“A general ban on such attires would constitute an ill-advised invasion of individual privacy,” Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

Last January, a French parliamentary panel recommended slapping a partial ban on face-veils in public institutions.

Similar debates are also heating up in Italy, Denmark, Netherlands and Germany.

Hammarberg said a ban might breach the European Convention on Human Rights, which allows limitations on human rights only on the grounds of public health, safety or morals.

“Those who have argued for a general ban of the burqa and the niqab have not managed to show that these garments in any way undermine democracy, public safety, order or morals,” he insisted.

“The fact that a very small number of women wears such clothing has made proposals in such a direction even less convincing.”

The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 to protect human rights and democracy in the continent.

It has 47 members who have signed the European Convention on Human Rights.

Counterproductive

The European rights chief said a ban would be counterproductive rather than helpful for Muslim women.

“Prohibition of the burqa and the niqab would not liberate oppressed women, but might instead lead to their further alienation in European societies,” he warned.

“The suggestion to ban the presence of women dressed in the burqa/niqab in public institutions like hospitals or government offices may only result in these women avoiding such places entirely.”

Hammarberg said media interviews have shown that the majority of the niqab-clad women have taken the decision by their own volition and would not welcome a ban.

“There may of course be cases where they are under undue pressure – but it is not shown that a ban would be welcomed by these women.”

While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face-veil.

Scholars believe it is up to women to decide whether to take on the veil or burqa.

Hammarberg cautioned that subjecting Islam and Muslim-related issues to public debates in many European countries risks playing into the hands of extremists.

“Some of the arguments have been clearly Islamophobic and that has certainly not built bridges or encouraged dialogue.”

He insisted that instead of imposing new dress codes on their citizens, European states would be better advised to launch debates on understanding of different cultures.

“Attempts should be made to broaden the discourse to cover essential matters, including how to promote understanding of different religions, cultures and customs.”

“There have been a lot of life-changing moments,” Brother Ali told IslamOnline.net in an exclusive story.

“Some of the big ones were becoming involved with Islam and being involved with music.”

He was born Jason Newman, with the rare genetic condition of Albinism, which is also accompanied by visual difficulties.

His childhood was marked by cruelty and exclusion by his white classmates.

“I was kind of an outcast as a kid,” he recalls, adding he felt most at home amongst African Americans.

“When I come across white people and hear all the racism and the white supremacy, it makes me really confused and angry and upset.”

 
But Ali, 33, says that Islam, which he embraced at the age of 15, helped him go through his difficult times, from parting ways with his wife of 10 years, to becoming homeless and trying to secure custody of his son.

“Islam helped me with a lot of those things. It helped me understand myself and the world better.”

Mission

For Brother Ali, who has recently wrapped up a world tour for his fifth album “Us,” it was not an easy journey to rise and solidify his place amongst the Hip Hop elite.

He says it is Islam and Prophet Muhammad that led him from being the angry, struggling teen growing in the Midwest to the famed Hip-Hop star who tours the world with his music.

“One of the main messages through out the Qu’ran and from the traditions of prophet Mohamed is the idea of excellence… that everything Muslims set out to do, they want to perfect it and they want to be excellent,” he notes.

“Our prophet is a walking example of what human excellence can be and all the potentials that is inside of a human being. And I am really inspired by that.”

Ali believes that with his music and his Islam, he is on a mission.

“I believe this is what I was born to do and it is my job and my goal as a Muslim to be the best that I could be.”

His songs tackle everything from his life struggles, to race relations in America, to wars.

In his last album, he presented a song about the war.

“We as Americans are being set to stick to blind generic patriotism. I made the song about this feeling, about the underside of America that we do not really hear about a lot,” he explains.

“Because of this song I lost a tour I was looking for. When we were in Australia, the Department Of Homeland Security froze our entire account. And I suspect that this song and the controversy behind it was behind all this.”

But Ali, now a father of Soulaila, 2, and Fahim 9, is not ready to compromise on what he believes in.

“What is really important when you apply Islam to your life is not to pretend to play a character.

“That’s why in my music I try to be honest and express myself in the most honest way.”

www.islamonline.com

“These are things we have to talk about.”

Qurbani’s film “Shahada” (Faith) highlights the difficulty of being Muslim in a majority-Christian culture.

The film, premiers Wednesday, tells the story of three different Muslims in Germany trying to cope between their religious backgrounds and cultural identity.

“Partly, the film is about the contradictions in both cultures, about living in a culture to which one does not really belong. The twisting of identity,” said Qurbani, of Afghani origin.

The festival also sees the debut of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s new film “My Name Is Khan”.

The movie features the racial bias and profiling in the United States following the 9/11 attacks.

“On the Path” film, by director Jasmila Zbanic, explores fundamentalism, the cultural makeup and the violent history of her native Bosnia.

The festival also takes up the hot-button issue of “honor killing” in “When We Leave” by Austrian first-timer Feo Aladag.

The film shows that honor killing, portrayed in the Western media as exhorted by Islam, is a cultural act and has nothing to do with the faith.

“Honor killings are a lot older than Islam, than any religion,” said Aladag.

“There’s nothing in the Qur’an about them. Calling them Islamic is a misuse of the religion.”

Founded in 1951, the Berlin International Film Festival, also called “Berlinale”, is one of the world’s leading film festival and most reputable media events.

Media Cliches

The movie-makers eye to clear the prevailing stereotypes in the West about the Islamic faith.

“The media cliches are so strong,” said Qurbani.

“We are so lazy in just adapting the media’s bits and bytes. So comfortable in our fear of this culture that we don’t research and we don’t ask questions.

“For me, my film is an attempt to engage with Islam and start a dialogue. To make people talk about Islam.”

Zbanic, the director of “On the Path”, agrees.

“The treatment of Islam in the media is always black-and-white,” she said.

“Nobody really talks about it seriously.”

A recent British study accused the media and film industry of perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people.

Famed US academic Stephen Schwartz had also criticized the Western media for failing to meet the challenge of reporting on Islam after 9/11.

“I hope my film can start a dialogue. Up to now, we’ve just had yelling and shouting,” said Zbanic.

“I hope that the (Berlin Film Festival) audience will now be able to see both sides.”

Source: IslamOnline

“If you look at some figures, the halal sector in the UK is worth between 2 to 4 billion pounds, the majority of that is imported,” Mahesh Jayanarayan, chairman of Halal Industries, told the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit.
He said the Super Halal Industrial Park (SHIP) will be based in South Wales, adding that it was chosen because of its meat industries and affordable land prices.
The park would provide services such as storage, product packing, meat selection and processing as well as research and development.
Halal Industries has partnered with the Penang International Halal Hub (PIHH), the agency set up by the Malaysian state to promote halal-related industries.
Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.
Jayanarayan said the project will take three to five years to launch and will cost around 150 million pounds — a sum he plans to raise in the capital markets, by sourcing government grants and by finding anchor-partners.
“This would be a private equity play but also a property play, purely because we are trying to pre-sell the project to industrial people to come in.”
Europe has no halal industrial parks, despite being home to millions of Muslims.
Growing demand
Jayanarayan says SHIP will help to make Britain a landmark Halal center for the region.
“You have 2.5 billion people on the planet eating halal food, directly or indirectly,” he noted.
“This halal market is not going away, it is not some fad.”
The total European halal food market is currently valued at about $66 billion, including meat, fresh food and packed food, while the global market is worth about $634 billion.
A successful first project could lead to further launches across Europe, particularly countries with sizable Muslim population such as France and Germany.
“We would prefer to go to places like Bosnia, where there’s a large Muslim population and… we could seek EU grants,” Jayanarayan said.
The firm is also planning to set up an Islamic stock exchange in either London or Luxembourg to try to encourage the development of Islamic enterprise.
“We have a technical partner, a Shari’ah board and we have identified a board of directors, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Jayanarayan.
The exchange would abide by Shari’ah, restricting practices such as short-selling and the use of leverage.
In recent years, London has established itself as a hub of Islamic finance.
Britain has four licensed wholesale Islamic banks – the only ones in the European Union.
There are also 21 conventional banks offering Islamic banking products.

Source: IslamOnline

Here we are.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Fadilah of Quran-i Kareem

Our Creator, Rahman and Rahim, ( swt ) sent books to mankind to show them the true path and throught these books mankind learnt the orders and prohibitions of ( swt ). As a final book, our book, Qur’an, is sent to all Humans and jinns through our Messenger, Muhammed Mustafa ( saw . Our book is the last book of ( swt ) and will stay in force until the last day of this world.

- Qur’an is the lastholy book of which came to Rasululah (saw) via Jabrail, as…

- Qur’an is the solution to all problems of this life and the next.

- Qur’an is the survival kit for us all.

- Qur’an is the ever lasting candle that sheeds the light Islam into our hearts.

- Anyone, who follows the rules and suggestions of Qur’an would be following the orders and the laws of ( swt )

- Follower of Qur’an can not be a bad person.

- Follower ofg Qur’an is a role model, an example person for the community.

- Follower of Qur’an is a role model, an example person for the community.

- Follower of Qur’an is a person in the right path to jamal-i Ilahi.

- Follower of Qur’an is a conscious person who cares for all creatures of .

- Follower of Qur’an will be rewarded with endless Ni’mah’s in the hereafter.

In Surah Al-isra, ( Ayah 9 ) ( swt ) says;

” The real truth is that the holy book of Quran takes people to the path that is just, True and Straight. And it gives great bews of rewards to all believers and followers.

In a hadithRasulullah ( saw ) says:

“Qur’an will provide Shafaah on the day of Qiyamah, but Qur’an will also complain about some of my Ummah. Whoever accepts it as a reference book, Qur’an will bring them to Jannah.InshAllah. Whoever leaves it behind, Qur’an will take them to Jahannam. Hafazallah.

LONDON – A British exhibition showed on Thursday, January 21, the debt owed by European scholars to their Muslim counterparts on everything from water pumps and blood

circulation to engineering and map-making.

“As we move into a new global world, we need to respect and recognize the contributions of all other races and cultures into what we have today,” Professor Salim Al-Hassani, the

organizer of the exhibition, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“This exhibition demonstrates that.”

The “1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World” exhibition is hosted at London’s Science Museum and runs from the 21 January to 25 April.

It features exhibits spanning from about 700 to 1700 based on hundreds of manuscripts from North Africa to China.

The exhibition aims to highlight contributions by Muslim scholars to the development of astronomy, maths, architecture, medicine and engineering that have been largely ignored in

European history.

For example, at the 13th-century observatory in Maragha, Iran, astrologists developed new models for understanding the universe which helped pave the way for Copernicus’ ideas of a

sun-centered solar system in 1543.

Abbas Bin Firnas, a ninth-century scholar, also performed one of the first recorded human flights when he leapt from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a glider stiffened

with wooden struts.

Iraqi physician Ali Ibn Nafi is credited for inventing the diagram of the human circulatory system in 1242 CE and being the first to have accurately described the part of the cardiovascular

system involving the heart and lungs.

The exhibit also shows the 12th century Syrian engineer Ibn Ismail al-Jazari who invented the double-action suction pump, and his contemporary Al-Idrisi who drew up a world map

centuries before Columbus and Marco Polo set off exploring.

Gap-bridging

The claims of discoveries have been verified by experts at the Science Museum.

“The Muslim world was carrying the torch of human knowledge and understanding while the West went through its dark ages,” Science Museum director Professor Chris Rapley told

AFP.

The organizers hope showing such contributions would help improve understanding between the Muslim world and the West.

“If you neglect the contributions of other cultures then it gives you a sense of having cultural superiority, which is dangerous,” says Al-Hassani.

Rapley, the Science Museum director, agrees.

“Science throughout its history has claimed a hugely important role in diffusing through or simply sidestepping cultural or political barriers.”

The Liberty Science Center in New Jersey hosted in 2007 an exhibition on Islam’s early contributions to science and technology.

The “Islamic Science Rediscovered” exhibition focused on nine disciplines: astronomy, engineering, exploration, flight, medicine, optics, water control, mathematics and art and

architecture.

The organizers use state-of-the-art interactive display tools so that guests can have a hands-on experience of the devices invented by Muslim scientists from A.D. 700 to 1700.

The magnificent tools and devices were accompanied by portraits of the Muslim scientists and briefs of their accomplishments on touch screens.

www.islamonline.net

CAIRO – Branded as “Harem Messiah”, a self-styled Jewish sage has been arrested for a list of criminal charges, including enslavement, sexual abuse and rape, reported Haaretz Friday,

January 15.

“Goel Ratzon is accused of crimes which range from holding women in enslavement, rape, extortion, and indecent acts against minors,” Tel Aviv District Court said.

“It suffices to look at the evidence presented thus far in order to understand the picture that emerges of a man who physically and psychologically took control of women who live in his

domicile and children who live with those same women.”

Dubbed “Israel’s Josef Fritzl”, Ratzon was arrested by Israeli police for marrying 17 women and keeping them in “conditions similar to slavery”.

“The evidence shows the suspect controlled his women with a firm hand, including their possessions and their money,” police said.

Breaking into the house, the police found his women wearing conservative orthodox dresses covering their entire bodies and bearing tattoos of Ratzon’s face and name.

Ratzon’s 40 children had names with a variation on his ‘Goel’, which means redeemer in Hebrew.

“The women didn’t really understand what their situation was,” police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

“They didn’t understand what freedom was.”

Polygamy is banned in Israel.

“Messiah”

Police investigations found that Ratzon imposed slavery-like conditions on his wives and children.

“What took place inside this house was a form of terror,” Gabi Zohar of the Center for Cult Victims in Israel told Israel Radio.

“There was very serious abuse.”

Writing his own list of 10 commandments, Ratzon convinced his women that he was the awaited Messiah and that he had godlike status.

Under his commandments, Ratzon’s women were banned from interrupting him, idling, questioning on his whereabouts or intention or working while a man of over 12 years is in the house.

If any dared break the rules, his ‘slavery’ punishment was ready either by high fines or physical punishment.

“He is the Messiah everyone is talking about,” one of his women said at Israeli Channel 10 documentary a year ago.

The video shows the women brushing Ratzon’s hair and feeding him.

“The day he decides to reveal himself, the land will shake,” she added.

In Jewish traditions, Messiah refers to a future King of Israel, from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israel and herald an age of global peace.

“The earthquake is really devastating and especially unbearable for a country that has suffered so much deprivation,” Hamid Azad, acting CEO of Muslim Aid, said in a statement on the

group’s website.

“It is clear that the Haitian people will need a prompt emergency response from the international community to address their basic needs.”

The Muslim group has launched an emergency appeal to raise £250,000 to support the victims.

“We would like to send our deepest sympathy to the people of Haiti and urge our donors to come forward with generous donations to support the victims.”

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, the worst in around 200 years.

Homes, schools, hospitals, even the National Palace where the president resides, were all destroyed.

An estimated 3 million people were affected and an untold number of people are still trapped under rubble, with many desperate voices being heard crying for help.

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the death toll could reach “well over 100,000,” adding that the destruction was beyond imagination.

There were no signs of organized operations to rescue those trapped or remove bodies.

Residents tried to rescue people trapped under rubble, clawing at chunks of concrete with bare hands.

Haiti one of the most densely populated and least developed countries with nearly 80 percent of its 9 million people living in poverty.

Scrambling

In an immediate response to the catastrophe, Islamic Relief USA launched a $1 million appeal to help the victims.

“Victims are in desperate need for food, water, shelter and medicine, especially since Haiti’s infrastructure is already very modest and has now been brought to its knees by the quake,” the

group said on its website.

Islamic Relief USA added that it was working with partners to ship urgently-needed aid to relieve the suffering.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was gearing up to help.

The Red Cross launched a 10-million-dollar appeal for donations and the World Food Programme said it could quickly provide 15,000 tones of food.

The World Bank promised $100 million in emergency funds for recovery and reconstruction.

US President Barrack Obama has promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort to help Haiti.

Canada readied two warships, helicopters and planes with supplies as well as a large relief and rescue force.

Brazil said it was sending 10 million dollars in immediate aid while Cuba sent 30 doctors to add to its medical staff already in Haiti.

Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Guatamala and Chile have also promised to extend a helping hand.

The European Commission released three million euros in emergency assistance, while Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain all volunteered help.

The World Health Organization deployed specialists to help handled mass casualties and corpses.

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“The proposed measure would prohibit the covering of the face in public places and on the streets,” Jean-François Cope, head of the Union of a Popular Movement (UMP) party’s parliamentary bloc, told Le Figaro in an interview.

Under the proposed bill, fines of up to €750 will be slapped on people covering their faces in public places.

“There will be a few cultural exceptions, such as carnivals, but we have not yet drawn up the list,” he said.

The bill will be presented to the National Assembly in two weeks but will not be debated until after regional elections in March.

If passed by the parliament, the bill will be put in place gradually, said Cope.

The move comes ahead of the release of a much-awaited parliamentary report on the wearing of burka, a loose body-covering, in France.

A debate has been raging across France over burka, with President Nicolas Sarkozy describing the outfit as “unwelcome” in France.

But the debate saw politicians, opponents and advocates of the burka using interchanged terms such as burka and niqab, despite the fact they describe very different types of Islamic dress.

A burqa is the all-enveloping cloak, often blue, with a woven grill over the eyes, that many Afghan women wear, and it is almost never seen in France.

The niqab, a garment that is often black, covers the face but leaves the eyes uncovered.

“Uncovered”

Cope said the bill will send a message that France will not allow women to fully cover themselves.

“We can measure the modernity of a society by the way it treats and respects women.”

He said “stiffer” punishments would be laid down for men who force their wives or daughters to wear full-body veils.

“Wearing the full body veil is about extremists who want to test the republic.”

Many French politicians have warned that the bill would be difficult to enforce and would probably face a challenge in the European rights court.

Critics also argue that a specific law enacted to ban the full veil would be tantamount to using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.

Muslim community leaders say that burka remains a rare exception among France’s nearly seven million Muslims, the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.

In 2004, France banned hijab in schools and public places, with many European countries following suit.

While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil.

Scholars believe it is up to women to decide whether to take on the veil or burka.

Prominent Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan has said that the French debate on the wearing of burka reflects growing self-doubts inside the society.