OIC Relief for Mozambique Flood
Jeddah (IINA): Dr. Ezzedine Laraki, Secretary-General of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has sought help for the victims of the floods that have inundated parts of Mozambique. The flooding has destroyed life in several parts of the country, and resulted in tens of thousands of victims and displaced people. The secretary-general said the OIC has extended financial assistance to Mozambique. He called on the OIC member-states and the international community to quickly extend all forms of possible assistance to help the government of Mozambique alleviate the consequences of the disaster.
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IDB Relief Team in Chechnya
Jeddah (IINA) : Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali, President of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has said that an agreement has been signed between the bank and Russian Ministry of Emergencies, under which the IDB would extend humanitarian aid to the Chechen refugees and the homeless. A team from the IDB is already giving help to the afflicted children who are in the 43 refugee camps in the countries neighbouring Chechnya, and the beneficiaries number 9,000 families. The team was also able to travel to Chechnya itself and extend help and assistance to those who needed it there. In the near future, the team is expected to visit a number of schools and medical facilities, to assess the extent of the IDB’s proposed contribution that would require in repairing such institutions. The team is closely cooperating with the Saudi Joint Committee for the Relief of Chechen, as well as with other Islamic relief organizations that already operating in the area.
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Burger King to Withdraw Offensive Ad
Washigton (IINA): The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced last month that Burger King Corporation will pull a radio advertisement deemed offensive by American Muslims. A number of Muslim listeners contacted CAIR to complain about the ads in which a character using a Muslim name “Rasheed” read a poem extolling the virtues of Burger King’s bacon-cheddar Whopper sandwich. Islam prohibits the consumption of pork products.
The commercial also had “Rasheed” using the greeting “peace” and being introduced to “brothers and sister” in a coffeehouse. Muslims greet each other by saying “peace to you” in Arabic and refer to each other as “brothers” and “sisters.” Burger King officials say the commercial will be withdrawn and rewritten to delete the reference that Muslims found objectionable.
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Jigawa all set to implement Sharia
Lagos (IINA): The Jigawa State government would embark on the full implementation of the Sharia legal system, as the administration has completed all arrangements to ensure the protection and guarantee of non-Muslim’s rights and the training of more Sharia court judges, Governor Ibrahim Saminu Turaki has disclosed. Speaking to the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) recently, Turaki said that in spite of the unfortunate recent bloody religious crisis in Kaduna, his administration is set to implement Sharia.
He said the people of Jigawa are not only a peace loving people, but law-abiding as well. Turaki said: “In the history of this state, there have been no religious or communal clashes between religious and ethnic groups living in the state.
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Mosque Relics found under Cathedral
Barcelona (Spain) (IINA): Archeologists in the island of Palmadi Majorca, 150 km east of Barcelona, have discovered the relics of a large mosque situated in front of the Island’s Governor’s palace, while the palace still retains its Islamic features. Built on the relics of the mosque is the city’s central cathedral. The mosque had been demolished by the Spaniards during their war against the Muslim rule, on the very day on which the last Islamic Mahdi Caliphate was set up, that is, December 31, 1229. Spanish archeologists are now projecting the relics of the mosque. There are several churches and cathedrals in Spain that have been built on the relics of mosques that had been destroyed or otherwise demolished, such as the Cathedral of Valencia, and the Sagunto Cathedral.
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800th Anniversary of Ibn Al-Abbar in Spain
Madrid (IINA): The Spanish city of Onda has celebrated the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Muslim scholar Ibn Al-Abbar, who was born Valencia in the year 1199 AD, toward the end of the Islamic era in Spain. He was not only a historian, but an author and a religious scholar as well. The municipality held a month-long celebration in this connection, in association with Islamic Cultural Center in Valencia and Islamic Cultural Center of Castiun. Lectures were held on the life and times of Abbar, and there were exhibitions of various kinds relating to Islam, Islamic art, and Islamic history, including human rights. Surprisingly, the majority of those who attended the celebrations were non-Muslim Spaniards.
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US Muslims Urge Media to be Objective
Washington (IINA): The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, has met with representatives of CBS News to discuss past perceptions of unbalanced reporting on issues dealing with American Muslims. The meeting, held at CAIR’s new offices near Capitol Hill, also focused on the need to create an ongoing dialogue between the network and the American Muslim community.
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Malaysian government issues 'guidelines' to mosques
Kuala Lumpur (IINA/Bernama): The Malaysian Government has issued a set of regulations to be used as guidelines for mosques to carry out their activities, according to a minister in the Prime Minister’s office, Dr. Abdul Hamid Othman. Among the guidelines would be one restricting the use of mosques as political platforms. Some improvements would also be made, one of which would be the proper training of Imams and Khateebs, and also effecting an increase in their subsistence allowances.
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Qur'an Reader for Mosques
Plano (Texas-USA): Dallas Signal Processing Inc has devised "The Qur'an Reader for Mosques" which can enable the namazis in the mosque to listen to the Holy Qur'an by merely picking up the device and adjusting it over the head. Any visitor who picks up a copy of the Holy Qur'an can instead use this audio device.
The entire Qur'an is recited continuously, from beginning to end. The recitation is slow, melodious, and by the world renowned Reader Cheikh Khalil Houssary. To listen to the Qur'an the user simply places the headphones and adjusts the volume.
Listening Units are attached to the inner walls of the Mosque and are accessible to people of all ages. The sound is deep, rich, and crystal-clear. The studio Monitor Headphone incorporates state-of-the art engineering design to produce wearing comfort.
The product is comprised of two components: One computerized automatic player and multiple listening units. The automatic player generates a sound signal and distributes it to all the listening units through a twisted pair wire.
Typically a Masjid installs one player and 2, 4, 8, or more listening units. This product can also be used in Islamic schools, Islamic libraries, and other public places. All components are covered with a three year warrantee.
Dallas Signal Processing was founded in 1989 by Talal Itani as a research and development firm specializing in DSP technology. It is now developing technology products based on the Holy Qur'an.
For More information contact: Talal Itani, (972) 867-4928, e-mail:
titani@dallassignal.comTop
OIC Working for Peace in Afghanistan
Jeddah (IINA): A delegation of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Ad-Hoc Committee on Afghanistan, headed by Dr. Javad Zarif, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan recently called on the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Anan. They briefed him on the OIC’s current efforts to advance the prospects of achieving peace in Afghanistan. Other members of the delegation were drawn from Guinea, Pakistan, and Tunis, as well as from the OIC secretariat here.
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Czech Muslim Students Union's Camp
Prague (IINA): The Muslim Students Union in the Czech Republic has held its 10th annual camp, on the theme of “Muslims on the Brink of the 21st Century: Reality and Hope.” In the city of Perto.
Attending the camp were Da’awah activists from Saudi Arabia and from other European countries, who delivered lectures on the situation of Muslims in the contemporary world. These were followed by cultural and entertainment programmes.
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Tashkent Conference on Muslim Heritage
Tashkent (IINA) : A conference on the theme of ‘In Search of the Heritage of Grandfathers” would be held October 2000, in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. It is expected that scholars from various parts of the world will participate, and the idea behind the conference is to commemorate the Uzbek Imam Maturidy, and to mark his place in the Islamic culture and scholarship.
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Behind the Headlines
Limits of Human Knowledge
The World's biggest repository of knowledge, the Libraries of the Congress in Washington D.C. is said to contain 17 million books. In digital format, it is thought to be some 116 trillion bits of data. Even this entire collection could be sent just anywhere in merely 1.16 seconds using a modern fibre-optic cable capable of transmitting 100 trillion bits per second. Indeed how small man's knowledge is in comparison with attributes of God.
Prof. Ahmed S.Khan of Devry Institute of Technology, Addison,
USA in Impact International, London.
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Philippines: Budget slashed for Muslim Province
Cotabato City (IINA): The Philippines central government of President Joseph Estrada has slashed the budget allocation for the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), from PP 75 million (last year’s) to a mere PP 9.2 (for year 2000), a reduction of nearly PP 68 million, which is meant to meet the salaries of the staff of the Regional Governor. The Regional Governor, Nur Misuari, is said to have been angered at this drastic cut, and the feeling is that the central government’s sincerity in pushing the peace process with MNLF, as per 1996 GRP-MNLF Peace Agreement has been put in doubt.
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Canada Muslims Sue Scribe
Washington (IINA): The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has announced that a Canadian Muslim and the organization he represents have filed a defamation suit against self-styled “terrorism expert” Steven Emerson, for publishing “defamatory and incorrect information.”
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17 Lakh Perform Haj this Year
Makkah: Nearly 1.7 million pilgrims performed Haj this year, according to International Islamic News Agency.
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