Muhammad Cartoon

COPENHAGEN, Denmark Three of Denmark's largest newspapers plan to reprint a cartoon tomorrow that depicts the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet. In addition to numerous e-mail messages sent to Wikipedia.org, an online petition cites a prohibition in Islam on images of people.

Prophet Muhammad Novel Scrapped

Plans to release a novel about Prophet Muhammad's child bride A'isha have been scrapped by US publishers Random House over fears it could spark violence and reaction to the novel could equal the furore caused by Sir Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses.
Published in 1988, the book was condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
Ehsan Jami’s cartoon film, expected to be released on the 20th of April 2008, is apparently even more controversial than the dreaded Muhammad cartoons: Former Dutch Labour Party politician Ehsan Jami, the founder of the Committee of ex-Muslims, has announced that he is producing an anti-Islamic cartoon called The Life of Muhammad which will be released on the 20th of April. The film will show a sexually aroused Prophet Muhammad with his nine-year-old wife: Aisha.
Offensive for moslems, not for non-moslems.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about Islam

Who is Jesus to moslems?
Jesus peace be upon Him is a true prophet.
Can Jesus, or Muhammad peace be upon them be worshipped?
Worship must be to Allah the creator of them.
Can we see Allah?
Allah is not like the sun. So no one will see Allah before he dies.
Do we have free will?
We cannot do anything if Allah will not allow it.
Does Allah answer my prayers?
We know that Allah answers all the prayers of the believers.
What is it that keeps us from entering Heaven?
Worship of anyone other than Allah is the greatest sin.
What does it mean to believe in Allah?
It means to believe in Allah in total perfection, and uniqueness. It means to believe in Allah's predestination of good, and bad (relative to us, but to Allah everything Allah does is good).
What about non-Moslems do they go to heaven?
Allah only accepts Islam.
Can anyone become a moslem?
There are two declarations, which are necessary:
1. To bear witness that no one deserves to be worship except Allah
2. To bear witness that Prophet Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
Then What?
Moslems are brothers.

Was Islam Spread by The Sword?

Praise be to Allah.
Undoubtedly taking the initiative in fighting has a great effect in spreading Islam and bringing people into the religion of Allah in crowds. Hence the hearts of the enemies of Islam are filled with fear of jihad. The Orientalists wanted to slander Islam by claiming that it was spread by the sword.
The defeatists among the moslems come out to defend Islam, and they want to disavow Islam of this so-called lie, so they deny that Islam was spread by the sword, and they say that jihad is not prescribed in Islam, except in the case of self-defence. The purpose is that all religion should be for Allah alone, and that the word of Allah should be supreme. Allah says:
“And We brought forth iron wherein is mighty power (in matters of war), as well as many benefits for mankind, that Allah may test who it is that will help Him (His religion) and His Messengers in the unseen”
[al-Hadeed 27:25]
It was narrated that Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded us to strike with this, meaning the sword, whoever turns away from this, meaning the Qur’aan.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Faroosiyyah (p.18):
Allah sent him – meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) – with the guiding Book and the conquering sword, ahead of the Hour, so that Allah alone would be worshipped with no partner or associate, and his provision was placed beneath the shade of his sword and spear. Allah has established the religion of Islam with proof and evidence, and with the sword and spear, both together and inseparable.

The evidence clearly indicates that the sword is one of the most important means that led to the spread of Islam.
1. Allah says:
“For had it not been that Allah checks one set of people by means of another, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and masjids, wherein the Name of Allah is mentioned much would surely, have been pulled down. Verily, Allah will help those who help His (Cause). Truly, Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty”
[al-Hajj 22:40]
“And if Allah did not check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief. But Allah is full of bounty to the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)”
[al-Baqarah 2:251]

2. Allah has commanded us to prepare the means of fighting against the kuffaar and frightening them.
If Islam was only spread by peaceful means, what would the kuffaar have to be afraid of?
3. When the messenger called people to Islam, his call was accompanied by the sword, and he commanded his leaders to do likewise, so that when the people saw the serious of the moslems in calling people to their religion, that dispelled any confusion.
Al-Bukhaari and Moslem narrated that Sahl ibn Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said on the day of Khaybar: “Tomorrow I will give the banner to a man at whose hands victory will come, one who loves Allah and His messenger, and Allah and His messenger love him.”
Moslem narrated that Buraydah said: When the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed a commander to lead an army or a raiding party, he would advise him to fear Allah with regard to himself and the Moslems with him, then he said: “Fight in the name of Allah and for the sake of Allah. Fight those who disbelieve in Allah, fight but do not steal from the war booty (before it is shared out), betray, or mutilate. Then call them to Islam and if they respond, accept that from them and leave them alone. Can people be brought in chains except in the case of jihad??
Yes, it is the religion of peace but in the sense of saving all of mankind from worshipping anything other than Allah and submitting all of mankind to the rule of Allah.

MISCONCEPTION ABOUT ISLAM

1. Moslems are violent, terrorists and extremists.
"If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in God for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things." (Quran 8:61).
2. Islam oppresses women. Islam gives men and women different roles and equity between the two, is laid down in the Quran and the example of the Prophet.
3. Moslems worship a different God.
Allah is exactly the same word which the Jews, in Hebrew, use for God (eloh), the word which Jesus Christ used in Aramaic when he prayed to God.
4. Islam was spread by the sword and intolerant of other faiths. Islam has always given respect and freedom of religion to all faiths, is laid down in the Quran itself: "There is no compulsion (or coercion) in the religion (Islam). The right direction is distinctly clear from error". (2:256). Islamic law also permits non-Moslem minorities to set up their own courts, which implement family laws drawn up by the minorities themselves. Racism is not a part of Islam, the Quran speaks only of human equality and how all peoples are equal in the sight of God.
5. All Moslems are Arabs. The moslem population of the world is around 1.2 billion. Only about 18% live in the Arab world and the largest moslem community is in Indonesia.
6. The Nation of Islam is a moslem group.
Islam and Nation of Islam are two different religions. Islam and Farakhanism differ in many fundamental ways. There are many groups in America who claim to represent Islam and call their adherents moslems. In fact Bahaism is not Islam just as Farrakhanism is not Islam.
7. All Moslem men marry four wives.
Permission to practice polygamy is not associated with mere satisfaction of passion.
8. Moslems are barbaric, backward people.
Among the reasons for the rapid and peaceful spread of Islam was the simplicity of its doctrine-Islam calls for faith in only one God worthy of worship.
9. Muhammad was the founder of Islam and moslems worship him.
Moslems believe all the prophets from Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus etc. were all sent with divine guidance for their peoples.
10 Moslems don't believe in Jesus or any other prophets.
The Prophet Muhammad said: "Whoever believes there is no god but God, alone without partner, that Muhammad is His messenger, that Jesus is the servant and messenger of God, His word breathed into Mary and a spirit emanating from Him, and that Paradise and Hell are true, shall be received by God into Heaven. "(Hadith related by Bukhari).

Africa and Islamic Revival

In 7th century Arabia, Islam has been a faith with an activist tradition, both in theory and in practice. Paying taxes and owing allegiance to an acknowledged political head are integral to the faith of Islam. Independent dynasties became the rule in the African territories of Islam and Islamic Spain, but only two of these came to power with essentially reformist claims: the Almoravids, a Saharan dynasty that ruled Morocco and Spain between the mid-11th and the mid-12th century and their successors, the Atlas mountain Berber dynasty of the Almohads who united much of north-west Africa under their banner from the mid-12th to the mid-13th century.
During the 19th century of the Common Era, only two major revivalist figures in Africa. The first, Usuman dan Fodio, came close to being proclaimed Mahdi but opted instead for establishing an Islamic state in what is now Nigeria. The other, Muhammad Ahmad, proclaimed himself Mahdi in the Sudan, but died before carrying out his grand plans and left it to his successor, the Khalifa 'Abdullahi, to grapple with the day-to-day problems of establishing an Islamic state.
Shehu Usumanu preached against narrow condemnation of the ordinary Moslem on doctrinal grounds, while fostering a movement of wider education and community solidarity among Moslem populations both Fulani and Hausa.
In the political struggles of the late 1950s and early 1960s the Northern Peoples Congress, the dominant party in northern Nigeria, essentially presented itself as the party that embodied the ideals of the Sokoto Caliphate, and its leader: Sir Ahmadu Bello was a descendent of Shehu Usuman. Numerically, Moslems are at least half of the Nigerian population. In particular, in common with revivalists in the Sudan, Pakistan, Egypt, Algeria and elsewhere, they argue that their faith is incomplete if they do not live within a system of Islamic law-shar'ia. For them, it seemed part of an agenda to create an Islamic state.
In Islam, politics and religion are inseparable. This statement highlights the gulf that separates Moslem revivalists from their Christian compatriots, and it points to one of the reasons for Islam's success in Africa and the growing appeal of Islamic revivalism elsewhere.
Although the Mahdi's mission to conquer the world in the name of Islam had failed, his supporters seem not to have given up hope even as they settled for the more modest goal of maintaining a state guided by the laws and precepts of Islam-as they understood them-within the area of the Sudan.
In political terms the Umma party was pro-British and anti-Egyptian and stood for a completely independent Sudan. When the Sudan became independent in 1956, it had renounced any thought of union with Egypt, and the two main political parties ruled in coalition. Turabi officially holds no position in this government-it is, after all, a military government. Needless to say, it has endorsed the present regime in the Sudan.
In the case of Nigeria, Moslems and Christians as well as adherents of African religions were precipitously thrown together in political union by colonialism, were presented with the nation-state as their only political model and, initially, parliamentary democracy as their chosen method of self-government. It showed that the political consciousness of the Moslem community had reached an important point; its members defined themselves as a community separate from all others.

20 Things Sisters can Do for Islam

Sisters, as much as brothers, are responsible for contributing to Islamic work in the west.
1. Remember you are a khalifa on earth
2. Make your intention for the sake of Allah
3. Make Du'a (supplication)
4. Seek knowledge, a path to Paradise and power
5. Learn about your rights and duties and change who you are accordingly
6. Raise good Moslem sons and daughters
7. Speak out against injustice
8. Don't underestimate the power of social activities
9. Go into professions that are needed in the community
10. Teach in Islamic weekend schools
11. Enjoin the good and forbid the evil
12. Promote and appreciate sisters doing good work
13. Support other sisters in need or difficulty
14. Get sympathetic speakers and scholars invited to the community
15. Teach sisters how to deal with discrimination
16. Become journalists and media professionals
17. Use what you have
18. Know and teach women's history
19. Understand the issues of the day
20. Volunteer