Ann Widdecombe is not cut out to be Vatican ambassador Making Ann Widdecombe our woman at the Vatican would be a diplomatic disaster Former MP Ann Widdecombe is reportedly being lined up as the next British ambassador to the Vatican. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty ImagesIf Ann Widdecombe is really a serious candidate as the next British ambassador to the Vatican, should we next expect the appointment of Melanie Phillips as ambassador to Washington? They are not as different as they may seem – both of them intelligent and energetic women, wildly out of step with majority British beliefs on the things … Continue reading Richard Dawkins or Ann Widdecombe – who do you think should be the Vatican ambassador

Criminal injustice in Egypt Egyptian police and a decades-old emergency law stand in the dock of public opinion following a young man’s alleged murder Khaled Diab guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 June 2010 10.30 BST Article history Mohamed ElBaradei (centre) joins demonstrators during a protest against the alleged killing by police of Khaled Said. Photograph: Amr Nabil/APThe “before” and “after” shots looked like the makeover from hell. Before, we have a clean-cut young man who appears to be rather reserved and perhaps even somewhat shy. After, his once-youthful and pleasant face looks up with dead eyes, disfigured beyond recognition. It looks like … Continue reading Hosni Mubarak – Killer of Khaled Said?

dawn.com YaAli (L), a “prayer seller”, talks to his customer as he sits at the side of an old alley in northern Tehran.–Reuters Photo TEHRAN: In Iran where clerics rule, unofficial “prayer sellers”, who promise to intercede with the divine to solve all manner of life’s problems, are seeing their business boom. Backstreet spiritual guides like YaAli are tolerated by the authorities and increasingly sought after by Iranians seeking help from on high. “People from all walks of life – mostly young women – come here asking for prayers that can solve their problems,” says YaAli sitting on a chair … Continue reading In Iran, prayer sellers’ trade is booming

Professor Akbar S. Ahmed, former Pakistani ambassador to London, says that the rise of Muslim fundamentalism means that Islamic leaders face a choice between moderation or militancy. Muslim nations face a crisis of leadership which affects both them and their relationship with other countries. In Muslim society the leader embodies both political and moral authority. Yet even the best-known thinkers who comment on Islam, like Professor Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama, have failed to identify the importance of Muslim leadership. On the surface there is a bewildering range of leadership: kings, military dictators, mullahs, democrats, and, as in the Taliban … Continue reading Islam’s Crossroads – Islamic leadership

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!