News:
The first all-female mosque has opened its doors in America, with up to 150 women coming from across the country not to miss the historical prayer lead by a female imam at a multifaith center in Los Angeles.
Some women traveled to LA from as far as New Jersey, with a flight time of over 5 hours, to be a part of what many hail as a breakthrough. In traditional mosques, women pray separately from men, which as many complain, can distance them from the speaker. Some women also feel excluded for other reasons, such as male-only Quran studies. The women's-only mosque is the brainchild of Hasna Maznavi, 29, who says she wants every woman to experience what it feels like to learn from a female religious authority in the mosque. According to the co-founder of the Women's Mosque of America, the mosque in LA is neither Sunni nor Shi'ite and occupies the "middle ground" of politics.
"We just wanted to have a safe space where women could come and get inspired and hear from a female khatiba who delivers the khutbah or the sermon and that's an opportunity that we don't get in other mosques. The speaker is always a male imam and not only that, it's very hard to access the imam because of the way the mosques are structured architecturally. Sometimes the men and women are completely cut off from one another. This mosque gives us a chance to connect with our leaders and also with one another in a way that we wouldn't in another environment," Maznavi told Reuters. She founded the Women's Mosque of America with Sana Muttalib.
Jummah is currently scheduled to take place once a month, but the mosque's founders hope the prayers will be held every Friday in the near future. (Source: Washington Post 31/01/15).
Comment:
From the homeland of conspiracy comes this measly attempt to justify the need for women to have a separate Masjid just because they cannot see the Khatib and are directed to a separate prayer area, it would be laughable if it didn't stink so much of Islamic reformation. The founders and attendees may insist the objective is inclusivity and the seeking of ilm of women from women, but the reality is that it feeds into and completely supports the western narrative of Islam treating women as second class citizens, temptresses to be kept away from men and unworthy of an equal education. Given what we have already witnessed of reformation Masaajid run by government imams and the munafiqeen, around the world as the instances in Canada, South Africa and Oxford UK, we can guarantee that within the walls of this unprecedented endeavor the sermons will be calling for all manner of reform, beginning with women leading the Jumaa Salaah, the acceptance of homosexuality, the push for women to join regular congregations and take their places in the front rows to be equal to men, to abandon the Islamic dress code, join the US army, stand for liberalism and democracy; and its probable that all this will be justified through twisting Quranic verses under the illusion of ‘interpretation', the favorite word of orientalist reformers past and present.
Alhamdulillah the vast majority of Muslims will able to see through this as the one off deformity that it is, but the drip effect of the never ending attacks upon Islamic practice that accompany such deluded projects, coupled with the constant push for Muslims to justify every aspect of Islam against the benchmark of liberal secularism and within the wider context of western support for the treacherous rulers and an all out war against the Islamic Ummah, means holding onto one's Islamic identity can become hard, inclining some towards ease and dunya instead of the natural disposition of the Mu'min (believer), which is to enjoin ma'ruf, forbid munkar and hold fast to walaa and baraa. The other sad reality is that the western celebrity scholars enable such projects to be lauded due to their own silence and their stance that we as minorities or even guests in the Christian secular nations should display ‘good manners' by ignoring insults to our Deen; and now even towards our beloved Rasool (saw). Of the sincere scholars who are withheld from speaking the Haq and defending our noble Deen and exposing the ploys of the enemies of Islam, most are imprisoned or under house arrest. Until Allah (swt) returns the true leadership to the Muslim Ummah, the duty to speak and rally our Ummah upon Haq and to see through the agendas forged within the shadows is ours. These are the times of Malaahim and the Sahaba were in awe of those who would accept the responsibility with Ihsaan. May Allah swt make us of those and return to us the rightly guided Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashidah, as the right of our Rabb is that His (swt) Word does prevail.
((بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ وَلَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ))
"Nay, We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it knocks out its brains, and behold, falsehood is bound to perish. Woe to you for the things you ascribe to Us." [Surah Al Anbiyyah: 18]
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Maleeha Hassan - UK
News:
Police discovered 120 children, some of them sick, underweight and traumatised, during the most recent raids late on Thursday on bangle-making and other workshops, as part of a city-wide crackdown on child slavery, the officer said.
"They have chronic skin diseases and were underfed. They are in trauma and visibly shaken," V. Satyanarayana, deputy police commissioner for south Hyderabad, said.
"They were kept in dingy rooms with no ventilation and exposure to harmful gases," the commissioner said. "The campaign against bonded labour and trafficking will continue," he added.
The children complained of being forced to work 16 hours a day without breaks, and were threatened with violence and no food if they disobeyed orders, the officer said.
Many of the children were transported from the impoverished northern state of Bihar last year after their parents sold them to traffickers for between 5,000 rupees ($80) and 10,000 rupees ($160), according to rescuers. (DAWN, 31 Jan 2015)
Comment:
Whilst many will commend the efforts of anyone who saves a child from the misery of slavery and exploitation, it is sad to admit that the lives of these poor children in India will not improve drastically after being rescued.
Parents are often unable to afford to feed, clothe and educate their children and take financial incentives as a way to deal with this problem by selling a child. Whilst a family may get short term financial relief from traffickers and agents, the children that are sold face immense misery and lack any sort of security, often being physically and sexually abused.
Although Article 24 of India's constitution prohibits child labour, according to government figures from last year, some 4 million Indian children work as domestic helpers, in roadside restaurants and in factories making clothes and other items. Activists say the actual figures are much higher. In many cases children are kidnapped and sold adding to the woes of families.
India's business community was addressed in Obama's recent visit and appeals for more trade relations between USA and India from the head of capitalism cannot bode well for the poor who are prone to exploitation. India is hailed as making great leaps in development yet is still well known to be the home of the largest number of child labourers in the world and the laws to protect children from exploitation have been described as ‘regressive'. Amendment to laws in this area is slow as economic gains in capitalism are far more important than the protection of the lives of children.
Islam has dealt with these issues with a real sense of humanity.
Prophet Muhammad (saw) said,
«قَالَ اللَّهُ ثَلاَثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ، وَلَمْ يُعْطِ أَجْرَهُ»
"There are three people whom I will oppose on the Day of Resurrection: a man who gives his word by Me but proves treacherous; a man who sells a free person and consumes the price; and a man who employs a worker and receives a completed job but he does not pay him his wages." (Sahih Bukhari, Number 430)
The Islamic system focuses on the circulation of wealth as opposed to the production of wealth. We see today countries like India that can produce huge revenues from trade to the western and local markets yet the gap between rich and poor still exists.
Furthermore the Khilafah "Caliphate" state is responsible in providing for those who cannot provide for themselves, with basic needs guaranteed to all citizens regardless of caste and creed. There are far fewer chances for exploitation out of desperation if a person is able to meet his/her basic needs.
People are also not seen as a commodity to be brought or sold and kidnapping and selling a child will be a punishable offence within a society that values each member of the state as much more than their economic potential. Through compulsory education, the Khilafah "Caliphate" state will ensure children receive a high standard of education and not spend the early years of their lives as fuel for economic growth instead of learning important skills and knowledge which will allow them to reach their real potential.
A just system, sent by the Creator (swt) is the only salvation for the exploited and vulnerable children of India and the whole of humanity.
((وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ))
"And We have sent you (O Muhammad SAW) not but as a mercy for the 'Alamîn." [TMQ 21:107]
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Nazia Rehman - Pakistan
The point did not last to the end of its set time, because the university guards asked the sisters to disperse, rather they threatened to arrest them. When they did not succeed in their efforts to resolve the point, they threatened the students to collect their cards if they near to the Hizb's Shabaat. But to no avail, for the sisters were eagerly listening to the Shabaat.
We hope that the Women News Agency which is concerned with women's affairs and sufferings to publish our response to the reader so that it becomes clear who truly yearns for the elimination of violence against women and holds a viable project and who wants to market women's issues!
Hizb ut Tahrir in the Wilayah of Pakistan condemns the bomb blast that took place at a Masjid in Shikarpur, in the province of Sindh. Hizb prays for the salvation of the deceased and may Allah help the relatives to patiently face this great loss.
Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Sudan held a political symposium on Saturday 31 January 2015 in the Farmers Union Hall in the city of Gadarif, titled: "Agriculture Between the Injustice of Tax and the Duty of Care", in the presence of a large number of specialists from the Farmers Union of Gadarif, the Ministry of Agriculture, Professors of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Gadarif...
