dinsdag 23 september 2003

Sharia News Watch 72 : a collection newsquotes on Sharia, for research & educational purposes only. [*]  Shortcut URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/messsage/72 The Sharia Newswatch provides a weekly update of news quotes on Sharia (Islamic Law) & related subjects, as appearing on the major news- searchengines. All editions : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/ AFGHANISTAN Afghan judge details how women can work - 18 Sep 03 http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030918-011257-6566r.htm .. The chief justice in Afghanistan has decreed women are permitted to work with non-governmental organizations if they dress to Islamic standards. Chief Justice Mawlawi Fazl Hadi Shinwari said women must observe the Islamic hijab, or dress code, Radio Free Afghanistan reported. "Only a woman's face can be left uncovered," Shinwari said, adding that Afghan women cannot travel for more than three days without a mahram, a husband or male relative she cannot legally marry. .. Until the religious scholars can find another solution, Manawi said, Afghan women cannot travel outside of the country without a mahram. Taliban threaten mutilation for Afghans who shave or listen to music http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/afp/20030914/wl_mideast_afp/afghanistan_taliban_030914161758 ..      - 14 Sep 03 "A group of Taliban have stopped vehicles on the highway to Khost and have warned passengers that if they shave their beards in the future or listen to music their ears and noses will be cut off," Paktia provincial governor Asadaullah Wafa told AFP by satellite phone on Sunday.  Wafa said the group of a dozen suspected Taliban had been threatening people in Zadran district 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Kabul on the highway linking Kabul to the southern province of Khost. .. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/bw/20030915/bs_bw/nf200309152970db017 ..      - 15 Sep 03 It was a fight between Afghan tribes, but these skirmishes, I'm told, are instigated by the Taliban, trying to reassert their rule. Bit by bit, they are crossing the Pakistani border and coming into the southern flank of Afghanistan, capturing village by village, then district by district.  A former mujahideen fighter recognizes the strategy. It's what they themselves did with the Soviets, he declares. In Zabul province, adjoining Afghanistan, I'm told the Taliban have appointed their own governor and their own police chief. It's only a matter of time before they move into Kandahar. Kandahar's Frontier of Sorrow - Part 2  - 15 Sep 03 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/bw/20030915/bs_bw/nf200309152970db017 .. The elders later explain that Sikh children have no schools here. They used to go to local schools and were exempted from Koranic studies. Under the Taliban, they had to study the Koran, and then no school was allowed at all. Now, Kandahar is back to forced Koranic studies, so the Sikhs prefer to keep their children at home. .. As the days pass and I hear ordinary Kandaharis speak, I wonder whether the mandarins in the West know how seriously misguided some of their decisions could be. The U.S. pact with the warlords has come under severe criticism from the locals, who see the feudal chieftains getting richer and richer, while the locals see none of the benefits. .. Kandaharis also resent the arrival of the Pakistani laborers, who work on the huge road-building projects in Afghanistan. "They are paid Afghanis 400 [EUR 8,36] per day, while our Afghan labor gets just Afghanis 100," grumbles my interpreter. That's because Pakistanis have the skills to build roads, and no one is teaching the Afghans how to do it. AUSTRALIA Australian Muslims Take Pastors to Court over 'Vilification'- 16 Sep http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=ForeignBureausarchive200309FOR20030916b.html .. Two Christian pastors in Australia will appear in court next month to face complaints brought by Muslims who accuse them of vilifying Islam. Their appearance in a legal tribunal in the state of Victoria is the culmination of an 18-month dispute between a Christian group that organized a seminar on Islam and three Muslims who attended it. .. Acting under Victoria's new Racial and Religious Tolerance Act, the complainants took their case to the state commission, but attempts to resolve it through conciliation failed. The matter was then referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), a body which operates like a court and can impose fine of up to $3,900 for individuals and $19,800 for organizations. .. [Anglican minister] Durie said the Muslims who attended the seminar were "Anglos" - Australians of European origin - who were relatively recent converts to Islam. As such, they were likely genuinely offended by what they heard. "People who convert from those backgrounds are not normally familiar with Islamist ideology. They normally buy into a more defensive view of jihad, for example. Some of the things they found offensive [according to their complaint] were just things quoted from the Quran. So it's partly a particular interpretation of the Quran that they were reacting to." .. In a briefing, it said the fact that Scot was one of the defendants was "bitterly ironic," as he was forced to flee to Australia after he became "one of the first victims of Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws."  In 1986, the college he worked for threatened to bring a charge of insulting the prophet Mohammed - an offense carrying the death penalty - unless he converted to Islam. BAHRAIN Legal revamp is demanded - 16 Sep 03 http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=61654&;Sn=BNEW .. Demonstrators rallied outside a major conference in Bahrain yesterday, calling for an overhaul of the country's legal system. They were led by women's rights activist Ghada Jamsheer and called for major reforms to the Sharia Court system. The protesters gathered at Ras Ruman Mosque, in Manama, before marching to the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, where the opening of the Arab Judicial Forum was being held. Protesters hoped to persuade US judges taking part in the event to raise the issue with Bahraini authorities on their behalf. .. [Ms Jamsheer, president of the Women's Petition Committee,] described problems faced in Bahrain which she says are a direct result of the Sharia court system. A statement issued by the committee yesterday described the Sharia judiciary in Bahrain as "outdated". "The judicial body is dismally suffering from severe shortcomings and is not able to cope with the requirements of Bahrain society," says the statement. Ms Jamsheer and her fellow demonstrators are demanding better training for Sharia judges, as well as more protection for women. They are also calling for the introduction of a personal law, under which civil rather than religious courts would rule on family and other personal issues - such as divorce settlements. BANGLADESH Bangladeshi women disappearing behind the veil - 20 Sep 03 http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&;Story_ID=092018 .. Walk down the streets of this Bangladeshi capital city and you will see a large number of women looking at the world from behind the veil.In schools, colleges, shopping districts and hang out joints, women of all ages can be seen covering their faces - and some even their whole bodies - with veils. Manufacturers and sellers of veils say the demand for these has doubled over the past five years, and increasingly younger women are the buyers. In Muslim majority Bangladesh with a population of 130 million, the increase in veil usage is attributed to many reasons - ranging from religion to a fashion statement, and at times, even a disguise for criminals. .. Veil seller, Mr Abdur Rahim here said women in the 15-25 age group mainly asked for fashionable facial screens. He said around 25 percent of his customers used veils as fashion accessories and 10 percent for safety. The older women wanted black veils but the younger ones opted for light colours. Mr Shamsuddin Ahmed, a veil seller at the Patuatuly wholesale market here, said only three shops used to sell veils in 1975. Today there are 22.  Mr Ramendra Chandra Saha, owner of the Bengal Veil Sellers shop at Patuatuly, said 10 percent of his customers wanted veils to protect themselves from roving eyes, 25 percent for fashion and the rest for religious reasons. The districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Noakhali and Barisal, considered strongholds of Islamic parties, are also places that see the largest number of veil sales. CHINA [earthquake] China Rebuilds 400 Mosques In Xinjiang  - 16 Sep 03 http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2003-09/16/article05.shtml EGYPT Egypt's air-conditioned Islam  - 15 Sep 03 http://mondediplo.com/2003/09/03egyptislam .. A new approach to religion is emerging in Egypt, more compatible with globalisation. The hijab is a fashion purchase and televangelists preach about personal success, self-awareness and getting rich. But this Islamised neoliberalism ignores Egypt's acute social problems. In the eye of the storm   - 17 Sep 03   http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/655/eg9.htm .. Al-Azhar has been bogged down in a heated controversy over the past few weeks, after its Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, retracted a fatwa by senior Al-Azhar cleric Sheikh Nabawi Mohamed El-Esh which urged Muslim and Arab states to boycott the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). El-Esh, who was allegedly dismissed after facing an internal disciplinary hearing, arrived at his edict on the grounds that the IGC was "selected by the occupation forces and thus has no religious legitimacy".   Tantawi, however, countered that, "no Egyptian cleric has the right to pass verdicts on the affairs of another country." .. "It is clear that Tantawi changes his statements whenever he receives a visit from the US ambassador, and then finds a scapegoat to lay the blame on," maintained Ambassador Hussein Ahmed Amin, a veteran diplomat and the author of many works on Islam and Islamism. Tantawi's attitude, lamented Amin, is "tarnishing the image" of the world's Mecca of Sunni Muslim scholars and "undermining Al-Azhar's credibility in the Arab and Islamic world". Amin sees the entire process as part of "the US war on Islam involving the humiliation of its symbols, and a cultural invasion of the minds of Muslim youths" .. Amin, meanwhile, envisioned a different US scenario. "Islam is a democratic religion which gives way to different schools of thought -- from militant to liberal to intellectual Islamism." That diversity of Islamic trends has made it difficult for the US to "target Islam as a perceived danger to its interests". As a result, Amin theorised, "the US is trying to establish a papacy in Islam where the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar would have the upper hand over the whole Islamic world. In that respect, the US will definitely make sure that Imam serves its [the US's] interest." FRANCE French Minister Opposes "Religious Sign" In Schools      - 17 Sep 03 http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-09/17/article03.shtml .. A French minister called Tuesday, September16 , for respecting the secular nature of the country by enacting a law banning any religious signs in schools, including the Muslim hijab and the Jewish Kippah or skullcap. Speaking before a panel on secularism set up by President Jacques Chirac, Social Affairs Minister Francois Fillon voiced his personal support for endorsing a bill forbidding "the ostentatious wearing of any religious sings in schools." He argued this position was based on France's strict secular tradition in the public sector and in the interests of integrating immigrants by instilling French values. .. The French Socialist Party – France's most influential leftist party – on Tuesday urged former French minister Bernard Stasi, who heads the secularism panel, to draw up a social covenant that respects secularism. The party also criticized so-called "ghetto schools" in France, saying that they did not encourage the incorporation of immigrants into the French society. INDIA Indian court clears deputy premier over mosque razing - 19 Sep 03 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/afp/20030919/wl_afp/india_temple_mosque_030919175123 .. An Indian court cleared Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani over the 1992 razing of a mosque that set off nationwide riots, but charged seven other top Hindu nationalists. [Andhra Pradesh] College for women muftis to open in city this Sunday http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=185535 ..     - 17 Sep 03 The first Dar-ul-Iftah (collegium of muftis from where fatwas are issued) for women will start functioning from this Sunday after it will be formally inaugurated in the premises of Jamiat-ul-Mominat - an institution where women are taught the courses of Alim, Hafiz and Mufthia - located in Moghalpura. [mufti - jurisconsult] .. This is for the first time in India that a separate Dar-ul-Iftah is coming up for women after a few Hyderabad-based ulemas have taken up this revolutionary move. It is expected that this trend will gain momentum as this move has been lauded by ulemas and Muslim intellectuals of the country. .. For the Mufthia course, one has to complete a 10-year course that includes Moulvi, Alim, Fazil and Kamil. After the completion of Mufthia course, the candidates have to undergo practical exercise with senior muftis for a couple of years to get command on the subjects. INDONESIA [Moluccas] Bräuchler, Birgit. Cyberidentities at War    - 16 Sep 03 http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41712804 Religion, Identity, and the Internet in the Moluccan Conflict. [source: Indonesia, no. 75 (April 2003), pp 123-151] . The pitch man for polygamy  - 21 Sep 03 http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,210795,00.html? .. Indonesia's 1973 marriage law only acknowledges monogamous unions, although the court can approve a man's appeal to have more than one wife if the existing one cannot perform her wifely duties, has a physical handicap, suffers from an incurable disease or cannot bear children. He must receive the approval of his current wife before applying to wed a second woman and must ensure that he will treat his families fairly. However, men try to go around these restrictions in the marriage law by having their second marriage solemnised by a Muslim cleric. .. Before [Vice-president] Mr Hamzah, polygamy used to be Indonesia's little secret. In 1983, the late First Lady and wife of President Suharto, Madam Tien, pushed for the enactment of a government regulation that prohibits civil servants and government officials from taking up a second wife unless they have the permission of their superiors. Few civil servants who want to marry again are ever given the go-ahead. This piece of legislation was meant to protect women from potential abuse by their husbands wanting to marry another woman. It also made people more reluctant about having a polygamous marriage or being open about it. Since the fall of President Suharto in 1998, politicians have increasingly become more open about their polygamous marriages. IRAN Rafsanjani calls for "fatwa council" on major issues  - 18 Sep 03 http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=18083&;NewsKind=Current%20Affairs .. " If there is council or councils which focus on important questions and issue a fatwa, that would be a basis for the constitution's Council of Guardians to approve or reject laws passed by parliament," he said at a meeting with clerics late Tuesday in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Reformists lobby behind jailed dissident for Nobel Prize - 18 Sep 03 http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=18081&;NewsKind=Current%20Affairs .. Close to 450 Iranian reformists have written to the Nobel Committee to support Hashem Aghajari, a jailed dissident intellectual nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.   ..  Aghajari was sentenced to death in November 2002 for blasphemy. Although his jail term has since been reduced to three years, he is still waiting for a review of his death penalty. IRAQ Iraqi legal experts favour secular post-Saddam government - 18 Sep 03 http://www.jordantimes.com/Fri/news/news12.htm .. Out of a sample of 50 university professors, including attorneys and legal experts, 70 per cent said they favour a secular constitution, against 18 per cent who preferred a constitution based on Sharia (Islamic law), while the remainder had no opinion on the subject, Az Zaman reported. However, 96 per cent favour Islam as the state religion in the new constitution, while two per cent were against this and two per cent abstained. IRELAND The Friday Times   - 18 Sep 03 http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=61157 .. The first edition of the Islamic community of Ireland's newspaper is launched. Serving the 25,000 Muslims who live in all Ireland "The Friday Times" will be distributed on a fortnightly basis at Islamic information centres, Halal shops and other concentration points of the Irish Islamic community. To listen to an interview with acting Sudanese co-editor: http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0918/morningireland/morningireland8a.smil MALAYSIA Syariah panel set up to review inconsistencies - 19 Sep 03 http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41816283 ..      [New Straits Times] A Syariah committee has been set up in the Attorney-General's Chambers to review matters in the civil legislation that are inconsistent with Syariah, parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Noh Omar said. He said the committee, headed by a director and assisted by A- G's Chambers staff and those competent in Islamic laws, started functioning on June 15. "Any review will be done within the parameters of the Federal Constitution," he said at the Parliament lobby. He said the Syariah on evidence incorporated procedures in the Evidence Act 1950 that were in line with Islamic jurisprudence.  .. Noh said there were provisions in the Evidence Act (section 124 to 130) which were contrary to Islam. .. Noh said the Pardons Board had the right to pardon a person once he/she had exhausted all other legal avenues, and in Islam, only the family of the victim had the right to excuse the offender. .. Noh said the (Marriage and Divorce) Law Reform Act 1976 was also being studied to be in line with the Islamic Family Law. Pas' hudud is not that of Allah's, says Dr Mahathir    - 19 Sep 03 http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2003&;dt=0920&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Front_Page&pg=fp_01.htm .. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Pas hudud law is clearly not Allah's law because it can be amended when it is not agreeable to the people. This was clearly proven when the party stated that it would amend the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Hudud and Kisas) Terengganu and the Kelantan Syariah Penal Code Enactment with regard to sodomy cases, he said at a media conference after chairing the UMNO Supreme Council meeting, here Friday. Dr Mahathir said: "They (Pas) frequently made changes and, in fact, with regard to sodomising one's wife, they said they may amend this law." [Sabah] Penalties for sodomy under Syariah law - 17 Sep 03 http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=21656 .. The Sabah Syariah criminal law provides penalties for offenders found guilty of committing sodomy and other unnatural acts, including on Muslim wives by their husbands. Sabah Muslim Women Lawyers Association (Salwa) President, Fatmah Wattie Haji Abu Bakar, said the State Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995 has two clauses stipulating direct penalties to sodomy offenders [sections 82, 76]. .. "Both provisions under the Enactment clearly state that sodomy is an offence, no matter who is involved in the act or with whom the act is committed," said Fatmah."Committing sodomy is wrong, whether between a man and a man, and a man and a woman, even if the woman is his wife." "Even the Holy Quran of Surah Al-A'raf verse 80 clearly prohibits sodomy," she added. .. She said this in response to a recent statement by Kelantan Umno Deputy Chief, Zaid Ibrahim, that the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Law Enactment clearly stipulates that it is not an offence for the husband to sodomise his wife. Zaid had said this was against the Penal Code and Islamic law. .. According to Fatmah, Islam prohibits sodomy and it is one of the greatest sins, punishable under Hukum Syarak by way of hadd (Hudud Law) of Zina (adultery or fornication), which carries the punishment of stoning to death or 100 lashes when the accused is found guilty of the act.  "If it is committed against a wife, the punishment will be under takzir (not Hudud Law), which falls here under the State Syariah law or the Penal Code," she stressed. Fatmah said Muslim women who are victims of the "abnormal act" have the option to either lodge a report to the police or to the enforcement division of the State Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheains).  "If the wife wishes to report to the police, the husband who is alleged to have committed sodomy could be charged under Section 377A, or 377B or 377C of the Penal Code for carnal intercourse against the order of nature which includes sodomy. "   Perak's first Islamic college starts in January - 17 Sep 03 http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20030917164451/Article/ .. Construction of the first Islamic college in Perak, Kolej Islam Darul Ridzuan, in Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar, will begin in January next year. .. There are now seven international students, three Cambodians and four Indonesians, pursuing the various diploma courses in Islamic studies at the college. "We hope to get more students from Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia." The college was opened in October, 1999, with 43 students. It now has 150 students pursuing the various Islamic disciplines. Majority of them will further their studies at universities in the Middle East upon receiving their diplomas. Today is the second convocation ceremony in which 39 students received their diplomas in Syariah Islamiyyah, Usuluddin and Arabic Language and Literature. The first batch of 42 students, who received their diplomas in 2001, are now at University Al-Azhar in Egypt, University of Jordan and University Mu'tah, Jordan. MOROCCO Islamic groups make modest victories in Moroccan elections  - 15 Sep http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/09/15/2003067944 .. Morocco's two largest political parties cemented their standing in local elections, while a closely watched Islamic party made modest gains in the first vote since May suicide bombings by Muslim extremists. The Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the conservative Istiqlal were the biggest winners in final results announced on Saturday. Both parties are members of the coalition government, and together, they won nearly a third of the vote. Islamists target Morocco's Jews   - 15 Sep 03 http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1042036,00.html .. Violent Islamists have murdered two members of Morocco's shrinking Jewish community in the past four days and look set to drive out most of the remaining members of a community whose history stretches back centuries. .. the killing of Mr Afrat, whose unidentified assailant ran off, drove home the message Islamist militants first sent when they bombed a Jewish centre in Casablanca on May 16. .. Although Morocco's monarchs, including the current king, have traditionally sworn to protect the country's Jews, the community has fallen from 350,000 to 3,500 in half a century. Most young Jews have emigrated either to Europe or to Israel, where some 700,000 people claim Moroccan origin. NETHERLANDS Dutch Muslim Women Protest 'Mixed Swimming' - 16 Sep 03 http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-09/16/article07.shtml .. [250] Muslim women took to the streets of Helmond city, southeast of the Netherlands, to protest a decision by the city's municipality to withhold an annual grant for a government-aided social organization, allocated for women-only swimming classes.  ..  "A large portion of the grant was used to rent closed swimming pools for Muslim women." .. "The new directives of the Dutch authorities will force the Muslim minority to drift against the current and help themselves in building their organizations and safeguard their religious and cultural values, which would widen the gap among the society's communities," she added. .. The Muslim in Holland - one million out of the country's 16 millions - have established over the past 30 years hundreds of religious, social and cultural organizations, many of which receive grants from the Dutch authorities. NIGERIA Withdrawal of Police Orderlies: One controversy that won't go away http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/politics/p120092003.html ..      - 20 Sep 03 August 21, 2003, will forever remain indelible in the minds of most top public functionaries in Nigeria. It was a day when most of them woke up to discover that their security privileges, a supposed perk of their office had been brusquely removed. A circular from the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, General Abdullahi Mohammed had stated that the withdrawal of police security to certain categories of public officers was borne out of instances of abuses to which the security personnel had been subjected. .. Mohammed, in his circular, stated that the blanket withdrawal of police guards, ADCs, and police orderlies attached to top government functionaries would affect [..] political appointees of state governments, Khadis of Sharia Courts of Appeal, Judges of Customary Court of Appeal, Heads of Parastatals and extra-ministerial departments, chairmen and members of federal executive bodies. .. Barely three days after the announcement was made, judicial officers nationwide who were greatly peeved threatened to embark on strike action aimed at forcing government to rescind the decision. Although the protest was eventually called off, the judges, however, continued to mount pressure on government to review the order. Bauchi Commission Meets Community Leaders - 20 Sep 03 http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20030920news19.html .. Speaking yesterday during the meeting, the commissioner in-charge of Hisba group (sharia enforcement agents) in the Sharia Commission, Alhaji Babangida Moha-mmed, said the state government was seriously concerned about those people selling and drinking alcohol despite the order of the government prohibiting such acts in some designated areas in the state. The commissioner who vowed that the commission would do everything possible within the limits of its legal powers to ensure that the Islamic Legal Code was fully implemented in the state, noted that sharia was a way of life which all muslims must adhere to. He said it was for this reason that the state government gave the liquor sellers a soft loan of N25 million [EUR 166.000,-] to enable them invest in other legitimate businesses, and stressed the seriousness of the government on the full implementation of the law in the state. In his remark, the state Commissioner of Police represented by the Area Commander, SUPOL, Ogbonna Nsan advised religious leaders to enlighten their followers on the law banning the sale and consumption of alcohol as well as prostitution and gambling at designated places in Bauchi metropolis and other places of the state, saying that such laws was still in force. Sharia: Bauchi Hospital Sacks 12 Nurses  - 16 Sep 03 http://allafrica.com/stories/200309160231.html [This Day - Lagos] .. The Nursing Service Department, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Azare, Bauchi State, is said to have recently sacked 12 nurses for non-compliance with the recently introduced Sharia dressing code for women employees of the health centre. .. The new directive, [one nurse] said, came after they were given new uniforms sewed to comply with the Islamic dressing code. The Christian Fellowship, she said, pleaded with the hospital management for their members to be allowed to continue with the old white gowns, a common uniform for nurses, but the Muslims said such gown was against the Islamic dressing code, as it reveals most parts of the women's legs. A query dated February 2002, No. FMCA/SS/39 and signed by D. O. Oziehisa, Head of Administration, and entitled: "Re: Refusal to Comply with Lawful Directive", were consequently served the Christian nurses. It stated: "Further to our circular on nurses uniform dated February 4, 2002, 1 am disappointed to note that you have decided to heed the directive of Fellowship of Christian Nurses not to wear the prescribed uniform approved by the Board. Group stages hunger stike against stoning - 18 Sep 03 http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&;art_id=qw1063893601955B252&set_id=1 .. "The Civil Rights Congress is mobilising for civil disobedience as an objection to the stoning of Amina Lawal," the group said in a press statement by its president, Shehu Sani, issued in nearby Kaduna. ..  About 20 people have so far joined a hunger strike launched last Wednesday in Kaduna, Sani said in the statement. PAKISTAN Editorial : Reform blasphemy law  - 21 Sep 03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-9-2003_pg3_1 .. The religious leaders mentioned above were brought into the loop by the police to judge whether the shoe design was actually blasphemous or not; they made the statement absolving the accused in response to a question during the press conference. Though this is an unusual admission on the part of the clergy, who are averse to any change in the law, critics of the blasphemy law have been pointing out for years that the law is open to abuse and is manipulated by people to register false cases against rivals and adversaries. Once a person is accused of blasphemy, the stigma of the accusation and the fact that the burden of proof lies on the accused makes the chances of an acquittal bleak. It has also been pointed out time and again that there is considerable pressure on junior judges to give a verdict against the accused. In fact, a short while after General Pervez Musharraf took over power, he suggested making a procedural change in the registration of blasphemy cases so that some care was taken before the accused was hauled up. But he backed down as the religious groups in the country threatened to take to the streets and the issue was buried once again. Pakistan's potent religious and political mix - 20 Sep 03 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EI20Df01.html .. underlying their pronouncements of parliamentary supremacy are the religious parties' demands for the Islamization of polity, which, MMA insiders claim, the government has agreed to implement. These sources say that the MMA has presented 17 demands to the government, seven related to the constitutional amendments and the rest steps needed for the country's Islamization. Its major demands, as revealed by MMA sources and press reports, include a revision of media policy to bring it in line with Islamic values, the setting up of commissions to bring the education system and economy in accordance with Islamic teachings, the promotion of the shalwar kameez - traditional clothes consisting a flowing blouse and pants - as national dress to be made compulsory in all schools and colleges. The religious parties also want Friday to be declared a weekly public holiday and would like a hands-off policy for religious seminaries, or madrassas, which should not be either registered by the government or regulated. They are also battling for the removal of the presidential powers to pardon a person convicted under the Islamic hudood laws. The MMA demands steps to ensure the rights and autonomy of provinces as enunciated by the 1973 constitution, women and minorities' rights in accordance with Islamic injunctions, the inclusion of Islamic subjects as part of the curricula, the removal of obscenity and vulgarity from electronic media, and the giving of equal importance to religious and other subjects in schools and seminaries. The MMA also wants the government to commit that all laws and regulations are made in conformity with the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a constitutional body that interprets all laws according to the Islamic teachings. It also wants all recommendations of the CII thus far to be discussed in parliament. .. "Unless the MMA has good relations with the federal government now under an-all powerful president, their government in the two provinces will continue to face the fear of destabilization." Purple Patch: Islamic Economy *)  - 21 Sep 03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-9-2003_pg3_8 .. The "Islamic bank" is a marketing tool and not a scheme for a new economic order. That Islam is an inviting product is confirmed by the fact that several banks, without changing their commercial practices, have opened an "Islamic" branch, or even just a window, or provide "Islamic" interpretations of their practices. .. Islamism is distinguished by a total absence of socioeconomic analyses (causes of inflation, definition of economic agents, and so on) except in the rare instances in which a recent university graduate sets himself the task of translating his final honors paper into vaguely religious terms. The object of the reflection is never the society, but man and the revealed text. We are thus still within the framework of the meeting of anthropology and ethics: if the economic agent acted justly and with the sharia in mind, then the society (and he himself) would be just and prosperous. Disorder comes from transgressing the rules set forth by God, which aim to keep man at a happy medium between the satisfaction of his needs and his ethical goal. Like politics, the Islamic economy is the filling in of a matrix borrowed from the West with legal terminology based on an ethical anthropology. .. *) Olivier Roy, Paris. This passage is from his book, 'The Failure of Political Islam' [orig. 1992]. NWFP in Pak bans male doctors from female ECG  - 19 Sep 03 http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&;cat1=4&cat2=37&newsid=70121&RF=DefaultMain .. a Pakistani province governed by the Shariat law has barred male technicians and doctors from conducting electro-cardiograms and ultrasounds of women. Women would be the worst sufferers of this "ridiculous and absurd step" because there was only one female ECG technician in the entire North West Frontier Province and none for ultrasounds, The Friday Times reported. As it is, only 35 per cent of women in Pakistan receive any antenatal check-up from a doctor. It has been estimated that each year about 30,000 women in Pakistan die due to pregnancy related causes. A large number of these women suffer unnecessary risk associated with childbearing, indicating a high burden of disease and death. SAUDI ARABIA Muslim Shiite leader says Shiite minority has made strides toward http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41861889 ..      - 20 Sep 03 Muslim Shiites in Saudi Arabia have made strides toward religious equality with the Muslim Sunni majority, a leading Shiite cleric in the kingdom said Saturday. .. [Sheik Hassan] Al-Saffar said the Saudi authorities had relaxed the restrictions on Shiite construction to allow Shiites to build 10 mosques and congregation halls during the past two years. They had also permitted Shiites to hold street processions to mark the deaths of Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad, and Hussein, the son of Ali. Shiites see Hussein and Ali as the rightful heirs of the prophet. Saudi Shiites may now beat their chests with their hands in public, a common Shiite ritual, although the authorities do not permit them to flagellate themselves, al-Saffar said. Guidance From the Prophet: Leaving One Person Out    - 19 Sep 03 http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5&;section=0&article=32205 .. Islamic manners are the most refined. They take care of the feelings of even the weakest, humblest or youngest in any group or community. .. To appreciate the change brought by Islam, let us look at the following Hadith: Abdullah ibn Massoud quotes the Prophet as saying: "Should there be three of you, then let not two of them be in conversation to the exclusion of the third, because this will hurt him." (Related by Al-Bukahri and Muslim). SINGAPORE Proposed guide for moderate Muslims - 15 Sep 03 http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,209880,00.html? .. Guidelines on how Muslim Singaporeans can lead their lives as moderate followers of Islam have been proposed by Pergas, the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association. The list, based on the definition of a moderate Muslim, was endorsed yesterday by most of the 150 members at the end of a two-day convention on moderation in Islam. It was held by the association at Assyakirin mosque in Jurong. The definition evolved by Pergas, which criticised the Government over the tudung [headscarf] issue, brings it in line with the views of Muis, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. A moderate Muslim, in the eyes of Muis president Alami Musa, who opened the meeting, has the self-confidence to stick to Islamic principles and values while coping with current problems. SOMALIA Somalia Hopes for Peace After Decades of War - 17 Sep 03 http://allafrica.com/stories/200309170147.html [The Nation -  Nairobi] .. Therefore, apart from the relatively stable northwest and northeast regions, the rest of Somalia remains in the grip of vicious clan battles. Their hatred and mistrust of each other is as abundant as the guns in their possession. The warlords and merchants control what economic activity there is, especially in the capital Mogadishu like the airports, and levy taxes. They have also erected toll stations in areas under their control. .. analysts think that although the Somali profess the Islamic faith and parts of the country apply Sharia law, in the end it is clan allegiance which holds sway not religious fundamentalism. Clan loyalties are so deep-rooted they define all aspects of life in Somalia. A faction leader, Mr Omar Mahmud summed up the problem thus, "whoever became president gave arms to his clan and his clan used the arms to dominate the other clans. Every clan is armed. We are all tired of fighting, and are willing to put all our weapons aside." TURKEY Op-ed: Turkey and secularism  (Omar Taspinar) - 16 Sep 03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-9-2003_pg3_4 UK Trinity [College Dublin] cancels invite to Islamist  - 21 Sep 03 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1046701,00.html Scarf row teacher faces 'religious assault' charge - 19 Sep 03 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/19/nscarf19.xml .. A teacher who allegedly forced a Muslim pupil to remove her headscarf will appear in court today charged with religiously aggravated assault. Hazel Dick, 42, a teacher at Bretton Woods Community School in Peterborough, is accused of forcing a 15-year-old pupil to remove her headscarf, or hijab, because it was not part of the school uniform. .. "It was basically an incident about the correction of uniform. She was not wearing the correct uniform. She told a member of staff where the correct uniform was, it had been given to a friend. The correct hijab was collected and put on. "We often find that children try not to wear school uniform and teachers correct them. We were astonished when we were contacted by the police." .. Bretton Woods school, where a high proportion of students come from a socially disadvantaged area, has had difficulties recruiting teachers, according to its latest Ofsted report. Earlier this year, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, ordered the school to admit a 12-year-old pupil who had been expelled from his primary school for violent and racist behaviour. USA U.S. Detains Guantanamo Islamic Chaplain - 21 Sep 03 http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030921_294.html .. U.S. authorities have detained a Muslim chaplain who counseled suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, saying he was carrying classified documents when he arrived back in the United States.  News reports said Army Capt. Yousef Yee had drawings of the prison and lists of detainees, but that could not immediately be confirmed. Yee has not been charged. Religion History for Wednesday, September 17, 2003 http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewLeisure.asp?Page=Leisurearchive200309LEI20030917d.html ..      Today In Religious History:  1656 - Massachusetts enacted severe laws against Quakers. At the time, government and religion were intricately interwoven; the line between blasphemy and treason was virtually nonexistent; and non-sacramental Quakerism gave the impression that the denomination was anti- government. .. 1787 - The U.S. Constitution, ratified on this date, contained the following code under Article 6, Section 3: "No religious tests shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." ZANZIBAR Terror warnings slow Zanzibar's progress   - 21 Sep 03 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,1044053,00.html .. Some worry that an opposition victory could lead to a break-up of the Union with mainland Tanzania, and that opposition party, CUF, could introduce sharia law. Juma Duni Haji says that government politicians label the opposition party Islamic because they want to create a connotation of Islamic and terrorism. Tanzanian law does not in fact allow religious political parties. But opposition politicians certainly do talk of renegotiating the Union agreement, in terms that are sometimes reminiscent of British Conservatives' views on renegotiating the UK's position in the EU. FINANCE The Company of Reputation Faces (Wujooh)  - 15 Sep 03 http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=8264&;TagID=1 [Malaysia] Week-long campaign on Islamic banking and finance http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41722906 [Malaysia] Bank Negara to liberalise Islamic banking earlier http://www.theedge.com.my/article.cfm?id=24953   - 18 Sep 03 How Rating Methodologies Apply to Islamic Debt Financing  http://www2.standardandpoors.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=sp/sp_article/ArticleTemplate&;c=sp_article&cid=1063634087771 .. "In practice, however, as illustrated in the 'sukuk' (Islamic bonds) that Standard & Poor's has rated, binding guarantees and other contractual obligations can place transactions firmly in the debt category." Standard & Poor's credit rating analysis focuses on the specifics of the transaction, the robustness of the associated contracts, and any special features indicating that the underlying borrower will treat the obligation as it would direct, unsecured, commercial financial obligations. Standard & Poor's has rated three sovereign sukuk, issued by the Kingdom of Bahrain (foreign currency A-/Stable/A-2; local currency A/Stable/A-1), the Federation of Malaysia (foreign currency BBB+/Stable/A-2; local currency A+/Stable/A-1), and the State of Qatar (A+/Stable/A-1). Islamic bankers to lobby support at IMF meetings   - 20 Sep 03 http://jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/20-09-2003/business/b14.htm .. Islamic bankers have been scrambling for years to cement their rapidly growing $200 billion sector into mainstream global finance. .. They say International Monetary Fund support eased the creation of the regulatory Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in November, a body that has started to lay the groundwork for central banks and regulators to deal with Islamic institutions, and hope to build upon that success. .. Industry analysts say that after it standardises operations and creates more regulatory bodies, the next hurdle for this sector is to lobby Muslim and Arab countries - potentially the biggest growth market for Islamic institutions - to remove barriers in their largely state-owned economies. "After securing international recognition, we are trying to establish Islamic finance as part of Arab and Islamic countries," Khoja said. Khoja’s non-profit organisation*, which groups several Islamic institutions and banks, is drafting a law that Arab and Muslim countries can use as a reference for dealing with Islamic banks. [*General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions]. .. Complicating the picture is the fact that Islamic institutions each have their own sharia boards made up of Muslim scholars who practice ijtihad and ensure their firm’s operations are compliant with Islam. HSBC's chief executive of Islamic finance, Iqbal Khan, says sharia boards are adhering to more common interpretations of the basic practices upon which most instruments are based. "There is greater harmonisation between sharia boards and of sharia standards than in the past. When we need to launch a new product we need ijtihad." [Bahrain] New BMA contracts aim to boost Islamic banking - 18 Sep 03 http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=61832&;Sn=BUSI .. The Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) has developed two new Islamic financial contracts in yet another pioneering move to advance the global Islamic banking industry. .. A Sharia-compliant sell and buy back product, developed in consultation with the Liquidity Management Centre (LMC), will allow repurchase transactions of Islamic leasing bonds (Ijara sukuk) issued by the BMA, while a commodity investment agreement has been standardised to facilitate inter-bank dealings. .. Under the Islamic repurchase agreement (Repo), financial institutions holding Ijara sukuk will be able to engage in contracts involving the simultaneous sale and future repurchase of the sukuk. New Dubai financial hub uses M'sia as model http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/9/17/business/6295658&;sec=business .. Malaysia is being used as the model and courted as a partner for a new Islamic banking and financial centre for the Middle East in Dubai, said James Hume, the executive vice-president of the emirate’s proposed new financial hub Dubai International Financial Centre. .. Hume said DIFC was now being built “on 110 acres of desert”. He said 90 of the world’s top 200 banks had decided to set up operations at the centre, which was expected to be operational within 5 years.  .. http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/28398.html  - 20 Sep 03 .. The DIFC is setting up its own, independent, civil and commercial law from scratch. This will ensure international best practice for activities as diverse as insurance to equity trading. The DIFC's English language, international legal framework is a key differentiator from Bahrain where Arabic is the language of business and Sharia courts administer the law. So can we expect a polarization of business, Bahrain dealing with regional banking, and Dubai taking over the international role? .. the real battle to watch for between Bahrain and Dubai is in the Islamic banking sector. Bahrain is certainly winning at the moment, and has become something of a global centre for this fast growing banking niche. .. Within a few years Saudi Arabia is likely to join the World Trade Organization and that should open up a massive new market for the international banks, which are currently only allowed to own stakes in Saudi banks. Dubai with its openness to foreign cultures is likely to prove an ideal base for international banks wishing to establish a presence in the Kingdom. LSG Sky Chefs to Acquire England Operations of Abela Group - 16 Sep 03 http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=Cp2AkWbWbrefuvta0mW .. LSG Sky Chefs, the world's largest provider of quality in-flight catering, has agreed to acquire the England assets of airline catering operator Abela at London Gatwick Airport, London Heathrow Airport and London Stansted Airport. .. The halal facility will strengthen LSG Sky Chefs' culinary expertise in producing and handling ethnic food, as the facility is one of the few in-flight catering premises in Europe devoted solely to halal production. [South Africa] Attracting Muslim money - 17 Sep 03 http://m1.mny.co.za/mzivt.nsf/Current/C2256BCE0043F579C2256DA40051DF71 .. South Africa’s Futuregrowth Pure Equity unit trust fund has undergone a face-lift as its providers target investors from the Islamic world who are turning their backs on the United States. Now called the Futuregrowth Albaraka Equity Fund, this top ranking unit trust has been relaunched along with a beefed up advisory board that includes highly respected international Shari’ ah law experts. .. The aim was to boost the R104-m [EUR 12,5 m] under management in the fund to R1-bn within three years. The fund is rand-based, with minimum lump sum investments of R2 500 [EUR 300] and minimum monthly debit orders of R250. Futuregrowth has outsourced fund management to Frater Asset Management, while Albaraka Bank and Channel Islam International, an international broadcasting organisation, are also strategic partners. New board members include Justice Mufti-Muhammad Taqi Usmani, who is on the boards of at least a dozen Islamic banks and financial institutions around the world, and his son Dr Muhammad Imran Ashraf Usmani, an Islamic finance expert and adviser to several international financial institutions. "Until now, the fund hasn’t had a proper advisory board, though it has always had a Shari’ ah screen in the stock selection process," Nagia added. [*]  Copyright: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 - http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html - this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this list for purposes that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. [USA:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html]  12:41:07 AM    comment []

Sharia News Watch  72   Sharia News Watch 72 : a collection newsquotes on Sharia, for research & educational purposes only. [*]  Shortcut URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/message/72 The Sharia Newswatch provides a weekly update of news quotes on Sharia (Islamic Law) & related subjects, as appearing on the major news- searchengines. All editions : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/ AFGHANISTAN Afghan judge details how women can work - 18 Sep 03 http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030918-011257-6566r.htm .. The chief justice in Afghanistan has decreed women are permitted to work with non-governmental organizations if they dress to Islamic standards. Chief Justice Mawlawi Fazl Hadi Shinwari said women must observe the Islamic hijab, or dress code, Radio Free Afghanistan reported. "Only a woman's face can be left uncovered," Shinwari said, adding that Afghan women cannot travel for more than three days without a mahram, a husband or male relative she cannot legally marry. .. Until the religious scholars can find another solution, Manawi said, Afghan women cannot travel outside of the country without a mahram. Taliban threaten mutilation for Afghans who shave or listen to music http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/afp/20030914/wl_mideast_afp/afghanistan_taliban_030914161758 ..      - 14 Sep 03 "A group of Taliban have stopped vehicles on the highway to Khost and have warned passengers that if they shave their beards in the future or listen to music their ears and noses will be cut off," Paktia provincial governor Asadaullah Wafa told AFP by satellite phone on Sunday.  Wafa said the group of a dozen suspected Taliban had been threatening people in Zadran district 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Kabul on the highway linking Kabul to the southern province of Khost. .. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/bw/20030915/bs_bw/nf200309152970db017 ..      - 15 Sep 03 It was a fight between Afghan tribes, but these skirmishes, I'm told, are instigated by the Taliban, trying to reassert their rule. Bit by bit, they are crossing the Pakistani border and coming into the southern flank of Afghanistan, capturing village by village, then district by district.  A former mujahideen fighter recognizes the strategy. It's what they themselves did with the Soviets, he declares. In Zabul province, adjoining Afghanistan, I'm told the Taliban have appointed their own governor and their own police chief. It's only a matter of time before they move into Kandahar. Kandahar's Frontier of Sorrow - Part 2  - 15 Sep 03 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/bw/20030915/bs_bw/nf200309152970db017 .. The elders later explain that Sikh children have no schools here. They used to go to local schools and were exempted from Koranic studies. Under the Taliban, they had to study the Koran, and then no school was allowed at all. Now, Kandahar is back to forced Koranic studies, so the Sikhs prefer to keep their children at home. .. As the days pass and I hear ordinary Kandaharis speak, I wonder whether the mandarins in the West know how seriously misguided some of their decisions could be. The U.S. pact with the warlords has come under severe criticism from the locals, who see the feudal chieftains getting richer and richer, while the locals see none of the benefits. .. Kandaharis also resent the arrival of the Pakistani laborers, who work on the huge road-building projects in Afghanistan. "They are paid Afghanis 400 [EUR 8,36] per day, while our Afghan labor gets just Afghanis 100," grumbles my interpreter. That's because Pakistanis have the skills to build roads, and no one is teaching the Afghans how to do it. AUSTRALIA Australian Muslims Take Pastors to Court over 'Vilification'- 16 Sep http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=ForeignBureausarchive200309FOR20030916b.html .. Two Christian pastors in Australia will appear in court next month to face complaints brought by Muslims who accuse them of vilifying Islam. Their appearance in a legal tribunal in the state of Victoria is the culmination of an 18-month dispute between a Christian group that organized a seminar on Islam and three Muslims who attended it. .. Acting under Victoria's new Racial and Religious Tolerance Act, the complainants took their case to the state commission, but attempts to resolve it through conciliation failed. The matter was then referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), a body which operates like a court and can impose fine of up to $3,900 for individuals and $19,800 for organizations. .. [Anglican minister] Durie said the Muslims who attended the seminar were "Anglos" - Australians of European origin - who were relatively recent converts to Islam. As such, they were likely genuinely offended by what they heard. "People who convert from those backgrounds are not normally familiar with Islamist ideology. They normally buy into a more defensive view of jihad, for example. Some of the things they found offensive [according to their complaint] were just things quoted from the Quran. So it's partly a particular interpretation of the Quran that they were reacting to." .. In a briefing, it said the fact that Scot was one of the defendants was "bitterly ironic," as he was forced to flee to Australia after he became "one of the first victims of Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws."  In 1986, the college he worked for threatened to bring a charge of insulting the prophet Mohammed - an offense carrying the death penalty - unless he converted to Islam. BAHRAIN Legal revamp is demanded - 16 Sep 03 http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=61654&;Sn=BNEW .. Demonstrators rallied outside a major conference in Bahrain yesterday, calling for an overhaul of the country's legal system. They were led by women's rights activist Ghada Jamsheer and called for major reforms to the Sharia Court system. The protesters gathered at Ras Ruman Mosque, in Manama, before marching to the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, where the opening of the Arab Judicial Forum was being held. Protesters hoped to persuade US judges taking part in the event to raise the issue with Bahraini authorities on their behalf. .. [Ms Jamsheer, president of the Women's Petition Committee,] described problems faced in Bahrain which she says are a direct result of the Sharia court system. A statement issued by the committee yesterday described the Sharia judiciary in Bahrain as "outdated". "The judicial body is dismally suffering from severe shortcomings and is not able to cope with the requirements of Bahrain society," says the statement. Ms Jamsheer and her fellow demonstrators are demanding better training for Sharia judges, as well as more protection for women. They are also calling for the introduction of a personal law, under which civil rather than religious courts would rule on family and other personal issues - such as divorce settlements. BANGLADESH Bangladeshi women disappearing behind the veil - 20 Sep 03 http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&;Story_ID=092018 .. Walk down the streets of this Bangladeshi capital city and you will see a large number of women looking at the world from behind the veil.In schools, colleges, shopping districts and hang out joints, women of all ages can be seen covering their faces - and some even their whole bodies - with veils. Manufacturers and sellers of veils say the demand for these has doubled over the past five years, and increasingly younger women are the buyers. In Muslim majority Bangladesh with a population of 130 million, the increase in veil usage is attributed to many reasons - ranging from religion to a fashion statement, and at times, even a disguise for criminals. .. Veil seller, Mr Abdur Rahim here said women in the 15-25 age group mainly asked for fashionable facial screens. He said around 25 percent of his customers used veils as fashion accessories and 10 percent for safety. The older women wanted black veils but the younger ones opted for light colours. Mr Shamsuddin Ahmed, a veil seller at the Patuatuly wholesale market here, said only three shops used to sell veils in 1975. Today there are 22.  Mr Ramendra Chandra Saha, owner of the Bengal Veil Sellers shop at Patuatuly, said 10 percent of his customers wanted veils to protect themselves from roving eyes, 25 percent for fashion and the rest for religious reasons. The districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Noakhali and Barisal, considered strongholds of Islamic parties, are also places that see the largest number of veil sales. CHINA [earthquake] China Rebuilds 400 Mosques In Xinjiang  - 16 Sep 03 http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2003-09/16/article05.shtml EGYPT Egypt's air-conditioned Islam  - 15 Sep 03 http://mondediplo.com/2003/09/03egyptislam .. A new approach to religion is emerging in Egypt, more compatible with globalisation. The hijab is a fashion purchase and televangelists preach about personal success, self-awareness and getting rich. But this Islamised neoliberalism ignores Egypt's acute social problems. In the eye of the storm   - 17 Sep 03   http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/655/eg9.htm .. Al-Azhar has been bogged down in a heated controversy over the past few weeks, after its Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, retracted a fatwa by senior Al-Azhar cleric Sheikh Nabawi Mohamed El-Esh which urged Muslim and Arab states to boycott the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). El-Esh, who was allegedly dismissed after facing an internal disciplinary hearing, arrived at his edict on the grounds that the IGC was "selected by the occupation forces and thus has no religious legitimacy".   Tantawi, however, countered that, "no Egyptian cleric has the right to pass verdicts on the affairs of another country." .. "It is clear that Tantawi changes his statements whenever he receives a visit from the US ambassador, and then finds a scapegoat to lay the blame on," maintained Ambassador Hussein Ahmed Amin, a veteran diplomat and the author of many works on Islam and Islamism. Tantawi's attitude, lamented Amin, is "tarnishing the image" of the world's Mecca of Sunni Muslim scholars and "undermining Al-Azhar's credibility in the Arab and Islamic world". Amin sees the entire process as part of "the US war on Islam involving the humiliation of its symbols, and a cultural invasion of the minds of Muslim youths" .. Amin, meanwhile, envisioned a different US scenario. "Islam is a democratic religion which gives way to different schools of thought -- from militant to liberal to intellectual Islamism." That diversity of Islamic trends has made it difficult for the US to "target Islam as a perceived danger to its interests". As a result, Amin theorised, "the US is trying to establish a papacy in Islam where the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar would have the upper hand over the whole Islamic world. In that respect, the US will definitely make sure that Imam serves its [the US's] interest." FRANCE French Minister Opposes "Religious Sign" In Schools      - 17 Sep 03 http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-09/17/article03.shtml .. A French minister called Tuesday, September16 , for respecting the secular nature of the country by enacting a law banning any religious signs in schools, including the Muslim hijab and the Jewish Kippah or skullcap. Speaking before a panel on secularism set up by President Jacques Chirac, Social Affairs Minister Francois Fillon voiced his personal support for endorsing a bill forbidding "the ostentatious wearing of any religious sings in schools." He argued this position was based on France's strict secular tradition in the public sector and in the interests of integrating immigrants by instilling French values. .. The French Socialist Party – France's most influential leftist party – on Tuesday urged former French minister Bernard Stasi, who heads the secularism panel, to draw up a social covenant that respects secularism. The party also criticized so-called "ghetto schools" in France, saying that they did not encourage the incorporation of immigrants into the French society. INDIA Indian court clears deputy premier over mosque razing - 19 Sep 03 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/afp/20030919/wl_afp/india_temple_mosque_030919175123 .. An Indian court cleared Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani over the 1992 razing of a mosque that set off nationwide riots, but charged seven other top Hindu nationalists. [Andhra Pradesh] College for women muftis to open in city this Sunday http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=185535 ..     - 17 Sep 03 The first Dar-ul-Iftah (collegium of muftis from where fatwas are issued) for women will start functioning from this Sunday after it will be formally inaugurated in the premises of Jamiat-ul-Mominat - an institution where women are taught the courses of Alim, Hafiz and Mufthia - located in Moghalpura. [mufti - jurisconsult] .. This is for the first time in India that a separate Dar-ul-Iftah is coming up for women after a few Hyderabad-based ulemas have taken up this revolutionary move. It is expected that this trend will gain momentum as this move has been lauded by ulemas and Muslim intellectuals of the country. .. For the Mufthia course, one has to complete a 10-year course that includes Moulvi, Alim, Fazil and Kamil. After the completion of Mufthia course, the candidates have to undergo practical exercise with senior muftis for a couple of years to get command on the subjects. INDONESIA [Moluccas] Bräuchler, Birgit. Cyberidentities at War    - 16 Sep 03 http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41712804 Religion, Identity, and the Internet in the Moluccan Conflict. [source: Indonesia, no. 75 (April 2003), pp 123-151] . The pitch man for polygamy  - 21 Sep 03 http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,210795,00.html? .. Indonesia's 1973 marriage law only acknowledges monogamous unions, although the court can approve a man's appeal to have more than one wife if the existing one cannot perform her wifely duties, has a physical handicap, suffers from an incurable disease or cannot bear children. He must receive the approval of his current wife before applying to wed a second woman and must ensure that he will treat his families fairly. However, men try to go around these restrictions in the marriage law by having their second marriage solemnised by a Muslim cleric. .. Before [Vice-president] Mr Hamzah, polygamy used to be Indonesia's little secret. In 1983, the late First Lady and wife of President Suharto, Madam Tien, pushed for the enactment of a government regulation that prohibits civil servants and government officials from taking up a second wife unless they have the permission of their superiors. Few civil servants who want to marry again are ever given the go-ahead. This piece of legislation was meant to protect women from potential abuse by their husbands wanting to marry another woman. It also made people more reluctant about having a polygamous marriage or being open about it. Since the fall of President Suharto in 1998, politicians have increasingly become more open about their polygamous marriages. IRAN Rafsanjani calls for "fatwa council" on major issues  - 18 Sep 03 http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=18083&;NewsKind=Current%20Affairs .. " If there is council or councils which focus on important questions and issue a fatwa, that would be a basis for the constitution's Council of Guardians to approve or reject laws passed by parliament," he said at a meeting with clerics late Tuesday in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Reformists lobby behind jailed dissident for Nobel Prize - 18 Sep 03 http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=18081&;NewsKind=Current%20Affairs .. Close to 450 Iranian reformists have written to the Nobel Committee to support Hashem Aghajari, a jailed dissident intellectual nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.   ..  Aghajari was sentenced to death in November 2002 for blasphemy. Although his jail term has since been reduced to three years, he is still waiting for a review of his death penalty. IRAQ Iraqi legal experts favour secular post-Saddam government - 18 Sep 03 http://www.jordantimes.com/Fri/news/news12.htm .. Out of a sample of 50 university professors, including attorneys and legal experts, 70 per cent said they favour a secular constitution, against 18 per cent who preferred a constitution based on Sharia (Islamic law), while the remainder had no opinion on the subject, Az Zaman reported. However, 96 per cent favour Islam as the state religion in the new constitution, while two per cent were against this and two per cent abstained. IRELAND The Friday Times   - 18 Sep 03 http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=61157 .. The first edition of the Islamic community of Ireland's newspaper is launched. Serving the 25,000 Muslims who live in all Ireland "The Friday Times" will be distributed on a fortnightly basis at Islamic information centres, Halal shops and other concentration points of the Irish Islamic community. To listen to an interview with acting Sudanese co-editor: http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0918/morningireland/morningireland8a.smil MALAYSIA Syariah panel set up to review inconsistencies - 19 Sep 03 http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41816283 ..      [New Straits Times] A Syariah committee has been set up in the Attorney-General's Chambers to review matters in the civil legislation that are inconsistent with Syariah, parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Noh Omar said. He said the committee, headed by a director and assisted by A- G's Chambers staff and those competent in Islamic laws, started functioning on June 15. "Any review will be done within the parameters of the Federal Constitution," he said at the Parliament lobby. He said the Syariah on evidence incorporated procedures in the Evidence Act 1950 that were in line with Islamic jurisprudence.  .. Noh said there were provisions in the Evidence Act (section 124 to 130) which were contrary to Islam. .. Noh said the Pardons Board had the right to pardon a person once he/she had exhausted all other legal avenues, and in Islam, only the family of the victim had the right to excuse the offender. .. Noh said the (Marriage and Divorce) Law Reform Act 1976 was also being studied to be in line with the Islamic Family Law. Pas' hudud is not that of Allah's, says Dr Mahathir    - 19 Sep 03 http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2003&;dt=0920&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Front_Page&pg=fp_01.htm .. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Pas hudud law is clearly not Allah's law because it can be amended when it is not agreeable to the people. This was clearly proven when the party stated that it would amend the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Hudud and Kisas) Terengganu and the Kelantan Syariah Penal Code Enactment with regard to sodomy cases, he said at a media conference after chairing the UMNO Supreme Council meeting, here Friday. Dr Mahathir said: "They (Pas) frequently made changes and, in fact, with regard to sodomising one's wife, they said they may amend this law." [Sabah] Penalties for sodomy under Syariah law - 17 Sep 03 http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=21656 .. The Sabah Syariah criminal law provides penalties for offenders found guilty of committing sodomy and other unnatural acts, including on Muslim wives by their husbands. Sabah Muslim Women Lawyers Association (Salwa) President, Fatmah Wattie Haji Abu Bakar, said the State Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995 has two clauses stipulating direct penalties to sodomy offenders [sections 82, 76]. .. "Both provisions under the Enactment clearly state that sodomy is an offence, no matter who is involved in the act or with whom the act is committed," said Fatmah."Committing sodomy is wrong, whether between a man and a man, and a man and a woman, even if the woman is his wife." "Even the Holy Quran of Surah Al-A'raf verse 80 clearly prohibits sodomy," she added. .. She said this in response to a recent statement by Kelantan Umno Deputy Chief, Zaid Ibrahim, that the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Law Enactment clearly stipulates that it is not an offence for the husband to sodomise his wife. Zaid had said this was against the Penal Code and Islamic law. .. According to Fatmah, Islam prohibits sodomy and it is one of the greatest sins, punishable under Hukum Syarak by way of hadd (Hudud Law) of Zina (adultery or fornication), which carries the punishment of stoning to death or 100 lashes when the accused is found guilty of the act.  "If it is committed against a wife, the punishment will be under takzir (not Hudud Law), which falls here under the State Syariah law or the Penal Code," she stressed. Fatmah said Muslim women who are victims of the "abnormal act" have the option to either lodge a report to the police or to the enforcement division of the State Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheains).  "If the wife wishes to report to the police, the husband who is alleged to have committed sodomy could be charged under Section 377A, or 377B or 377C of the Penal Code for carnal intercourse against the order of nature which includes sodomy. "   Perak's first Islamic college starts in January - 17 Sep 03 http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20030917164451/Article/ .. Construction of the first Islamic college in Perak, Kolej Islam Darul Ridzuan, in Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar, will begin in January next year. .. There are now seven international students, three Cambodians and four Indonesians, pursuing the various diploma courses in Islamic studies at the college. "We hope to get more students from Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia." The college was opened in October, 1999, with 43 students. It now has 150 students pursuing the various Islamic disciplines. Majority of them will further their studies at universities in the Middle East upon receiving their diplomas. Today is the second convocation ceremony in which 39 students received their diplomas in Syariah Islamiyyah, Usuluddin and Arabic Language and Literature. The first batch of 42 students, who received their diplomas in 2001, are now at University Al-Azhar in Egypt, University of Jordan and University Mu'tah, Jordan. MOROCCO Islamic groups make modest victories in Moroccan elections  - 15 Sep http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/09/15/2003067944 .. Morocco's two largest political parties cemented their standing in local elections, while a closely watched Islamic party made modest gains in the first vote since May suicide bombings by Muslim extremists. The Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the conservative Istiqlal were the biggest winners in final results announced on Saturday. Both parties are members of the coalition government, and together, they won nearly a third of the vote. Islamists target Morocco's Jews   - 15 Sep 03 http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1042036,00.html .. Violent Islamists have murdered two members of Morocco's shrinking Jewish community in the past four days and look set to drive out most of the remaining members of a community whose history stretches back centuries. .. the killing of Mr Afrat, whose unidentified assailant ran off, drove home the message Islamist militants first sent when they bombed a Jewish centre in Casablanca on May 16. .. Although Morocco's monarchs, including the current king, have traditionally sworn to protect the country's Jews, the community has fallen from 350,000 to 3,500 in half a century. Most young Jews have emigrated either to Europe or to Israel, where some 700,000 people claim Moroccan origin. NETHERLANDS Dutch Muslim Women Protest 'Mixed Swimming' - 16 Sep 03 http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-09/16/article07.shtml .. [250] Muslim women took to the streets of Helmond city, southeast of the Netherlands, to protest a decision by the city's municipality to withhold an annual grant for a government-aided social organization, allocated for women-only swimming classes.  ..  "A large portion of the grant was used to rent closed swimming pools for Muslim women." .. "The new directives of the Dutch authorities will force the Muslim minority to drift against the current and help themselves in building their organizations and safeguard their religious and cultural values, which would widen the gap among the society's communities," she added. .. The Muslim in Holland - one million out of the country's 16 millions - have established over the past 30 years hundreds of religious, social and cultural organizations, many of which receive grants from the Dutch authorities. NIGERIA Withdrawal of Police Orderlies: One controversy that won't go away http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/politics/p120092003.html ..      - 20 Sep 03 August 21, 2003, will forever remain indelible in the minds of most top public functionaries in Nigeria. It was a day when most of them woke up to discover that their security privileges, a supposed perk of their office had been brusquely removed. A circular from the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, General Abdullahi Mohammed had stated that the withdrawal of police security to certain categories of public officers was borne out of instances of abuses to which the security personnel had been subjected. .. Mohammed, in his circular, stated that the blanket withdrawal of police guards, ADCs, and police orderlies attached to top government functionaries would affect [..] political appointees of state governments, Khadis of Sharia Courts of Appeal, Judges of Customary Court of Appeal, Heads of Parastatals and extra-ministerial departments, chairmen and members of federal executive bodies. .. Barely three days after the announcement was made, judicial officers nationwide who were greatly peeved threatened to embark on strike action aimed at forcing government to rescind the decision. Although the protest was eventually called off, the judges, however, continued to mount pressure on government to review the order. Bauchi Commission Meets Community Leaders - 20 Sep 03 http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20030920news19.html .. Speaking yesterday during the meeting, the commissioner in-charge of Hisba group (sharia enforcement agents) in the Sharia Commission, Alhaji Babangida Moha-mmed, said the state government was seriously concerned about those people selling and drinking alcohol despite the order of the government prohibiting such acts in some designated areas in the state. The commissioner who vowed that the commission would do everything possible within the limits of its legal powers to ensure that the Islamic Legal Code was fully implemented in the state, noted that sharia was a way of life which all muslims must adhere to. He said it was for this reason that the state government gave the liquor sellers a soft loan of N25 million [EUR 166.000,-] to enable them invest in other legitimate businesses, and stressed the seriousness of the government on the full implementation of the law in the state. In his remark, the state Commissioner of Police represented by the Area Commander, SUPOL, Ogbonna Nsan advised religious leaders to enlighten their followers on the law banning the sale and consumption of alcohol as well as prostitution and gambling at designated places in Bauchi metropolis and other places of the state, saying that such laws was still in force. Sharia: Bauchi Hospital Sacks 12 Nurses  - 16 Sep 03 http://allafrica.com/stories/200309160231.html [This Day - Lagos] .. The Nursing Service Department, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Azare, Bauchi State, is said to have recently sacked 12 nurses for non-compliance with the recently introduced Sharia dressing code for women employees of the health centre. .. The new directive, [one nurse] said, came after they were given new uniforms sewed to comply with the Islamic dressing code. The Christian Fellowship, she said, pleaded with the hospital management for their members to be allowed to continue with the old white gowns, a common uniform for nurses, but the Muslims said such gown was against the Islamic dressing code, as it reveals most parts of the women's legs. A query dated February 2002, No. FMCA/SS/39 and signed by D. O. Oziehisa, Head of Administration, and entitled: "Re: Refusal to Comply with Lawful Directive", were consequently served the Christian nurses. It stated: "Further to our circular on nurses uniform dated February 4, 2002, 1 am disappointed to note that you have decided to heed the directive of Fellowship of Christian Nurses not to wear the prescribed uniform approved by the Board. Group stages hunger stike against stoning - 18 Sep 03 http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&;art_id=qw1063893601955B252&set_id=1 .. "The Civil Rights Congress is mobilising for civil disobedience as an objection to the stoning of Amina Lawal," the group said in a press statement by its president, Shehu Sani, issued in nearby Kaduna. ..  About 20 people have so far joined a hunger strike launched last Wednesday in Kaduna, Sani said in the statement. PAKISTAN Editorial : Reform blasphemy law  - 21 Sep 03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-9-2003_pg3_1 .. The religious leaders mentioned above were brought into the loop by the police to judge whether the shoe design was actually blasphemous or not; they made the statement absolving the accused in response to a question during the press conference. Though this is an unusual admission on the part of the clergy, who are averse to any change in the law, critics of the blasphemy law have been pointing out for years that the law is open to abuse and is manipulated by people to register false cases against rivals and adversaries. Once a person is accused of blasphemy, the stigma of the accusation and the fact that the burden of proof lies on the accused makes the chances of an acquittal bleak. It has also been pointed out time and again that there is considerable pressure on junior judges to give a verdict against the accused. In fact, a short while after General Pervez Musharraf took over power, he suggested making a procedural change in the registration of blasphemy cases so that some care was taken before the accused was hauled up. But he backed down as the religious groups in the country threatened to take to the streets and the issue was buried once again. Pakistan's potent religious and political mix - 20 Sep 03 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EI20Df01.html .. underlying their pronouncements of parliamentary supremacy are the religious parties' demands for the Islamization of polity, which, MMA insiders claim, the government has agreed to implement. These sources say that the MMA has presented 17 demands to the government, seven related to the constitutional amendments and the rest steps needed for the country's Islamization. Its major demands, as revealed by MMA sources and press reports, include a revision of media policy to bring it in line with Islamic values, the setting up of commissions to bring the education system and economy in accordance with Islamic teachings, the promotion of the shalwar kameez - traditional clothes consisting a flowing blouse and pants - as national dress to be made compulsory in all schools and colleges. The religious parties also want Friday to be declared a weekly public holiday and would like a hands-off policy for religious seminaries, or madrassas, which should not be either registered by the government or regulated. They are also battling for the removal of the presidential powers to pardon a person convicted under the Islamic hudood laws. The MMA demands steps to ensure the rights and autonomy of provinces as enunciated by the 1973 constitution, women and minorities' rights in accordance with Islamic injunctions, the inclusion of Islamic subjects as part of the curricula, the removal of obscenity and vulgarity from electronic media, and the giving of equal importance to religious and other subjects in schools and seminaries. The MMA also wants the government to commit that all laws and regulations are made in conformity with the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a constitutional body that interprets all laws according to the Islamic teachings. It also wants all recommendations of the CII thus far to be discussed in parliament. .. "Unless the MMA has good relations with the federal government now under an-all powerful president, their government in the two provinces will continue to face the fear of destabilization." Purple Patch: Islamic Economy *)  - 21 Sep 03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-9-2003_pg3_8 .. The "Islamic bank" is a marketing tool and not a scheme for a new economic order. That Islam is an inviting product is confirmed by the fact that several banks, without changing their commercial practices, have opened an "Islamic" branch, or even just a window, or provide "Islamic" interpretations of their practices. .. Islamism is distinguished by a total absence of socioeconomic analyses (causes of inflation, definition of economic agents, and so on) except in the rare instances in which a recent university graduate sets himself the task of translating his final honors paper into vaguely religious terms. The object of the reflection is never the society, but man and the revealed text. We are thus still within the framework of the meeting of anthropology and ethics: if the economic agent acted justly and with the sharia in mind, then the society (and he himself) would be just and prosperous. Disorder comes from transgressing the rules set forth by God, which aim to keep man at a happy medium between the satisfaction of his needs and his ethical goal. Like politics, the Islamic economy is the filling in of a matrix borrowed from the West with legal terminology based on an ethical anthropology. .. *) Olivier Roy, Paris. This passage is from his book, 'The Failure of Political Islam' [orig. 1992]. NWFP in Pak bans male doctors from female ECG  - 19 Sep 03 http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&;cat1=4&cat2=37&newsid=70121&RF=DefaultMain .. a Pakistani province governed by the Shariat law has barred male technicians and doctors from conducting electro-cardiograms and ultrasounds of women. Women would be the worst sufferers of this "ridiculous and absurd step" because there was only one female ECG technician in the entire North West Frontier Province and none for ultrasounds, The Friday Times reported. As it is, only 35 per cent of women in Pakistan receive any antenatal check-up from a doctor. It has been estimated that each year about 30,000 women in Pakistan die due to pregnancy related causes. A large number of these women suffer unnecessary risk associated with childbearing, indicating a high burden of disease and death. SAUDI ARABIA Muslim Shiite leader says Shiite minority has made strides toward http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41861889 ..      - 20 Sep 03 Muslim Shiites in Saudi Arabia have made strides toward religious equality with the Muslim Sunni majority, a leading Shiite cleric in the kingdom said Saturday. .. [Sheik Hassan] Al-Saffar said the Saudi authorities had relaxed the restrictions on Shiite construction to allow Shiites to build 10 mosques and congregation halls during the past two years. They had also permitted Shiites to hold street processions to mark the deaths of Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad, and Hussein, the son of Ali. Shiites see Hussein and Ali as the rightful heirs of the prophet. Saudi Shiites may now beat their chests with their hands in public, a common Shiite ritual, although the authorities do not permit them to flagellate themselves, al-Saffar said. Guidance From the Prophet: Leaving One Person Out    - 19 Sep 03 http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5&;section=0&article=32205 .. Islamic manners are the most refined. They take care of the feelings of even the weakest, humblest or youngest in any group or community. .. To appreciate the change brought by Islam, let us look at the following Hadith: Abdullah ibn Massoud quotes the Prophet as saying: "Should there be three of you, then let not two of them be in conversation to the exclusion of the third, because this will hurt him." (Related by Al-Bukahri and Muslim). SINGAPORE Proposed guide for moderate Muslims - 15 Sep 03 http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,209880,00.html? .. Guidelines on how Muslim Singaporeans can lead their lives as moderate followers of Islam have been proposed by Pergas, the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association. The list, based on the definition of a moderate Muslim, was endorsed yesterday by most of the 150 members at the end of a two-day convention on moderation in Islam. It was held by the association at Assyakirin mosque in Jurong. The definition evolved by Pergas, which criticised the Government over the tudung [headscarf] issue, brings it in line with the views of Muis, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. A moderate Muslim, in the eyes of Muis president Alami Musa, who opened the meeting, has the self-confidence to stick to Islamic principles and values while coping with current problems. SOMALIA Somalia Hopes for Peace After Decades of War - 17 Sep 03 http://allafrica.com/stories/200309170147.html [The Nation -  Nairobi] .. Therefore, apart from the relatively stable northwest and northeast regions, the rest of Somalia remains in the grip of vicious clan battles. Their hatred and mistrust of each other is as abundant as the guns in their possession. The warlords and merchants control what economic activity there is, especially in the capital Mogadishu like the airports, and levy taxes. They have also erected toll stations in areas under their control. .. analysts think that although the Somali profess the Islamic faith and parts of the country apply Sharia law, in the end it is clan allegiance which holds sway not religious fundamentalism. Clan loyalties are so deep-rooted they define all aspects of life in Somalia. A faction leader, Mr Omar Mahmud summed up the problem thus, "whoever became president gave arms to his clan and his clan used the arms to dominate the other clans. Every clan is armed. We are all tired of fighting, and are willing to put all our weapons aside." TURKEY Op-ed: Turkey and secularism  (Omar Taspinar) - 16 Sep 03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-9-2003_pg3_4 UK Trinity [College Dublin] cancels invite to Islamist  - 21 Sep 03 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1046701,00.html Scarf row teacher faces 'religious assault' charge - 19 Sep 03 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/19/nscarf19.xml .. A teacher who allegedly forced a Muslim pupil to remove her headscarf will appear in court today charged with religiously aggravated assault. Hazel Dick, 42, a teacher at Bretton Woods Community School in Peterborough, is accused of forcing a 15-year-old pupil to remove her headscarf, or hijab, because it was not part of the school uniform. .. "It was basically an incident about the correction of uniform. She was not wearing the correct uniform. She told a member of staff where the correct uniform was, it had been given to a friend. The correct hijab was collected and put on. "We often find that children try not to wear school uniform and teachers correct them. We were astonished when we were contacted by the police." .. Bretton Woods school, where a high proportion of students come from a socially disadvantaged area, has had difficulties recruiting teachers, according to its latest Ofsted report. Earlier this year, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, ordered the school to admit a 12-year-old pupil who had been expelled from his primary school for violent and racist behaviour. USA U.S. Detains Guantanamo Islamic Chaplain - 21 Sep 03 http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030921_294.html .. U.S. authorities have detained a Muslim chaplain who counseled suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, saying he was carrying classified documents when he arrived back in the United States.  News reports said Army Capt. Yousef Yee had drawings of the prison and lists of detainees, but that could not immediately be confirmed. Yee has not been charged. Religion History for Wednesday, September 17, 2003 http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewLeisure.asp?Page=Leisurearchive200309LEI20030917d.html ..      Today In Religious History:  1656 - Massachusetts enacted severe laws against Quakers. At the time, government and religion were intricately interwoven; the line between blasphemy and treason was virtually nonexistent; and non-sacramental Quakerism gave the impression that the denomination was anti- government. .. 1787 - The U.S. Constitution, ratified on this date, contained the following code under Article 6, Section 3: "No religious tests shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." ZANZIBAR Terror warnings slow Zanzibar's progress   - 21 Sep 03 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,1044053,00.html .. Some worry that an opposition victory could lead to a break-up of the Union with mainland Tanzania, and that opposition party, CUF, could introduce sharia law. Juma Duni Haji says that government politicians label the opposition party Islamic because they want to create a connotation of Islamic and terrorism. Tanzanian law does not in fact allow religious political parties. But opposition politicians certainly do talk of renegotiating the Union agreement, in terms that are sometimes reminiscent of British Conservatives' views on renegotiating the UK's position in the EU. FINANCE The Company of Reputation Faces (Wujooh)  - 15 Sep 03 http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=8264&;TagID=1 [Malaysia] Week-long campaign on Islamic banking and finance http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=41722906 [Malaysia] Bank Negara to liberalise Islamic banking earlier http://www.theedge.com.my/article.cfm?id=24953   - 18 Sep 03 How Rating Methodologies Apply to Islamic Debt Financing  http://www2.standardandpoors.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=sp/sp_article/ArticleTemplate&;c=sp_article&cid=1063634087771 .. "In practice, however, as illustrated in the 'sukuk' (Islamic bonds) that Standard & Poor's has rated, binding guarantees and other contractual obligations can place transactions firmly in the debt category." Standard & Poor's credit rating analysis focuses on the specifics of the transaction, the robustness of the associated contracts, and any special features indicating that the underlying borrower will treat the obligation as it would direct, unsecured, commercial financial obligations. Standard & Poor's has rated three sovereign sukuk, issued by the Kingdom of Bahrain (foreign currency A-/Stable/A-2; local currency A/Stable/A-1), the Federation of Malaysia (foreign currency BBB+/Stable/A-2; local currency A+/Stable/A-1), and the State of Qatar (A+/Stable/A-1). Islamic bankers to lobby support at IMF meetings   - 20 Sep 03 http://jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/20-09-2003/business/b14.htm .. Islamic bankers have been scrambling for years to cement their rapidly growing $200 billion sector into mainstream global finance. .. They say International Monetary Fund support eased the creation of the regulatory Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in November, a body that has started to lay the groundwork for central banks and regulators to deal with Islamic institutions, and hope to build upon that success. .. Industry analysts say that after it standardises operations and creates more regulatory bodies, the next hurdle for this sector is to lobby Muslim and Arab countries - potentially the biggest growth market for Islamic institutions - to remove barriers in their largely state-owned economies. "After securing international recognition, we are trying to establish Islamic finance as part of Arab and Islamic countries," Khoja said. Khoja’s non-profit organisation*, which groups several Islamic institutions and banks, is drafting a law that Arab and Muslim countries can use as a reference for dealing with Islamic banks. [*General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions]. .. Complicating the picture is the fact that Islamic institutions each have their own sharia boards made up of Muslim scholars who practice ijtihad and ensure their firm’s operations are compliant with Islam. HSBC's chief executive of Islamic finance, Iqbal Khan, says sharia boards are adhering to more common interpretations of the basic practices upon which most instruments are based. "There is greater harmonisation between sharia boards and of sharia standards than in the past. When we need to launch a new product we need ijtihad." [Bahrain] New BMA contracts aim to boost Islamic banking - 18 Sep 03 http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=61832&;Sn=BUSI .. The Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) has developed two new Islamic financial contracts in yet another pioneering move to advance the global Islamic banking industry. .. A Sharia-compliant sell and buy back product, developed in consultation with the Liquidity Management Centre (LMC), will allow repurchase transactions of Islamic leasing bonds (Ijara sukuk) issued by the BMA, while a commodity investment agreement has been standardised to facilitate inter-bank dealings. .. Under the Islamic repurchase agreement (Repo), financial institutions holding Ijara sukuk will be able to engage in contracts involving the simultaneous sale and future repurchase of the sukuk. New Dubai financial hub uses M'sia as model http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/9/17/business/6295658&;sec=business .. Malaysia is being used as the model and courted as a partner for a new Islamic banking and financial centre for the Middle East in Dubai, said James Hume, the executive vice-president of the emirate’s proposed new financial hub Dubai International Financial Centre. .. Hume said DIFC was now being built “on 110 acres of desert”. He said 90 of the world’s top 200 banks had decided to set up operations at the centre, which was expected to be operational within 5 years.  .. http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/28398.html  - 20 Sep 03 .. The DIFC is setting up its own, independent, civil and commercial law from scratch. This will ensure international best practice for activities as diverse as insurance to equity trading. The DIFC's English language, international legal framework is a key differentiator from Bahrain where Arabic is the language of business and Sharia courts administer the law. So can we expect a polarization of business, Bahrain dealing with regional banking, and Dubai taking over the international role? .. the real battle to watch for between Bahrain and Dubai is in the Islamic banking sector. Bahrain is certainly winning at the moment, and has become something of a global centre for this fast growing banking niche. .. Within a few years Saudi Arabia is likely to join the World Trade Organization and that should open up a massive new market for the international banks, which are currently only allowed to own stakes in Saudi banks. Dubai with its openness to foreign cultures is likely to prove an ideal base for international banks wishing to establish a presence in the Kingdom. LSG Sky Chefs to Acquire England Operations of Abela Group - 16 Sep 03 http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=Cp2AkWbWbrefuvta0mW .. LSG Sky Chefs, the world's largest provider of quality in-flight catering, has agreed to acquire the England assets of airline catering operator Abela at London Gatwick Airport, London Heathrow Airport and London Stansted Airport. .. The halal facility will strengthen LSG Sky Chefs' culinary expertise in producing and handling ethnic food, as the facility is one of the few in-flight catering premises in Europe devoted solely to halal production. [South Africa] Attracting Muslim money - 17 Sep 03 http://m1.mny.co.za/mzivt.nsf/Current/C2256BCE0043F579C2256DA40051DF71 .. South Africa’s Futuregrowth Pure Equity unit trust fund has undergone a face-lift as its providers target investors from the Islamic world who are turning their backs on the United States. Now called the Futuregrowth Albaraka Equity Fund, this top ranking unit trust has been relaunched along with a beefed up advisory board that includes highly respected international Shari’ ah law experts. .. The aim was to boost the R104-m [EUR 12,5 m] under management in the fund to R1-bn within three years. The fund is rand-based, with minimum lump sum investments of R2 500 [EUR 300] and minimum monthly debit orders of R250. Futuregrowth has outsourced fund management to Frater Asset Management, while Albaraka Bank and Channel Islam International, an international broadcasting organisation, are also strategic partners. New board members include Justice Mufti-Muhammad Taqi Usmani, who is on the boards of at least a dozen Islamic banks and financial institutions around the world, and his son Dr Muhammad Imran Ashraf Usmani, an Islamic finance expert and adviser to several international financial institutions. "Until now, the fund hasn’t had a proper advisory board, though it has always had a Shari’ ah screen in the stock selection process," Nagia added. [*]  Copyright: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 - http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html - this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this list for purposes that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. [USA:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html]      12:25:10 AM    comment []