Sheikh Salman al-Oadah Just like we take care of our outward appearance, wear nice clothes, and worry about public tastes in our manner of grooming, we should also take care to beautify our inner selves. Just as we would hate to go out in public in a disheveled state, we should also be aware that the corruption of the inner being is far more odious. A poet once said: Tasteful attire will never endear a man to one he’s wronged Any more than corpses love the finery of burial clothes. A beautiful funeral dressing is of no benefit to the … Continue reading Beautify Your Inner Self

Sheikh Salman al-Oadah Islam prescribes many forms of worship that have outward expressions, prayer being the most obvious of these. Yet, the greatest, most important facets of worship are the internal ones – the devotions of the heart and of the inner self. Allah says: “Set your face to the religion in true sincerity.” [Sûrah al-Rûm: 30] To direct oneself to Allah, to rely on Him alone, and to seek his countenance through one’s deeds is the greatest form of worship there is. This is what purifies and beautifies the heart, and it is accomplished through the love of Allah … Continue reading Our Hearts Must Engage in the Worship of Allah

27 June 2010 A leading Muslim cleric, ordered to leave the country by immigration officials, says his spirit will remain in Australia forever. With his wife and their 14-year-old Australian-born daughter Fatima, he flies out of Sydney to Iran about two hours before his bridging visa expires at midnight. Sheikh Mansour Leghaei has lived in Australia for 16 years and is the force behind an Islamic centre in suburban Sydney. Dr. Leghaei was ordered to leave the country by Sunday night, following two adverse security declarations from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). “My body will depart Australia but definitely … Continue reading Sheikh Mansour Leghaei Leaves Australia as Ordered by Government

Parking wardens giving out ‘illegal’ fines to hit targets By Ryan Kisiel Ticket controversy: Some parking wardens are issuing fines simply to reach performance targets Motorists have been tricked into paying tens of thousands of pounds in ‘illegal’ parking tickets issued so that wardens can meet targets. Thousands of the wrongful tickets have been paid by drivers who were unaware that they should have been cancelled by the council contractors who dole them out. The tickets were issued by NSL, formerly NCP, Britain’s biggest parking enforcer, which patrols the streets of 60 local authorities and Heathrow and Gatwick. The Daily … Continue reading Parking wardens giving out ‘illegal’ fines and UK motorists are paying up unaware

COMMENT: Disowning intent —Reem Wasay When the followers of Islam take religion so seriously that ethnic cleansing becomes a be all and end all, how can our courts and our laws allow parents to ‘disown’ their children in black and white? My mind is in disarray and my womb is in question. Welcome to the ravages of a particularly foul morning. I am a mother and as such the last few days have watched me suffer a mental mastectomy where the laws of the Almighty have become only a perception in the face of a reality too miserable to labour. … Continue reading Disowning intent

VIEW: The J-man and his Pakistan —Yasser Latif Hamdani Jinnah was, and remained so, till the end of his life a classical liberal schooled in the Victorian era. His economics and politics was based on liberal and limited government protecting and forwarding the cause of freedom of speech, religion, press and also markets It has been pointed out, quite justifiably, that most of my articles, if not all, refer to Jinnah and his conception of Pakistan in some form or the other. I can assure you that this reference is quite deliberate on my part for primarily two reasons. The … Continue reading Pakistans choice – Jinnah or mullah!

COMMENT: Ban the internet? —Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain Censorship of any means of communication rarely works and often has the opposite effect from the one intended. It only helps to tweak the interest of people in the censored piece of information Evidently, a divisional bench of the Lahore High Court ordered many major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN and a slew of others closed down in Pakistan. The reason of course being that it was possible to access ‘blasphemous’ sites through these search engines. Before I go any further I do have a few … Continue reading Ban the internet? or Ban the mullah?

COMMENT: Indo-Pak dialogue: undertones and ramifications —Shahzad Chaudhry Pakistan must stay the course against terrorism and its deadly manifestations along its own timeline as per the dictates of its own priority list McChrystal’s sacking was dramatic and carried that underlying sensitivity to the Pakistani sentiment of seeing civilian superiority assert itself over the military — something the Pakistani political system has not yet been able to establish with any assurance. It was an operationally wrong move to sack McChrystal. While principle trumped operational sense — this may be the only redemption for the US political cause — US policy will … Continue reading Indo-Pak dialogue: undertones and ramifications

dawn.com Lebanese male-to-female transsexual Randa, a pioneer of the Arab world’s underground transgender movement who has released her memoirs, recounting her struggle to become a woman against all odds, in a daring, unprecedented move in the region, poses for a picture at her office in Beirut on May 18, 2010. – AFP National Eunuchs seek ‘ special person’ tag Eunuchs seek ‘ special person’ tag BEIRUT: In a daring, unprecedented move, a pioneer of the Arab world’s underground transgender movement has released her memoirs, recounting her struggle to become a woman against all odds. “Mouzakarat Randa al-Trans”, or “The Memoirs … Continue reading Transsexual’s memoirs breaks new ground in Arab world

Who Are the English Defence League? And Are They Fascist? Ben Gidley In the last thirteen months, a totally new political phenomenon has taken to the political stage in the UK. The English Defence League (EDL), along with its offshoots in Wales and Scotland (the Welsh and Scottish Defence Leagues) appeared in the spring of 2009. Its marches mobilize thousands of people but it has no clear agenda, apart from disliking Islam and defiant patriotism. Despite the completely novel nature of the EDL, its opponents have little trouble in understanding it through the prism of the longer standing and more … Continue reading Who Are the English Defence League?