THE LEGACY OF ISLAM IS IGNORANCE NOW AND THEN
Ignorance defined: the state of being destitute of knowledge or education.
MUSLIM SERMON - EDUCATION MUST BE BASED ON ISLAM!
المنهج الإسلامي في التربية والتعليم بين الواقع والمأمول
Summary
1) Islaamic culture is distinguished from all other cultures.
2) Each nation has its own culture and policies originating from its religion.
3) Science in the Islaamic culture aims towards instilling deeper faith and assuring certainty in Allaah.
4) The failure of foreign educational policies.
5) The bases on which such policies were founded.
6) The importance of upbringing, policies, and educational curriculum in establishing the Islaamic culture and community.
7) A call to reconsider the use of existing educational curricula in the Muslim countries.
8) Principles and methods of upbringing.
All praise is due to Allaah. May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, his household and companions.
Note: Let's not praise the moon god of pagan Arabia that MO-HAM-MAD used to create Islam.
Fellow Muslims! I implore you and myself to fear Allaah, for whoever fears Allaah, He will provide for him light, knowledge and His pleasure and fill his heart with confidence, peace and faith.
Note: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment." 1 John 4:18a
“O you who believe! If you obey and fear Allaah, He will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong) and will expiate for you your sins, and forgive you, and Allaah is the owner of the Great Bounty.” (Al-Anfaal: 29).
Note: "But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18b
“O you who believe! Fear Allaah and believe in His Messenger, He will give you a double portion of His Mercy and He will give you a light by which you shall walk (straight) and He will forgive you. And Allaah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Al-Hadeed: 28).
Note: Unfortunately, Islamic societies produce tormented persons seething with outrage.
Respect the limits of Allaah and keep to His commandments for you have a pursuer from Allaah and He has invigilators and reckoners over you. Learn lessons from those who were before you, before you become lessons for others. And send forth good deeds for yourselves, you will find them (of benefit) with Allaah.
Note: Islamic societies are focused on the past that produces backward instead of progressive peoples.
Brothers in Islaam! Every human civilization has its era; it grows, blossoms, and then vanishes. The Islaamic civilization, however, is an everlasting one. It does not degenerate nor does it wane, because it possesses an inner power, by the permission of Allaah. It derives its power of existence from the perfect and favored religion of Allaah. Allaah says which means, “This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you and chosen Islaam for you as your religion.” (Al Maa’idah: 3).
Note: Islamic civilization is degenerate as it drives people to strife, hate, and premature death.
As long as this ummah holds fast to its Islaam and helps its cause, its civilization will continue growing and progressing, and it will not know any weakness or degeneration no matter how the circumstances are. Allaah says which means: “So do not become weak against your enemies nor be sad and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.” (Aal ‘Imraan: 139).
Note: Islamic civilization is degenerate as evidenced by the daily occurrence of murder by jihadists.
Equally, there is for every nation a civilization in matters of its belief, religious rites, customs and social relations. Every respected nation forms for itself principles of education that guarantee a safe climate where it can prepare its young generations for its beliefs and concepts and create in them enthusiasm for them and the will to defend them.
Note: Christianity proclaims love allowing education to flourish in a nurturing environment.
Brothers in Islaam! The talk about vitality, steadiness and progress in human civilizations attests to the fact that knowledge and its systems have their drive, essence and impact. This spirit is the reality of this knowledge and its deep effects. The knowledge that Islaam has established bears within it the spirit of belief in Allaah and fear of Him, belief in the unseen and in the Last Day. It is also full of noble characters and virtues. On the contrary, the system of knowledge that has been laid down by paganistic nations such as the Greeks, Romans and others, contain only the spirit of the period of ignorance and polytheism. The same can also be said of educational systems that are based on heresy, atheism, materialism and utter disregard for all that cannot be physically felt or bring forth any quick and mundane benefit. This spirit is inherent in their consciences, educational systems, ideologies, philosophies, poetry, narrations and literature. Educational systems of atheist nations and civilizations cannot be like the systems of a believing nation; it can never be suitable for it nor can it be compatible with it.
Note: No Muslim had been an astronaut and it is now the 21st century.
Fellow Muslims! When this is so, what does the knowledge, education and awareness mean to a community which does not have a dignifying personality, a message, a creed in which it believes, fundamentals which it has affinity to, spiritually and physically or a message that it adopts and calls others to?
Note: Education flourishes in a loving and safe environment that is not contaminated by strife.
O Muslims! O educators! Every rational Muslim who loves his religion, his ummah and his country will take an assessing look at the state of education in the Muslim countries, in light of profits and losses that are being made by these educational policies which these Muslim countries use in their schools, institutions and universities. What is the proportion of the progress achieved to the efforts and money spent? What have our children and the youth gained there from? What is this horrible ideological anarchy, contradictory views and ideas, doubt in matters of religion, indifference towards obligatory acts, revolting against all morals and blind imitation of non-Muslims which are noticed in most of our youths? Why are many of them blind and in spiritual darkness? Why do they denounce themselves and believe in others? The reason for this is that Islaam has become dead in their hearts. They are carried away by other people’s products, they talk gibberish and walk in an effeminate manner. Education did not impress self-confidence in their hearts nor did it tell them of their position or strengthen their aspirations. It did not create in them any sense of responsibility. They are killed without war and their hearts and minds are preoccupied with the thoughts of material things in life and fashionable clothing.
Note: Muslims will kill each other over issues of religious Islamic interpretation.
Brothers in faith! Now is the time to take a serious stance and examine ourselves sincerely. We must admit the failure of the foreign educational systems. They have woefully failed to positively educate the individuals and the community. These imported educational systems actually carried out either of two things: promotion of atheism or separation of religion and worldly matters. These are the fundamentals upon which their studies and theories are based, hence, taking care of only worldly matters and alienating religion from education.
Note: Western educational systems have brought Muslims angrily into the 20th century.
O educationists! It should be clear to all that sciences, arts, systems and educational theories that have appeared – and are still appearing – in the West, East or any other place in the world, are merely human experiments in which their authors may be sometimes wrong or right. The useful aspects of those sciences may be taken after making sure that they are free from elements of atheism, corruption and scorning for virtues. One should then give them the touch of Eemaan before one uses them. Allaah says which means: “(Our religion is the religion of Allaah) and which religion can be better than Allaah’s” (Al Baqarah: 138).
Note: Maybe the West should use the hydrogen bomb on Mecca and Medina as an experiment.
It is illogical and unwise for this ummah to adopt these foreign sciences and theories wholly with all their elements of corruption. Rather, it should only take what leads to increased Eemaan, piety and God-consciousness. Allaaah says which means: “It is only those who have knowledge among his slaves that fear Allaah.” (Faatir: 28).
Note: It was illogical to take Arabs off of camels and drop them off in the 20th century.
Allaah also says when describing some qualities of men of understanding, which means: “… and think deeply about the creation of the heaven and the earth saying, ‘Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose. Glory be to You. Give us salvation from the torment of the fire.” (Aal ‘Imraan: 191).
Note: Islamic civilization promotes education based on avoiding hellfire.
Brothers in faith! The issue of education is one of the major issues in Islaamic countries. It is an issue in its own right because the nation of Islaam is a special one in its nature, policy and goals. It is a nation that possesses a concept, creed, message and Jihaad, hence education and learning should be subject to all this. All types of education or learning that do not carry these meanings are regarded as betrayal to this ummah.
Note: Islamic civilization is special since it promotes ignorance based on hate.
In Islaam, education does not leave room for sheer human efforts and imported concepts and ideologies to control Muslims and divide them into progressive, reactionaries, socialists, capitalists or whatever else.
Note: Islamic civilization does not permit people to experiment and progress.
Education, dear brothers, should not be a commodity to be exported. It is rather a system that reflects the reality of a community and its true features. Education should be a system that embodies the objectives of the community. It should embody its firm belief, its language, its exemplary way of life and its history.
Note: Islamic civilization does not permit inventions since the community may object.
Muslims, therefore, need an educational system and policy that suits their nature and is compatible with their noble values in their belief, law, and spirit of jihaad in order to regain their glory. It should be a system of education upon which the life of the Muslims can be built and that will include all the classes of the Muslim society; one that will remain part of their lives.
Note: Muslims, therefore, deserve to give up on the 20th century and return to the dark ages.
The Islaamic education system is the one that caters for all stages of one’s learning life from kindergarten to the highest degree, and causes great change in society through reform, uprightness and repossession of the lost glory. Islaamic education reforms the hearts and purifies the minds. It recognizes talents and human differences.
Note: The Islamic education system caters to those who obey and strive toward martyrdom.
Education in the Islaamic view means creating real men, refining their intellect, safeguarding manners and actualizing the goal of all fields of knowledge in order that man may be able to live his life in this world according to noble goals and sublime objectives.
Note: Islamic education turns real men into robots for eternal destruction.
Education is an undertaking by every Muslim to reform himself in matters of his belief, worship and conduct. It is an effort that one puts in order to achieve happiness in this world and the next.
Note: Islamic education is based on the hate filled religion of Islam
O educators! Regardless of what people say about happiness and its meaning, it is a sure fact that education and its cultivation in Islaam mean that the Muslim nation must preserve those values upon which its life revolves; to fight for that cause and transfer it sincerely to the coming generations. (This is true happiness.)
Note: Islamic education teaches people that happiness is fighting.
According to us Muslim, there is a clear difference between belief and disbelief; religion and atheism; abiding by Islaamic injunctions and slackening in upholding them; the lawful and the forbidden. We have lines of demarcation for all that. As for others, their creeds are unclear. Allaah says which means, “You (true believers in Islaamic monotheism) are the best of people ever raised up for mankind, you enjoin all that is good and forbid all that is evil.” (Aal ‘Imraan: 110).
Note: Islamic education warns Muslims not to associate with western educated people.
Fellow Muslims! Fellow educators! Now is the time to formulate an education system and policy in all Muslim countries that will be purely Islaamic in all its aspects. Knowledge should be recorded and books authored in the spirit of Islaam in such a way that nothing thereof will be contradictory to it. A system of education that will establish Eemaan and certainty. If the Muslim Ummah can do that, it will be creating generations that will think Islaamically. This is, in fact, a huge responsibility, but with zest and, above that, the permission of Allaah, it will be easy to carry out. Committees and commissions must be set up under the canopy of Islaamic governments and their support to carry out these duties, and it will be easy Insha Allaah with sincerity and determination. Allaah says which means, “And say (O Muhammad) ‘Do deeds! Allaah will see your deeds and (so will) His Messenger and the believers. And you will be brought back to the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. Then He will inform you of what you used to do.” (At Tawbah: 105).
Note: The Islamic educational system will continue to produce ignorant jihadists.
It is through the Islaamic education that a Muslim can become a productive member of his society and carry out perfectly the duty of succession he is assigned to. It is then that Allaah will increase him in power and grant him good enjoyment. Allaah says which means, “And seek the forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him that He may grant you good enjoyment for a term appointed and bestow His abounding Grace to every owner of grace.” (Hood: 2).
Note: Through the Islamic educational system a Muslim will become poor and ignorant.
He also says which means, “Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain and add strength to your strength.” (Hood: 52).
Note: There is no forgiveness for strong willed jihadists only GITMO now and hell later.
Islamic education is rich in great concepts that encourage piety, mercy, altruism, forgiveness, brotherhood and strength. It recognizes the rights of Allaah, the rights of parents and that of the old and weak people, and encourages giving each his due right. Islaamic education promotes morals and ethics like manners of greeting, seeking permission to enter other people’s homes, talking, eating, seeking knowledge, and visiting the sick.
Note: The Islamic educational system is great in producing obedience and a poor status quo.
Islamic education encourages setting good examples, mutual admonition, sincere acts of worship, seeking the truth, academic research and serious learning. It also protects from arrogance, hatred, jealousy, hypocrisy, self-delusion, love of this worldly life, following the desires, stinginess etc.
Note: The Islamic educational system sets a good example of producing hate filled suicide bombers.
The path of education in Islaam is the straight path, the path of those on whom Allaah has bestowed His Grace, from the Prophets, the Siddiqoon (those followers of the Prophets who were first to believe in them like Abu Bakr), the martyrs and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are! They are far from the path of those who have earned Allaah’s wrath and of those who have gone astray.
Note: The Islamic educational system is a straight path of narrow mindedness and ignorance.
The Glorious Qur’aan and the pure Sunnah are the foundations of Islaamic education, in all its stages, and the first and foremost model is our Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam. It is through him that Allaah taught us that knowledge should precede sayings and deeds, where He says which means, “So know that none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah, and ask forgiveness for your sins and also for the sins of believing men and women.” (Muhammad: 19).
Note: The Islamic educational system is based on the Qur'an where love is not found in the index.
May Allaah provide for the Muslims, their leaders, educators and scholars the light of knowledge, pure conscience, honesty in sayings and deeds and adherence to the straight path of Allaah.
Note: May people leave Islam and come into the light of knowledge, love, and eternal life in Jesus Christ.
U.K.: Asian Muslim Ghettos Keep Growing, Hindering Integration
By Jan Jun
Monday, 12
September 2005
Integration of British Muslims has been increasingly hindered by the rise of
ghettos. New research shows the population of these mostly inner city
communities has been rising very fast -- by one-third over the past decade.
These findings have reopened the debate on how to solve this problem, which also
breeds extremism. And solutions are not going to be easily found, according to
the experts.
London, 8 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Asian Muslim ghettos in Britain have kept
growing fast over the past 10 years, hindering integration and raising fears
that dissatisfied Muslim youngsters may become easy prey for extremist
groupings.
Magnus Ranstorp is the director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and
Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
“I think that home-grown terrorism is certainly being accelerated by the growing
‘ghettoification.’ Not just in Britain, but across Europe. And it’s very easy
for the recruiters and for those who are manipulating the individuals to taking
that final step. To find the willing recruits who are socially excluded and then
marginalized in the society,” Ranstorp said.
This “ghettoisation” has been most visible in eight major cities. Leicester,
Birmingham, and Bradford top the scale, followed by London, and others. And the
integration or assimilation process in the ghettos is so slow, according to the
report released by the Royal Geographical Society, that in many cases it will
never happen.
Ali Noorizade heads the Arab-Iranian Studies Centre in London. He says the
problem has been that the ghettos are a voluntary creation by mostly Pakistani
and Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants, not something the society has forced upon
them. And he adds that they rarely need to venture outside.
“The women are totally isolated. Majority
of them are brought to England to bring children. They are coming from a remote
village, and suddenly they find themselves in a society they know nothing
about."
“They deal with themselves. Some of them never learn English. They have a
Pakistani doctor, they have Pakistani lawyers, and therefore, you know, it
became part of their culture to live within their ghetto. And they don’t show
any intention to integrate with the society,” Noorizade said.
Other experts view the situation similarly. David Owen is a population studies
specialist at the University of Warwick.
“The degree of concentration has increased over 10 years, because there’s been
quite rapid growth of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi populations over that
period. They are a very impoverished population who tend to remain within
established areas,” Owen said.
Owen says there are other constraints, too: fear of racial harassment outside
the ghettos; loss of the immediate, next-door contact with the wider family and
friends; and the loss of community facilities, including the closeness of the
mosque.
Owen adds that a proportion of new immigrants belong to an Islamic sect that
does not wish to mix with other faiths, which makes them entrenched. And the
newcomers since 1997 also include women who come to Britain as brides. They too
add to the rising ghetto population, as well as boosting high birth rates.
Noorizade confirms these observations, adding that the situation of the ghetto
women is really most unfortunate.
“The women are totally isolated. Majority of them are brought to England to
bring children. They are coming from a remote village, and suddenly they find
themselves in a society they know nothing about. And then their husbands force
them to stay indoors and not to participate in any kind of activities,”
Noorizade says.
Noorizade says the British government and official institution do not like to
see the ghetto-dwellers isolate themselves. Unfortunately, after 9/11 and the
London bombings, the finger was pointed at the Muslims, he adds. “And it pushed
the ghettos into yet more isolation.”
Owen adds that there are several interlinked problems. Houses within the ghettos
are priced much lower than those outside in the suburbs. With low earnings,
there is no upward mobility -- which for example many Hindu and Sikh immigrants
from India have managed quite successfully -- so there is no possibility to
break out from the ghettos.
Official statistics show that nearly three-quarters of the ghettos comprise
low-income households. And the unemployment there is three times higher than
among the white population.
Owen says that the solution is in improving the economic situation and
education, so that people would start moving out.
“That lies with ability to obtain better, higher-status employment. And, also,
there is a question of education to obtain higher quality employment. Because
Pakistanis and Bangladeshi boys in particular have been amongst the less
successful at school,” Owen says.
Noorizade concludes that some action by the government is overdue, but first
there has to be more dialogue with the real representatives of the ghettos.
“Then, maybe a solution would show itself,” he says.
Stampede in Baghdad kills about 800
pilgrims
People panic, fall into river after a rumor of a suicide bomber spreads.
Thursday, September 1, 2005
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber, thousands of Shiite pilgrims broke into a stampede on a bridge Wednesday during a religious procession, crushing one another or plunging 30 feet into the muddy Tigris River. About 800 people, mostly women and children, died, officials said.
Hundreds of lost sandals littered the two-lane bridge while children floundered in the waters below, trying to reach dry land. The tragedy was the single biggest loss of life known in Iraq since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
"We heard that a suicide attacker was among the crowd," said Fadhel Ali, 28, barefoot and soaking wet on the riverbank. "Everybody was yelling, so I jumped from the bridge into the river, swam and reached the bank. I saw women, children and old men falling after me into the water."
The crowd was on edge because of the 110-degree heat, a mortar barrage near the Shiite shrine where they were headed and the ever-present fear of suicide bombers, etched into memories after repeated attacks against large religious gatherings. Seven people died in the mortar barrage three hours before the stampede, the U.S. military said.
Police later said they found no explosives at the bridge - either on any individual or in any cars parked nearby. Instead, poor crowd control and the climate of fear in Iraq after years of bullets, bombings and bloodshed appeared largely to have caused the horrific carnage.
Marchers jammed up at a checkpoint at the western edge of the Imams bridge, which has been closed to civilians for months to prevent movement by extremists between the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah and the Sunni district of Azamiyah across the river.
"This tragedy was the direct result of terrorism; hundreds of innocent people, mostly women and children, have died because of the fear and panic that terrorists are sowing in Iraq," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said.
Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni, said three suicide bombers were stopped Wednesday some distance from the shrine, but "blew themselves up before reaching their destination."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that he was not aware of any evidence that the stampede on the bridge was caused by a suicide bombing.
Others blamed the government and the U.S.-trained security forces.
"Early security measures should have been taken to protect the lives of citizens and organize their processions," Iraqi Communist Party leader Hameed Majid Mousa told Al-Arabiya television. "We all know that there are terrorists who lie in wait for such events and prepare to ambush the people. ... Why are the processions not organized?"
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, told state-run Iraqiya television that "the government should take measures for an honest investigation to determine how failures doubled the casualties."
The marchers were commemorating the death in the year 799 of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of the 12 principle Shiite saints who is buried in a mosque in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah.
Since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, the Shiite political parties have encouraged huge turnouts at religious festivals to display the majority sect's power in the new Iraq. Sunni religious extremists have often targeted the gatherings to foment sectarian war but that has not stopped the Shiites.
The ceremonies have often been chaotic, with huge crowds overtaxing the ability of police and security services to protect them. Television reports said about 1 million pilgrims from Baghdad and outlying provinces had gathered near the shrine Wednesday.
Reflecting the confusion, casualty figures from various government agencies also varied widely. The Health Ministry said 769 people were killed and 307 wounded, while the Interior Ministry put the figure at 844 dead and 458 injured. The country's biggest Shiite party gave figures of 759 dead and 300 wounded. Other reports estimated the death toll would climb above 1,000.
"Pushing started when a rumor was spread by a terrorist who claimed that there was a person with an explosive belt, which caused panic," Interior Minister Bayn Jabr said. "Some fell from the bridge, others fell on the barricades" and were trampled.
No official offered any evidence that Sunni insurgents were directly responsible for spreading the false rumor.
Scores of bodies covered with white sheets lay on the sidewalk outside one hospital under the broiling sun because the morgue was packed.
Sobbing relatives wandered among the dead, lifting the sheets to try to identify their kin. When they found them, they would shriek in grief, pound their chests or collapse to the ground, sobbing.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, declared a three-day mourning period.
The Shiite Muslim ceremony that pilgrims were marking Wednesday when the Baghdad bridge disaster occurred commemorates the death of the seventh imam, one of 12 imams revered in the Shiite branch of Islam. That imam, Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, died in the year 799.
Each year, on the date on the Islamic calendar that marks his death, devout Shiites gather at the site of a mosque in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah that is believed to sit atop his tomb.
Dressed in black, the pilgrims walk in groups to the shrine, flogging themselves with iron chains and slicing their foreheads with swords. The self-flagellation slowly turns their cloaks red with blood in a ritual of grief that was banned under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
The ceremony is not one of the most important to Shiites, but is still of moderate significance.
Most shops are closed, and pilgrims who travel from around the country to attend the ceremony often sleep on carpets laid out in the streets. They cook camels, cows and sheep in enormous pots shared by neighbors and visitors.
After the imam's death in 799, a pilgrimage site grew up around his tomb. For centuries, devout Shiites also have gathered to live near the site, making the district of Kazimiyah heavily Shiite.
Totonji on the backwardness of Muslim
Ummah
By Shah Abdul Halim
Thu, 20 Oct 2005
Dr. Ahmad Totonji, Vice President of the
International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), U.S.A. visited Bangladesh for
three days in August. During the visit he addressed four select gatherings of
bankers, physicians, educationists and intellectuals. Earlier Dr. Totonji
visited Bangladesh in 1978 along with the Imam of Kaaba. The last time he
visited Bangladesh was in 1997.
Dr. Totonji, during the visit, tried to briefly identify the major reasons for
the backwardness of the Muslim Ummah and what should be the our response.
Underlining the reasons for which Muslims today are lagging behind Dr. Totonji
said: “We do not give much emphasis on research and development (R&D) and
therefore we cannot formulate appropriate strategy to defend our rights and are
exploited by others”. He called upon the new generation “to be innovative and
achieve excellence; to put an extra effort whenever work demanded and become the
master of one’s own profession and achieve the best possible”.
Dr. Totonji urged upon the mainstream Islamic movement “to from Shadow Cabinet
of Ministers and form Think Tanks, each Think Tank to be headed by a Minister”.
“Within three-four years you shall then be able to do a lot of homework in each
field that would enable you to formulate appropriate answer for the looming
national and international crisis and thereby equip yourself to lead this
nation. You shall then be able to mount an effective positive response to the
intellectual challenge posed by the West ”, he said. Dr. Totonji regretted that
“we always react but do not plan”. “Good ideas shall always be accepted and
prevail if it is presented in an articulate and coherent manner”, he said. “If
we take one step then the help of Allah will surely come”, Dr. Totonji said.
Dr. Totonji emphasized the importance of “delegating responsibility at every
level so that new and alternative leadership might emerge”. “You cannot be
successful in this challenging world unless you are able to produce leaders at
every field”, he said. Dr. Totonji underlined “the importance of utilizing the
services of highly skilled professionals while formulating policies”.
He emphasized that “the new generation must read the latest Islamic literature”.
“It is not enough that you read Syed Qutb and Mawdudi. They are eminent scholars
of their time. You must read, side by side with traditional literature, the
latest materials that are now available if you really want to face the challenge
of the West”, Dr. Totonji said. He underscored “the importance of learning
Arabic so that every Muslim can understand the message of the Quran by reading
the text directly”.
Some Islamic movements have “failed to make difference between local culture and
Islamic culture, which is a reason for the backwardness of the Muslims”.
“Covering face of woman is a local culture and has nothing to do with Islam”,
Dr. Totonji said. “Some people over emphasize the importance of covering face by
woman. This is right to those who choose it for themselves. It is not the only
way in Islam. Such people do not believe that woman has a personality”, he said.
Dr. Totonji regretted that “some organizations are really working to create
bottleneck in the progress of Islam rather than its advancement”. “Sometimes we
suppress women and their voice is not heard. This is not Islamic”, he said.
“The other reason for the backwardness of the Muslim Ummah is intolerance”, Dr.
Totonji said. “We emphasize on points where we disagree and not on points where
we agree. We agree in almost 90 percent areas and disagree on only in 10 percent
areas. But still then we highlight on our differences”.
“We must shun our differences”, he said. “There is nothing that can be described
as the only interpretation, there can be many views and many interpretations.
Islamic movement should therefore be ready to allow difference of opinion,
otherwise there is no chance of making headway”, Dr. Totonji said. He advised
dawah workers “not to mix dawah, the call and guidance of Islam, with politics”.
“Politics is the art of possible and the strategy might be required to be
changed and adjusted with the changing environment”, Dr. Totonji said. He
advised the workers of dawah “not to ignore the minority even when they
themselves are majority for Islam is a religion of peace and justice and there
is no compulsion in religion”.
In 1997 while addressing a select gathering of Islamic activists Dr. Totonji
emphasized in doing things in a perfect manner. “You have to achieve excellence
in your performance and unless you do that, you cannot expect success in this
world and beat the negative forces that are working against Islam and Muslim
Ummah”, he said. “It is not the number of people but their quality that will
bring changes”, Dr. Totonji said. He stressed the importance of “raising the
quality of manpower, the quality of those who work for dawah, Islamic call and
guidance”.
In 1978 Dr. Totonji, (founder of the College of Petroleum and Mineral
Engineering in Libya), addressing a gathering of Dhaka University teachers at
the Teachers Students Center (TSC) called upon the Dhaka University teachers to
submit to Islam. “You are never late in Islam”, he said.
Dr. Totonji called upon the Dhaka University teachers “to work for the
resurgence of Islam”. “You are the force for guiding Bangladesh and you must
fulfill this great responsibility”, he said.
(Writer is the Chairman of Islamic Information Bureau Bangladesh.)
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
February 14, 2006
What are the long-term consequences of the Muhammad cartoon furor? I predict it is helping bring on not a clash of civilizations but their mutual pulling apart. This separation, which has been building for years, has dreadful implications.
Signs of disengagement are all around.
· Trade: Boycotts now exist in both directions. Even as the U.S. government sanctions Iranian products, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his government will "revise and cancel economic contracts" with countries where newspapers published the cartoons. Several Muslim countries have suspended trade with Denmark, while Muslim-owned stores in Canada have removed Danish products. The Pakistani medical association even announced a boycott of medicines from five European countries.
· Consumer items: Muslims are increasingly replacing Western consumer items with their own. They purchase the extremely modest Fulla and Razanne dolls rather than the busty Barbie. In France, Beurger King provides halal food, competing with Burger King, just as Mecca Cola takes the place of Coke and Pepsi. Al-Jazeera is starting an English-language channel to go up against CNN and the BBC.
· Financial investments: As a result of freezes on funds and the designation of terrorist entities, Muslims have moved large amounts of capital out of the West and invested these either in their own countries or in other places around the world, such as East Asia. Middle Eastern oil exporters before 9/11 annually put as much as $25 billion into American investments; since then, the amount is about $1 billion a year.
· Emigration: 9/11 caused a significant increase in obstacles to Muslims traveling to the West, so fewer Muslim business executives, students, hospital patients, conference goers, and workers are reaching there.
· Tourism: Islamist atrocities such as the murder of 60 Japanese, German, and Swiss tourists in Luxor in 1997 or the abduction of 32 German and other travelers in the Sahara in 2003 had already led some Westerners to avoid discretionary travel in the Muslim world. Cartoon-related violence has prompted a Danish advisory warning citizens against travel to fourteen Muslim countries. Scandinavian tourist companies have cancelled many tours to North Africa.
· Foreign aid: Muslim aggression against aid workers in Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the Palestinian Authority have led to the partial or complete withdrawal of European missions. In Chechnya, the Danish aid mission was expelled and the Iraqi transport ministry has rejected any future offers of Danish reconstruction money.
· Embassies: From the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1978 to the multiple attacks on Danish and other European embassies this month, the assault on Western diplomatic missions in Muslim countries is causing them to take on the features of armed fortresses, to be removed from the center of towns to the peripheries, and in some cases to be closed down.
· Westerners providing services: Zayed University in Dubai fired an American professor, Claudi Keepoz, for distributing the Muhammad cartoons to her students. Rampaging Palestinian Arabs caused the foreign observers staffing the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, or TIPH, to flee Hebron.
These developments suggest what the prime minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has called a "huge chasm" between the Muslim world and the West. Or, in the more bellicose wording of the influential Sunni imam Youssef al-Qaradawi, "We must tell Europeans, we can live without you. But you cannot live without us."
Should the chasm widen, with its concomitant lessening of human interaction, commercial relations, and diplomatic engagement, the Muslim world will likely fall further behind than it already has. As I wrote in 2000, "Whatever index one employs, Muslims can be found clustering toward the bottom – whether measured in terms of their military prowess, political stability, economic development, corruption, human rights, health, longevity, or literacy."
Disengagement will only worsen the Muslim predicament. Reduced contact with the world's most modern, powerful, and advanced countries would likely cause Muslims to do even worse in those indexes and lapse deeper into a condition characterized by self-pity, jealousy, resentment, anger, and aggression.
Especially when contrasted with Muslim successes in pre-modern times, these traumatic circumstances help explain the crisis in identity that often causes Muslims to seek solace in radical Islam. For everyone's sake, it is important that Muslims begin more successfully to negotiate their path to modernity, not to isolation.
King Tells Muslims To
Equip Themselves With Knowledge
April 11, 2006 14:12 PM
Malaysian National News Agency
KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Bernama) --
Muslims can only break free of the shackles of ignorance, backwardness,
weakness, destruction and poverty by equipping themselves with knowledge,
Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail said
Tuesday.
"Knowledge will bring us change, success and progress. Knowledge will also bring
us comfort, spiritual and physical wellbeing," he said when launching the
national-level Maulidur Rasul celebrations at Stadium Negara here.
He said the best example for Muslims to emulate was Prophet Muhammad who had
succeeded in eradicating moral decadence and degradation of the faith among the
Arab Jahiliyah community.
He said the human development framework implemented by Prophet Muhammad that
gave emphasis to the values of knowledge to strengthen human capital had managed
to churn out intellectuals capable of bringing excellence to Islam in the
future.
"All these we can implement if Islam's demand for a knowledge culture is made
the main agenda in all aspects of a Muslim's life.
"It is a great loss and a pity if we, as followers of Prophet Muhammad, fail to
reflect on his edits and legacy in life in this century which very much requires
his people to race, to compete to build progress and civilisation," he said.
Tuanku Sirajuddin said that out if this awareness, the government had carried
out various strategies to produce an ummah rich in knowledge and one that
hungered for knowledge as the main goal in life.
The determination to make Malaysia a model Islamic nation remained the
government's main agenda when human capital development was placed as the core
in the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
"Equipped with this asset, I'm confident that by 2020 Malaysia will be able to
come out as a balanced developing country with its people having towering
personalities and tightly holding on to the religion and this will make Malaysia
a world-class developed Islamic country that can be emulated by the
international community," he said.
He also said that the annual Maulidur Rasul celebrations were very important for
Muslims not only to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad but also to
appreciate the struggle, sacrifice and success experienced and pioneered by the
prophet in installing the greatness of Islam in this world.
"In the context of Muslims in this country, the spirit of Maulidur Rasul has
been instilled in their lives. The noble values brought by Prophet Muhammad
S.A.W. have been emulated, followed and practised throughout the ages," he said.
He said the prophet's knowledge came from the divine revelations of Allah which
were contained in Quran and covered all fields needed by mankind.
"The knowledge gained by the Prophet and taught to all mankind is in theory and
practice and is not confined to basic necessities. It can bring about changes to
mankind to meet all the current demands," he added.
-- BERNAMA
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
June 27, 2006
To find out, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press carried out a large-scale attitudinal survey this spring. Titled " The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other," it interviewed Muslims in two batches of countries: six of them with long-standing, majority-Muslim populations (Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey) and four of them in Western Europe with new, minority Muslim populations (France, Germany, Britain, and Spain).
The survey, which also looks at Western views of Muslims, yielded some dismaying but not altogether surprising results. Its themes can be grouped under three rubrics.
A proclivity to conspiracy theories: In not one Muslim population polled does a majority believe that Arabs carried out the attacks of September 11, 2001, on America. The proportions range from a mere 15% in Pakistan holding Arabs responsible, to 48% among French Muslims. Confirming recent negative trends in Turkey, the number of Turks who point the finger at Arabs has declined to 16% today from 46% in 2002. In other words, in every one of these 10 Muslim communities, a majority views September 11 as a hoax perpetrated by the American government, Israel, or some other agency.
Likewise, Muslims are widely prejudiced against Jews, ranging from 28% unfavorable ratings among French Muslims to 98% in Jordan (which, despite the monarchy's moderation, has a majority Palestinian Arab population). Further, Muslims in certain countries (especially Egypt and Jordan) see Jews conspiratorially, as being responsible for bad relations between Muslims and Westerners.
Conspiracy theories also pertain to larger topics. Asked, "What is most responsible for Muslim nations' lack of prosperity?" between 14% (in Pakistan) and 43% (in Jordan) blame the policies of America and other Western states, as opposed to indigenous problems, such as a lack of democracy or education, or the presence of corruption or radical Islam.
This conspiracism points to a widespread unwillingness in the umma to deal with realities, preferring the safer bromides of plots, schemes, and intrigues. It also exposes major problems adjusting to modernity.
Support for terrorism: All the Muslim populations polled display a solid majority of support for Osama bin Laden. Asked whether they have confidence in him, Muslims replied positively, ranging between 8% (in Turkey) and 72% (in Nigeria). Likewise, suicide bombing is popular. Muslims who call it justified range from 13% (in Germany) to 69% (in Nigeria). These appalling numbers suggest that terrorism by Muslims has deep roots and will remain a danger for years to come.
British and Nigerian Muslims are most alienated: Britain stands out as a paradoxical country. Non-Muslims there have strikingly more favorable views of Islam and Muslims than elsewhere in the West; for example, only 32% of the British sample view Muslims as violent, significantly less than their counterparts in France (41%), Germany (52%), or Spain (60%). In the Muhammad cartoon dispute, Britons showed more sympathy for the Muslim outlook than did other Europeans. More broadly, Britons blame Muslims less for the poor state of Western-Muslim relations.
But British Muslims return the favor with the most malign anti-Western attitudes found in Europe. Many more of them regard Westerners as violent, greedy, immoral, and arrogant than do their counterparts in France, Germany, and Spain. In addition, whether asked about their attitudes toward Jews, responsibility for September 11, or the place of women in Western societies, their views are notably more extreme.
The situation in Britain reflects the " Londonistan" phenomenon, whereby Britons preemptively cringe and Muslims respond to this weakness with aggression.
Nigerian Muslims generally have the most belligerent views on such issues as the state of Western-Muslim relations, the supposed immorality and arrogance of Westerners, and support for Mr. bin Laden and suicide terrorism. This extremism results, no doubt, from the violent state of Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria.
Ironically, most Muslim alienation is found in those countries where Muslims are either the most or the least accommodated, suggesting that a middle path is best - where Muslims do not win special privileges, as in Britain, nor are they in an advanced state of hostility, as in Nigeria.
Overall, the Pew survey sends an undeniable message of crisis from one end to the other of the Muslim world.
To fight polio, Muslim leaders join drive now
Express News Service
Lucknow, September 8: With polio cases on the rise in Uttar Pradesh and the minority community seen to be keeping away from the immunisation drive due to various myths, Muslim religious leaders have now decided to join hands with the state government and promote polio immunisation programme. The state has had 254 polio cases this year, up from last year’s 29.
Among religious leaders from the minority community who are now actively involved in the polio immunisation programme are Kalbe Sadiq and Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mehali, and posters bearing their appeal will be splashed across the state before Sunday, the pulse polio day.
A member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Khalid Rashid today told Newsline: “I was already involved with UNICEF and Rotary Club with the Pulse Polio programme. Now, even the state government wants us to appeal to the people.”
Advertisements bearing appeals and signatures of Muslim scholars and religious leaders are already being put in newspapers. “We go to some Pulse polio booths set up by NGOs, and now we would try to go to booths put up by the government, too,” said Kalbe Sadiq, eminent Shia cleric and also an AIMPLB member. He said if the need arises, he might even go to villages in the interiors to promote the polio campaign.
Meanwhile, the state’s Family Welfare minister, Ahmed Hasan, today slammed the Centre for its “ignorance” towards the Pulse Polio programme in the state. “Sample testing of polio vaccine was earlier done in Noida, which made it easier for vaccines coming to UP to be checked. But it (testing) is now done in Kasauli, in Himachal Pradesh.
“This is not fair, for UP has more polio cases than Himachal, and not many vaccines are being checked before being sent to the state,” the minister said.
He added that the state has faced problem in maintaining the cold chain for vaccines over the past two years. “But we are trying hard to maintain the cold chain now. Pulse Polio programme in UP is now (re-christened as) ‘Intensified Pulse Polio Programme’, and we are trying hard to make it successful,” Hasan said.
He also said that the Centre puts more focus on western UP for most of its immunisation drives, while eastern part of the state is left out. “They are not providing us with much help to run the (polio immunisation) programme. Unlike earlier, the Centre is not monitoring the programme in Uttar Pradesh.”
Hungry man who killed swan jailed
A man who claimed he killed a swan because he was hungry on the second day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has been jailed for two months.
BBC News
November 22, 2006
However, Shamshu Miah, 52, from Llandudno was released because of the time he has already spent in custody.
He admitted intentionally killing a wild bird at Llandudno boating pool and possessing a kitchen knife in public.
District judge Andrew Shaw sitting at the town's magistrates court said it was a "cruel and reprehensible act".
"You killed the swan at night. It was a cruel and reprehensible act. I don't know exactly how the animal died. There seems to be speculation you may have bitten it."
'Taboo act'
However, the judge said he had to accept Miah's version that he killed it with a knife.
The court heard that when he was challenged by police he told them: "I am a Muslim, I am fasting, I needed to eat."
Jim Neary, prosecuting, said: "When interviewed he said, 'I was hungry, I had to eat the swan so I killed it, I stabbed it. I did nothing wrong, it was just a bird, I needed to eat.'"
"The officers told him the swan was the property of the Queen and he replied, 'I hate the Queen, I hate this country.'"
Judge Shaw added: "It's a taboo act and the only sentence that is appropriate is imprisonment."
Police were alerted by a householder.
The court heard a community mental health team was anxious to help Miah, who had been going through a period of instability, according to his solicitor.
He had no previous convictions.
The Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations had just
finished giving a speech, and walked out into the lobby,
where he met President Bush.
They shook hands, and as they walked, the Iranian said,
"You know, I have just one question about what I have
seen in America."
President Bush said,
"Well, anything I can do to help you, I will."
The Iranian whispered, "My son watches this show
'Star Trek', and in it there is Chekhov, who is a Russian,
Scotty who is Scottish, and Sulu who is Chinese, but
no Muslims. My son is very upset, and doesn't
understand why there aren't any Muslims on Star Trek."
President Bush laughed, leaned toward the Iranian
ambassador, and whispered back,
"It's because it takes place in the future."
Scholars’
call to educate Muslim masses
1/23/2007
Source: The Peninsula
DOHA • Calls for unity between the Sunnis and Shi’ites would end up as mere lip service by a few scholars if the message is not properly conveyed to the Muslim masses across the Islamic world, the concluding session of the Doha Conference for Dialogue of Islamic Schools of Thought was told.
The final session at the Doha Sheraton saw prominent scholars, representing the Sunni and Shi’ite sides. addressing key issues that have kept these two major factions in the Muslim world divided over the centuries.
Many Sunni scholars came down heavily against Shi’ite groups who have made it a practice to curse the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), especially the second Caliph Omar bin Khatab, and wife of the Prophet Aisha.
They also condemned the hate campaign through print and electronic media which, they alleged, some Shi’ite groups have been waging against Sunnis and their well-respected leaders. It was also pointed out that the Shi’ite side has not reciprocated to initiatives for dialogue being made by the prestigious Al Azhar University and other Sunni bodies.
Reacting to the allegations, the Shi’ite speakers maintained that the saner elements among Shi’ites have always rejected maligning the Sahaba (companions of the Prophet).
Shaikh Mohammed Taskhiri, a prominent Shi’ite scholar, who chaired the session, requested the participants to focus on common elements, rather than highlight divisive issues.
Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi , who intervened in the debate, disagreed with him, saying that all sensitive issues should be discussed in frankness to reach a real unity among the two sections.
At one stage, a Sunni delegate from Afghanistan asked Taskhiri to categorically condemn efforts to malign the Sahabah, to which Taskhiri responded by invoking praises on Fatima, wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the four Chaliphs.
Dr Fahmi Howaidi, a prominent Arab intellectual, warned against generalising attempts being made by a few extremists from both sides.
Qaradawi, in an emotional address, reiterated his appeal to Iran to intervene to stop the sectarian clashes in Iraq. He also urged the gathering to resist by all means the US occupation of Iraq and a possible attack against Iran.
He said all the propaganda machinery of the Sunnis and Shi’ites will be put to test in the coming days, whether they comply with the resolutions of the Doha conference.
“This is an important conference attended by prominent scholars from all parts of the world. So we have a huge responsibility towards achieving unity among the Muslim Ummah," he said.
He warned against attempts to inflame sectarian clashes in Pelestine on the same lines of Iraq. “We want the Palestinians to stand united against the Zionist occupation,” he said.
The scholar said the Muslims themselves have to be blamed for many of their failures.
“I don't like the conspiracy theory. We should take the responsibility for our own faults, Why are we always falling victims to others,” he wondered.
Niamatullah Shahrani, a delegate from Afghanistan, proposed to send a delegation comprising Sunni and Shi’ite leaders to Iraq and Lebanon seeking a solution to the sectarian clashes.
The panelists at the concluding session included Dr Mufti Zahid Ali Khan from the Aligarh Univeristy, India, Dr Ali Al Quradaghi from Qatar and Shaikh Muayad from Iraq.
Abdullah Urges Muslims To Reclaim Their Lost Golden Legacy
July 17, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama)
-- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tuesday outlined four imperatives, including
renewing the spirit of unity among Muslims, for Islamic states to seek a wider
and more active role in a globalising world and reclaim the golden legacy of the
Islamic era.
The prime minister said Muslims must also start to revive their economic
position, invest in education and skills and establish social justices, based on
timeless Islamic principles.
He said that for more than a thousand years, Muslim civilisation was the zenith
of human achievement with the Muslims as the leading philosophers, scientists,
and innovators of their era and as such, they needed to reclaim this golden
legacy that had been lost to the ages.
Abdullah said Muslims often forgot that through the spread of the empire, they
gave birth to a Muslim wave of globalisation more than a thousand years ago,
where Muslim states were shining examples of economic progress, scientific
innovation and social justice.
"We cannot remain mere spectators in a world that is rapidly moving ahead. We
must commit ourselves to enhancing our competitiveness in order to play a
contributing role to the advancement of human civilisation, as was the legacy of
Islamic states in the past" he said.
He said this in his address at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia's
(IKIM) international conference on "The Role of Islamic States in a Globalised
World" here.
His speech was delivered Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Touching on the need to renew the spirit of unity among Muslims, Abdullah said
Islam is a global faith that binds many races together, but today Muslims find
themselves pitted against each other, such as Sunnis against Shias and most
tragically Palestinians against Palestinians.
In this context, he stressed that Muslims must also renew their understanding of
Islam and put aside any sectarian differences which could lead to division and
conflict among them.
"Ultimately, we must begin to move beyond politics and conflict, and focus on
the issues that truly concern us as an ummah -- tackling poverty, eliminating
illiteracy, combating ignorance and raising the quality of life. This is the
immediate concern for us all, as Muslims," he said.
On another key imperative, Abdullah said Muslim nations must begin to revive
their economic position because Muslims' share of the global economy was poor
and even the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries had
collectively recorded a declining share of trade within developing countries.
In 2005, the OIC's collective Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was less than five
per cent of the total world figure, and intra-trade volume -- at about US$800
billion -- was only about six to seven per cent of total global trade.
Abdullah said that when Malaysia took over the chairmanship of OIC, one of the
objectives Malaysia set out to achieve during its tenure was to expand and
deepen the economic linkages between Muslim countries of "what I call putting an
economic face to the OIC".
"I believe that we are already on our way towards promoting the revival of the
global Muslim economy. In 2005, the World Islamic Economic Forum was launched
under the aegis of the OIC. We have endeavoured to promote economic links and
entrepreneurs within the Muslim ummah, particularly among women entrepreneurs as
well as young leaders," he said.
Abdullah, who is the current chairman of the OIC, said he had spearheaded a
capacity-building programme within the OIC to build capabilities in
commercially-driven and income-generating projects, particularly in the
lower-income countries, adding that these initiatives were among the many
efforts the OIC would continue to undertake to further promote trade and
economic cooperation among the Muslims.
Abdullah also said that there was a need for Muslim countries to invest in
education and skills because the rise of every nation was preceded by the
acquisition of knowledge.
He said Muslims need to build a knowledgeable society -- an "Ulul Al Bab"
community -- in which real and true knowledge is the governing principle of all
human activity.
"We must be willing to invest towards educating the next generation of great
scholars -- the ulama that will light our way -- in every spectrum of the
sciences. Of the great scholars that we already have today, we must honour them
and their contributions. We must build a generation of Muslims that recognises
and honours knowledge. This is the way of success," he said.
Speaking on the need to establish social justice, based on timeless Islamic
principles, Abdullah said Muslim countries must liberate good, human
capabilities so that every Muslim and individual citizen could positively
participate in our system of governance.
"We must remember that the governed possess the right to be governed as free
men, as human beings governed by consent. This is true, not only through the
prism of western frameworks of human rights, (but) it is also true from the
tawhidic concept of justice," he said.
Abdullah pointed out that the four imperatives must be undertaken within a
cohesive framework of Islam, which promotes a proper appreciation of Islam as a
force for progress and development, adding that this approach may be found in
the principles of Islam Hadhari, which he introduced in Malaysia and promoted
globally.
Abdullah pointed out that while globalisation has led to many positive outcomes
such as rapid advancement in trade, communications and transportation, it has
also contributed to a host of global ills such as loss of jobs and unfair terms
of trade.
He said that as such while the global challenges confronting the world's 1.6
billion Muslims were tremendous, playing the role of a global player was not
something completely new to Muslims as they have played that very role centuries
ago.
The prime minister said that unfortunately the reality today was that Muslim
countries were woefully unprepared to face the challenges of globalisation where
many of them were still grappling with basic developmental issues at a time when
many other nations were finding ways to become more competitive.
"It is quite clear that some Muslim countries today are in a state of confusion
and even desperation. In fact, for some Muslims, they have even begun to see
globalisation as a conspiracy to undermine Islam. This leads many of them to
espouse radical views and even commit extremist acts and for many other Muslims,
they remain resigned to their sorry fate, deprived and dejected.
"Nevertheless, we need to realise that the phenomenon of globalisation is here
to stay. Simply opposing globalisation -- adopting the attitude of withdrawal or
taking the path of obscurantism -- is clearly not a wise option. In fact it is
not an option at all," Abdullah said.
-- BERNAMA
You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:17-18.