & John
Weldon
Christian Art Publishers
2005 First Edition
By Rafeek Hassen (MA Religion & Culture
UKZN)
Director of Da’wah IPCI
Durban South Africa
rafeekhassen@yebo.co.za
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here to read the book
Free Comparative Religion Course
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"Mozlems
are all bad.." |
.
. . Or was I wrong? |
[Before Islam] |
[After Islam] |
Skip
Estes - Christian Musician Minister
- 1988 |
Sheik
Yusuf Estes -- Muslim Chaplain - 2000 |
The following audio CD's &
VCD are available: “free of charge”
Does Islam = terrorism?
What is Islam?
The third loaf
Dean online - an interview on guidance &
faith - video cd
Common sense of islam
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and circulation of same will be greatly appreciated….
IPCI OFFERS
FREE COURSES ON COMPARATIVE RELIGION 2007
The IPCI is the Centre for
Dawah & Comparative Religion. The Founder
of IPCI Sheikh Ahmed Deedat was a world renowned
scholar on Comparative Religion and engaged
with Christian scholars in all parts of the
world.
The Islamic Propagation Centre International,
Learning Academy is offering a one term intensive
course in Comparative Religion.
In these times when Islam is unfairly attacked
from all sides by the Jews, Christians and
secularists it is vitally important to study
the relevance of contemporary issues in Islam.
In addition to Comparative Religion the course
deals with current issues in the Islamic world
and will equip the students to understand,
debate and make rational judgment on vital
issues concerning the Ummah.
OTHER
COURSES ON OFFER AT THE IPCI LEARNING ACADEMY
1. COURSES FOR NEW MUSLIMS
(REVERTS)
The courses for new Muslims are held on a
full time basis (Monday to Friday) as well
as on Saturdays, especially for those who
are not available during the week. These courses
are free of charge and conducted by qualified
teachers. This course will equip the students
with basic principles & practices to enable
them to lead a practical & Islamic life.
If there are any persons desirous of accepting
Islam or attending our classes, please contact
Mrs. Moola or Ebrahim Mthembu on 031-3060026
2. JOURNALISM COURSE
This is a three month course, held every Saturday
from 9H00 to 13H00. This introductory course
is designed to teach aspirant journalists
to gather and edit newspapers and feature
articles. The course is conducted by former
Journalist of the Daily News, Mr. Ismail Suder.
Contact Faheema on 031-3060026
3. ADULT BASIC LITERACY
All persons who are unable to read & write
English are invited to attend this course
which is held on Thursdays from 13h30 –
16h00. Learners will be required to write
an IEB (INDEPENDENT BOARD EXAMS
Hajj
The Pilgrimage - Basis for Human Unity
Pilgrimage is a personal obligation
on every individual once in a lifetime, and
it becomes due when the condition of ability
are fulfilled, including physical health,
ability to travel and safe passage. Pilgrimage
is the Muslims’ annual general assembly
which is held at the House from which their
message was given to them at the first time,
and which witnessed the birth of the pure
faith of Abraham, their first father, and
which was the first House God set up on earth
for His own worship. Pilgrimage is, therefore,
an assembly of great significance. It has
its historical associations which centre around
the noble concept of faith which highlights
the link between man and his Creator. Faith
means man’s spiritual response to God,
a fact of great significance considering that
only with a blow of Allah’s spirit,
man has acquired his humanity. It is a worthy
concept as a basis for human unity. Hence,
it is appropriate that people should assemble
every year at the Sacred Place which witnessed
the birth of this call to mankind, to unite
on the basis of pure faith alone regardless
of color, cast, race or social status.
One-fifth of mankind shares a single aspiration:
to undertake, at least once in a lifetime,
the spiritual journey to Makkah in Saudi Arabia
and perform Hajj.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Muslims
from all over the world arrive in Saudi Arabia.
The journey now is much shorter and in some
ways less arduous than it used to be in the
past. Hajj’s first rite is the intention,
and then putting on the Ihram.
When he was in Makkah, Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
or Malcolm X wrote a letter to his loyal assistants
in Harlem... “Never have I witnessed
such sincere hospitality and overwhelming
spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced
by people of all colors and races here in
this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham,
Muhammad and all the other Prophets (Peace
be upon them) of the Holy Scriptures.
For the past week, I have been
utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness
I see displayed all around me by people of
all colors.”
He writes further, “America needs to
understand Islam, because this is the one
religion that erases from its society the
race problem. Throughout my travels in the
Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even
eaten with people who in America would have
been considered a different race. But the
racist attitude was removed from their minds
by the religion of Islam. I have never before
seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced
by all colors together, irrespective of their
country
.
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Acknowledgement:
Donation
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accept my heartfelt gratitude for your generous
donation of 120 copies of the “Holy Quran”
as well as 120 copies of the publication “Ubhaqa”. More
"FOR
SHEIKH AHMED DEEDAT'S
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NOW IN STOCK"
Crucifiction
or Crucifixion
I am Muslim
