Beating the Scarf Ban : Turkish Style
ANKARA : Turkish women have devised a unique way to beat the ban on the wearing of headscarves in constitutionally secular Turkey. They are wearing wigs to replace scarves, said a newsitem released by the Associated Press (AP).
Under the Turkish law, women could be fined upto a quarter of their salaries for appearing in public offices and schools with their heads covered with cloth. To sidestep the law as being enforced by the army-backed government, the women in Central Turkey have been buying wigs in hospitals and state offices.
The ban on headscarves (something that is allowed in non-Islamic USA, the UK and India) is part of a crackdown on Islamic influence on Turkey’s secular system. Men who use turbans or any other kind of headdress also attract stiffer penalties.
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Plight of Kosovo Muslims
PRISHITUNA : The future of the Muslim majority Serbian province of Kosovo is wrapped in uncertainty with ethnic cleansing cruelly administered by the Serbian Civil and military authorities. Politically, Kosovo enjoyed an autonomous status for 15 years, but in 1989, the present Serbian ruler, Slobodan Milosevich annexed the region. The Serbian economic policy has adversely affected the Kosovo and the Serbs have hindered the economic, social and educational development of the 90% Muslims in Kosovo.
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School-drops outs in Indonesia
JAKARTA : Nearly 30 percent of students in Indonesia have dropped out of school as a result of the economic crises in the country.
The Indonesian government is providing scholarships, tuition fees and school allowances to elementary and junior high school students, according to the education Minister Yuwano Sudarsono.
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Human Rights Violated in Turkey : HDR Report
LONDON : Human rights organisations, Human Dignity and Rights (HDR) based in Germany has alleged harassment of leftists and Islamic organisations such as Mzlum-Der. Its representative Mehmet Dogan said the Muslim students were not allowed to wear scarves, wrote the Muslim News from London. The HDR said popular Refah mayor of Istanbul Recep Tayyib Erdogan was sentenced for 10 months in prison for quoting a poem with Islamic imagery. It said three political parties Hadep, Refah and Dep were recently banned under orders from the Kemalist-dominated army.
The HDR report said the offices of MUSIAD, an organisation of Muslim businessmen was raided. MUSIAD vice president Ali Bayramoglu said MUSIAD had committed no crimes and such human rights violations would harm the economic development. The report said the dominant newspapers in Turkey were voluntarily withholding reports of human rights violations and this situation arose because over 70% of the newspapers and TV were owned by two tycoons.
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Saudi Universities have over 200,000 Students
JEDDAH: The Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khalid Bin Muhammad Al-Anqari said that Saudi Universities have over 200,000 students with a similar number studying at Girls and Teachers Training Colleges. The Minister said that the higher education has witnessed continual progress since the establishment of the Shari’ah College in Makkah 50 years ago. This college, which is now a part of Umm Al-Qura University, was the nucleus of higher education in the Kingdom. The Minister said that the Kingdom now has eight Universities. (SG)
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IIRO excels in service to Islam
JEDDAH : The Jeddah-based International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) spent over two billion riyals on orphan care, mother and child health projects, education, guidance, urgent projects, seasonal projects, Qur'an memorization classes, the construction and repair of Mosques, digging of water wells and agricultural projects, a spokesman for the IIRO explained. IIRO's activities are not limited to providing assistance, and relief work, but includes training, rehabilitation in the medical and agricultural field.
The organization's other activities include, the establishment of an Islamic Vocational Training Institute in Bangladesh, which includes departments such as carpentry, plumbing and electricity skills, in addition to other training programs. (IINA)
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Ladies only Shopping Complex Opened
RIYADH : Al-Multaka, The new ladies only shopping centre was opened by Saudi Fashion Designer Lama Al-Aggad in Riyadh recently.
Economists estimate that some 240,000 Saudi women are working and that their members are increasing annually as more schools, hospitals, banks and other institutions are opened to handle the kingdom's fast growing population.
Rula Al-Shugairi, an official at the United Saudi Bank here, points out that women's banking is a growing business.
"In our religion, women have control of their own money.", Al-Shugairi said. "Women's branches offer them privacy as well as stock market services, letters of credit for trade and overdraft accounts to help business women manage this cash flow."
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Photographs of Holy Cities
LONDON : The only two known earliest photographs of the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah were sold for 1.4 million pounds ($ 2.3 million) at Sotheby's. The Photographs, were taken by Mohammed Sadiq Bey in 1881-1882, an Egyptian-born explorer and pioneer of Arabian photography. Sadiq Bey's photographs provide a fascinating early record of the architectural, camps and environs of Makkah, Madinah, according to Roger Guriffliths, the Sotheby's specialist in charge of the sale.
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Seminar on Leadership
KUALA LUMPUR : The International Islamic University at Kuala Lumpur is organising a ten-day international Islamic seminar on leadership from August 15, 1998. The objective of the seminar will be not just strengthening trade relations, but also leadership training skills for the Muslim Umma in administration and tips on management of Dawah work. The organisers have extended their invitation to Muslim businessmen and Islamic activists to participate in the conference. Those interested may write to :
Prof. Dr. Omar Hasan .K., Chairman Organising Committee, Tarbiyyah and Training Centre, International Islamic University, Malaysia, Post Box.No: 70, Jalan Sultan, 46700 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Tel: 603-755-3433, Fax: 603-7577970.
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Relief Measures for Students
CAIRO : Over 4000 students pursuing their education in the famous Al-Azhar University and affiliated institutions are bound to be affected adversely by the financial crisis in the South-East Asian countries. Almost 2,480 students are from Indonesia. The Egyptian Muslim community has pooled in 500,000 Egyptian pounds to help the students towards scholarships, and the Indonesian embassy in Cairo is supervising these relief activities.
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Muslim Physicians to Meet
BIRMINGHAM : The International Institute of Islamic Medicine (IIM) is to hold its annual conference with the active support of the Islamic Medical Association of North America and the British-based Muslim Doctors and Dentists Association on June 27 to 28, 1998 in the British city of Birmingham.
The theme of the conference is “The personalities of Islamic Medicine and their contributions: Al-Zahawi Ibn Sina, Al-Razi and Medical Ethics and Islamic perspective.”
The conference aims at reviewing the impact of the contributions of Muslim physicians on the advancement of science and medicine, in particular in the fields of surgery, dermatology and ophthalmology as related to clinical practice throughout the contemporary world.
Conference deliberations include papers on Haemophilia and Abucasis, Kitab Al-saum, pulse in Islamic Medicine and other equally important scientific papers. The IIM aims to ensure that Islamic contributions to the medical field are widely available to all Islamic and non-Islamic physicians throughout the world. (IINA)
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Oriental Theatre Co. Launched
The Khayaal Theatre Co. launched itself on April 16 at London with the aim to produce “entertainment design to stimulate inner attainment and transformation.” It intends to stage Attars ‘Conference of the Birds’ play in London shortly to raise sterling pounds 90,000. Luqman Ali is the director of the company. He is an African-American writer and Arabic and Persian scholar. He said Khayaal Theatre will bring rich Islamic heritage to Muslim youth. Khayaal Theatre Co. is located at 203 ‘B’ Ladbroke Groves London WIO 6 HQ.
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Islamic Conference in Tehran
TEHRAN : The 11th Islamic Unity Conference will be held at Tehran from 10-12 July, 1999. The conference will deal with lectures and research papers on the basic principles of Islam, resurrection, human dignity, social reform and conflict solving in Islam.
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First Islamic Satellite TV Channel
JEDDAH : The first Islamic Satellite Television Channel will be launched via the Arabsat Satellite to Europe, Asia, Australia and America in August 1998, according to Mr. Abdul Kadir Tash, the President of the Channel.
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Youth to Support Al-Quds
FEZ : At the recently concluded Al-Quds seminar for peace and forgiveness held in the Moroccan city of Fez, the Archbishop of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Samir Al-Qafiti called on the Christians to show respect to Islam and the Prophet (Pbuh). The Seminar initiated the "Youth Council for Al-Quds Affairs" to be based in Morocco which will mobilise the world youth movement in support of the Al-Quds cause.
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Book on Halal Food
LONDON : The London-based Islamic Food Council has published a book titled "Halal Food Guide" which contains detailed information on food items and dishes that are free of ingredients banned under Islamic Shari'ah such as pigment and other derivatives, bacon etc.
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Book Published in Madinah
MADINAH : Madinah-based King Fahad Qur'an Printing Complex has recently published a book titled "Qur'an Interpretation made simple". According to Mr. Abdullah Al-Turki, the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, this book can be used as a reference for all future translations and also the book fulfils the much-needed simplified version of explanation of the meanings of the verses.
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Aid to Drought Victims
JEDDAH : According to sources at the Jeddah-based International Islamic Relief Organisation, a widespread drought has affected 70,000 families in Mindanao and two provinces in the West African state of Guwnea Bissau have witnessed deaths due to Cholera. Dr. Adnan Pasha, IIRO's president, has appealed to Muslim philanthropists to aid the victims in these countries.
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Shipping Company in Jeddah
JEDDAH : The Islamic Shipping Company (PASCO) will be established in Jeddah with a capital investment of US $ 150 million dollars and the company's shares will be put in the markets of the Islamic states.
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