News:

Sky News Arabic quoted: In a step singled out among the rest of the major newspapers in Denmark, Jyllands-Posten Newspaper will not republish the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo's cartoons. The newspaper had sparked a wave of protests in the Muslim world, in which at least 50 people were killed, when it published cartoons offensive to Islam in 2005. The rest of other Danish newspapers republished the French satirical weekly newspaper's cartoons within their coverage of the attack, which took place in Paris, Wednesday (07/01/2015), on the Office of the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Comment:

The world was filled with statements denouncing the attack which took place at the headquarters of the French newspaper, and the Western leaders stated that this is a vicious assault against the freedom of expression. French President Francois Hollande had condemned the attack, and said in a speech in front of the headquarters of the newspaper that the attack "touches the heart of the principles of the French Republic, which is the freedom and freedom of expression".

In January of last year, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, banned a performance by the comic Dieudonne Mbala called "The Wall" on the grounds that it is anti-Semitic, and the French Supreme Court upheld the decision. However, the same court acquitted the novelist Michelle Houellebecq after he called Islam "the dumbest religion" under the pretext of maintaining the freedom of expression!

And so, freedom of expression for them becomes boundless when it comes to attacking Islam, its rites and its holy places, while the exposure of the Jews, even though innuendo, by what offend them, then this is outside the limits of freedom of expression.

Events that indicate the bright truth of the deep-rooted hatred in their hearts against Islam and its people have recurred successively, and those people are not deterred except by an impediment punishment, and perhaps this is the lesson that the Danish newspaper had learned and decided not to publish the French newspaper's cartoons.

It came in the Sahih Hadith: «ثلاث من كن فيه وجد بهن حلاوة الإيمان: - منها - أن يكون الله ورسوله أحب إليه مما سواهما» "Whoever possesses the following three qualities will have the sweetness (delight) of faith - among them - The one to whom Allah and His Messenger becomes dearer than anything else." (Narrated by the two Sheikhs) and his (saw) saying:

«لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون أحب إليه من والده وولده والناس أجمعين» "None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind." (Narrated by Muslim).

The time has come for the world to realize that the Ummah of Islam is alive, will not die, and it sacrifice for its Deen and its Prophet with hearts and lives. It does not know weakness despite all the criminality of the oppressive rulers who are keen on pleasing the capitals of Kufr. And that it is determined to live in dignity and pride of Islam even though the Unbelievers may detest.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Osman Bakhash

Director of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir

News:

On the 7^th January, the BBC reported two major teaching unions having said that schools in the UK are struggling to cope with the rising numbers of students self-harming. Self-harming involves individuals deliberately cutting, bruising, burning, overdosing on drugs or hurting themselves in other ways as a means to relieve the pain of psychological distress which they feel they cannot deal with in any other manner. According to NHS figures, the number of 10-19 year olds admitted to hospital across England, Wales and Northern Ireland due to intentionally hurting themselves has increased 20% from 2012/13 to 2013/14, with latest figures showing that almost 29,000 young people were treated for self-harming injuries in just one year. In December last year, The Health and Social Care Information Centre also released new figures that revealed that the number of children being admitted to hospital for self-harm is at a 5 year high, with admission of girls aged 10-14 almost doubling between 2009/10 to 2013/14, and a 45% increase for boys within the same age range. A World Health Organisation report that is due to be published this year is expected to show that over the last decade in England, the number of teenagers who have self-harmed has tripled. However campaigners say that these numbers could be just the tip of the iceberg of the problem. Dr. Max Davis, a spokesperson for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health stated, "We have to remember that people self-harm because they're in psychological distress that's so severe that they prefer physical harm or physical pain to their psychological state....So the real question is, why are more young people experiencing unbearable psychological distress?"

Comment:

Indeed, serious questions need to be asked about what the elements are of any society in which so many of its young are driven to not only suffer such severe emotional turmoil but to also not see any path of relief other than inflicting pain upon themselves. Those working with youth engaging in self-harm have stated that issues such as bullying at school, family breakdown, addiction issues in families, extremely high expectations to perform well at school, sexual pressures, problems around body image, and general worries about their future are some of the causes driving youngsters to hurt themselves.

The rising prevalence of self-harm and its causes amongst the UK's young is just one of the rotten fruits of the capitalist, secular system that governs the state. Under this system in which religion and spirituality have been increasingly viewed with contempt, mocked and pushed to the margins of society, the young are amongst those who have inevitably paid the price. The ever-weakening presence of a moral compass that was based upon a sense of accountability to a Creator and which once guided children to behave with respect towards others has been replaced with a culture of individualism and self-gratification, fuelling problems such as bullying. Liberal values such as personal and sexual freedoms have not only exacerbated family breakdown but have placed untold pressure upon the youth, in particular girls to engage in sexual activities at a younger and younger age. And the secular view of success that is linked to achievements in this life; its generation of unrealistic expectations for people such as those associated with body image; and its creation of a climate where individuals view pleasing and gaining acceptance from others as the means to contentment and happiness, rather than God, has caused immense emotional distress for children, teenagers, and adults alike. Alongside all this, is the presence of a spiritual void within many of the young - a void that fills an individual with emptiness, and drives them to seek contentment in superficial things or pursue materialistic lives that only adds to the emptiness. Furthermore, under the secular, capitalist system, the absence of the correct outlook on the true purpose and nature of life nor clear solutions to human problems leads many of the young to see no way to relieve the distress from their difficulties other than taking a knife to their wrists.

All this is a reminder of the mercy of Islam and the great responsibility that we have as Muslims to ensure that the Islamic values and correct viewpoint towards life are instilled within our Muslim youth in a strong manner. The belief in Allah (swt), that the purpose of life is to worship Him, that the difficulties faced in this dunya are a test, that the view of true happiness and success is to please Him (swt), and the belief in the unimaginable rewards of Jannah that await the devoted believer, all create a sound and stable mentality. It is a mentality that does not seek contentment in superficial things, measure true success by materialistic gains, or feel the need to achieve unrealistic expectations set by others or gain their acceptance to feel happiness. It is also a mentality that understands his or her accountability to a Creator and hence lives life according to His (swt)'s Rules and Limits and not selfish desires. These Rules includes the rejection of personal and sexual freedoms. They also prescribe treating others with respect, kindness, and care, and shunning cruel behaviour such as bullying. All this, alongside the sound solutions Islam provides for every type of human problem helps to prevent the severe psychological turmoil that leads to self-harm. It also provides a coping strategy to deal with the emotional distress that naturally human being experience as a result of troubles in their life.

((وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ))

"We have sent the Qur'an to you as an explanation of all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and glad tidings to those who are Muslim." [TMQ An-Nahl: 89]

The scale of self-harm affecting children in the West should also be a stark reminder of the great dangers that lay ahead for the youth of the Muslim world if the secular, liberal systems in our lands are not discarded and replaced with the Islamic system of the Khilafah "Caliphate".

Written for The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz

Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir

Headlines:

French Premier Declares ‘War' on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally

Majority of Germans See Islam as Threat, Poll Indicates

Hindu Outfit Plans to Finish Islam By 2021

Details:

French Premier Declares ‘War' on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally

Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared Saturday that France was at war with radical Islam after the sieges that had led to the deaths of three gunmen and four hostages the day before, and as the authorities mounted a frantic hunt for a suspected accomplice. "It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity," Mr. Valls said during a speech in Évry, south of Paris. The government said it would put 500 additional troops on the streets over the weekend amid preparations for a giant unity rally in Paris on Sunday. A number of European officials said they would attend, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey, the most prominent Muslim leader scheduled to be there. On Saturday, thousands of people marched in Paris, Toulouse and Nice in a show of solidarity, and rallies were held in places as far away as Madagascar and Bangui, Central African Republic. Top ministers in the French government were scheduled to hold an emergency session on Saturday to discuss measures to prevent a repeat of the attacks, which shocked the country and raised questions about why law enforcement agencies had failed to thwart terrorism suspects well known to the police and intelligence services. The crisis and its aftermath presented a major challenge to President François Hollande and his government, which are facing deep religious and cultural rifts in a nation with a rapidly growing Muslim population while simultaneously coping with the security threats stemming from Islamic extremists. Large numbers of French citizens have been traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight with the Islamic State militant group. Mr. Hollande, appealing for unity, has warned against seeing Islam as the enemy, and Mr. Valls called again on Saturday for citizens to join the rally planned for Sunday. "There needs to be a firm message about the values of the republic and of secularism," Mr. Valls said in Évry. "Tomorrow, France and the French can be proud. Everyone must come tomorrow." [Source: New York Times]
Again France and the West in general fail to address the root cause of terror and that is Western intervention in Muslim lands. The people of France should ask their leaders what benefits has France gained by joining America's war against Islam?

Majority of Germans See Islam as Threat

Poll Indicates over 60 percent of non-Muslim Germans say Islam has no place in the West. A large and growing majority of Germans believe Islam does not belong in the Western world and more than half see it as a threat, a poll published on Thursday showed. In a survey conducted in November, before Wednesday's massacre by Islamic extremist gunmen at French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo or widespread media coverage of a new German anti-
migrant movement, 61 percent of non-Muslim Germans said Islam had no place in the West. The figure was up from 52 percent in 2012, according to the study released by the Bertelsmann Foundation think tank. More than half - 57 percent - said they felt threatened by Islam, 4 percentage points higher than in 2012.Forty percent said they felt like "foreigners in their own country" because of the presence of Muslims. And one in four (24 percent) said that Muslims should be barred from migrating to Germany. About four million Muslims live in Germany, around three-quarters of them of Turkish origin, among a population of 80 million people. "For Muslims, Germany has become home. But they are confronted with a negative image apparently shaped by a minority of radical Islamists," Bertelsmann Foundation Islam expert Yasemin El-Menouar wrote in the study's findings, which also looked at Muslim immigrants' views of Germany. The authors said that anti-Islam stances could be found regardless of class or education level, but that younger people and those with personal contacts with Muslims showed less prejudice. The poll was by the TNS Emnid independent opinion research institute among 937 non-Muslim Germans. Germany has been rocked by anti-migrant marches in the eastern city of Dresden, which began small in October but have grown in support over the last month, now attracting around 18,000 people each week. They are organised by a right-wing populist group calling itself PEGIDA or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident. [Source: I24News]
The wide spread Islamophobia against Muslims is rapidly spiraling out of control in one of Europe's most tolerant nations towards Muslims. Germany does not possess the same evil colonial legacy as that of Britain and France, but its German populace is increasingly fearful of Islam. And the question has to be asked: Is Germany moving towards the 1930s but this time the Muslims have become the new Jews of Europe?

Hindu Outfit Plans to Finish Islam By 2021

Stoking a fresh controversy after conversion plans in Aligarh, Hindu outfit Dharm Jagran Manch, which had planned a conversion programme in Aligarh, said that it plans to "finish" Islam and Christianity by 2021. "We have so far ensured ‘ghar wapsi' (reconversion) of three lakh Muslims and Christians back to Hinduism. By 2021, we will finish Islam and Christianity," Manch head Rajeshwar Singh Singh. "We have not done any conversion. We have ensured ‘ghar wapsi'. Why they (political parties) did not utter a word when Hindus are converted? What's their objection when we ensure that they come back to the religion?" he asked. His organisation had planned a mass conversion programme in Aligarh on the Christmas day but later called it off. On Agra conversion, he said that those converted were Indians and not Bangladeshis and they had affidavits of those who participated in the programme. [Source: Indian Express]
The Western world is continuously complaining about the intolerance of Muslims towards people of other faiths, but remains silent about the bigotry towards Islam and Muslims in other parts of the world. This hypocrisy only underscores the double standards of the West in how they portray Islam and deal with Muslims.