Blogger: Wa Salaam
Article: Chinese Muslims Strengthen Affinity to Middle East
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-29 21:05:44

That’s right, Chinese Muslims, many Americans probably didn’t realize that there is a population of Chinese Muslims living in communist China. But in fact there are a significant number of Muslims living in China today, roughly 20 Million in total. These Muslims will be able to strengthen their affinity to Islam and the Middle East because the communist and ultimately atheist Chinese Government is beginning to relax its controls over Islam in good-faith to fortify trade and oil business with the Middle-Eastern region.

The “relaxed controls” are warmly welcomed by China’s Muslim population, some of which have been looking to study in the Middle-East. The Muslims of China face an entirely different social condition than that commonly discussed here in the U.S.. However, Chinese Muslims are able to sustain their practice in the face of an atheist government as well as global upheavals that aim to demonize the religion.

Hai, a Chinese Muslim and Islamic gift shop owner, prays at the mosque everyday and would like to learn Arabic fluently. He says,

“Not everyone was like that but my family was, and now more and more people are. Our religion is developing very quickly,” (L. Beck, Reuters; The Washington Post)

In conclusion, it should be noted that Islam has had a presence in China since the Tang Dynasty. As the story goes, a famous sahib named Sa’ad ibn Abi Waqqas of the Qurayshi Banu Zuhrah was sent to present Islam to the Emperor Gaozang. The Emperor realized the parallels between Islam and Confuscious and ordered that the first Mosque be built, and it was completed in 742 C.E. It also should be noted that Chinese Muslims have excelled in Islamic calligraphy which can be seen in the masterful work of Haji Noor Deen, an instructor at Zaytuna Institute.

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: The last two Jews of Afghanistan
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-25 14:29:23

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Egypt: Symposium on Constitutional Reforms
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-23 16:01:00

The Egyptian newspaper “al-Masry al-Youm” reported today on the role of the Baha’is in an important national symposium held in Cairo at the Marriott hotel in Zamalek. In its headline, it stated “the Legal Case [concerning] the Recognition of the Baha’i [Faith] Has Affirmed [placed] Itself in Front of the Constitutional Reforms Symposium.” It is subtitled “Baha’is: Present in Egypt for 170 Years…We Demand ID Cards Without Religion.”

In its extended coverage, the newspaper described in great detail the statements made by the Baha’is during this session. They presented a complete historical background of the Baha’i Faith in Egypt as well as the details of their current struggle, the consequences of their inability to obtain ID Cards, and the violation of their civil and human rights in Egypt.

A number of Egyptian Baha’is were officially invited to participate in this national symposium on constitutional reforms, and in particular to participate in discussions related to the necessary reforms to critical issues such as in Article-2 of the Egyptian constitution which states: “Islam is the Religion of the State. Arabic is its official language, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”

This second session of the symposium (the first was held on 7 November 2006), which is sponsored by an Egyptian organization named Partners in Development (For Research, Consulting and Training) in collaboration with the German foundation Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, was held on Tuesday, 21 November 2006. It is estimated that their work on the constitution will continue for the next six months. The session was entitled “Religion and Politics in the Egyptian Constitution.”

Near the conclusion of the session Dr. Yehiah al-Gamal (pictured in the article), who is a Professor of Constitutional Law, stated that “Islam does not know [recognize] a nation based on religion because Islam is a belief, and that the modern nation’s foundation is only based on citizenship.” he went on to clarify that “differentiation between a citizen and another based on belief is discrimination, which is in violation of the Egyptian constitution because all citizens are equal before the law; whether citizens are Muslims, Christians, Baha’is, Buddhists or irreligious, they are still all equal before the law.”

The Baha’is were also invited to the next session entitled “The Nation’s Economic and Social Role in the Constitution.” In addition to the Baha’is, several prominent leaders, specialists and scholars representing the Egyptian society were invited to contribute to the symposium.

This important symposium is well timed with the current push by President Mubarak to implement progressive constitutional reforms in Egypt as was presented in his recent speech on 19 November at the opening of the Egyptian parliamentarian session this past Sunday.

Blogger: Chaldean Thoughts
Article: Books From Baghdad
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-22 20:05:00

© Mark M. Hancock

A few days ago, I received an unexpected package from Iraq. Fr. Yousif Thomas sent me four books published recently by the Chaldean Church in Iraq.

Last week, I was thinking how much I miss reading books in Arabic. Then came those books. Christmas has arrived earlier this year
Thank you to Fr. Yousif and the Iraqi Chaldean Church for keeping the good work under the

Blogger: Chaldean Thoughts
Article: Fr. Doglas Al-Bazy Disapprears In Baghdad
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-20 16:49:00

Source: Ankawa Online

Yet another sad story from Iraq. AsiaNews reports:

Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Christians in Baghdad fear yet another priest has been kidnapped. Fr Doglas Yousef Al Bazy - 34 years, Chaldean – left his parish yesterday morning and has not yet returned home.

The alarm was raised swiftly throughout Iraq and the diaspora via the Internet and SMS: the young priest’s community and

Blogger: Ihsan
Article: A Radical Islamism
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-18 21:17:48

The politics of violence, the economics of greed and the monoculture of consumerism are inseparable facets of a contemporary malaise that has its roots in European colonialism. Today, this reformulated imperialism constitutes an international menace that poisons the souls of millions through its insipid materialism and self-serving individualism. Moreover, its ecological fall out – climate chaos - now threatens to kill and displace millions.

In my view, there is a spiritual and moral imperative to challenge this state of affairs, with a view to establishing a world where political violence is non-existent, where all forms of human exchange are based on the best of values and where din al-Haqq is once again irrevocably established as central to all human cultures. I do not believe there is a single means to achieve this end, but I do suggest a uniquely Islamic way forward.

I hereby propose a radical Islamism whereby Muslims in all nations and in all walks of life seek to affect change everywhere and at every level of society, through bearing witness to the beauty, truth and justice revealed in the āyāt of al-Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (aws). In striving for this transformation of humankind and its deliverance into a time of love of Allah (‘Ishq), I propose Muslims consent to:

1. Make an uncompromising commitment to hold fast to the five pillars of Islam;

2. Study Qur’an and the life of the Prophet (aws) for at least one hour every day;

3. Strive to ensure every actions is undertaken with an intent to serve Allah (swt) only;

4. Seek to uphold the qualities of truthfulness, humility, courage, modesty, kindness, poverty, simplicity and good manners as exemplified by Muhammad (aws);

5. Ensure all activism (sadaqah) informs and is informed by inner learning (jihad).

I call on all Muslims, women and men, to reject teachings which declare this world inherently dystopic, and recognise the perennial truth and human diversity at the same time as uniting in a commitment to the Islamic principles herein. And in bringing the love of Allah (swt) to all peoples and all nations in peace and humility, we seek to rescue humankind from the calamity that surely comes from wilful ingratitude, insha Allah.

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Brindisi erects plaque to Jewish refugees of 1956
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-18 11:29:53

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Making the case for the forgotten Oriental Jews
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-17 10:14:35

In the Jewish Chronicle’s Open Forum column of 17 November, Lyn Julius says it is time for Israel’s refugees from Arab lands to be brought back into the peace equation:

Do an Internet search for ‘Middle Eastern refugees’, and you get 16 million entries. These refer overwhelmingly to Palestinian refugees. A search for ‘Middle Eastern Jewish refugees’ turns up four million references. This is strange, as there were more Jewish refugees from Arab countries than Arab refugees from what is now Israel. The Mizrahim (Oriental Jews) were expelled from countries like Iraq, Egypt and Algeria - or ushered towards the exit by insidious marginalisation and intimidation, as in Morocco and Tunisia.

The dispossessed lost far more than the Palestinians. Of 870,000 Mizrahi refugees, 600,000 sought refuge in Israel, where they now form half the Jewish population. There were between 300,000 and 750, 000 Arab refugees, but four million is often quoted, as, uniquely, their descendants are allowed to inherit refugee status.

For almost 60 years peacemaking efforts have run aground on the Palestinian ‘right of return’. But what of the right of Jewish refugees not to return to despotic countries where civil and human rights violations are rife?

The Jewish refugees give the lie to the myth that the Israelis are western colonial interlopers who ‘stole the land from the native Arabs’. Jewish communities were founded 1,000 years before Islam. The Mizrahim, now integrated into Israel, never left the Middle East.

Israel today has over a million Arab citizens. Yet there are barely 5,000 Jews left in the ‘Arab’ world. Just who is guilty of ‘ethnic cleansing’?

The Arabs need to come to terms with their own history of anti-Semitism. Until ‘dhimmitude’ was ended by the colonial powers, non-Muslim dhimmis lived in a system of institutionalised humiliation. Political rights were denied to all but Muslims. This is a huge but underrated factor in Arab and Muslim rejection of Israel’s right to exist.

The argument that Israel is the price paid by innocent Arabs for European anti-Semitism and the Holocaust ignores the Mizrahi need for a safe Jewish haven. The myth needs to be nailed that Jews and Arabs coexisted in total harmony before Israel. Jews were massacred in Morocco in 1912, Algeria in 1934, Iraq in 1941 and Libya in 1945 – all predating the modern state of Israel.

It is a mystery why Israel has not hitherto made the case for the Jewish refugees. By keeping shtum , it has vacated the moral high ground and allowed history to be distorted. This silence sets back the cause of peace by reinforcing the Arabs’ one-sided sense of victimhood, while alienating the Mizrahim, who tend to vote for right-wing parties.

Things are slowly changing. Organisations such as Justice for Jews from Arab Countries are trying to raise the refugee issue. They want familes to record their stories and lost assets on the website www.justiceforjews.com - before the last generation of Jews born in Arab countries dies out. But we still need to do more to raise awareness of the injustice committed against the Jews from Arab countries. Restoring them to the Middle East narrative can only advance prospects for peace and reconciliation.

Lyn Julius helped found Harif, an association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Stolen Jewish land and property
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-17 07:49:22

This letter appeared in today’s New Statesman:

“By manipulating statistics to show that the Arabs were always a majority in Palestine (Letters, 13 November), Roderick Walters fails to point out that the 1914 figures would have included Jordan. He omits to mention that Jerusalem had a Jewish majority, and that while the Arab population in Palestine increased eight-fold, mostly through illegal

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Jews unwilling participants in Iranian documentary
Originaly Posted On: 2006-11-17 07:20:27

An Iranian Muslim film-maker found it hard to get Jews to speak freely in his documentary ‘Jews of Iran’, Haaretz reports. (With thanks: Albert)

“The leaders of the Jewish community did not directly state they were not willing to cooperate, but I sensed their lack of enthusiasm. I tried to win their trust, to become friendly with them, but they were not eager to cooperate on my film,” Farahani