Islamist terrorism, the ideology of the supremacy of Islam and the Tablighi Jamaat?

Islamist terrorism, the ideology of the supremacy of Islam and the Tablighi Jamaat? The threat of Islamist terrorism was not recognised at the time but the ideology of the supremacy of Islam was present in Kysar's fundamentalism and "no compromise" attitude. The problem with this 'extremist' sect is not that it proselytises, but it seems to have so little contact with the outside world. He's right in that the Tablighi Jamaat copy Muhammad in all his customs, even it is reported, eschewing beds for sleeping and toothbrushes for cleaning teeth; they use a twig. But he is wrong about their interest in non-believers, indicating the serious religion "blind spot" that bedevils coverage of world affairs now. If it were the duty of the Tablighi Jamaat to convert non-believers, there might be a freer debate than there is. -- Jenny Taylor The TJ is said to have 80 million followers around the world and wants to build a so-called mega mosque in Newham, east London.  A combination of factors has caused increasingly alarm in Britain about the Tabligh. What I wanted to know was why they were building a new 'global headquarters' – as it's been called - in London. -- Jenny Taylor I attended one of those meetings as a reporter in August 1989 and heard young men decry the evils of drink, discos and "free intermingling of the sexes". One called Kysar, then aged 19, told me: "Islam isn't a religion where you can only adopt part of it. You have to adopt the whole Islamic viewpoint on society. There can be no compromise with the divine system revealed to us.". -- Sean O'Neill More...

Current affairs Inclusion of Balochistan in India-Pak Sharm-al-Sheikh agreement strengthens India's negotiating position One can think of several reasons why the inclusion of Balochistan at this point might, in fact, strengthen India's negotiating position. It will be recalled that some years ago, when the Pakistani army killed Baloch leader Sardar Bugti, India had formally issued a statement deploring the incident. It provoked Pakistan to react furiously, demanding that India desist from interfering in its internal affairs. Today, they appear to be asking India to comment on developments in Balochistan—on the activities of the Quetta shoora, the haven it offers to the Al Qaeda-Taliban leadership, the human rights violations against Baloch civilians, and so on. Pakistan has been at pains to reassure India that the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will be secure through the territory of Balochistan. They now accept that they are facing threats there similar to the ones 'in other areas', presumably, Swat and Waziristan, where they are fighting a civil war. -- Arundhati Ghose, former Indian ambassador to the United Nations, Geneva More...

Islamic Sharia Laws Dismissal of Muslim student for sporting beard stayed School has violated constitutional guarantee: student "Sporting beard is an indispensable part of Islam" A Bench consisting of Justices B.N. Agrawal and G.S. Singhvi stayed the dismissal order passed by the Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School, a government-recognised minority institution, on an appeal by the student, Mohammad Salim. Earlier, on March 30, a Bench headed by Justice Markandey Katju rejected the student's petition orally observing that secularism could not be overstretched and that "Talibanisation" of the country could not be permitted. Salim sought review of the plea stating the observations on "Talibanisation" caused incalculable damage to the country's image and the judiciary, besides, hurting Muslim sentiments   7 Comments More...

Current affairs 'Pakistan ISI chief and his Indian counterpart should meet', says former Pakistan NSA Maj Gen (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani Former Pakistan NSA Maj Gen (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani was sacked for saying Ajmal Kasab the only surviving terrorist f the Mumbai attacks, is a Pakistani. In this interaction with The Indian Express Editor-In-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24*7's Walk the Talk, he says he picked up the phone after 26/11, spoke to NSA M K Narayanan, but could not get him the next time. Q. What led to your very unfortunate departure from the scene? I can't go into too much detail. I don't want to wash dirty linen in Delhi. What happened was that I made a statement on Kasab, and the prime minister took umbrage to that. Q. You made an honest statement. There was no point in hiding the fact, because the whole world knew it by then. Let me tell you one thing. Our agencies are blamed the most. But they said, 'Sir, we need to tell the world. The world thinks we have something to hide, we are certain that he is a Pakistani'. Q. It was not a happy statement, it was embarrassing for Pakistan. I think we have to be upfront with each other. Yes, Kasab is a Pakistani and we are not proud of what he did, but this is a fact. Q. Was there a failure on the Pakistani side in preventing this? No. It's a huge country and we have mega problems, particularly regarding terrorism. At that time, our total focus was on FATA and Swat. This thing happened not because of us, but in spite of us. I can assure you, had our intelligence any inkling about it, this would not have happened. And I say it as Mahmud Ali Durrani, ex-NSA. More...

Islam and the West Palestine: No Temporary Nightmare More than 3,00,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank in 121 settlements while nearly 2,00,000 occupy parts of East Jerusalem, the supposed future capital of Palestine. The number includes economic settlers who find lower rents helpful. Just over the past month, Netanyahu's government presided over the eviction of Palestinian families from an East Jerusalem neighbourhood with support from the Israeli Supreme Court and handed over an old hotel building to settlers. Israeli courts routinely support Jewish claims on property going back to the Ottoman days but dismiss Palestinian tenancy rights. Since 1967, when Israel got control of East Jerusalem, it has expropriated 35 per cent of the land and built 50,000 housing units for Jews and only 600 for the Palestinians. For the record, most Palestinians can't buy property in the Jewish West Jerusalem but they can watch East Jerusalem slowly slip away. Pressure from Washington and the many admirers and friends of Israel seems ineffective against the runaway train the settler movement has become today. It fuses romance, religion and illogic into a dangerous mix, creating a cocktail that can intoxicate both the young and old. The settlers cite the Bible as their proof (some Israeli diplomats do too, for that matter), refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria and feel they have the divine right to all the land. -- Seema Sirohi More...

Urdu Section Pakistani education following the West blindly By Kashif Hafeez Siddiqu, Daily Ummat, Karachi   More...

Islam and Politics Gilgit-Baltistan: Pakistan's game-plan While it is important to recognise the political rights of people of Gilgit-Baltistan, the step taken by Pakistan has serious implications for the peace process in Jammu and Kashmir. The logic of the ongoing peace process has been a 'notional unity' of the state through the concept of irrelevance of borders. The autonomy of Gilgit-Baltistan may start a trend in the reverse direction and may just justify the division of the state. -- Rekha Chowdhary More...

Islamic World News A Christian priest reads Quran entire Ramadan Islamic Banking discussed with Reserve Bank of India Kerala: CPM wants Sharia law in banking Baroness Warsi accused of 'stealing' the husband of a vulnerable Pakistani How Islamist gangs use internet to track, torture and kill Iraqi gays US denies role in General Zia's plane crash U.S. to Expand Review of Detainees in Afghan Prison Post 9/11, Americans say Muslims face most discrimination Deobandi Madrasa suspects held in Islamabad Pakistani forces fire rockets at India, BSF retaliates LeT behind Pak rocket fire into India? Hate groups use teen to defame Islamic centre Book on legendary Indian singer Tansen published in Poland India to blame for Pak youth taking to terror: Musharraf To nail their lies, India plans ads in Pak media Intelligence inputs cannot be taken as evidence: Indian Home Minister Pakistan reiterates invitation to Indian foreign secretary Shelling in Somalia kills 15, mostly ex-soldiers UK troubled by anti-Islam rallies, counter protests US Aims to Focus on Nuclear Issue in Iran Talks Window on Pak Press: Pak rakes up Kashmir, dares India to debate Mumbai Vatican Invites Muslims to Fight Poverty Together Moments of terror as Emirates flight disappears from radar Taliban and the army Afghanistan's parallels to Vietnam Compiled by Syed Asadullah More.

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Asadullah Syed