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18 Ramadan 1436 A.H.- July 5, 2015 Issue # 79, Newsletter #1609



If you have not yet joined the inernational boycott of Israel under BDS :

please scroll way down to this stunning article about Gaza titled THE DRONE EATS WITH ME.




"Amazing Grace" was a slave ship owner's song. Sis. Aisha will amaze you. Does Obama know? Please scroll down.




Pakistan

An unusual article in Urdu by Munir Khalili sahib. Jamaate Islami is behaving like a vote getting machine rather than an Islamic movement.

Munir-Khalili.blogspot.ae/2015/06/where-jamat-islmi-is-actually-in-loss.html




Hadith of the Week

Our Duty to free Muslim "slaves": Palestinians, Rohingyas, Uighurs, Egyptians, Bangladeshis, Pakistani women..... [Helpless & Oppressed.]

"I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, saying: One who frees an enslaved Muslim male, that act will free him from the fire of hell, each bone in his body for reach bone of the slave, and one who frees two enslaved women, they will save him from hell fire, bone for bone. " [Narrated by Kaab bin Marra, r.a., Sunan of Ibn Maja, chapters on freedom.]




Required Reading about Baltimore Uprising

Baltimore: The New Gaza . What Role for Muslims [and other People of Conscience]?
39 pages of Solid information
by Nadrat Siddique
Order from : jamaatalmuslimeendc(at)yahoo(dot)com
or from New Trend. [Donations welcome to help inner city children.]




Required Reading for Peaceful Da'wah.

Global Islamic Movement: Why and How? by Shamim Siddiqi. 118 pages. $6
Free for committed activists who lack funds.
Order from: New Trend. P.O. Box 84, Oxford, Pa. 19363




Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen. [ MJAM.WS ]

Some of the best khutbas.
4624 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212.
Phone: 443 629 6283
Administrator: Sis. Ashira Naim
For Zakatul Fitr info by Imam Ali Siddiqui, scroll down to the end.




Jamaat al-Muslimeen Activist Arrested.

Br. Ali Randall was arrested in Petersburg, Virginia, around June 16.
It's still not clear why. He is being held under various pretexts while he is reportedly being questioned about New Trend. His wife, a hijabi, is distressed.

Jamaat al-Muslimeen spreads its message by peaceful means strictly within the limits of the law.

Please show support by writing to him at this prison address:
Vance Randall #29735, 500 Folar Trail, N. Prince George, VA 23860




Turkey: Rallies Against Chinese Oppression of Muslims during Ramadan

On July 3 there were rallies in cities across Turkey against China's ban on fasting in Ramadan. China is oppressing Muslims in Eastern Turkistan. The rallies came after 173 Uighur Muslim refugees from China who had been stranded in Thailand arrived in Turkey. The rallies were lead by a conservative group known as the Grey Wolves.

Turkey's government called in the Chinese ambassador to complain against the oppression. In turn China complained that it is its internal issue and some Chinese tourists were manhandled during the rallies.




Jamaat al-Muslimeen Activity near Bel Air, Maryland: 38 Muslims reached in conservative Community.

 Outreach

On July 3, a six page Jamaat al-Muslimeen document in various ways to the military bases in the region. The six pages were:
  1. Jamaat al-Muslimeen's condemnation of the racist murders in Charleston, SC [sis. Nadrat Siddique].

  2. Critique of the pro-India regime in Dhaka's sell out to Indian hegemony [from Jamaae Islami Bangladesh.]

  3. &
  4. Main points of Br. Kaukab Siddique's khutba to 1,000 Arab Americans in Greensboro, NC, discussing the connection of taqwa and fasting to the rights of women, dealing with America's need for Islam, condemnation of homosexual movement, opposition to US bombing in the middle east, and about food.

  5. China, the new imperialism, has banned fasting in Xinjiang and ordered sale of cigarettes and alcohol.

  6. Syrian mujahideen preparing to expel the last enclaves of Assad's regime from Aleppo, Syria's biggest city.





Jamaat al-Muslimeen Activity in White Oaks, south Maryland to 100 Muslims in second Juma Prayer.

Owing to increase in numbers, Muslim Community Center in White Oaks, 7 miles north of Wasjington DC, holds two juma prayers. In this second prayer, big numbers of African Muslims congregate.
Jamaat al-Muslimeen literature was given to 100 Muslims here. Main items:

  1. &
  2. &
  3. Resolutions of Jamaat al-Muslimeen's National Shoora [central committee] condemning the Egyptian death verdict on President Morsi, urging Muslims to boycott businesses supporting Israel, calling for support for Muslim political prisoners, criticizing the exploitation of women in America, condemning the oppression of Islamic scholars in Bangladesh, urging help for needy families in Africa.

  4. A Muslim woman's right to travel alone for a good cause: Example of Ikrima's wife to find her kafir husband, bring him to Islam and to have him pardoned by the Prophet, pbuh. Travelled from Makka to Yemen.

  5. Battle news from Syria and Iraq as mujahideen advance.

  6. Negative impact of "Mother's Day in America. [Sis. Aisha.]





What I learned from Ramadan

by Imam Badi Ali




Imam Badi Ali is a Palestinian American who leads a large congregation In North Carolina
 Imam Badi Ali




Analysis

Knowledge can squash Sectarianism. [See evidence.]
Ali, r.a., and Umar, r.a., were great friends. Ruqayya, r.a., was the Prophet's, pbuh, greatest Daughter.

Facts about Muawiyya, r.a. Did he hate Ali, r.a.? His Achievements Should be Known.
by Kaukab Siddique, Phd

The Prophet, pbuh, had more than one daughter.
Fatima, r.a., was not his only daughter. The Qur'an refers to the Prophet's, pbuh, daughters. [1]

Hadith give the names of the daughters Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, had with Khadija, r.a., Zainab, Umm Kulthum, Ruqayya and Fatima [Allah be pleased with them]. Of these Ruqayya, r.a., outdid the others in carrying out the greatest duty of Muslims, second only to Jihad. She did the first hijra in Islamic history which was to Africa. [2]

Zainab, r.a., was married to an Umayyad, Abu al-'As, r.a., who embraced Islam and turned out to be a great fighter for Islam. So the sectarian attacks on Ummayads are actually attacks on the Prophet's, pbuh, in-laws.[3]

Ali, r.a., and Umar, r.a., were great friends. In fact Ali, r.a., gave his daughter in marriage to Umar., r.a. She loved Umar. r.a, though much younger than him, and gave him two children. She cried uncontrollably when Umar, r.a., was assassinated. Thus the sectarian hatred aimed at Umar, r.a., which has gone beyond all limits of decency, is absurd and baseless as far as the facts of Ali.'s, r.a., own life are concerned. [4]

Ali, r.a., was part of Umar's, r.a., shoora council, [decision making body] when Umar, r.a., became the second Rightly Guided Caliph of Islam.

Ali, r.a, never insulted or abused Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman, Allah be pleased with them. In fact he accepted their leadership, gave his oath of allegiance [ba'yat] to them and prayed behind them. They in turn loved, respected and honored him. Ali, r.a., became Caliph and never said a word against his predecessors.

The sectarian Shi'is have extended their hatred to Muawiya, r.a., because he was the father of Yazeed who is blamed for the tragedy of Kerbala and the martyrdom of Hussain, r.a, the grandson of the Prophet, pbuh. This endless stream of abuse directed at Muawiyya, r.a., is guilt by associaton which is totally unacceptable in Islam. Here are the facts in authentic narrations which Shi'a sectarians try to hide.

Muawiyya, r.a., was a katib-e-wahy. The Prophet, pbuh, trusted Muawiyya, r.a., to the extent that he had the revelations of parts of the Qur'an written down by Muawiyya, r.a.,

Muawiyya, r.a., never fought against the Prophet, pbuh.

The idea that he fought against Ali, r.a. to gain the Caliphate is not correct. He was fighting to punish the killers of Uthman, r.a., one of the greatest Muslims of all times and the third Rightly guided Caliph of Islam.

Muawiyya, r.a. served Islam on the battlefield and as an organizer and leader and was fully trusted by the first three rightly guided Caliphs. Ali, r.a., never objected to any of the actions of Muawiyya r.a., during the time of the three Caliphs.

Both Hasan and Hussain, Allah be pleased with them, gave their oath of allegiance to Muawiyya, r.a., when he became Caliph.

A story has been concocted that Muawiyya, r.a., had Hasan, r.a., poisoned by his wife. The story is far fetched to say the least because after Hasan, r.a., passed away, his brave and fearless brother Hussain, r.a., retained his allegiance [ba'yat] to Muawiyyah, r.a., for TEN YEARS while Muawiyyah, r.a., remained Caliph.

All historians agree that during the Caliphate of Muawiyya, r.a., the Muslim Ummah, which went through fratricidal war during the caliphate of Ali, r.a., was once again solidly united and the jihad against the powers of that time gained tremendous momentum.

Thus the roots of Shi'ite sectarianism and hatred against the Muslim ummah derive from attempts to extend the blame on Yazeed to Muawiyya, r.a., and then to Usman, r.a., then to Ayesha, r.a., then to Umar, r.a., and then to Abu Bakr, r.a., and then to all who were not from the family of Fatima, r.a., and Ali, r.a., and in particular to great Mujahideen like Khalid, Abu Sufian, and Ikrima [Allah be pleased with them]

By attacking the holiest personalities of Islam, the Shi'a sectarians have isolated themselves from the Muslim Ummah and opened up the doors of Muslim countries to invading armies coming in from the West.



References

  1. "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, and the believing women, that they should draw their coverings over their bodies. That will be better that they should be known so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is ever Forgiving , Most Merciful." [The Qur'an 33: 59]

  2. From Hadith narrations: "Ruqayya, was the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, pbuh, and her mother was Khadija, the daughter of Khuwaylad. Before receiving prophethood Muhammad, pbuh, had married her to Utba, the son of Abi Lahab bin Abdul Mutallib who divorced her soon thereafter before taking her as his wife because in the meantime the prophet received prophethood and the verses condemning Abu Lahab were revealed in the Qur'an. She never went to Utba's home."

    "She embraced Islam the very day her mother, Khadija, r.a., embraced Islam." [Among the very first to embrace Islam.]
    "She was among the first women to take the oath of allegiance [baiat] to the Prophet, pbuh."

    "She was married to one of the greatest Companions of the Prophet, Usman, r.a."

    " She did hijra TWICE to Africa with Usman, r.a.. The Prophet, pbuh, said this is the first hijra in all of human history for the sake of Allah since the time of the Prophet Lut."

    "Ruqayya suffered greatly [for Allah's sake] during hijra and lost her unborn child through miscarriage."

    All quotes are from Tabqat al-kubra by Muhammad Ibn Sa'ad, first and earliest collection of biographical Hadith.

  3. [Comment: By the standard of the Qur'an, the Hijra by Ruqayya, r.a., puts her above other women, including Fatima, r.a. who was also a great woman. We love Fatima, r.a., but facts must be above feelings.]

    "And their Lord has accepted of them and answered them: 'Never will I allow to be lost the work of any of you, be you male or female, you are one community: those of you who have done hijra from their homes or been driven out therefrom ......... [The Qur;an 3:195.]

  4. A Shi'i scholar admits what most Shi'is do not like to know, that the Prophet, pbuh, married three of his daughters to Ummayads, that is outside his family & tribe: " The Prophet gave two of his daughters in marriage to Usman and his daughter Zainab to Abi al-Aas, and both were not of the Bani Hashm." Zainuddin in his book Masalik al-Afham, published from Tehran, original in Arabic and now in Urdu translation." Famous Iranian philosopher Ali Shariati writes about Usman, r.a., : "He did two hijras in Islam and was the son-n-law of the Prophet and known as the keeper of the Two Lights. He was the husband first of Ruqayya and then of Umm Kulthum, both of whom were daughters of the Prophet." [ Fatima Fatima ast, original in Persian, p.176, now available in English as Fatima is Fatima.]

    . Shi'i scholars admit this though for Shi'i sectarians it is unbearable. "Ali had two daughters from Fatima Zahra, peace be on her, Zainab and Umm Kulthum. He gave Zainab in marriage to Abdullah the son of Ja'afar Tayyar and Umm Kulthum to Umar. Zayd, the son of Umar, was from her." [ Lughat Nama by Ali Akbar Dehkhuda, an almanac published from Tehran in Persian, now available in Urdu.] This fact is mentioned quite casually by Shi'i scholars: " The marriage of Umm Kulthum and Umar Khattab is narrated in our books." Abbas Qummi in Muntaha al-'Aamal, published from Iran. I have the Urdu translation of this segment. Ali, r.a., and Umar, r.a., were definitely NOT enemies.





Our America: New York

"Amazing Grace" was a Slave Ship owner's Song. Does Obama know?
Muslims and Blacks are Arrested before a Crime. Dylann Roof killed 9 in a church. Proper investigation? No! Who wrote his Manifesto?


The Pre-Crime Agency is in Full Effect

by Sis. Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen]

New York City - After witnessing someone on my job get disrespected, an elder told me that people get away with what you allow them to get away with. On 6/29/2015, there was another report of a Muslim brother being arrested for trying to join ISIS in Syria. Alaa Saadeh and Samuel Rahamin Topaz were arrested this month for allegedly offering material and personnel support to ISIS, whatever that means. The media simply accuses them of being ISIS sympathizers.

Is this The Minority Report or what? The Minority Report was a movie starring Tom Cruise where his main character was a pre-crime agent who could foresee crimes before they occurred. He then, arrested the "criminals" before they could commit these crimes. It is based on a short science fiction story of the same name written by Philip K. Dick. The irony is that The Minority Report was adapted and directed into a film by staunch Zionist Steven Spielberg. (Source wikipedia.org)

Under the laws of this land known as America, no one can be arrested until a crime has been committed. If "hough crimes" were the case then, every White supremacist would be under arrest. Interestingly, there have been......

An upsurge of police murders of unarmed citizens,NAACP offices and Black churches have been firebombed, Black people and Arab Muslims have been targeted for murder by the average White citizen, just like in the good old days of Jim Crow. Ah, the good old days some might reflect!

The FBI would never dare arrest a White terrorist before he/she has actually committed a crime! The U.S. Attorney would berate them and demand solid evidence that would get them that notch in their belt known as a conviction.

According to the weekly local cable show, Community Cop, co-host Michael Greys reminded viewers that the so-called Boston Bomber was arrested and investigated along with his friends, schoolmates, and family members. His friends have been unjustly arrested and imprisoned but, I digress. The fact remains that this did not happen with Dylann Roof, the alleged murderer of nine Black parishioners in a church!

A racist manifesto has been uncovered. Some people don't believe a 21 year old high school drop out is capable of writing a 2,444 word manifesto and the government is not trying to dig that deep either. They refuse to label Roof a terrorist and want all of us to see him as a lone wolf, who became self-radicalized.

So, why is law enforcement arresting Muslims for "crimes" that have not happened, yet? The answer is very simple: Because they can without any retribution from the Muslim Ummah. (Note: The Muslim World is in a very unique position to pressure the U.S. and carry out punishment for its human rights violations against Muslims but, these governments are very weak).

It is just like Stop and Frisk in the Black community: You can always stand up to the police and say, "No, I will not allow you to subject me to a frisk. Let's sort this out at the precinct!" Some police officers may not take you to the precinct because

You actually did not commit a crime and the arresting officers will be forced to explain to your attorney why they chose you, in the first place!They also hate the paper work!

But, many of us don't want to go to the precinct either. We just want to go home. So, we will allow the officers to get their jollies out of frisking us with both parties knowing that it will not result in an arrest. It is a power trip for the cop! If enough individuals spoke up and said, "No!" then, may be that would pose some type of problem for stop and frisk. We have to be willing to go down to the precinct and sort it all out.

When Muslims are being harassed by the government that is also a test for the Ummah and, with the exception of New Trend and its contributors and other associations, we are failing miserably. The number one thing we must do is stop our relationships with "Muslim" organizations in bed with the Justice Department. The same way Blacks need to stop contacting Rev. Charlatan (Sharpton) for help in these police criminality cases, we Muslims need to stop contacting CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, and MSA for help when we are in trouble! We can't let these people get too close to us!

Rev. Charlatan has been accused of taking information from the police shooting victim's family and giving it to the police officers' defense team and/or the prosecutor, who is working for the police. Sharpton is a known self-saboteur. Since all of these boot licking "Muslim leaders" proclaim their allegiance to the Justice Department, I am sure they give information about the accused to the government, as well.

I am not pretending to know all of the answers but, these are the roadblocks that the Black struggle in America have had to overcome, as well. By the way, the Klu Klux Klan lost its teeth only when Blacks started seriously arming and defending themselves against them, according to my high school history teacher, and not with government help. This fact is further corroborated by Civil Rights Activist Charles E. Cobb Jr.'s soon to be released book: This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible. Muslims should read this book and others about the Black armed resistance against the Klan and other White racists to understand how the practicing Christians protected themselves in America. We never see these examples because the revolution will not be televised, poet Gil Scot-Heron once said. As far as I am concerned, trouble is already here. We also need to understand that following the Holy Qur'an and Authentic Hadith gives us an even further advantage against our enemies.

(Source 7Online.com)

President Obama Goes Minstrel

Community Cop co-host Michael Greys referred to Pres. Obama as a minstrel for his performance at Rev. Clementa Pinckney's funeral, this past week. He broke out in song and sang Amazing Grace. Many of the Black minstrels beside him got up and started singing too! It is a very popular hymn written by sailor, John Newton, after a particularly rough night at sea on his slave ship. Even after he quit importing African slaves and became a minister, he still supported slavery for many years until very late in life. The big lie is that he immediately stopped slave trading and became an outspoken minister against slavery. (Courtesy of Artist's Work B.e.n.c.h.: Amazing Grace: The True Story... Really!!)

Artist's Work B.e.n.c.h.: Amazing Grace: The True Story....Have you heard the story of the hymn "Amazing Grace"?

View on artistsworkbench.bl...

Preview by Yahoo

Activist Dick Gregory questioned if the Jews would be singing a song in their temple about a German asking God for forgiveness for the terrible wrongs he conducted against the Jews? The "wretch" in the song refers to Newton, himself. The irony is that the melody for the song may have come from an old slave work song.

Pres. Obama has done ABSOLUTELY nothing to help improve the Black community at all. Yet, he can appear in blackened face with blood dripping from his hands and sing hymns, as if he were massa entertaining the slaves on the plantation. Many program callers were disturbed by this "performance" citing Obama's record for supporting White gaydom and this new trade agreement, which benefits Western countries, no doubt.

A caller also noted that a speaker at the funeral made a negative remark about the revolution going on in Baltimore and how the Blacks in South Carolina are the good ones (a White term) because they are staying out of the streets. Malcolm X stated that the White man's power is in the courts and the Black man's power is in the streets. Keep it in the streets. These funerals and the whole handling of these church murders have been sanctioned by the politicos just as the 1963 March on Washington had been.

Ironically, Obama may be the reason for these Black church burnings. These Whites resent a Black president in office and they feel with this Browning of America that they are losing control of a land they killed for. Anything can set these devils off!

Just like the Hadith warns Muslims to "tie your camel." Well, Black churches must not rely on government for protection. Black churches and towns were destroyed with government help. Anyway, government protection is reserved for the synagogues. There must be armed protection of Black churches by parishioners themselves.

It's interesting how a White "Christian" like Dylann Roof can be welcomed into a Black church only to betray its members in such a dastardly way. But, historically speaking, should Dylann Roof really be considered a wolf in sheep's clothing? There are Black churches who treat Black Muslims like we're God's avowed enemy and we certainly do not have a history of carrying out such a lethal agenda against them. Some Black Christians still do not know who their friends are and they are paying for it in the worst way!




Our America

How to Talk Against Homosexual ["Gay"] sex to non-Muslims.
Why not Legalize Polygamy? Sodomy can be a Healh Hazard, Islam Forbids it.

by Sis. Karin Friedemann [Boston]

Everything is Rainbow Gay this Week

In the 80's, the Rainbow Flag meant the Rainbow Coalition, which was a black anti-racism campaign that eventually morphed into the Green Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, and other paths. It could also refer to the Rainbow Family, which is a group of anti-war hippies, mainly white Christians. But somehow it got associated with Gay Pride. There doesn't seem to be anything else being discussed on anybody's newsfeed, including that of my children, other than this, lately.

I explained to them that in Islam, if two women are married to the same man, they are allowed to be naked together. But sodomy is very bad because mixing poopoo germs into the mouth or the vagina is very disgusting and leads to diseases, which could even involve death of a fetus. In my opinion, the preference of the people of Lut is very harmful to both men and women. This taboo is important to my culture. Some other cultures view sodomy between man and wife to be acceptable, but I do not personally feel comfortable accepting it. In my opinion, regarding religion, I think that sodomy should be avoided by both males and females.

Even though homosexual practices are against my religion, I am not going to raise a voice against gay marriage because I believe that freedom of religion is very important to this country and also to religion itself. If a person wants to practice homosexuality, this means they are essentially a pagan. But pagan beliefs should not be criminalized any more than any other religious belief. Also, normalization leads to more stable relationships, which will significantly reduce the spread of disease. In the same vein, I would like to see more activists lobbying for polygamous marriage legalization. In Canada, I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong) that a man or a woman can marry as many as will consent to the marriage. It is very important as Muslims to understand the value of the contract. It is far superior to the chaos of desire and fear mixed with freedom.

In my personal life experience, gay partnerships that I am acquainted with are the bedrock of artist and gardening communities because they do not dissolve in the way that heterosexual marriages so often break up. Decades go by and you can visit their home and nothing has changed.

Politicians love the gay community because they have expendable income - they have no more children, so they invest in property and pets. They have professional jobs but no heirs. They are like a priesthood. For those who view gays as a threat to society (which they are in many ways), we can only try to demonstrate that we do better with our own families and communities.

Tonight, which is July 3, Boston is so noisy with loud explosions from fireworks. Just like the starlets outside my window that chirp so loudly at 5am, the Boston Marathon trial seems to have resulted in unprecedented experimentation with explosives. However, despite the very very loud booms coming from all directions, there is an absolute silence of police sirens. It is midnight and I am hearing explosions echoing through the sky from all directions and a complete police absence.

At exactly 1am there is total silence.

I was driving down my own street at 11am and the sound of the explosions were very loud! I felt scared. But also I feel safer knowing that my neighbors hopefully know how to defend us! Now I am hearing a loud helicopter and the explosions stopped for like 45 seconds but then continued.

The local Dorchester radio station, 105.3 plays reggae and promotes a Christian/Rastafarai agenda. The theme that they were promoting I agree with. They said, "We do not curse our enemies. We pray for their redemption." Honestly, I think this is the best way.





Gaza, Palestine

"The Drone Eats With Me: Diaries from a City Under Fire."

[Wih thanks to Sharif and Br. Zaheer Bawany.]

By Vacy Vlazna

"We prepare the suhoor. We all sit around five dishes: white cheese, hummus, orange jam, yellow cheese, and olives. Darkness eats with us. Fear and anxiety eat with us. The unknown eats with us. The F16 eats with us. The drone, and its operator somewhere out in Israel, eat with us."

I read The Drone Eats With Me: Diaries from a City Under Fire by Atef Abu Saif in almost one sitting - resenting that I had to break to cook and eat dinner. These beautifully written searing diaries recounting each of the horrific 51 days of Israel's monstrous war on the people of Gaza sweeps the reader into Atef's anguished experience. An experience so dreadfully encompassing of the dark depths of human sentience that it is simultaneously personal and collective.

"Your personal concerns start to erode; even your gravest fears begin to seem unjustified. What does it matter if you're afraid for your children when all the children in the Strip are in immediate danger? What does it matter if you're worried that your house may be reduced to rubble when thousands are being destroyed up and down the Strip? Is your house any better than these countless others? Are your children any better than the hundreds who have been killed or maimed already?"

Atef shares with us the mental and emotional torment of every Palestinian parent, child, husband, wife, sibling, friend trapped in Gaza, as Chomsky puts it in the foreword, "under remorseless, relentless assault by the most advanced technology of killing and destruction that the ingenuity of modern civilization has devised".

The horror that to the outsider was unimaginable, becomes from the first to the last words, felt, real, and confronting. We are challenged to go way, way beyond the statistics and images of news-bites....

"Everything is turned into numbers. The stories are hidden, disguised, lost behind these numbers. Human beings, souls, bodies - all are converted into numbers."

...to the core truth of Palestinian suffering and the infernal Israeli cruelty that inhumanly inflicts it .....

"The Kawareh family - from Khan Younis, whom the drone decided to prevent from enjoying a meal on the roof of their small building under the moonlight - they were not just 'SIX'. They were six infinitely rich, infinitely unknowable stories that came to a stop when a dumb missile fell from a drone and tore their bodies apart. Six novels that Mahfouz, Dickens or Márquez could not have written satisfactorily. Novels that would have needed a miracle, a genius, to find the structure and poetry they deserved."

Israel systematically inflicts it on 1.7 million innocents with no place to escape in "a prison, one called Gaza" behind the bars of an illegal siege now in its eighth year.

We stand with Atef at the window of his home in al-Saftawi watching the deadly flashing of drones, the flames and 'Gobs of red fire [that] can be seen spitting out of the warships". We feel the house shake, feel all of Gaza shake under incessant explosions. We listen to "The constant pounding of the warships.... boom, boom, boom... are hollow sounds, mocking the thud of your heart", to the "sobbing and screaming of children", to F16's sonic thunder and "the symphony of explosions, the roar of mortars, the whir of drones." We negotiate with him the split second danger from the vigilant drone on his walk home from Jabalia where his family has taken overcrowded refuge. We wait in queues for food, put body parts in plastic bags and are engulfed by the dire agony of parents:

"The voice of a man from the Abu Namous family cries out; a reporter explains that the head he is carrying is that of his son, the brain is outside the head... The father cries out, begging his boy to wake up to see some toy he has bought him. Poor boy. Poor father."

"the father of one of the children killed in an attack on the Shuja'iyya quarter wails at the corpse of his son: 'Forgive me, son, I could not protect you!'"

"looking at my children and thinking they could be dead in a moment's time, that they could be transformed into one of those images on the TV - it's too much."

Abu Saif, 37 ex-prisoner, author, lecturer, playwright, columnist with his wife Hanna are parents of 5 children: "Talal, Mostafa, Naeem, Yasser. As my youngest, Jaffa, is only 19 months old..... This will be the third war my children have witnessed in five years."

The harrowing fate, devised by Israel, of Atef's children and of generations of Gaza's young innocents, "there's one [war] planted firmly in your childhood, one or two more in your adolescence, and so on... they toll the passing of time as you grow older like rings in a tree trunk", indicts Israel and its allies- the indifferent silent spectators of Gaza's suffering.

Those rings are the scars of war repeatedly torn open by the force of trauma; "Hearing a bomb in real life, for the first time in a couple of years, is like having a PTSD flashback. It jolts you to exactly where you were two years ago, five years ago, four decades ago, to the most recent, or very first time you heard one."

The nuclear tension of time in the diaries is in our knowing what Atef doesn't know as his narration unfolds day by day - that the Palestinians are doomed to 51 days of horror, "Everything becomes normal. The barbarity of it, the terror, the danger. It all becomes positively ordinary. The only real worry you have, after so many weeks, is a nagging feeling that this war is never going to end." And we know there will be no easing of the torment for the children especially,

"Whenever you hear the screams of children or think about their fear, the terror that can overwhelm them, the questions in their eyes, the quiver of their lips, the panic in their faces. Whenever you hear the things they say in the heat of confusion, their attempts to understand what's going on.

"One boy is still hysterical after seeing the flesh of his father and his uncle, mixed together like meat in a butcher's shop. They have yet to calm him down."

And then there is the sorrowful litany, that punctuates the diaries, of massacred families and of children of whom the Bakir boys playing football on the beach are merely 4 of 527 dead: "A series of missiles from a warship miles out to sea tore their game to shreds. Their blood mixed with the sand and the sea water, while their bodies were retrieved amid screams and continued shelling."

The diaries are a minute by minute collation of Israeli primeval war crimes and crimes against humanity in, what Hearst rightly labels Operation Stone Age - "The casualty rate grows steadily every day. More people are killed by single strikes in groups; in fives, sevens, nines. Individuals aren't the targets, but residences, family houses. They're bombed until there's nothing left."

Atef's experiences confirm the test imonies by Israeli soldiers' in the recent This is How We Fought in Gaza 2014 collected and released by Breaking the Silence and juxtapose the predictable hasbaric report that absolved Israel of war crimes. One hopes that there will be further published diaries by Palestinians at the front lines of humanitarian relief like Atef's friend Hisham, Red Crescent workers and medical staff.

There was a conspicuous omission in Atef's diaries; I expected with every turn of the page, among the detailed items of news, reference to Gaza's resistance fighters. Apart from a grudging entry about the 7th August, "Five military personnel have been killed in accidents during the day and are being carried to the graveyard, to their final rest. The gunshot was for their passing."

The integrity of the diaries would have been strengthened by a generous acknowledgement of the courage of the freedom fighters; the thousands of young 'sons of Palestine' and their 531 comrades who were martyred while holding their 'ground, costing Israel serious military losses, and igniting worldwide sympathy and respect' for defending Gaza.

On his return home from Gaza, Norwegian surgeon, Mads Gilbert made a dignifiedspeech lauding the Palestinian 'unbending determination not to submit to the occupation!'. By comparing Gaza to Norwegian resistance to the Nazis, Gilbert upheld the Palestinian' right to resist, even with weapons.'

Even, top senior Israeli intelligence official admitted that Israel underestimated the tenacity of Gaza fighters. A tenacity that boosted Palestinian morale and according to Samah Sabawi, gave Hamas its 'biggest and most significant gain ... an increase in popular support and admiration from Palestinians across the political and factional divide, as it became the epicentre of Palestinian resistance." as well as a valid claim to victory. This victory was affirmed by Hanin Zoabi and Marwan Barghouti as well as a poll by Ramallah-based Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research's which found 79% believed Hamas had won the war.

Atef's diaries are an essential must read that sheds light on the phenomenal heroic resilience of all Palestinians in Gaza's hell. Ultimately, on behalf of Gaza, Atef throws down a moral gauntlet,

"Who will convince this generation of Israelis that what they've done this summer is a crime? ....Who will convince the international community that it has a responsibility to be objective when things like this happen? No one, I suspect. Gaza has no one to help it. The people have only hope and their own resilience to fall back on."

We, all of us, have the means to convince Israel and the international community that Palestinians "have a right to live in peace" through Boycott Divestment and Sanctions, (BDS) which now has the legal and obligatory force of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) signed by 130 nations.

Through BDS, we can pressure our governments to strike off Israel's killing and maiming power as the ATT, on 24 December 2014, became binding in international law requiring states to end the transfer of arms that would be used in war crimes and genocide.

- Dr. Vacy Vlazna is Coordinator of Justice for Palestine Matters. She was Human Rights Advisor to the GAM team in the second round of the Acheh peace talks, Helsinki, February 2005 then withdrew on principle. Vacy was coordinator of the East Timor Justice Lobby as well as serving in East Timor with UNAMET and UNTAET from 1999-2001. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.




War News:

Heavy Fighting in Aleppo, Hasakeh, Qalamoun, Damascus suburb
June 29 to July 5. An intense battle is going on in Aleppo as a mujahideen coalition advances on Assad forces entrenched in western Aleppo. The Assad air force is going all out to bomb the mujahideen. The Islamic fighters have captured the former research center, heavily defended by Alawite troops from where they can strike at other Assad positions. [Assad's agents blew up a mosque at iftar time killing 35 Islamic fighters.]

On July 5 Islamic State fighters are holding on to a district in Hasakeh, northeastern Syria in spite of steady attacks by the Assad air force and the US air force.
In the Qalamoun mountains, Hizbullah has entered the resort town of Zabadani to keep a supply route open for Assad. A small mujahideen force is defending the town.

Earlier, IS raided Tel Abyed now in YPG [Communist Kurdish] hands and withdrew after inflicting casualties.

Also on July 4, US air force carried out its heaviest bombing of Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State, killing 23 Islamic fighters and 10 civilians including a 10 year old. Scores of civilians were injured. [Source BBC.]

IS has released a video showing its execution of 25 Assad troops in Palmyra accused of crimes against humanity.

The Islamic State [IS] blew up the notorious Tadmur prison [in Palmyra] after emptying it. The prison was the center of the Assad families' crimes, including horrific torture and burning alive and unmentionable humiliation and execution of Muslim prisoners over 35 years.

A Bangladeshi family of 12 has reported to the BBC from Raqqa that they are doing well in the Islamic State. These were British citizens who flew to Bangladesh and then to Istanbul and finally entered Syria. The head of the family is Abdul Mannan, 73, with his wife, three sons and a daughter and another relative and his wife and children. The 21 year old daughter is said to have initiated the move under the influence of al-Muhajeroun movement in Luton, England.

Also, in England, the lawyer of the three young women [two Bangladeshi, one Ethiopian[ who slipped through British security to join the Islamic State [IS] said that they have reported that two of them have married 20 year old mujahideen and are very happy. Their parents in England are in turmoil. The three were A grade level students and no one believes British government disinformation that the girls were fooled by IS.




War News: Egypt

Egyptian Army units Stopping Access to Gaza attacked by Islamic State Sinai Group.
Heavy Losses


On July 1 and 2, mujahideen fighters linked to the Sinai branch of the Islamic State [IS] attacked army units at 5 checkpoints at Abu Zuweid controlling the access to Gaza. In fast moving attacks the Islamics inflicted heavy casualties. The Egyptian government is downplaying its losses but Christian Science Monitor and wire service say 70 Egyptian troops were killed and scores of their vehicles destroyed.

As the fighters withdrew, they were attacked by the Egyptian air force which bombed and killed 22 fighters.

The IS mujahideen fired two rockets into Israel [occupied Palestine]. before the Egyptian air force scrambled to attack them.

Israel's Netanyahoo expressed concern that now IS is near Israeli positions.

Earlier on Monday, June 29, a huge bomb attack near Cairo fatally wounded General Sissi's chief public prosecutor Hisham Barakat who had been busy getting opponents of the regime sentenced to death. He died of his wounds the next day.

Later, Egyptian police entered an apartment and killed 9 leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, unarmed, who were discussing relief for the families of thousands of political prisoners detained by General Sissi's regime,





War News: Somalia

al-Shabab's Unexpected Victory leads to chaotic retreat of pro-West Forces from western Somalia

July 1: Al-Shabab mujahideen launched a surprise attack on an army base of the African Union troops sent in by western powers, These were from Burundi . [Western powers send in non-Muslim troops to crush Muslim Somali people.] Of the one hundred Burundi troops in Leedo, 70 were killed and the rest wounded.

As the news spread, the entire anti-Shabab military structure collapsed [says BBC] and there was a general retreat. Most of Somalia is back in the hands of al-Shabab.




War News: Nigeria

Boko Haram at the gates of Maiduguri, also attacks in Chad.
French President arrives in Cameroon to stop BH.


Most reports from Nigeria come via the military and carry atrocity stories against Boko Haram with no evidence.

However a few facts are available that Boko Haram is stronger than before and advancing.

July 1 to July 4. Fighting is reported near Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria. Loud explosions are heard and troops are working hard to stop the Boko Haram advance into this key city.

Also earlier, BH attacked police headquarters in the capital of Chad, Ndjamena, killing dozens of Chadian officers, only weeks after Chadian troops attacked Boko Haram on the Nigerian border.

The French president, Hollande, alarmed at the BH advances, arrived in Cameroon to coordinate forces against the mujahideen.

Cameroon admitted that it had mistakenly attacked a Quran study school, killing teachers and arresting a hundred students, some of them 10 years old. Cameroon has now realized that they are not terrorists and has released 83 of the children.




War News: Yemen

Saudis using Cluster bombs. 100 days of bombing.
Al-Qaeda breaks prison, releases 1200 Prisoners.


News reports, including an eye witness on NPR, indicate that the Saudi air force has committed serious crimes in Yemen with its daily bombing campaign. Almost 3000 people have been killed and 30,000 wounded. Of those killed 1700 are said to be civilians including women and children.

Human Rights Watch reported on July 1 that the Saudi planes are dropping cluster bombs which are an illegal weapon if used on civilians.

Also, on June 30, in Taiz there was a huge prison break. Taking advantage of the fighting between the Houthis and the pro-Saudis, al-Qaeda attacked the biggest prison in Yemen and released 1200 prisoners, many of them their supporters. . Most of southeastern and eastern Yemen is now in al-Qaida hands while from Sanaa to Saada in the north is in the hands of the Houthis.

Fighting continues on a daily basis in Aden.




In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Lord of Mercy

ZAKAT-UL-FITR IS WAJIB

©Imam Ali Siddiqui

It is reported that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: "Remember! Zakat-ul-Fitr is Wajib (strongly recommended, just short of obligatory) on every Muslim, man or woman, free or in servitude, adult or child."

Literal meaning of Zakat (or Zakah) is the process of purification. Fitr is from the word Fitrah and its literal meaning is (one's) nature or natural state. Hence the meaning of Zakat-ul-Fitr is to purify one's nature.

Ibn Abbas (ra) reported that the Prophet (saw) made the Zakat-ul-Fitr obligatory for the purpose of: purifying our fasting from vain talk and shameful mistakes, to make arrangements for the poor and the needy for food and clothing (for the festival of Eid). (Hadith: Abu Dawud, Ibn Maja)

Every adult Muslim, with sufficient food for the family for a day, should pay Zakat-ul-Fitr for himself/herself and all his/her dependents. Even those who did not fast should pay it. Zakat-ul-Fitr should also be paid for the child born or the person died before the Fajr (dawn) on the day of Eid.

At the time of the Prophet (saw), payment of Zakat-ul-Fitr was made in terms of weight of grain. It is one Sa for each person. One Sa approximately equals to 3.15 kg or 6.94 lbs. The Muslim jurists agree that Zakat-ul-Fitr can also be paid in cash equivalent to the cost of 3.15kg/6.94 lb. of grain including rice, wheat, lentils, corn,

Abu Saeed (ra) said: "We used to give for Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of every child, aged person, free man or slave during the lifetime of the Messanger of Allah (saw), one Sa'a of food, or one Sa'a of dried yogurt, or one Sa'a of barley, or one Sa'a of dates, or one Sa'a of raisins." (Hadith, Agreed Upon)

Prophet Muhammad (saw) has said, "Whoever paid it (Zakat-ul-Fitr) before Salatul Eid, it is acceptable Zakat before Al'lah. Whoever paid it after Salat-ul-Eid, it is just a charity." The companion of the Prophet (ra) used

Imam Shafi'i held the opinion that Zakat-ul-Fitr can be paid as early as the beginning of Ramadan. I suggest that Zakat-ul-Fitr should be paid early enough so it will reach the needy and the poor before the Eid day. It will enable them to use it for food and clothes and give them the opportunity to enjoy the happiness of Eid-ul-

Zakat-ul-Fitr should be paid directly to the needy and the poor. However, you can also pay it to an organization, which would distribute it in accordance with the teaching of Islam. Remember! It is still your responsibility.

So, make sure before paying that the organization will distribute it according to the teaching of

There is a new concern in collection and distribution of Zakat-ul-Fitr and Zakat-ul-Maal in the Western countries. Millions of dollars have been confiscated by the government agencies. This requires additional care on our part to select an organization carefully and rationally so that Zakat is delivered to the rightful person.

Year after year, Zakat is sent to deserving persons in the Muslim World by the Muslims living in the Western countries. Let's try to spend some of it in our own communities including Moaliful Qoloob, non-Muslims to turn their hearts and minds as friends of our communities. This will require knowing our own communities and friendly and deserving non-Muslims. It may be difficult at first but it will be better for us.

One Masjid recently in Florida reached out to the community to help in reaching out to those who maybe in need to receive Zakat-ul-Fitr, yet they don't to ask for help.

I heard many amounts over the years. It is a tendency to fix a higher amount by many organizations so that they may collect sufficient amount to distribute among the poor and the needy. One year it even went up to $15 per person. When specifying an amount "it should be fixed at a minimum amount" in accordance with the teaching of Islam, so that everyone can pay it with ease; however, we should "encourage Muslims to pay a Minimum Zakat-ul-Fitr is "one Sa" in weight of grain. One Sa is approximately equal to 3.15 kg or 6.94 lbs.

Every person should look at the price of grain where they shop. One either pays Zakat-ul-Fitr a weight of 6.94 lbs. or 3.15 kg in grain or its cash equivalent. Additional point, if in your life style you eat top-of-the-line fancy, pay accordingly.

May Allah accept your fasting,

© Imam Ali Siddiqui, 1982, Revised May 9, 2015

2015-07-06 Mon 20:23:30 ct

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