Narrated Abu Mas'ud Al-Ansari:The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
"When a Muslim spends something on his family intending to
receive Allah's reward it is regarded as Sadaqa for
him."
Last month I had lunch at a halal Bangladeshi restaurant. I
noticed a university student from Bangladesh, We started
talking and I told him about my visits to Bangladesh.
Our conversation was very civil and to my surprise we agreed
on fundamentals. We parted as friends. [This restaurant is
run by a Bangladeshi woman who wears hijab.]
We agreed that though political unity is not possible right
now, communication at the people-to-people level should be
increased.
I would ask my readers to consider these points:
Reconciliation right now is not possible because the
rulers and elites on both sides are highly antagonistic to
each other.
The Bangladeshis begin with the numbers of people killed
by the army [in the millions] and the rapes and atrocities
against Bengali women.
The {west] Pakistanis point to focus on the slaughter of
Biharis and pro-Pakistan Bengalis. They also feel humiliated
by the surrender of the Pakistani army to the Indian army.
[West] Pakistanis think that Bengalis are only marginally
Muslim, "almost" Hindus.
These impressions are largely false and are fed by
propaganda on both sides.
I have visited Bangladesh three times after East Pakistan
became Bangladesh. My visits were very detailed and I am an
eyewitness to the facts which follow here:
Bengalis are very conservatively Islamic. There are
mosques in every city and in every village. Tablighi Jamaat
holds the largest gathering of Muslims in the Indo-Pakistan
region.
Insults aimed at Islam and the Prophet, pbuh, are not
tolerated. Taslima Nasreen had to leave after country
after she wrote an abusive book about the Qur'an and Islam.
A high profile Bengladeshi economist sensed that his life
was in danger after he made some oblique references of
support for homosexuality.
The strongest building in every villages which can
survive the country's severe rain storms is the mosque. The
ordinary people fund and build these small mosques.
Support for Pakistan is still widespread. Urdu is the
second language for the older generation. Some of the finest
buildings in Dhaka were built during the East Pakistan
era.
Bengalis are sensitive and emotional people. You can only
win them over with love, not with money. [To be
continued]
A clever attack on Hadith.
A Look at Ghamidi, one of Pakistan's Smooth Talking
"Secular" Muslims
by Kaukab Siddique
In the Muslim world, "secularist" is a westernized Muslim
who thinks that Islam is a matter of personal belief and
should not be involved in politics, economics and social
planning. The problem arises when secularists try to impose
their limited version of Islam on the entire country with
the help of Anglo-American power and a government which is
controlled by the West.
Here is an interview with one Pakistani secularist. This is
the link. It is in Urdu but my comments relate to its
specific points.
Javed Ghamdi's interview is typical of westernized
Pakistanis who are out of touch wih the realities of
Pakistan even while living in Pakistan. . Unfortunately the
lady interviewing him also shows lack of knowledge of Islam
and is not able to oppose ANY of his views or to question
him in depth. There are basic contradictions and absurdities
in his statements. He complains about intolerance and lack
of freedom of expression in Pakistan. If one looks at the
Pakistani media, newspapers, TV, one can see that Pakistan
has more freedom of expression than America. People even
attack the existence of Pakistan [e.g. MQM's views in
Karachi] and are still tolerated. Christians carry out
rallies and are not arrested for doing so. Every sect is
openly and clearly expressing itself and no one can stop
them.
Ghamdi is a clever "QUR'AN ONLY" sectarian. He claims that
one can know everything about the Prophet Muhammad, pbuh,
from the Qur'an. That is a baseless claim. Most of the
chapters of the Qur'an DO NOT even mention the name of
Muhammad, pbuh. If one reads Hadith, then only can one know
that the Qur'an is addressing Muhammad, pbuh.
Like a Perwaizi sectarian [an anti-Hadith group in
Pakistan], Ghamdi tries to insult Sahaba, r.a. by claiming
that Hadith narratives amount to : "kisi nay kaha." [Someone
said.]. ALL the Sahaba,r.a., of any stature narrated Hadith.
It is a form of kufr to dismiss them as "kisi." On the other
hand, when it comes to supporting Prophet's, pbuh,
humbleness and gentleness, Ghamdi dishonestly starts using
Hadith.
In Islam, none of the Prophets and messengers are equal to
Muhammad, pbuh, although we accept all of them as having
brought the truth and are equal in that sense. They were for
their own times and their own nations.
"That was a people who have passed away. They shall reap the
fruit of what they did, and you of what you do! Of their
merits there is no question in your case." {The Qur'an
2:141}
Their Shar'ia and Sunnah are unknown today, while that of
Muhammad, pbuh, is part of the lives of 1.8 billion people.
Ghamdi claims that prophets are equal, thus trying to
undermine the authority of Muhammad, pbuh. The Qur'an does
not say they are equal:
"Those Messengers We endowed with gifts, some above others:
To one of them Allah spoke; others He raised to degrees of
honor....." [The Qur'an 2 253.]
Ghamdi spends a lot of time stressing the gentleness of the
Prophet, pbuh, and how soft he was in his dealings. That is
partially true, but Muhammad, pbuh, also taught Jihad and
was strong against the oppressors. He was a complete human
being, a warner and a bringer of good news.
The Qur'an says: "O Prophet! Do jihad against the kuffar and
the munafiqueen, and be firm against them. Their abode is
hell, - an evil refuge indeed. " [The Qur'an 9:73]
Obviously Ghamdi is out of touch with Pakistan. American
drones have killed several thousand Pakistanis. The
government is in America's hands. The military is also in
America's hands and has killed 30,000 Muslims. Secularists
are trying to legitimize blasphemy so that Muhammad, pbuh,
can be insulted just as Jesus, pbuh, is insulted in America.
So Ghamidi is wrong in saying that the Ulema should be soft
and smiling. Pakistan cannot afford to be soft and smiling
when it is under attack from outside and inside.
Perwaizis must be desperate that they bring a fringe person
like Ghamdi to oppose the great Ulema of today who are
standing up to a Superpower.
A CURRY SPICE THAT KILLS CANCER CELLS !
[Via Sis. Yasmin]
An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice 'Turmeric'
can kill off cancer cells,
scientists have shown that the chemical 'Curcumin'has long
been thought to have healing powers and is already being
tested as a treatment for Arthritis and even
Dementia...!
Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Center show
it can destroy
gullet cancer cells in the Lab.
Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of
Cancer could help
doctors find new treatments.
Dr Sharon Mc Kenna and her team found that
'Curcumin' started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours !
A NATURAL REMEDY.
The cells also began to digest themselves, after the
'Curcumin' triggered lethal cell death signals.
Dr Mc Kenna said:
"Scientists have known for a long time that natural
compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have
become cancerous and we suspected that 'Curcumin'
might have therapeutic value."
Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer
Research U.K.said:
"This is interesting research which opens up the possibility
that natural chemicals found
in Turmeric could be developed into new treatments for
Oesophageal Cancer.
"Rates of oesophageal cancer have gone up by more than a
half since the 70s and this is thought to be linked to
rising rates of obesity, alcohol intake and reflux disease
so finding
ways to prevent this disease is important too."
Each year around 7,800 people are diagnosed with oesophageal
cancer in the UK. It is the sixth most common cause of
cancer death and accounts for around five percent of all UK
cancer deaths...!
This yellow spice gives curries their bright color !
NATURE'S BRAIN PROTECTING MIRACLE !
There are a number of natural brain protectors out there,
but did you know that one herb has shown more promise when
it comes to supporting your Neurological system than any
other medical finding to date ? It's a scientific fact that
'Curcumin', an antioxidant compound
found in the root of the 'Turmeric' plant, is one of the
most powerful natural brain protecting substances on the
planet ! It continues to amaze scientists with its
remarkable cognitive
health benefits.
You may be familiar with 'Turmeric' as the bright yellow
spice that is commonly found in curry powder. 'Turmeric' has
a long history as a healing herb and culinary spice
in India. Interestingly, India has the highest per capita
consumption of 'Turmeric'
and the lowest incidence of cognitive decline Worldwide !
My 'Salaams' to all.
COURTESY ~ Sis Yasmin~
Latest Khutba
Latest Revolutionary Khutba
Rules for Giving the Message of Islam:
Audience and Constituency.
Publicity of Private lives & Sex is Haram.
On February 2, Br. Kaukab Siddique gave the juma' khutba and
led prayers at Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Baltimore.
Here Is an outline of the khutba:
Muslims spend their time sending appeals and advice to
members of the Congress and the Senate and to the President,
These people who are in power have their own agendas and
they are in office owing to the groups which are out to use
power for narrow ends. Muslims are a tiny minority here and
are quite leaderless.
Muslims do not realize that the people in power want to
use them to fulfil their own agendas.
Muslim groups have been coopted by the power groups and
do not [or cannot] oppose the people in power.
Those who are few in numbers, like us, but have the
revelations from Allah to guide them, can bring about
changes in policy by challenging the authorities. We have
the examples of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be
on them, to guide us. The Qur'an is very powerful in its
commands to Moses to challenge the Pharoah.
None of the Prophets cooperated with the people in power.
There is no place in Islam for cooperation with those who
think they are the decision makers. Authority belongs to
Allah alone.
Instead of appealing to the rulers, we should go to those
who WANT Islam or are looking for a way out of the status
quo.
I would go to African Americans, Central Americans, women
and people in the prisons. Prisoners alone number more than
2,000,000. Why are we not writing letters of support to the
oppressed? Why don't we give the Qur'an to those who want
it.
The best da'wah is by personal; example. Alcohol, drugs,
gambling and fornication are forbidden by the word of God.
We should show the nation that we can be clean because of
the Qur'an.
Drugs are the biggest calamity in America now. In one
year more than 65,000 young people died from overdoses.
American youths in many cases have nothing but emptiness in
their spirits. Without hope and without belief in the
HEREAFTER, the drugs are the only thing these young people
have.
The Me Too movement has shown that women of all races
have been molested, mistreated, abused and even raped. Our
teachings about women can change this nation. Similarly
Black Lives Matter have shown us that young Black men can be
gunned down in the streets by the authorities. Year after
year this has happened. Only Islam can bring about a
REVOLUTION.
the media have played an important role in promoting
disrespect for women, extreme violence and massive
pornography under various guises.
Every man is becoming the enemy of every woman and vice
verse. Then they come on line and abuse and insult their
girl friends and partners. The uncovering of private lives
is strictly forbidden in Islam. When sexuality becomes a
weapon to humiliate the female, the children are disturbed
and traumatized.
The behavior of slave masters towards women has come
back. We have slavery again but under the guise of
liberalism,
On top of these layers of evil, we have homosexuality
working as a powerful movement openly defying the law of God
[Allah]. Media and movies are being used on a daily basis to
"normalize" LGBTq.
Muslims should realize that the bombing, occupation and
destruction of Muslim countries are simply overseas
extensions of the evil which is exploding within America.
Entire cities have been wiped out: Eastern Aleppo, Raqqa,
Mosul.
Those who fight back are labelled as outlaws by global
media every day. We must teach our children how to
understand and defeat the media.
Study the Qur'an and hadith on a daily basis. Talk to
independent scholars. Pray constantly for Allah's help In
all good deeds. Follow the Sunnah of Muhammad, pbuh, and the
example of his Sahaba, r,.a. Prayers without positive and
timely action are not Islamic. We have too much du'a and
even minor actions do not follow.
Conclusion: Da'wah should to:
Spouses and children.
Family and community.
Masjid and ummah.
Misled Muslims.
Ordinary non-Muslims.
Challenge to rulers
PAKISTAN
Khadim Hussain Rizvi
New Face of Islamic Uprising
Attacking Bilawal's idol worship and Sharif's corruption
Karachi: Maulana Rizvi addressed a large gathering.
His language is a mixture of Urdu and Punjabi.
He urged people to bring peaceful change by voting for the
new Sunni movement LABBAIKE YA RASOOL ALLAH.
He pointed out PPP leader Bilawal [son of Benazir] who bowed
down before Hindu idols. That is kufr.
This is the first Pakistsni leader to note that all the
noise about the tragedy of the child Zainab was meant to
smear Pakistan, otherwise such horrific crimes are committed
in other countries too [USA, India, etc] but are not given
much attention.
[He personally went to Kasur to lead funeral prayers.]
Kashmir
Suffering and Mourning of a Helpless People.
[Courtesy Al-Jazeera. February2]
Indian-occupied Kashmir - Ganawpora is in mourning. The
small village in the southern part of Kashmir's Shopian
district has lost five young men, including a rebel, in less
than a week.
One of them, 19-year-old Javaid Ahmad Bhat, was a big
cricket fan. On the morning of January 27, he was playing
cricket before returning home for lunch. He left his home in
the afternoon for the market but never come back. Instead,
the villagers carried his body back home.
Bhat and two other young students - Suhail Ahmad Lone and
Rayees Ahmad Ganai - were killed when the army fired upon
them at Ganawpora village.
India's army says they fired after they came under "intense"
stone pelting but the villagers call the firing as
"indiscriminate and targeted". The state police have
registered a case against the army for killing
civilians.
Abdul Rashid Bhat, 65, trembles as he talks about his son.
In his mud and brick home, he is surrounded by more than a
dozen men. As his voice choked recalling his son, the men
unsuccessfully tried to fight their tears.
"On January 27, he was playing cricket until noon. That was
his routine," said a wailing Waheeda, Javaid's younger
sister. "When he returned, he asked mother for lunch and
left home to buy a gas cylinder. After an hour, we heard he
has been killed".
Though Waheeda could say a few words, her mother, Saja
Begum, 55, has been silent for the five days now. She has
not uttered a word since the news of her son's death, the
neighbours say.
Javaid was the only sibling who went for higher studies. The
others - an older brother and three sisters dropped out of
school - the family members told Al Jazeera.
"He was very bright and wanted to study. He always wanted to
share the responsibilities of home. Little did I know this
tragedy will fall on us," Javaid's father, a farmer,
said.
"Javaid would crack jokes in the evening. I had my hopes
pinned on him as he wanted to do something good in life to
shift from farming."
'Killed in cold blood'
A kilometre away from Bhat's house, men and women gathered
in separate rooms to mourn the death of 16-year-old Suhail
Ahmad Lone. It was outside Suhail's home where the firing
incident happened.
The residents said that on the morning of January 27, some
young men had gathered at the village graveyard to pay
respect to a rebel who was killed in a gun battle on January
24.
The boys had hung a black banner on the graveyard that had
La Ila ha ilala (There is no God but Allah) written on it.
The army came and they told the villagers to remove the
banner. The villagers refused, leading to an argument, the
villagers said. The army returned in the afternoon and
allegedly opened indiscriminate fire on the youth.
They were killed for nothing. It happens in Kashmir only;
they just kill our children and go.
Saeda Begum, Narpora resdident
Suhail's father, Javed Ahmad Lone, recounted each of those
moments before his son's death.
"There was intense firing going outside. When there was a
relative calm, Suhail went out," Lone said, while feeling
the bullet holes on the wall of his room that were fired by
the army during the incident.
"I was behind him. The army was leaving (the village) and
from a distance, they fired at him. I screamed for help.
People came and took him to the hospital," Lone said
In total, five boys, including a local rebel, were killed in
the village from January 24.
In the adjacent village, known as Narpora, dozens of people
- men, women, and children of all age groups - walked
towards the home of Rayees Ahmad Ganai, 23. Rayees was
critically wounded in the firing and succumbed four days
later.
"They were killed for nothing. It happens in Kashmir only;
they just kill our children and go," said Saeda Begum, 50, a
villager, while wailing and shouting slogans.
The villagers say that the army firing was unprovoked. The
army, however, says they came under "intense stone pelting"
and the protesters tried to "lynch an army officer". The
villagers disagree.
"There were no warning shots from the army," said Lone. "My
son was targeted in his neck. The other boy was hit in the
head. How can this be in self-defence? They could have fired
on their legs."
'Hopeless probes'
The families, however, said they don't "trust any
investigation carried out by the government", citing past
experiences.
"We don't want to take part in any investigation; they are a
farce," said Javaid's father.
Before completing the sentence, he points towards his
brother, Muhammad Yousuf, sitting among the mourners.
"His 16-year-old son, Aqib Ahmad, who was supplying water to
the army, was beaten to death by them in 2012. When they
can't spare those who serve them, what should I expect?" he
asked.
"Everyone that time also said that the matter will be
investigated and justice will be delivered but nothing
happened," he said.
Suhail's family also has little expectations of justice.
"We ask the government not to harass us in the name of the
probe," said 45-year-old Lone.
"It is their court, their police and their administration
that will carry the probe. We don't want any compensation.
We don't want any job. We want them to leave us alone. If
they can bring back my son back, then they should talk."
Despite the registration of a case, the chances that the
accused soldiers would be tried appear slim.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a controversial
law, that is applicable in the region, gives protection to
Indian soldiers against human rights violations and makes it
mandatory for the state government to seek sanction for
prosecution from Indian defence ministry.
The data by the Indian defence ministry shows none of the
previous cases has ever proceeded to the stage of
prosecution.
From 2001 to 2016, the ministry received 50 requests of
sanction for prosecution from the region's government.
The ministry denied sanction for prosecution in 47 cases
while the fate three pending cases are yet to be
decided.
Of the 50 cases, 17 pertained to the alleged killing of
civilians, 16 to custodial deaths, 8 to alleged custodial
disappearances and 4 to alleged rape and molestation.
Parvez Imroz, a senior human rights lawyer in the region,
told Al Jazeera that in past too, there have been cases
filed against the army but there has been no
prosecution.
"These cases are a mere eyewash. There is AFSPA, which stops
the prosecution of army men. No justice happens in these
cases," Imroz said.
International human rights organisations have accused the
Indian army of human rights abuses in Kashmir and demanded
the repeal of AFSPA.
Kashmir continues to be one of the longest unresolved
conflicts between India and Pakistan as both states claim it
in its entirety.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir's mostly Muslim
population, and most support the rebels' cause against
Indian rule, despite a decades-long military crackdown on
dissent.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera News
War News
Pakistan
Army hit in Swat. New Infiltration by mujahideen
February 3. At a military camp in
Swat, a martyrdom attacker killed 11Pakistani troops
including a captain.
Another 13 soldiers were wounded.
[Background report from our Pakistan observer.]
Readers might remember, the Pakistani military tried to
crush the people of Swat who demanded Sharia as law. At a
signal from Washington, the regime launched a full scale
military invasion of Swat. Led by Maulvi Fazlullah, the
people of Swat put up heroic resistance.
The military then ordered the removal of the ENTIRE
population of Swat, thus turning the area into a free fire
zone. Jets, helicopter gunships, long range artillery and
tanks were used against the mujahideen. When the regime
tried to advance on the ground, it suffered heavy losses.
Finally the regime dropped air borne forces behind the
mujahideen defense lines. Maulvi Fazlullah was wounded and
took refuge in an area of Afghanistan which is under Islamic
control.
The regime brought back and re-settled 400,000 people after
extreme vetting [somewhat on the American pattern of
Fallujah in Iraq]. About 100,000 are still living in
camps.
[Removal of an entire population is genocide under
international law but Washington curtailed all mention of
military atrocities.]
[The release of 93 year old Sharia leader Sufi Muhammad on
health grounds as if he is a criminal could have provoked
the new attack. He is the father in law of Fazlullah. The
military kept him in prison for 8 years although case after
case brought against him was thrown out by the courts. He is
a deeply religious scholar, beloved of the people, steeped
in the lore of Islam. The dastardly Pakistani military
presented him as if Sharia is a crime and that he is a
traitor.]
Syria
Bombing and Shelling by Russian-Alawite-Iranian-Shia
militias across Syria. Damascus suburbs and Idlib province
hit Hard.
Turkish Advance Slowed Down.. IS fights regime in
Deir-Ez-Zor, and advances in northern Hama and Idlib
Border.
February 1-4: Following a barrage of ground- to- ground
missiles against Douma, Herasta and other areas around
Damascus, regime militias advanced against Jaysh al-Islam
fighters in the al-Marj area near Damascus but were beaten
back.
In retaliation, mujahideen hit parts of Damascus held by
Assad with mortar fire. Civilian casualties in Assad's
Damascus are now increasing while civilian deaths in areas
of Damascus suburbs bombed by Assad forces are steadily
increasing.
IS fighters advanced a little further into Damascus in the
Yarmouk area after a heavy clash with regime forces.
MAJOR IS ADVANCES.
During the week Jan, 29-Feb.4, Islamic State {IS] fighters
captured scores of villages in south eastern Idlib province
and north eastern Hama province. On February 2-4, Assad's
forces [led by Lebanese Hizb] attacked IS positions and
re-captured two of the villages. Fighting there continues,
SOHR reports.
On February 3, near Saqreb in Idlib province, mujahideen of
Tahrir [al-Nusra] shot down a Russian SU-25 jet which was
attacking a convoy of civilian buses escaping the area.
Seven civilians were killed by the jet before it was shot
down by a mujahid with a hand held missile. The pilot bailed
out but refused to be captured and was killed in the
gunfight which followed.
TURKEY
Fighters of FSA factions [Free Syrian Army] supporting
Turkey captured 11 villages in the Afrin area during the
week. There was severe fighting between Kurdish Communists
[SDF] and FSA resulting in scores dead on both sides.
Turkish jets and artillery are again hitting SDF positions
around the Afrin area. Within Afrin Kurds have carried
demonstrations protesting the Turkish advance into
Turkey.
Afrin is now surrounded by FSA supporting Turkey. The only
way out is controlled by Assad's forces.
SDF [YPG] is firing rockets into Turkey. It hit a Turkish
tank killing 8 Turkish troops.
News Within the U.S.
Major Defeat for Zionists Trying to Suppress Boycott of Israel.
[Courtesy The Intercept.]
January 30
[This was done by ONE Christian Mennonite. Misled groups
like CAIR and ICNA should learn that you don't have to
support a political party to do good. ....New Trend
editor]
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that a Kansas law designed
to punish people who boycott Israel is an unconstitutional
denial of free speech. The ruling is a significant victory
for free speech rights because the global campaign to
criminalize, or otherwise legally outlaw, the Boycott,
Divestment, and Sanctions movement has been spreading
rapidly in numerous political and academic centers in the
U.S. This judicial decision definitively declares those
efforts — when they manifest in the U.S. — to be
a direct infringement of basic First Amendment rights
guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
The enjoined law, enacted last year by the Kansas
legislature, requires all state contractors — as a
prerequisite to receiving any paid work from the state
— "to certify that they are not engaged in a boycott
of Israel." The month before the law was implemented, Esther
Koontz, a Mennonite who works as a curriculum teacher for
the Kansas public school system, decided that she would
boycott goods made in Israel, motivated in part by a film
she had seen detailing the abuse of Palestinians by the
occupying Israeli government, and in part by a resolution
enacted by the national Mennonite Church. The resolution
acknowledged "the cry for justice of Palestinians,
especially those living under oppressive military occupation
for fifty years"; vowed to "oppose military occupation and
seek a just peace in Israel and Palestine"; and urged
"individuals and congregations to avoid the purchase of
products associated with acts of violence or policies of
military occupation, including items produced in [Israeli]
settlements."
A month after this law became effective, Koontz, having just
completed a training program to teach new courses, was
offered a position at a new Kansas school. But, as the court
recounts, "the program director asked Ms. Koontz to sign a
certification confirming that she was not participating in a
boycott of Israel, as the Kansas Law requires." Koontz
ultimately replied that she was unable and unwilling to sign
such an oath because she is, in fact, participating in a
boycott of Israel. As a result, she was told that no
contract could be signed with her.
In response to being denied this job due to her political
views, Koontz retained the American Civil Liberties Union,
which sued the commissioner of education, asking a federal
court to enjoin enforcement of the law on the grounds that
denying Koontz a job due to her boycotting of Israel
violates her First Amendment rights. The court on Tuesday
agreed and preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the
law.
The ruling is significant for two independent reasons. The
first is the definitive and emphatic nature of the ruling.
The court dispensed with an oft-repeated but mythical belief
about free speech rights: namely, that they only bar the
government from imprisoning or otherwise actively punishing
someone for their views, but do not bar them from
withholding optional benefits (such as an employment
contract) as retaliation for those views. Very little effort
is required to see why such a proposition is wrong: Just
imagine a law which provided that only people who believe in
liberalism (or conservatism) will be eligible for
unemployment benefits or college loans. Few would have
trouble understanding the direct assault on free speech
guarantees posed by such a law; the same is true of a law
that denies any other benefits (including employment
contracts) based on the state's disapproval of one's
political views, as the court explained in its ruling
(emphasis added):
Even more important is the court's categorical decree that
participating in boycotts is absolutely protected by the
First Amendment's guarantee of free speech and petition
rights. Citing the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case that invoked
free speech rights to protect members of the NAACP from
punishment by the state of Mississippi for boycotting
white-owned stores, the court in the Kansas case pointedly
ruled that "the First Amendment protects the right to
participate in a boycott." In doing so, it explained that
the core purpose of the Kansas law is to punish those who
are critical of Israeli occupation and are working to end
it: "The Kansas Law's legislative history reveals that its
goal is to undermine the message of those participating in a
boycott of Israel. This is either viewpoint discrimination
against the opinion that Israel mistreats Palestinians or
subject matter discrimination on the topic of Israel."
Indeed, it's hard to imagine a law that more directly
violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech than
one that seeks to deny people benefits for which everyone
else is eligible due solely to the state's disapproval of
their political views and activism. Since that's exactly
what this Kansas law did, the court concluded that it was
unconstitutional.
Beyond the court's emphatic rationale, the decision is
significant because repressive measures like this have
spread, and continue to spread, far beyond Kansas. Indeed,
as we have repeatedly reported and documented, the single
greatest threat to free speech in the West — and in
the U.S. — is the coordinated, growing campaign to
outlaw and punish those who advocate for or participate in
activism to end the Israeli occupation.
Numerous other U.S. states have implemented similar measures
as the one in Kansas — including New York, where, as
we previously reported, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued
an executive order directing all agencies "to terminate any
and all business with companies or organizations that
support a boycott of Israel" and "requiring that one of his
commissioners compile 'a list of institutions and companies'
that — 'either directly or through a parent or
subsidiary' — support a boycott." As the New York
Civil Liberties Union told The Intercept at the time about
Cuomo's order: "Whenever the government creates a blacklist
based on political views it raises serious First Amendment
concerns and this is no exception."
Last year, a measure sponsored by Benjamin Cardin, a
Democratic senator from Maryland and an AIPAC loyalist,
joined by 43 other senators, went even further, purporting
to impose prison sentences and large fines for anyone
working with international organizations to boycott Israel.
Only after the ACLU vehemently denounced the bill as a grave
First Amendment attack that "would punish individuals for no
reason other than their political beliefs" did several
senators say they were re-considering their support.
Indeed, it's hard to overstate how pervasive and mainstream
these attempts to legally suppress criticisms of Israel have
become, including in the U.S. As the legal advocacy
organization Palestine Legal told The Intercept yesterday,
"Since 2014, over 100 anti-boycott measures (similar to the
one blocked in Kansas) have been introduced in the U.S., at
least 24 of them enacted. Palestine Legal responded to 308
suppression incidents in 2017 and nearly 1,000 in the last
four years." The report issued by the group this week
details just some of those efforts:
Hurricane Harvey victims were required to pledge not
to boycott Israel to receive relief aid;
An NYC bookstore hid a children's book about
Palestine after calls for censorship;
A Palestinian American professor at San Francisco
State was sued for researching and teaching about
Palestine;
A Black student leader at the University of Wisconsin
was condemned for speaking out against the connections
between white supremacy and Zionism by Trump's nominee to
head the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights.
So widespread are attempts to punish and repress speech and
activism aimed at ending the Israeli occupation that the
Center for Constitutional Rights has dubbed this movement
"the Palestine Exception" to free speech rights in the
U.S.
The federal court ruling from yesterday is a ringing
endorsement of the vital constitutional principle that
people cannot be punished by the U.S. government or state
governments due to disapproval of their political activism
and viewpoints — even if the goal is to protect the
Israeli government and its decadeslong illegal occupation
from criticism and activism. The direct result of this
ruling is that the Kansas state government is barred from
continuing to force teachers and other state residents to
take an oath to refrain from boycotting Israel upon pain of
being denied contracts, but the broader and more enduring
effect may be to emphasize just how authoritarian,
repressive, and contrary to core civil liberties the global
attempt to abuse the power of law to criminalize or suppress
this free expression in the name of protecting Israeli
occupation
Guidance
Punishment in this World can Purify you for Good in Hereafter.
[Sis. Yasmin]
The Prophet ~ (صلى
الله عليه
وسلم) said:
"When Allaah wills good for His slave, He hastens the
punishment for him in this world, and when Allaah wills ill
for His slave, he withholds the punishment for his sins from
him until he comes with all his sins on the Day of
Resurrection."
[Source~Reported by at-Tirmidhi (2396) and Shaykh al-Albaani
(r) classified it as Saheeh (authentic) in Saheeh
at-Tirmidhi]
Imam ibn Al Qayyim~(Rahimullah) said...
"The Ibtilaa' [Testing] of the Believer is
like Medicine for him...!
It cures him from Illness ... {!}
Had the illness remained it would destroy him !
Or...{?}
Diminish his Reward and Level
in the Hereafter {!}
The Tests and the Trials extract these illnesses
from him
and ...
prepare him for the Perfect reward and the
Highest of degrees {in the life to come} !"
Calamities, Trials and Tests
are signs of
LOVE FROM ALLAAH
for the Believers...!
They are comparable to a Cure...
although it may be Bitter {!}
you accept it because it is from the one whom
you Love !
and to ALLAAH belongs the Best Example...{!}
