Audio: Eagerness to Obey Allah (swt)

http://www.iculture.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/eagerness.mp3

By Ustadh Kamal Abu Zahra

International Women's Conference for Islam in Tunisia

Land of the freely oppressed (Poem on Syria)

Faces blown, invaded homes, infants moan with broken bones.
Numbers cant show how the casulties grow
the loss is high when soldiers become foes.
The civilian deaths console the regime in control
graves become homes for the departed souls.
Bodies gashed with bullet holes
backs are lashed by ruthless patrols.
Fighters fighting with fading tones
martyr’s waiting to read their scrolls.
Judgement is truly for Allah alone
if only these dictators would truly know.
The believers know what they truly seek
engaged in prayers that are truly deep.
Tongues are being slit so its harder to speak
but hearts still oppose the oppressor’s blasphemous speech.
So instead of using vocals where the voice cannot reach
I write my prayer in pen and use the ink to preach.
I pray that the brothers and sisters hold on to their creed
And hopefully succeed to live in a land that is dictatorship free.
Forget the globe and the middle east
what if oppression reached our streets?
What if we had to express repression from hiding under our sheets?
What if the only music we heard were bombs making beats
and our last prayer ended in permanent sleep?
What if our bloody wounds were just left to bleed
and the tears of lost loved ones covered our feet?
The governments seem to be shattering dreams
suppressing those, steadfast on their deen.
Murdered are those even inside the womb
Mothers lose hope to see their babies bloom.
Death will overtake these murderers too
then Allah will say, fa ayna tathhaboon (quran 81:26)
Proclaiming tawheed to wipeout disease
should be the ummah’s permanent state of belief
And tyrants that have consistently caused the innocent to bleed
Cannot defeat the victory Muslims are granted in Allah’s decree.
So those who have raped mothers and sisters and men of dignity
Will be questioned by Allah individually.
While problems rise the race towards rewards has simply begun
So let us pray for the fatherless sons, and for the motherless ones.
And though the sins are summed
let us pray that Allah expiates them.
This recession is a lesson for the Muslim ummah
so let us gain from these losses by implementing the Sunnah.
Those who are struggling to worship Allah alone
May He grant them Jannatul Firdous as their permanent home.

Khairul Nual

88th aniversary since the destruction of the Khilafah

On the 88th anniversary, the Islamic landscape is in a state of flux. After decades of subjugation the Muslim Ummah is taking her destiny into its own hands and attempting the break the shackles that have for long held the Ummah in chains. With this in mind we highlight a number of facts make the following points on the 88th anniversary of the destruction of the Khilafah:

1. On Monday 3rd March 1924 (28th Rajab 1342AH), the world woke to the news that Mustafa Kemal in Turkey had officially abolished the Khilafah. That night Abdul-Mejid II, the last Khaleefah of the Muslims, was bundled in to a car with a suitcase of clothes and money and exiled from Turkey, never to return. Turkey’s independence was officially recognised with the implementation of the Lausanne Treaty signed the year before on 24 July 1923. Britain and its allies withdrew all their troops that had occupied Turkey since the end of the First World War. In response to this, protests were made in the House of Commons to the British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon, for recognising Turkey’s independence. Lord Curzon replied, “The situation now is that Turkey is dead and will never rise again, because we have destroyed its moral strength, the Caliphate and Islam.”

2. Today’s situation in the Muslim world of division, poverty and oppression is a direct result of the absence of the Khilafah and the targeted policies of the West, British Prime Minister Henry Bannerman outlined Western policy in 1906: “There are people (the Muslims) who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language, one history and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another … if, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state; it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects.” As much as the West brush over such history Britain and France divided the Muslim world through the construction of artificial borders which crossed both ethnic and sectarian lines, this was to ensure the Muslims forever remained divided.

3. Both Britain and France left individuals and minorities in power who would forever be reliant upon Western patronage, David Fromkin, Professor and expert on Economic History at the University of Chicago explained this: “Massive amounts of the wealth of the old Ottoman Empire were now claimed by the victors. But one must remember that the Islamic empire had tried for centuries to conquer Christian Europe and the power brokers deciding the fate of those defeated people were naturally determined that these countries should never be able to organize and threaten Western interests again. With centuries of mercantilist experience, Britain and France created small, unstable states whose rulers needed their support to stay in power. The development and trade of these states were controlled and they were meant never again to be a threat to the West. These external powers then made contracts with their puppets to buy Arab resources cheaply, making the feudal elite enormously wealthy while leaving most citizens in poverty.”

4. With the Khilafah gone and many considering the Muslim lands independent from colonialism the Ummah experimented with nationalism, patriotism, socialism, democracy, free markets and dictatorship. All were stunning failures and merely continued the impoverishment and subjugation of the Muslim lands. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of communism hostilities between Islam and the Capitalist West become clear to all.

5. Despite such colonial onslaught, Muslims across the world did not abandon Islam. Despite the best efforts of the West in the Muslim lands the Ummah did not give up the social system of Islam. The Ummah actually preserved much of Islam and did not abandon it in the face of hostility even though her understanding of these concepts was not always clear. What happened in the 21st century is the relationship between the Ummah and its rulers became so wide that such rulers became even more distant form the people. The rulers rejected the Islamic culture and adopted Western culture and the Western agenda. It became obvious to all and sundry that the rulers and the Muslims were diametrically opposed to what should be the direction of the Muslim lands. The Muslim rulers – put in place to stop any Islamic revival became trapped between subservience to America and the West and fear of removal by their own people.

6. Today, under a plethora of secular models, the people of the Muslim World have no political rights, endure crippling living standards due to high prices and even higher taxes, and have zero international influence. Yet despite this tragedy, some in the Muslim World, backed by their supporters in the West, still believe that a reformation of a secular constitutional order, the imposition of western friendly leaders and a continued commitment to the same foreign policy that has long marginalised the Muslim world is the way to proceed. They argue that Islam never defined a political system and that the Khilafah is not the only system of Islamic governance. Such individuals and groups were stunned however at the success of the Islamists in the elections that have taken place in the Muslim world – clearly showing were the sentiments of the Ummah are.

7. After 88 years the Western constructed architecture of supporting, funding, arming and defending dictator rulers is now falling apart, this space is now the new battle ground. For decades, the despots of the Muslim world have pursued a set of narrow interests which have side-lined their own people: securing the free flow of commerce for the west, fighting against the Islamic revival and standing up for Israel’s security at the expense of the Palestinians. Yet now, after decades of despotic rule and western interference, the political situation is in flux.

Conclusion

On the 88th anniversary of the destruction of the Khilafah the global implications of the Ummah seizing its own destiny has led the West once again to interfere in the region. This is why the West, on seeing the implications of the Arab spring have been rolling back their support of dictator rulers in return for a more open system – but one that still maintains its interests. They have continued to find individuals and groups who are prepared to represent Western interests in the region.
The dilemma the Ummah faces in reality is continued foreign interference from the West and traversing the obstacles in order to establish Islam, which is indigenous to the region. Whilst many in the West and the East argue that true Western values have not been tried correctly in the Muslim lands and giving them an opportunity is the future of the region. Case studies form the cradle of civilisation in the West show a deluge of problems, from political apathy, permissiveness in society, sexual crimes. All this has taken place in what many call the post-modern world where capitalism has faced no challenges ever since the demise of communism.

We also find Western societies unable to convince those who have migrated and settled in places such asParis,Berlin,RomeandLondonof their values, even though many arrived on the European plains over 50 years ago. This has bred an atmosphere of forced assimilation, but also shows the failure of secularism to encompass different peoples.

We ask Allah (swt) to make this the last anniversary of the destruction of the Khilafah and to bless the Ummah with the prophecy of the prophet (saw) when he said: …..Then there will be a Khilafah Rashidah according to the ways of the Prophethood.” (Musnad Imam Ahmad (v/273))

Over 5000 dead in Syria since the uprising began

More than 5,000 people are now believed to have been killed in the Syrian government's crackdown on protests, the United Nations human rights chief has told the UN Security Council.

The UN's Navi Pillay said on Monday there were reports of increased attacks by opposition groups on President Bashar al-Assad's security forces but highlighted "alarming" events in the besieged protest city of Homs, according to diplomats in the closed meeting.

More than 14,000 people are estimated to have been detained and at least 300 children are among the dead, Pillay told the 15-member council. She estimated that at least 12,400 have fled into neighbouring countries since the anti-government protests erupted in March.

"It is my estimation that the total number of people killed since the protests began earlier this year is now likely to exceed 5,000. This situation is intolerable," Pillay said.

But Bashar Jaafari, Syria's UN ambassador, said the session was part of a "huge conspiracy concocted against Syria since the beginning" and said Pillay was neither objective nor fair.

"She is not genuine in all her approach, in the report she presented... She has trespassed her mandate, she allowed herself to be misused in misleading the public opinion by providing information based on allegations collected from 233 defectors," Jaafari said.

"How could defectors give positive testimonies on the Syrian government? Of course they will give negative testimonies against the Syrian government. They are defectors."

Responding to Jaafari's comment, Frej Fenniche, chief of Middle East section of the UN Human Rights Council, told Al Jazeera that the body was in contact with some people within both the Syrian government and its security forces.

"Who said to Mr. Jaafari that we are not in contact with people within the army now and with people at a high level within the government?... We have contacts with officials on the basis of confidentiality."

"If the government is saying we are lying we can say: 'OK let [us] go into the country and we will see.'"

The Syrian authorities have not granted human rights observers access into the country.

The Security Council held a private briefing on Syria with Western nations stepping up pressure for the body to condemn the violence. Russia and China vetoed a resolution on the Syria crisis in October.

'Immoral stance'

But Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday said that Western accusations that it was blocking UN action condemning the Syrian regime's crackdown on the opposition were "immoral" because the West was refusing to put pressure on armed opposition groups.

"There are those who refuse to put pressure on the armed, extremist part of the opposition and are at the same time accusing us of blocking the UN Security Council's work. I would call this position immoral," Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments.

Germany's foreign minister on Monday urged those countries blocking UN Security Council action on Syria to change their minds.

"I am really shocked about what I heard about the atrocities in Syria. We owe this to those who lost their lives," said Guido Westerwelle.

Gerard Araud, France's UN ambassador, said "history will judge the silence of some and the indifference of others" and that "the honour of the Security Council is at stake".

Pillay told the meeting that the Syrian protesters had remained largely peaceful.

"However, reports of armed attacks by opposition forces, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, against Syrian forces have increased," she said.

The death toll did not include Syrian security forces, she stressed. The Syrian government says more than 1,000 police and troops have been killed in the unrest.

Fresh clashes

Fresh clashes were reported on Tuesday between army deserters and regular troops in two Idlib villages as well as in Daraa province.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that army defectors on Tuesday in Idlib's Bab al-Hawa road killed seven members of Syria's security forces in retaliation for an attack that cost the lives of 11 civilians.

Syrians voted on Monday in municipal elections and many closed their businesses and kept children home from school in several parts of the country in a show of civil disobedience against the government.

The head of the elections committee, Khalaf al-Ezzawi, said voting had taken place "in a democratic spirit," and turnout had been "good".

But activists mocked the election on their Facebook page.

"The election farce organised by the authorities was a failure in the city of Deir Ezzor where we think the turnout was no more than one per cent. The roads were empty the whole day," an activist said of the vote in the eastern city.

General strike

Meanwhile, the Syrian National Council opposition bloc said the "dignity" general strike launched Sunday was widely observed in 12 provinces against "all expectations".

Opposition activists say the ongoing strike, if widely heeded, could place added economic pressure on the government at a time when it is already struggling with growing international sanctions and isolation.

The opposition wants the strike to remain in force until the government pulls the army out of cities and releases thousands of detainees.

Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from near the Jordan-Syria border, said that troops loyal to Assad were taking revenge against boycotting business owners.

"We heard reports that troops burned down at least 178 stores and shops in Deraa to try and take revenge against civillians who have shut down their stores and shops and are basically observing this general strike," she said.

Residents in the capital, Damascus, said business continued as usual on Sunday and Monday with shops, schools and other businesses operating normally.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011121210732547262.html

Viewpoint:

1) The killing of protestors including children, reflects the level of brutality of the Syrian government and the lengths Assad's government will go to in order to clamp down on those calling for change. This is a pure utter act of desperation to stay in power.
2) The UN have been forward in exposing the crimes more recently. However, this is indicative of the fact that foreign intervention is being planned as in Libya.
3) The Muslims of Syria do not need foreign intervention. For now Muslims are continuing to speak out in mass demonstrations. InshaAllah Bashar Al-Assad's government will fall as the momentum is reaching an anticlimax. The aftermath is what the international community is speculating about since a pull between Britain and America's influence over Syria is at question.
4) Before foreign inteference happens, we as an ummah must be absolutely clear what we want; Islam. We must also be absolutely clear how this will occur; the Islamic system. We must also be clear what the Islamic system represents and how we can rapidly create a strong awakening for the Islamic system.