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15 Muharram,1436/November 9, 2014 Issue # 45, Newsletter # 1575



Ayah of the Week

"They are not all alike; of the followers of the Book there is an upright party; they recite Allah's communications in the night time and they adore Him. They believe in the last day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and they strive with one another in hastening to good deeds, and those are among the good."

The Holy Quran, 3:113-114




Message from Br.Shamim Siddiqi: Election Results; Obama's Arrogance brought low after Big Boast against Islamic State [IS]

Salaam to All:

Two months back Obama arrogantly declared that He will "degrade and destroy" IS. He forgot at that time that he is not the Supreme Ruler of this world.

The actual Ruler of this cosmos didn't like his boasting words. In consequence, he stands today the totally degraded, humbled and disrespected leader of his country for the remaining two years of his presidency, feeling the punches of the Republicans every now and then in shame and disgusting taunting remarks of the Tea Party's stalwarts.

He should humbly repent to his God, if he has any AND BE RESPECTFUL TO THE EMERGING ISLAMIC FORCES AROUND THE WORLD and open dialogue with them to be nice and non-violent in their pursuit. It will change the geopolitical scenario of this world.

Only the Lord of Abraham gives honor, fame and defame to anyone He likes and none else. We must all beg pardon from Him.

Shamim Siddiqi
Long Island, NY




Upcoming Event: Harvest the Bounty Fundraising Celebration
Tues, Nov 18, 5:30-7:30pm
The Petaluma SeedBank


Celebrate the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative's work to support family farms, increase access to local, healthy food, and advocate for sustainable food policy. Join us in honoring food and faith advocates:

 Imam Ali Siddiqui

Imam Ali Siddiqui is the Executive Director of Muslim Institute for Interfaith Studies & Understanding, and a writer with a vision who has been involved in the teachings of Islam, comparative religions, history, and contemporary issues to Muslims and non-Muslims. He serves as Friday Khatib (Congregation Leader), and activist for peace and economic justice, Muslim Chaplain, youth advisor, faith-based family counselor, educator, and poet. Imam Siddiqui has been very active with the Advisory Board since 2013 and was instrumental in establishing a CSA relationship between the Islamic Center of North Marin and First Light Farm.

 Deacon Josephine Borgeson

Deacon Josephine Borgeson (Phina), Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, recently retired from paid church work redeveloping small congregations and continues part-time work in ministry education. She has great interest in all aspects of healthful, tasty, seasonal food, as well as interfaith organizing, communication, and ecological ethics. Phina gardens at Thanksgiving Lutheran Church community garden in Santa Rosa, and is a member of the Sonoma County Food System Alliance and the Society of Ordained Scientists. She coordinates the Sonoma Valley Gleaning Project and has blogged on issues in food and faith since 2007. Phina is a founding member of the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative's Advisory Board.




New Trend's humble website doing well

In Oct 2014, newtrendmag.org received 55642 hits and 15093 visits. Average visits per day were 486 with the highest number, 577, on October 13.

Thank you Br. Rich for your volunteer work to keep the web site going so well.




Boycott Israel

 Don't Drink Starbucks

Last week we published an illustrated list of businesses that support Israel. We urge all those who oppose the actions of "Israel" to vocally boycott those businesses. In case you missed the list last week, here it is again:
http://elsewhere.qa.af/2014/14.07/boycott.jpg




Both "Israel" and Egypt have cut Gaza's life line
via Jamaat al-Muslimeen Virginia

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/over-17m-gazans-isolated-world-after-israel-egypt-close-crossings




Appeal to Help Feed Families with Children in Africa
by Sis. Ashira Na'im

Let us make a new year's resolution to do MORE good deeds as the first month of this Islamic calendar (Muharram) proceeds. Allah has said that we are one ummah, i.e., no matter what part of this earth we find ourselves, we are one with all muslims on the planet. So, this year please help us to feed the needy in Ethiopia. Allah reminds us in Sura Asr:

Bismil lahir-Rahmanir Raheem Wal Asr. Innal Insana lafee khusr. Illa lladhina amanu, wa amilus salihati, wa tawasaw bil haqq, wa tawasaw-bis sabr.

(translation):
"With The Name of Allah, Most Gacious, Most Merciful.
By the token of time (through the ages), Verily man is in loss, except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy."

Join us in this our 3rd year of "on the ground" feeding in Addis Ababa and village towns in Ethiopia.

Send your donations to:
Jamaat al-Muslimeen
PO Box 10881
Baltimore, MD 21234

No amount is too small. You will receive report from us via New Trend upon our return early 2015, inshallah.




Latest Khutba

 Dr Kaukab Siddique

Why Many Muslims Misunderstand the Qur'an and the Hadith. Corporate/Zionist Media Ignore Mexico and Haiti.
Focus on Hatred of Mid-East Muslims

Latest Khutba from Kaukab Siddique, PhD

On November 7, 2014 Br. Kaukab Siddique gave his latest khutba at Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Baltimore.. Here are the main points for efforts to distribute it across the Ummah in USA:
  1. Imams who do not know these three elementary points should not teach the Qur'an:

    1. The Qur'an was revealed over 23 years, not all at once as one Book.

    2. Each sura is indicated at the top, based on hadith, whether most of it was revealed in Makka or Madinah. Teachers who don't know this can do serious damage by teaching Madani suras as if they apply in Makka type situations, or vice versa.

    3. The Knowledge of Nasikh wa Mansukh. Quranic laws were revealed step by step: Be it the prohibition of intoxicants, or the rules of fasting and sacrifice, or the law about interest, or the rights of women, etc.Thus placing sura Nisa about women above sura Noor or sura Tauba about women is a terrible mistake.


  2. Imams who do not know the basic rules of Hadith should study before they start teaching hadith. Here are the most basic rules:

    1. Just because a narrative is in a book of hadith does not mean it is a hadith of Muhammad, pbuh,

    2. The chain of narrators in a hadith must be an unbroken chain going to the Prophet, pbuh. If the chain is broken, it cannot be considered an Islamic source. It is simply some pious person's opinion.

    3. If a taba'i or a tabba tabai [two generations after the Prophet, pbuh] narrates from the Prophet, pbuh, it cannot be accepted because he/she was not alive in the era of the Prophet, This type of narrative is called MURSAL and cannot be used to arrive at an Islamic decision.. He/she must narrate from a sahabi [Companion] who met the Prophet,pbuh..

    4. Even a sahabi's narrative cannot be accepted as part of Islam if he is not narrating from the Prophet, pbuh. The sahaba and the two generations after them should be respected and honored but cannot be considered on the same level as the Prophet, pbuh. Remember, the Sahaba differed on many matters, so their views are often good but are not Islam like the words of the Prophet.


  3. There are many kinds of irsal but the one which has created most problems for Muslims is the one about the age of Ayesha, r.a., The narrative about her age is accepted by many Muslims because it is in Sahih Bukhari though:

    1. The narrative about her age is not from the Prophet, pbuh. The Prophet never mentioned the age of Ayesha, r.a., nor did he refer to it any context.

    2. Bukhari himself does not say that the narrative about her age is from the Prophet, pbuh.


  4. As in the case of the Qur'an, hadith too is related to the progressive development of Islam through 23 years of prophetic mission. The hadith do often refer to the cultural context of that time and also indicate how gradually Islam changed the context,

  5. Part II

  6. We are an era of great strife when Islam is under attack. Every day we see and hear media attacks on Gaza, on the Islamic State, Sharia and any kind of Islamic resistance.

  7. These attacks are bogus and we can check out why they are bogus. Here is the proof that Islam and Islamic movements are being deliberately targeted.

  8. Do you know about the daily horrors of the killings going on it Mexico? No, you don't because the media don't cover them.

  9. Do you know that thousands of innocent civilians have been murdered in Mexico, right across from the US border? No, you don't because the major media don't report them.

  10. Do you know of beheadings, killers burning people alive, mass killings in Mexico? No you don't because the media want us to focus on the "bad" people in the Middle East.

  11. Do you know about the suffering in Haiti? Till the cataclysm there, did you ever hear of the terrible conditions of the people in Haiti though Haiti is so near the USA?

  12. So there is a deliberate media policy of focus on the Muslims, to find their weaknesses and intervene in their affairs and seek justification for doing so.

  13. Ever heard of the fact that Israel is an illegitimate entity forced into the Muslim world by the Western powers? Why are the media silent about Israel?

  14. Why are drugs pouring into the USA from Mexico and the Central states of America? Why is there so much misery and suffering and our media completely ignore it?

  15. The Qur'an is most important but its wisdom was taught by the Prophet, pbuh, Let's learn wisdom from Sharia so that we are not so easily mislead.

  16. Pray for the success of Islamic forces. Pray for the victory of Islamic battle formations.





Notes from Br. Kaukab for those who want to research Mursal narratives which are incorrectly considered by many Muslims as Hadith.

  1. The story used by Salman Rushdie to attack the Qur'an was a mursal narrative. Its only narrator was a non-Sahabi known as Muhammad ibn Ka'ab.

    In the time when the Prophet, pbuh, was reciting the Quran to the Quresh in Makka, there was no one other than himself named "Muhammad." The narrative used by Rushdie was picked up by Ibn Ishaq, and much later by, Ibn Sa'ad and Ibn Kathir, all three of whom were not scholars of Hadith, The scholars of hadith did not accept Ibn Ka'ab's story and it is not included in the books of Bukhari and Muslim or any of the Sihah Sittah or the Muwatta of Imam Malik, the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal or even the Musnad of Imam Abu Hanifa, though these last three did accept many weak narratives including Mursal.

    The unbelievers did not know that story although they would have been the first to tell everyone that Muhammad, pbuh, had accepted their gods. [nauzoobillahe min zalik.] NONE of the scholars, not even ibn Ishaq, claim that the unbelievers narrated the story. This is a fatal flaw in the claims of those who like Rushdie want to accept the story.
    Note that Bukhari included the narrative of Abu Sufian when he was not a Muslim in his Sahih. Ibn Ishaq has included numerous attacks, even very abusive ones, in his SIRAH which the unbelievers aimed at the Prophet, pbuh.

    If ANY of the unbelievers had narrated the story Rushdie picked up from an unknown narrator, it would have been reported. Muslim scholars were not afraid of what the kuffar said,

  2. "In my opinion and also according to the teachings of the scholars of Hadith, Mursal has no legal authenticity.[hujjiat]" [Imam Muslim in the foreword to his Sahih.]

  3. "Mursal narrative has no authenticity and acceptability, even if it is mursal from a Sahabi." [From Imam Shafai reported by Ibn Battaal al-Qurtubi in his Commentary [sharh] on Bukhari's Sahih, 449 hijri.]





Spotlights and Guidance

 Imam Badi Ali

"Al-Aqsa Under Attack by "Israel."
Take Action: It is part of your faith to fulfil the duty and responsibility to defend al-Aqsa.
  1. Ask your local masjid imam to deliver khutbas on the importance and preservation of al-Aqsa. Provide information on al-Aqsa and distribute it at juma'

    Literature is available. ask us for it. Distribute the booklet on Palestine written by Sis. Nadrat and the collage by Sis.Kristi

  2. Write to your representative in the US Senate and in the House. Explain to them how important al-Aqsa is for Muslims and how the Israelis are violating our rights by violating al-Aqsa.

  3. Visit al-Aqsa if you are a US citizen. Take your family along. This is a journey with many rewards.

  4. Expose Israeli violations in Jerusalem [al-Quds], al-Aqsa and Palestine in general.

  5. Use social media [facebook etc] to discuss Palestine and al-Aqsa.

  6. Write to all those rulers who have shown concern for al-Aqsa such as the Prime Minister of Turkey. Also, write to all those presidents whom you think might care though they have not spoken out.

  7. Teach children the importance of Palestine and the history of al-Aqsa. Teach them sura Isra [chapter 17] from the Qur'an and its tafseer.

  8. Teach the relationship of our Salah to al-Aqsa. The Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, not only prayed there but led all the prophets in prayer there during his miraculous night journey. Thus Jerusalem is his home city and al-Aqsa his mosque.

  9. Make du'a for the oppressed people and keep them in your prayers.





Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Second House of Allah on Earth
Abu Dharr (ra) reported that he asked the Prophet (saw), "O Messenger of Allah, which Masjid was built first on earth"? The Prophet (saw) replied, "The Sacred Masjid of Makkah". Abu Dharr (ra) again asked, "Which was next"? The Prophet (saw) said, "Masjid Al-Aqsa". Abu Dharr (ra) further asked, "How long was the period between the building of the two Masjids"? The Prophet (saw) said, "Forty years". Apart from these, offer your prayer anywhere when it is time to pray, although excellence is in praying in these Masjids". (Bukhari)

The Importance of Visiting Masjid Al-Aqsa
Abu Hurayrah (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "You should not undertake a special journey to visit any place other than the following three Masjids with the expectations of getting greater reward: the Sacred Masjid of Makkah (Ka'bah), this Masjid of mine (the Prophet's Masjid in Madinah), and Masjid Al-Aqsa (of Jerusalem)". In another narration the words are, "For three Masjids a special journey may be undertaken: The Sacred Masjid (Ka'bah), my Masjid and Masjid of Jerusalem (Al-Aqsa). (Muslim, Bukhari, Abu Dawud)

Greater Virtue of praying in Masjid Al-Aqsa
Abu Darda (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "A prayed in Makkah (Ka'bah) is worth 1000,000 times (reward), a prayer in my Masjid (Madinah) is worth 1,000 times and a prayer in Al-Aqsa Sanctuary is worth 500 times more reward than anywhere else". (Tabarani, Bayhaqi, Suyuti)

Anas Ibn Malik (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, " The prayer of a person in hishouse is a single prayer; his prayer in the Masjid of his people has the reward of 27 prayers; his prayer in the Masjid in which the Friday prayer is observed has the reward of 500; his prayer in Masjid Al-Aqsa (i.e. Al-Aqsa Sanctuary) has a reward of 5,000 prayers; his prayer in my Masjid (the Prophet's Masjid in Madinah) has a reward of 50,000 prayers, and the prayer in the Sacred Masjid (Ka'bah) has the reward of 100,000 prayers". (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)

The Importance of Donating to Masjid Al-Aqsa
Abdullah Ibn Umar (ra) relates, I asked the Prophet (saw), "Apostle of Allah, tell us the legal injunction about (visiting) Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)." The Apostle of Allah (saw) said, " Go and pray there. If you cannot visit it and pray there, then send some oil to be used in the lamps". (Bukhari)

- Imam Badi Ali is a Palestinian American who leads a large congregation in Greensboro, North Carolina




Pakistan

 Pakistan Flag

Two Christians Murdered; Muslim Government Admits Evil Deed: Rushes to Solace & Compensate the family.

Nov. 5: Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab visited a village 50 miles from Lahore the day after a frenzied mob of illiterate villagers attacked, killed and burned a Christian couple after a rumor spread that they had desecrated the Qur'an.

Shabaz apologized to the Christian community, ordered Rs. 5 million to be given to the family of the victim along with 10 acres of land. Also, the children of the deceased will be provided free education and all educational needs.

Fifty of the alleged participants of the mob have been arrested. All 660 Muslims residents of the village are being charged.

NT Editor's comments: We hope the killers will be hanged. Islam does not permit any attacks on Christians or the followers of any religion. In Pakistan Jamaat e Islami and all known Islamic groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, strongly oppose attacks on Christians.
Christian churches are active all over Pakistan. After this atrocity, Christians came out openly on the streets to demand justice. They got maximum publicity and no one bothered them.

By contrast, note what the American military has done in Iraq and Afghanistan. Remember the horrific atrocities against Muslims in Bagram [near Kabul] and Abu Ghraib [near Baghdad]. America's troops are not illiterate villagers but a highly disciplined force subject to the laws of war about civilians.

To take one instance, in Iraq, a 14 year old Muslim girl was raped and burned by US troops, after they had killed her parents and destroyed her home. It took the US a long time to bring the culprits to court and every effort was made to limit the blame to the specific victimizers and not to blame the entire unity. When will America pay reparations to the families of tens of thousands of its victims Iraq and Afghanistan.

Has President Obama ever thought of visiting the families of Dr. Aafia and the Blind Shaykh Dr. Abdel Rahman who have been buried alive in the American gulag?




Ayesha Syed, Jamaate Islami leader & MNA, Working for Women's University in Swat
[Courtesy Urdu Daily Jasarat.]

 Ayesha Syed

Nov 6: Speaking at a prize distribution ceremony at an academy in Shangla [Swat]. Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Ayesha Syed, called for equal quality education for boys and girls. Emphasizing the role of the new generation of girls in the future of Pakistan, MNA Ayesha urged girls and women to take role models from the life of the Prophet, pbuh. Among them, she said, was Khadija, r.a., a businesswoman, Ayesha, r.a., a scholar, Hafsa, r.a., a government adviser, Khaula, r.a., a physician and many others.

Ayesha Syed travels all over Pakistan and recently represented Pakistan at a regional conference in Nepal. She is planning for the establishment of a women's university in Swat, one of the most conservative areas of Pakistan.

NT Editor's comment: Pakistani women educated and steeped in the culture of Islam can change the social system in their country. Westernized women are usually publicized and are Pakistan's problem, not the solution.]




War News

 War News

Syria - Kurds pledge allegiance to al- Baghdadi in the northern eastern countryside of Aleppo

Nov 9,2014 -SOHR has received a footage shows a mosque full of dozens of men, youths and children in the IS held- town of Ekhetrin located in the northern eastern countryside of Aleppo. The footage also shows an IS Imam saying to the people in the mosque "we bring to you power, pride and empowerment, we come by ourselves to our Kurdish Muslim brothers in order to say that we are our brothers in God, so if you suffer we suffer and if something bad happens to you, you will find a very big army expanding from Dyali in Iraq to Ekhetrin in Syria. This army fights to protect Muslims. This is the state of the prophet peace be upon him and this is the state of Islam. Islamic State fights the Peshmerga in Iraq and PKK in Syria, we do not fight them because they are Kurds but because they are infidels and apostates; they call for secularism and democracy, they call for secular party that does not accept Allah as our Lord, Islam as our way of life and Muhammad peace be upon him as Allah's prophet."

"Listen to me brothers, pledge allegiance to Amir al- Mueminin (leader of believers) on empower the religion of Allah Almighty and know that this allegiance is for caliphate, and we are honored to join state of Islam. I am going to talk and you repeat behind me". "In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. We pledge allegiance to Amir al- Mueminin and Muslims caliph Ibrahim Iben Awad Iben Ibrahim al- Badri al- Husaini and Qorashi al- Baghdadi on the basis of submission and obedience in times of hardship and ease, fortune and adversity, applying Sharia rules, al -Jihad ( fighting Allah's enemy) for Allah's way and not to fight our leaders except we prove that they commit what they make them infidels, and that Allah is a witness to out word."

 Syrian Kurds

In addition, the footage shows a group of IS militants distributing leaflets on people who were coming out of the mosque and interviewing people, where someone said that we send a message to our people abroad, we are here in the village of Tal Btal and that the one who did not fight Islamic State is not guilty and has no adjudication. "He, his father and people of his village have pledged allegiance and that they came with a broad magnanimity," another one from the village answered a question by an IS militant when he asked him whether Islamic State forces him to pledge allegiance.

The footage also shows an old man saying to the element who was interviewing people, "our religion is the same, we as Arab, Turkman and Kurd pray shoulder to shoulder and that language has nothing to do with religion, we are all Sunni," then, the old man asked the element, "do Americans, Russians and Chechens fight with you in Islamic State.? The element answered "yes." "We have lived peacefully since IS entered our village and no one take any of our money or properties," the old man said.




A Terrible lingering Defeat
But None Dare Call It A Defeat: The US in Afghanistan
Eric Margolis

By now, the longest war in US history has cost some $1 trillion, maybe more. No one can properly account for the billions and billions of US dollars flown into Afghanistan and Iraq and dished out to the natives - or the numbers of Afghans killed. For Washington's allies, like Canada and Britain, the war has been a total waste of lives and treasure ... Forget all the phony claims about "mission" and "nation building." This has been yet another dirty little colonial war that is better forgotten - and never repeated. So this war will simmer on, at least until Washington finds some face-saving way out of the mess in the Hindu Kush.

If the US was wise, it would simply quit Afghanistan. But power, like opium, is highly addictive. So America's longest war will drag on and on. Full article here :
http://ericmargolis.com/2014/11/none-dare-call-it-a-defeat



Australia Bombing Islamic State in Iraq; Australian Super Hornets have bombed 14 Isis targets in Iraq --200 Australian special forces members prepare to move into Iraq

4 Nov 2014 - Bombs dropped from Australian Super Hornet combat aircraft in Iraq have hit 14 targets, 11 of which were destroyed, defence officials have said. The Australian Defence Force provided the figures on Wednesday for operations conducted since the government gave the go-ahead for RAAF strikes against Islamic State (Isis) militants in early October.

The chief of joint operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, said he was hopeful the 200 Australian special forces members would move into Iraq within the next week, having been in the United Arab Emirates since September awaiting final clearance.




Syria - British Mother Joins IS in Syria; Taking child with her [Courtesy Jamaat al-Muslimeen Virginia.]

http://m.christianpost.com/news/radicalized-british-mother-takes-1-y-o-son-with-her-to-join-islamic-state-in-syria--128811
Notice how much abuse this Christian group is piling on this woman to try and negate her Islamic aspiration. And they tell the world that Islamic State is totally unattractive for women.




Iraq -Top Shia Police General Killed in Islamic State Attack

At least 33 people died in a series of bombings in the capital Baghdad, with the deadliest attack killing more than 10 in the Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City.

Meanwhile a suicide bomber targeted an Iraqi military convoy in the northern town of Baiji, north of Baghdad. Eight people were killed including top police officer Lt.Gen.Faisal Malik al-Zamel, the Associated Press reported.

The British Foreign Office has said that it is aware of and looking into reports of the death of a British citizen in Baiji. Following the suicide bombing on Friday, reports on Twitter claimed that a Briton died in the attack, but the BBC is unable to verify this. Read full BBC story here :
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29974766




Nigeria's Boko Haram renames seized town in Adamawa state

 Abubakar Shekau

Leader Abubakar Shekau has announced a caliphate in areas Boko Haram controls. Nigeria's militant group Boko Haram has renamed Mubi, a recently captured town, Madinatul Islam - City of Islam.

It seized Mubi - the second largest town in Adamawa state - in October, after clashes with government forces. Boko Haram has dismissed government claims to have agreed a ceasefire with the Islamist group, meant to ensure the release of 219 kidnapped schoolgirls.

In August, Boko Haram said it had established an Islamic state in areas it controls in north-eastern Nigeria. Mubi is the largest town under Boko Haram control. It has stepped up its insurgency since a state of emergency was declared in May 2013 in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. The group has changed tactics in recent months by holding on to territory rather than launching hit-and-run attacks.




Abu Khattab al-Kurdi: Commander of Islamic Fighters in Kobani
Kurds help Islamic militants in battle for Kobani

by BASSEM MROUE and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

Ethnic Kurds are helping members of the Islamic State group in the battle for the key Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, sharing their knowledge of the local terrain and language with the extremists, according to Iraqi and Kurdish officials.

It is not clear how many Kurds are aiding the estimated 3,000 Islamic State militants in the Kobani area — and fighting against their own Kurdish brethren — but activists say they are playing a major role in the 7-week-old conflict near the Turkish border.

 Abu Khattab al-Kurdi

This undated image posted on a militant website shows Abu Khattab al-Kurdi, or Abu Khattab the Kurd

A top military commander for the extremists in the town is an Iraqi Kurd, known by the nom de guerre of Abu Khattab al-Kurdi, helping them in the battle against fellow Kurds.

Officials with the main Syrian Kurdish force known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG, say they became aware of the Kurds among the mostly Sunni Muslim extremists early in the fighting.

As Kurdish fighters were defending the nearby Syrian village of Shiran in September, two Kurdish men with different accents and wearing YPG uniforms infiltrated their ranks, Kurdish officials said. Upon questioning, however, they were captured and admitted to fighting for the Islamic State group, the officials added.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials say many of the Kurdish fighters with the Islamic State group are from the northeastern Iraqi town of Halabja, which was bombed with chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein's forces in 1988, killing some 5,000 people.

Shorsh Hassan, a YPG spokesman in Kobani, said although most of the Kurdish jihadi fighters come from Iraq, some are from Syrian regions such as Kobani, Afrin and Jazeera. He added that the number of Syrian Kurds is small compared with the dozens of Iraqis fighting with the IS group.

"The fighter who is from Kobani is not like someone who hails from Chechnya with no idea about tracks and roads," Hassan said.

Thousands of militants from all over the world — including north Africans, Asians and some Westerners — have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the ranks of the Islamic State group. Turkish nationals are among them, but it is unknown if any are fighting in Kobani.

Hassan said many of the Iraqi fighters were from Halabja, including al-Kurdi. Websites affiliated with the Islamic State group recently published several photographs of the young, bearded man, including some of him wearing the traditional Kurdish garb of baggy pants, and others of him standing in front of Kurds killed in Kobani.

In Baghdad, an Iraqi security official said al-Kurdi was a member of Ansar al-Islam, a Sunni militant group with ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, who was active in the early 2000s. Al-Kurdi later joined the Islamic State group, the official said. The Iraqi official said al-Kurdi is also from Halabja and is wanted by Iraqi authorities. He refused to give the man's real name when pressed by The Associated Press.

"Our latest information is that he is in Syria fighting in the Kobani area. He is an expert in mountainous areas," the Iraqi official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

"He is commanding the Kurdish group within Daesh because he is a Kurd," he added, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. Halabja was known as a secular village and the home of Abdullah Goran, one of the best-known Kurdish poets in the 20th century and a member of the Iraqi Communist Party. But in the past three decades, Muslim preachers have become active and have turned it into one of Iraqi Kurdistan's most religiously conservative areas.

Still, most of the Kurds are moderate and secular-leaning Muslims. Many Kurds in Iraq were stunned when they learned that Kiwan Mohammed, the 25-year-old goalkeeper of Halabja's soccer team, was killed last month in Syria while fighting for the Islamic State group in Kobani. Mohammed was identified by jihadi websites as Abu Walid al-Kurdi. Dana Jalal, an Iraqi journalist who follows jihadi groups, said the Iraqi athlete left Syria in July 2013 and had not been heard of until his death.

Some 70 Iraqi Kurds, mostly from Halabja, went to fight in Syria with the Islamic State group, Jalal said. Most go through Turkey where they say they are going for tourism, but theu then they cross into Syria, and "some even take their wives with them," Jalal added.

Nawaf Khalil, the Europe-based spokesman for Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said Kurdish fighters within the Islamic State group are invaluable in the Kobani battle because they know the geography, as well as the language and the mentality of fellow Kurds.

"A main part of their work is tapping (electronic surveillance) and intelligence-gathering. They might be also using some from the Kobani area to benefit from the geographical knowledge of the area," he said.

Mustafa Bali, a Kurdish activist in Kobani, said that by having Kurdish fighters, Islamic State extremists are trying to win the hearts and minds of Syrian Kurds in the area. "Daesh is trying to tell the people of Kobani that it does not consider them enemies and its fighters include Kurds," Bali said.




Our America

 Our America

Rasmea Defense Committee Statement
Why is this Palestinian-American woman treated so Unjustly in America? Defense opens with scathing indictment of Israel


Chicago - Cross examination exposes holes in prosecution of Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh. Opening statements were made today in the trial of Rasmea Odeh, beloved leader of Chicago's Palestinian community, and the first witnesses for the prosecution were called to the stand. Again, supporters from across the Midwest packed the courtroom, with many filing into an overflow room.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Jebson opened for the prosecution, laying out the government's case. According to him, Rasmea should be found guilty of immigration fraud for her failure to disclose the 1970 conviction by Israel. Lead defense attorney Michael Deutsch hit back hard with an opening statement that began, "Odeh was convicted by a military court that was occupying Palestinian land. [With] judges who are soldiers... Rasmea Odeh embodies the history of the Palestinian people."

He continued by tracing her story, from the 1948 loss of the family home and land to Israeli soldiers and settlers when she was just a year old, to additional personal losses in the 1967 war, to 1969, when Rasmea was one of 500 people arrested by the Israeli military in a massive, indiscriminate sweep. Though he was barred by the judge's rulings from mentioning torture, he told the jury that after her arrest, Rasmea was interrogated for weeks. "Use your imagination about what 'interrogation for weeks' means." The prosecution quickly objected and Judge Drain sustained the objection.

Deutsch added, "Rasmea is respected, honored and revered. You will see her honesty and integrity when she testifies. In 2004, she applied; in 2013, they suddenly charged her. Ask yourself, 'Why?' Ask yourself, 'Why they are bringing this case nine years later?'" Again, the prosecution objected, and again Judge Drain sustained.

In the end, Deutsch urged the jury to remain independent: "Use your sense of justice, and find [Rasmea] not guilty."

After a short break, the prosecution called its first witness, Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Stephen Webber. He testified to initiating and leading the investigation against Rasmea since 2010. The clearly rehearsed testimony quickly changed, however, when Deutsch began his cross-examination. A previously calm and relaxed Webber began to sweat and shift nervously in his seat as Deutsch had him admit that he had worked with the prosecution to build the case against Rasmea, including traveling to O'Hare Airport to secretly record an interrogation of her as she returned to the U.S. from Palestine.

A record of the interview reveals that Webber lied to Rasmea and claimed he was questioning her because he had a genuine interest in learning more about the conflict between Palestine and Israel. In reality, he was trying to entrap her, repeatedly asking whether she had been imprisoned in Israel, to which she replied more than once, "No, please, I don't want to talk about it."

Two additional witnesses gave testimony after Webber. Raymond Clore, a State Department functionary and Douglas Scott Pierce of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Both spoke in general terms about the immigration and citizenship application process.

In cross-examination, Deutsch weakened the case against Rasmea - pointing out that her initial immigration application did not include a sworn statement with Rasmea's signature, and that standard USCIS procedures only investigate an applicant's criminal record inside the U.S.

At several points during the questioning, Deutsch emphasized that the questions on the applications that Rasmea filed do not directly ask about crimes outside the U.S.

After dismissing the jury for the day, Judge Drain denied yet another defense motion, which sought to introduce an earlier version of the application. That early 1990s naturalization form explicitly asks "inside or outside the U.S." when attempting to assess if someone had ever been arrested, convicted, or imprisoned.

The defense confirmed that Rasmea will be called to testify on her own behalf after the prosecution closes its case. This could be as early as Thursday afternoon, and promises to be powerful. Dozens of additional supporters plan to be in Detroit to hear her tell her story to the jury.

The Rasmea Defense Committee has organized people from across the Midwest to pack the courtroom throughout the trial, and more are still pouring in. Each day of the trial, supporters will rally from 8:00 to 8:15 a.m. and again after adjournment at 1 p.m.

For more information and background on Rasmea Odeh's case, go to http://www.uspcn.org or http://www.stopfbi.net




What's wrong with saying: Islam is a religion of Peace?
by Kaukab Siddique

Pennsylvania - Recently I was in a halal restaurant listening to a group of Muslim students from the University of Pennsylvania. They were discussing Bill Mahr's attacks on Islam and Ben Afflack's response to him that "Islam is a religion of peace."

I listened to them for a while and then I interrupted and gave my opinion as follows: "It makes you happy that Ben Afflak said that Islam is a religion of peace. Afflack was being reactive in trying to answer Mahr's claim that Islam is violent. Do you realize how this response undermines the entire Islamic position? If Islam is a religion of peace, then it amounts to saying that all the Muslims around the world who are fighting imperialism and Zionism are not good Muslims or not even Muslims!"

"CAIR is also carrying on this naïve expression that 'Islam is a religion of peace.' This expression locks US Muslims into a defensive position and cuts them off from any discussion of the real issues.

"We should say: Islam stands for justice. Muslims per the Qur'an are required to resist aggression, occupation and tyranny. We are one Ummah. What's being done to our people by Israel or by the US hurts us. That's is Islam."




Guilt by Association with Alleged Marathon Bomber
by Sis. Karin Friedemann

Boston - "I feel unsafe in PCCF, and I have a great fear for my life," wrote Khairullozhon Matanov, 24, in a letter to this author postmarked November 1, 2014. Matanov is awaiting trial for allegedly lying to the FBI in an effort to downplay his relationship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, accused Boston bomber who was killed by police in April 2013.

Matanov was severely beaten by guards after flooding his cell in protest against the constant Islamophobic harassment at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility (PCCF). The incident was reported in a letter from Matanov to a friend postmarked October 24, 2014 and also by a sympathetic fellow inmate, who has since been moved to another unit. The remaining inmates taunt him in a hostile manner.

"They harass me so much, I don't know what to do, they couldn't see that I was being so peaceful, now even some ignorant inmates say bad things, and when they do it, the guards play the US National Anthem, it is awful," writes Matanov.

The US National Anthem was also blasting on October 23, when seven correctional officers sprayed tear gas into his cell. Unable to breathe, Matanov tried to get some air from under the door but was sprayed in the face. After allowing them to handcuff him, he collapsed.

"When I was like half dead not moving at all they jump on me so badly. One of them stick his finger into my right eye (it's swollen right now full of blood). After, the same person start saying, "You [expletive] Muslim terrorist" and kick my head... I pass out from pain, then I woke up when one of them twist my hand."

Khair reports that he heard one of them say, "We have to take him out walking."

"They took me out... the end? No! Horror just started. They put me in that chair with the spray all over my face and hands, left me for two and half hours in one room. I was crying and asking for help with my eye (literally burning with the pain). Ruthless human beings, I thought I am about to die. Fortunately for me it was not my time. I survived with lots of pain... No justice in this place.. If they will have an argument with me, they play national anthem, by the way when they came to get me in their suits they played the national anthem of USA. It is so awful, they are pulling USA down... I could hear and now I see they really really enjoyed this awful terror which they did against me."

A week later, Matanov wrote, "Trying to get better, after all of this pain, but my eyes and my head is still not good, I can't see properly, and I can't read. If I do so my head goes crazy. They did not give me good medical care, even though I was beaten nearly to death."

A former client of Matanov's taxi service wrote in an email, "This is unbelievable. Months ago an officer told me the FBI sent him there so he would be safe...yeah right!"

Supporters contacted a number of agencies as well as the Consulate of Kyrgyzstan. It is hoped that the Kyrgyzstan ambassador to the US will visit Matanov as he did last Ramadan, after Matanov mentioned in a letter dated July 8 that he was not given any food for four days.

This is not the first time Matanov was punished for flooding his cell in protest of being singled out for harassment. In a letter postmarked August 21, he described another incident where he was stripped naked and taken to "Q5" - a cold, rubber room usually used for suicidal prisoners. He was left there without clothes, normal food or toilet for four days.

"Now I told this to my lawyer, guess what, it was better to tell to a wall so I could hear the echo." Matanov's court appointed attorney, Edward Hayden told Boston Magazine that "the injuries did not appear as extensive as what was described in the letter... He had a black eye, he had scrapes, bruises, and that's what I saw...some of these letters and Tweets make it seem like he was beaten to an inch of his life, and that's not true." This was not the first time that Matanov's lawyer undermined his case.

Bruce Gellerman tweeted on November 6 that Matanov filed a motion to withdraw his attorney Edward Hayden. There will be a closed hearing on November 20.

The government is putting Matanov under intense pressure because they want to break his resolve to maintain his innocence. He was offered his freedom if he would become an FBI informant as he wrote on July 15. When he refused, he was then offered a shorter sentence of seven years if he would plead guilty, he wrote on July 24.

The day after the attack on Matanov, an inmate at the same prison, Marcus Czaja, 32, was found dead in his cell while on November 3, Steven Wayne Roderick, 34, died at PCCF. Both deaths were ruled suicides.




Islam vs Ismailism in Canada; Convert to Islam from Ismaili Cult Answers Agha Khani invitation. "I am a Muslim now, converted from the Ismaili Cult."
by Sis. Gulshan Alani

In reply to your following subscription 'Inside Ismailism'.

Please note that I am a Muslim now, converted from Ismaili cult. I also changed my god.

I left the fake god Aga khan an atheist, who claimed the re-incarnation of Das Avtar of Hindu gods, who only takes, and gives nothing, He sells the religious rituals, forgives sins every month on the night of Chand-raat with cash paid, and charges membership fees from $500.00 to $20,000 to enter one of the 7 Heavens, as his claim is that Heaven and hell are in his hands, and so he must be worshiped, make sujud to him and follow his order as he is the walking talking Quran, and no need to follow the 14century old Quran that is useless now: (Naouzoobillah).

And the recent claim that the present Quran is the wrong Quran compiled by the Caliph Othman (RA) who burnt the real Quran. (Astagafirullah). So he concealed Allah and the Quran from me, giving me the man-made mixture of Hindu-Sikhism-Ismaili Batini-secret religion, practiced behind the closed doors, yet using Islamic stuff in public and in Aga Khan;s the Museum. Whereas, nothing of Islam is in the Jamat khana temple. Moreover he is lying and using the fake ID of Islam and claims of being Shia Muslim.

Can anyone claim to be a Muslim after rejecting Allah, and Quran? Can an atheist be an Imam? Aga is neither Ismaili nor Muslim but a good businessman whose so-called charity foundations are not the charity but the 'Business', earning money, like earning money by selling the cultic rituals.

Now I have accepted the true GOD-Allah the Creator of the Universe, who gives me all, food and water etc. HE doesn't charge for anything and takes nothing from me but only orders to recognize HIM, worship HIM and obey HIS rules for the holistic life. The way of HIS Prophet Muhammad SAWS. All is free from HIM. Who also gave me the truth, wisdom of free thinking, universal knowledge, and recognition of the dajjal and its treacherous mischief of misleading the innocents against Allah. Islam is the clear Map of the easiest way to enter Jannah, where we will be greeted by Assalamu Alaikum, the Muslim Greetings and not Ya Ali Madad.

Salaam/peace




Teen doused with gas, bleach, set on fire [CNN]

Virginia - The Virginia teen went missing first, with her family calling the Charles City County Sheriff's Office on October 1. Her nightmare began when, she later told police, the teenager was hit in the head with a shovel and stuffed into the trunk of a car, according to Crawley. The girl told police that her abductor took her to his parents' house in Charles City County and sexually assaulted her. (Barnes' parents don't remember whether they were home at the time, the sheriff's captain said.)

He then showed her pictures of other girls, claiming he'd done the same thing to them, according to the 16-year-old. Delvin Barnes, arrested in connection with a Philadelphia woman's abduction, is also accused of abducting, raping and burning a teenage girl in Virginia.

Two days later, the suspect allegedly brought the then-naked girl into the backyard, poured bleach and gasoline on her, burned her clothes and dug a hole. "How do you want to die?" he asked, the teenager told police.
When he got distracted, the girl fled into the woods.

Two miles away, employees at a Charles City County business spotted her and brought her inside, Crawley explained. She was suffering from third-degree burns, but she was alive.




Viewpoint and Analysis

 ViewPoint and Analysis

Tehran Regime's Atrocity Against Woman who killed her Rapist. Serious Regime Crimes against Sunni Opponents
by Amer Alam [via Zaheer Bawany in Canada.]

After living on death row for the last five years, Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was executed in Tehran on Friday 24th October 2014 by Iranian authorities, in one of the most brazen human rights violations in recent memory.

Reyhaneh Jabbari was convicted of murdering Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi in 2007, an ex-intelligence official, in self-defence after he lured her to his apartment on the pretense of work and attempted to rape her [1]. After being arrested for the murder, she was placed in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer or her family and physically and psychologically abused for a number of years by the Iranian authorities [2]. During this time, the UN and Amnesty International were made aware of her appalling treatment and found that a confession, used as the basis of her conviction and death sentence, was obtained under direct threat and torture from Iranian authorities [1]. Despite calls from the international community to postpone the court proceedings, due to serious concerns over the fairness of the trial, Jabbari was sentenced to death in 2009.

To highlight the farcical nature of the trial, Amnesty International found that Jabbari's version of the incident was never investigated and the information taken as fact by the Iranian judicial system was deeply flawed [3]. Furthermore, it was mentioned by the UN that Jabbari pleaded with the authorities that she did not kill Sarbandi, instead she stabbed him in the shoulder with a knife to defend herself and called an ambulance before fleeing the scene [4]. In support of her claims, a medical practitioner found that a glass of juice at the scene was laced with a tranquilizer and could have been used by Sarbandi to subdue his victim [2]. On the other hand, some have stated that Jabbari confessed to buying a knife two days before the incident and claimed the murder was premeditated. However, such a claim was never substantiated and her confession as stated earlier was conducted while she was under duress and being tortured by the Iranian authorities. Additionally, a letter she wrote to her mother six months before her execution reiterated her claims that she acted in self-defence:

The following are extracts from a letter by Reyhaneh Jabbari to her mother:

During that ominous night it was I that should have been killed. My body would have been thrown in some corner of the city, and after a few days, the police would have taken you to the coroner's office to identify my body and there you would have learnt that I had been raped as well.

The murderer would have never been found since we don't have their wealth and their power. Then you would have continued your life suffering and ashamed, and a few years later you would have died of this suffering and that would have been that. However, with that cursed blow the story changed. My body was not thrown aside, but into the grave of Evin Prison and its solitary wards, and now the grave-like prison of Shahr-e Ray.

Being presented in court made me appear as a cold-blooded murderer and a ruthless criminal. I shed no tears. I did not beg. I did not cry my head off since I trusted the law. But I was charged with being indifferent in face of a crime. You see, I didn't even kill the mosquitoes and I threw away the cockroaches by taking them by their antennas. Now I have become a premeditated murderer.

And this country that you planted its love in me, never wanted me and no one supported me, when under the blows of the interrogator I was crying out and I was hearing the most vulgar terms.

I have told you many times not to beg to save me from being executed. My kind mother, the one dearer to me than my life, do your best to forget my difficult days. The world did not love us. It did not want my fate. And now I am giving in to it and embracing the death. Because in the court of God I will charge the inspectors, I will charge the judge, and those that beat me up when I was awake and did not refrain from harassing me. In the court of the Creator I will charge all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn't pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it. [5]

Given the clear inconsistencies in the case, the question arises: why did the Iranian government and its judicial system decide to steam ahead with the execution knowing full well that the facts of the case were never established? The answer can clearly be found in Iran's recent human rights record, where the unjust treatment, false imprisonment and execution of women and innocent minority groups, such as Sunnis is not uncommon.

Despite the oppressive treatment of Reyhaneh Jabbari, her case is just one of many hundreds of people, who are unjustly executed in Iran. To illustrate their abhorrent human rights record, Amnesty International recorded that 369 official executions took place in Iran during 2013, only second to China, which does not take into account the secret executions and acts of torture that are now widespread in the country against Sunnis [1] [6]. In fact, the real number of executions in 2013 was found to be over seven hundred [7]. For example, in June 2014 four Sunni Kurdish men, falsely accused of murdering a religious cleric, were sentenced to be secretly executed, even though Iranian records showed that these men were arrested and kept imprisoned months before the murder took place [6]. Rather calls for their executions were designed to curb the growing number of Sunnis who practice their faith, by way of fear, in a Shi'ite majority country.

Similarly, Amnesty International documents that two other men named Ali Chebieshat and Sayed Khaled Mousawi were secretly executed on similar charges a few days earlier [6]. Unfortunately, this level of oppression and subjugation against Sunnis is a common occurrence in Iran and their routine arrests are publicised within the country as a terrifying intimidation tactic. Furthermore, such arrests are used to justify greater restrictions forced upon Sunnis to stop them practicing their faith, which is highlighted by the fact that there are no Sunni mosques in existence in the Iranian capital of Tehran [8][9]. Therefore, the unjust and oppressive treatment Reyhaneh Jabbari received should come as no surprise within a country that has one of the worst human rights records against women and minority groups in living memory.

The great irony behind the oppressive treatment that the Iranian government and judicial system regularly inflicts on women is that they were recently awarded a seat on the UN body's women's rights commission [10]. This news was met with dismay by UN Watch's Hillel Neuer, who described it as a "black day for human rights", while Samantha Power, the US ambassador to Iran, described it as a "particularly troubling outcome." To further highlight the oppressive treatment of women in Iran, in October 2014 a number of prominent women were beaten and arrested during a peaceful protest in front of the Iranian Parliament, while they highlighted the increased number of acid attacks and violence committed against women, which was ignored by the Iranian authorities [11].

Having shown clear evidence proving the clear enmity Iran's despotic ruling leaders have towards women and minority groups, it is extremely hypocritical and deceitful when individuals and so-called impartial news agencies such as Press TV and Russia Today, linked to the Iranian regime, routinely highlight the human rights records of neighbouring Arab states, yet conveniently ignore the crimes of the country they openly support. The most recent example is that of Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for high treason, a crime punishable by death in a number of countries, including the US [12] [13]. While such individuals and news agencies were extremely aggressive and unrelenting in their reporting of this case, to a country they hold hostility towards, they consistently fail to utter a word of condemnation towards Iran's acts of aggression and barbaric treatment of women and minorities. Of course we should by no means ignore the numerous injustices that other countries commit daily; but to selectively ignore one of the most repressive and unjust regimes is very troubling indeed.

Despite her execution, it is hoped that Reyhaneh Jabbari's murder was not in vain and it helps highlight and publicise the barbaric violations of human rights Iran has been committing in secret now for decades. While certain individuals are quick to highlight the crimes of neighbouring Arab states, it is about time the crimes committed by Iran on its own civilians are reported to the world. It is also hoped that Iran's barbaric treatment of Muslims highlights how they are anything but the peace loving champions of the Muslim world they purportedly make themselves out to be and only provide lip service against the West to further spread their propaganda to the Muslims. This is especially important since their acts of aggression against Muslims is not restricted to their own country because they are routinely implicated in the mass murder of Muslims in Syria, Iraq and most recently Yemen [14] [15] [16].

See Reference [1-16] here: http://attachment.benchmarkemail.com/c78264/Tehran_Regime_Reerences.docx

2014-11-09 Sun 20:51:20 cst
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