Falling Muslim Fertility Rates Raise Grave Concerns By Saif Shahin

How would you imagine a typical Muslim family? A god-fearing husband,
an uneducated wife (or wives), and lots and lots of children breaking
out the door and spilling onto the streets? That, however, is not what
a typical Muslim family does or is going to look like in the years
ahead.
New research shows a historically unprecedented decline in fertility
rates or the number of births, among Muslim women worldwide. In
Muslim-majority countries, such as in the Middle East, the decline has
already brought them on par with the ageing West. Chances are that
fertility rates would fall further.
The trend has grave implications. One, the working age population in
Muslim societies is going to shrink as fewer children are born,
leaving them with a problem similar to that faced by the West. Two,
while the West has already achieved high levels of education,
development and family income, most Muslim countries in Asia and
Africa face demographic stagnation even as they remain largely
uneducated, underdeveloped and with extremely low family incomes.
Declining Births
In 2009, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated the
global Muslim population at around 1.6 billion, or 23% of the global
population at that time. However, Muslims form […]

Dr Zakir Naik and the Facts of Life: Tasneem Faridi

June 15-21, 2012
Tasneem Faridi has been listening to the popular TV preacher Dr Zakir
Naik, who supports polygamy and seems to know a lot about women's
menstrual cycles…
Zakir Naik, a medical doctor by profession is renowned for his dynamic
oratory skills on Islamic teachings and Comparative Religion. He is
the president of Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) in Mumbai, which
serves the purpose of clarifying Islamic viewpoints and misconceptions
about Islam. The research team is a self-proclaimed user of the
Qur'an, authentic Hadith and other religious scriptures as a basis, in
conjunction with reason, logic and scientific facts, for a wide range
of commentaries.
In the last 15 years, Naik has delivered more than 1500 public talks
in the U.S.A., Canada, U.K., Italy, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, U.A.E.,
Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
Botswana, Malaysia and Singapore. These are in addition to his
numerous televised public talks in India. Naik is 46 years old and has
been popular for his critical analysis and convincing answers to
challenging questions posed by audiences at the ends of his public
talks. To his devoted fans, he is an epitome of Islamic knowledge;
others might know him as the Islamic scholar who makes […]

All Hail My Sectarian God

All Hail My Sectarian God
By Kiran Nazish
08 June, 2012
In Pakistan a mosque is not the house of God, but the house of a
sectarian God. Although Muslim sects across the world have their own
separate mosques for the reasons of Imamat, procedure and methodology
of prayers, no one is ever stopped from entering a place of worship or
called a Kafir inside one just because they do not come from the same
sect.
Recently, I was told by a non-Sunni friend how he was tormented by
fellow worshipers at a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers. He was on
the road and getting late for Jamaat (congregation), so he went for
the nearest mosque he could find – only to discover later that he was
a Kafir for doing so. He was identified as a Shia when he did not
raise his forefinger for Shahadat during the prayers.
We are led to believe that Pakistan is divided by its provincial
politics, and our biggest insecurities come from India and the US, but
some of the worst and the most real and physical crimes that people
commit against each other in this country are based on religion. It is
our pride in sectarian exclusivity […]

Democracy in the Arab world

Democracy in the Arab world
By Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh
Friday, 15 June 2012
Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh
Not long ago, many Arabs used to doubt that democracy was right for
the Arab world. Nowadays, they seem to doubt that anything other than
democracy is right for them.
The argument then, to which some still subscribe, was that the Arab
society is a society of consensus, not of lobbyists or majority votes.
There are no fundamental disagreements on issues, and when people
disagree, the differences are overcome through a process of
negotiations where those who hold minority opinions shift willingly to
the other side, rather than reach a middle ground compromise or a veto
in which the minority loses.
This does not seem to be the thinking anymore. And now that the masses
have rebelled against authoritarian regimes, or seeking further
reforms where some were already introduced but are insufficient, they
are looking to adopt a new model of governance.
The only practical, concrete model available is the West's, which
several eastern countries like Japan, South Korea, Turkey and others
adopted.
In our part of the world all seem to want this democratic model now —
both governments and the opposition, including the Islamists. The
crucial question, however, is if […]

OIC Chief speaks out on major Muslim issues

Jeddah, 26 Rajab/16 June (IINA) – With the violence continuing in
Syria, sectarian tension ever present in Iraq, Afghanistan still
struggling to establish security and Somalia trying to have some sort
of normalcy, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) certainly
has a lot on its plate to handle. As if that's not enough, there are
also issues of economic hardships, natural disasters and internal
strife afflicting some OIC member states from Africa toAsia. In an
interview with Arab News daily, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu touched on the recent developments in the Arab world and
spotlights some of the other issues, such as Muslim refugees,
Islamophobia, human rights and Muslim minorities, which people might
not be aware of as being also on the agenda of concern to the OIC.
The OIC has just organized with the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees the first international conference exclusively on
refugees in the Muslim world. What is the significance of this
conference and what are the key decisions that came out of it?
The International Ministerial Conference on Refugees in the Muslim
World held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan(May 11-12), was indeed a
significant step in the course of the OIC endeavors in the
humanitarian arena. It […]

Analysis: Al Qaeda down, but not out in PakistanBy Michael Georgy and
Saud Mehsud

ISLAMABAD/DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan | Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:56am EDT
(Reuters) – When al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi arrived in
northwest Pakistan several years ago, he commanded so much respect
that even some of the world's most dangerous militants held him in
awe.
Already a legend in the shadowy world of jihad for breaking out of a
high security U.S. prison in neighboring Afghanistan in 2005, he
seemed to promise endless funds, training and inspiration for men who
dreamed of unleashing carnage in New York or London.
By the time he was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week, he was the
latest victim of a series of the unmanned aerial attacks that has
crushed al Qaeda's network along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan,
Pakistani intelligence officials and commanders of militant groups
said.
Its finances have dried up, and those who once idolized the group
wonder whether it can survive.
"Imagine. They used to travel in Land Cruisers and double-cabin pickup
trucks a few years ago," said a commander from the Pakistani Taliban,
which is close to al Qaeda. "Now, they are riding motorcycles due to
lack of resources."
The downfall of the network in the border area started with the
killing of Osama […]

Baitul Muqaddas: Why are we Muslims so obsessed with it as our
Qiibla-e-Awwal contrary to Qur'anic teachings?

From the Desk of Editor (09 Jun 2012 NewAgeIslam.Com)
Baitul Muqaddas: Why are we Muslims so obsessed with it as our
Qiibla-e-Awwal contrary to Qur'anic teachings?
We are reproducing in original Urdu and in English and Hindi
translations a widely syndicated article in India's Urdu Press by
Maulanama Nadeemul Wajidi of Deoband seminary detailing Muslims's love
for and claims to Haram Ash-Sharif Baitul Muqaddas and Masjid-e-Aqsa,
also known alternatively as Temple Mount and Solomon's Temple or First
Temple in Jerusalem. Muslim Press the world over is constantly full of
Muslim lamentation over the loss of full control over Baitul Muqaddas
and Masjid-e-Aqsa since Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem. Fighting
an occupation is one thing. All Justice-loving people in the world are
with Palestinians on that issue. But world Muslim community making an
ideological claim over a building complex that God told us belongs to
our religious cousins, the Ahl-Kitab Jews and Christians, is something
quite another.
Muslims revere these structures as their first Qibla, as it was this
direction they faced in their prayers in the formative phase of Islam
when Prophet was still hoping for reconciliation with and
acceptability as a Biblical prophet by the Jews and Christians. Even
though the Prophet […]

Democratic Muslims? Why not?

By Haroon Siddiqui Editorial Page
The advent of democracy in the Arab Middle East has prompted heated
debates over the role of Islam in government, and over the rights of
women and non-Muslim minorities, especially in Egypt, the largest Arab
nation that also has the largest Christian community in the region.
The issues are fraught with misunderstandings, primarily because of
the antagonism between the West and Islam. Cultural stereotypes
distort the debate with improper or deliberately misleading language.
Islam, the faith, is not government.
Some governments may call themselves Islamic — as in Saudi Arabia and
Iran. But many Muslims routinely question the Islamic credentials of
those two governments. This tells us the obvious: There is no one,
monolithic Islam. There's great diversity of thought and
interpretation among Muslims, as in people of any faith.
In Muslim democracies — or, more precisely, Muslim-majority nations
that are democratic or becoming so — a government may be led by a
political party that calls itself Islamic. Or it does not but others
do, because it is "rooted" in Islam or "political Islam." Or its
leaders and/or rank-and-file are pious Muslims.
If we were to use such a template for, say, European Christian
Democrats, what would that tell us […]

Don't Panik! Islam and Europe's 'Hip Hop Wars' Hishaam Aidi

The debate over Islam and hip hop in Europe is heating up as
governments wade in.
Last Modified: 05 Jun 2012
New York, NY – Three months ago, just as the French presidential
campaign was heating up, the rapper Kery James uploaded a track titled
"Letter to the Republic" ("Lettre à la République") explaining what he
and youth in the banlieues thought of the republic's political class,
or as he described them, "Pillagers of wealth, murderers of Africans,
torturers of Algerians / The colonial past is yours, you chose to link
your history to ours."
The track promptly provoked public outrage; the far-right group, Le
Bloc Identitaire, tried to cancel James' concert tour, its
spokesperson calling on the rapper – a Guadeloupe-born convert – to
leave France and move to a "Muslim land".
Meanwhile, in Germany, state officials are trying to indict former
rapper Deso Dogg – another convert – for his lyrics which allegedly
inspired a 21-year old Kosovar to fire at a busload of American
servicemen in Frankfurt.
Kerry James – Lettre à la République
In Britain, the BBC is still addressing protests regarding decisions
made in 2011 by Radio 1 Xtra to tune out the words "Free Palestine" in
a track by […]

Distrust Fuels Anti-Muslim Violence in Myanmar: Lucile Andre

Distrust Fuels Anti-Muslim Violence in Myanmar
Lucile Andre | June 06, 2012
Sittwe, Myanmar. An eruption in religious tensions in Myanmar has
exposed the deep divisions between the majority Buddhists and the
country's Muslims, considered foreigners despite a decades-long
presence.
The violence threatens to overshadow reconciliation efforts in the
country formerly known as Burma, where there has been a series of
dramatic political reforms since almost half a century of military
rule ended last year.
The trigger for the latest surge in sectarian tensions was the rape
and murder of a woman in western Rakhine state, which borders
Bangladesh, for which three Muslim men have been detained, according
to state media.
On Sunday a mob of hundreds of people attacked a bus, believing the
perpetrators were on board, and beat 10 Muslims to death.
"These innocent people have been killed like animals," said Abu Tahay,
of the National Democratic Party for Development, which represents the
country's much-persecuted stateless Muslim Rohingya community.
"If the police cannot control the situation, maybe the [unrest] is
going to spread," he said, adding that the biggest fear was for
Rakhine state, where there is a large Muslim minority population
including the Rohingya.
In Myanmar's main city Yangon, dozens of Muslims protested on Tuesday, […]