Author: Mohammed Abbasi

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Indian boys headed for Manchester United dream big

Mohammed Abbasi

  By AFP     PHOTO: FILE KOLKATA: Two poor Indian teenagers, one the son of a sex worker and the other a street vendor, are among young players chosen to take part in a Manchester United Football Club training camp. Rajib Boy, whose mother earns 200 rupees (three dollars) a day, said he was dreaming big after being selected to travel to Britain next month for the Manchester United Soccer School after a talent hunt. “Cristiano Ronaldo is my idol. I am focusing on scoring goals,” Rajib said in Sonagachi, the red-light district in India’s eastern city of Kolkata, where he … Continue reading Indian boys headed for Manchester United dream big

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Of Aisha’s age at marriage

Mohammed Abbasi

IT is said that Hazrat Aisha was six years old when her nikah was performed with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Makkah, and nine years old when she moved in to live with her husband in Madina after Hijra. This piece of misinformation has led to the wrong view that child marriage has the sanction of Islam. It must be noted that establishing the authenticity of hadiths, the narrators’ circumstances and the conditions at that time have to be correlated with historical facts. There is only one hadith by Hisham which suggests the age of Hazrat Aisha as being nine when … Continue reading Of Aisha’s age at marriage

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Revisiting Fazlur Rahman’s Ordeal

Mohammed Abbasi

Originally posted on Hanging Odes:
An anonymous commentator has inquired about the ‘backstory’ of banning of Fazlur Rahman’s ‘Islam‘ and forced me to terminate my prolonged hiatus from blogging. Anyone examining the newspapers of second half of 68′ would know with ease that the whole episode was one of the earliest and most unfortunate sagas of political hijacking of Islam. It is immaterial whether Fazlur Rahman was labeled a kaafir, an apostate or a religious hypocrite and how the political environment at that time overshadowed an otherwise academic issue; what is important however, that Fazlur Rahman proved to be a… Continue reading Revisiting Fazlur Rahman’s Ordeal

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War On Terror – LOST?

Mohammed Abbasi

by PATRICK COCKBURN   Al-Qa’ida, the second act: Why the global ‘war on terror’ went wrong In 2014 al-Qa’ida-type groups are numerous and powerful… In other words, the ‘war on terror’ has demonstrably failed     It is now 12-and-a-half years since the September 11 attacks that put al-Qa’ida firmly on the map of global terrorism. The US has spent billions of dollars on its ‘war on terror’ to counter the threat and succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden three years ago. And yet al-Qa’ida-type groups are arguably stronger than ever now, especially in Syria and Iraq where they control an … Continue reading War On Terror – LOST?

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Religion is manipulated and used by politicians to control – nothing else

Mohammed Abbasi

Religion has nothing to do with the matter While Jinnah had called for not being frightened by public opinion created in the name of religion, the country he founded is in a perpetual state of fear in the face of religious agitation. Yasser Latif Hamdani March 17, 2014 The father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, speaking on September 11, 1929, said: “If we are going to allow ourselves to be influenced by public opinion that can be created in the name of religion when we know religion has nothing to do with the matter, we must have the courage … Continue reading Religion is manipulated and used by politicians to control – nothing else

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God Hates Pastor Fred Phelps close to death!

Mohammed Abbasi

Ex-pastor of gay-hating church close to death, says estranged son • Fred Phelps Sr gravely ill at hospice in Topeka, Kansas• Westboro Baptist Church used ‘God hates fags’ slogan Martin Pengelly in New York theguardian.com Pastor Fred Phelps Sr displays provocative placards in Laramie, Wyoming in April 1999. Photograph: David Zabulowski/AP Fred Phelps Sr, once pastor of the infamously intolerant Westboro Baptist Church, is close to death, according to his son. Nathan Phelps, who has been estranged from his father for 30 years,posted a statement on Facebook which said: “I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps Sr, pastor of the ‘God Hates … Continue reading God Hates Pastor Fred Phelps close to death!

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A donkey loaded with books is still a donkey.

Mohammed Abbasi

Loads of books? The rot of distorted religious beliefs has contaminated Pakistani society. Just one example of this was a wedding I attended in June last year. A mullah from an important mosque was asked to perform the ceremonies at the bride’s house. He grasped the opportunity to inflict a lengthy homily about the sanctity of marriage on the unfortunate guests. Marital harmony, he insisted, was founded on the subservience of woman to man because Eve was created from the rib of Adam. The cleric had obviously read, or had been told about, the story of creation as it appears in the … Continue reading A donkey loaded with books is still a donkey.

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Egypt launches prosecution of doctor who killed girl in FGM attack.

Mohammed Abbasi

Egypt launches first prosecution for female genital mutilation after girl dies Patrick Kingsley in Cairo theguardian.com Sohair al-Bata’a, a 13-year-old Egyptian girl who died after being subjected to female genital mutilation. Human rights groups forced the government to reopen the case A doctor will stand trial for the first time in Egypt on charges of female genital mutilation, after a 13-year-old girl died following an alleged operation in his clinic last year. In a landmark case, Dr Raslan Fadl is the first doctor to be prosecuted for FGM in Egypt, where the practice was banned in 2008, but is still widely accepted and carried out … Continue reading Egypt launches prosecution of doctor who killed girl in FGM attack.

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Chinese Muslims & China-Arab Expo

Mohammed Abbasi

Disparate fortunes in China’s Muslim ‘heartland’By Haiyun Ma  For three years running, the China-Arab Economic Forum has held its annual gatherings in Yingchuan, the capital city of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China – a region with the third-smallest GDP in China.  The meetings, held in this “Muslim heartland”, attracted 18 national leaders, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, 195 ministerial officials, and 93 diplomats from 76 countries – and resulted in trade contracts worth about US$42 billion. Some 5,000 foreign and Chinese enterprises and 3,000 businesspeople from China and abroad participated in these forums, which were held in … Continue reading Chinese Muslims & China-Arab Expo

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Dancing With Mullahs – Pakistan.

Mohammed Abbasi

  Pantomime of the stooges – continueth   Ayaz Amir Islamabad diary In box office terms this is already a roaring success, the longest comedy show currently running in the country. Three of the four characters tasked by the government to grapple with the Taliban and bring them round to the ways of peace stand retired, replaced by three performers whose names most people would not have heard of and who, I am fairly certain, would not be taken by the Lucky Irani Circus were they to apply there for an opening. These are the new Talleyrands, along with friend … Continue reading Dancing With Mullahs – Pakistan.