April, 2009

• 24 April

  Chechnya: War is over, crisis is not

  Russia announced on April 16 that it had ended the war in Chechnya. The announcement was largely symbolic because for a long time, there had been no clashes in Grozny. Wars can be won, but conflict resolution requires compromise and goodwill. In Chechnya this did not happen. Might can be right, but not always. In a democracy where human rights …

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• 21 April

  Islamophobia – By Yvonne Ridley

  I’ve often said Islamophobia is the last refuge of the racist and it can manifest itself in many forms. Sometimes it is right in your face, erupting into physical violence or verbal abuse while at other times the attack can be almost subliminal, thinly veiled, cloaked in ambiguity. The net result is the same, in as much as the victim …

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• 18 April

  Let’s Skip Gaza: Pope’s PR Blunder By Stuart Littlewood – London

  So the Pope won’t be visiting Gaza on his trip to the Holy Land next month. The Holy Father’s spokesman has told the Israeli press that he’ll refrain from visiting Gaza regardless of attempts to persuade him otherwise. ‘Refrain’ is a telling choice of words: “the Pope will refrain from visiting Gaza….” It smacks of abstinence, as in abstaining from …

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• 17 April

  A Mother in Islaam is the Mother of the Universe…by Maryam Refai

  “Your mother should come first before others…”  This statement was said by our holy prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The message it conveys to us is that after Allah and his prophets it is your mother who you should pay your utmost amount of respect and love. There was a hadeeth that a man once came to the prophet and asked him, …

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• 16 April

  What the Qur’an says about women’s rights by Aftab Ahmad Khan

  Rawalpindi, Pakistan – Prior to the advent of Islam, women were widely regarded as non-entities in many societies around the world. Indeed, it has taken centuries for women to gain rights equal to those of men, at least in theory, if not in practice. But the struggle for complete gender equality has not ended. Within this struggle, many fingers point …

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• 16 April

  Why Hedonistic Polygyny Is Against Islam By A. Faizur Rahman

  08 April, 2009 Countercurrents.org The marriage, under pressure, of Mukhtaran Mai, the courageous woman who stood up to the atavistic tribal laws of Pakistan after being honour-raped by a gang of human beasts, has brought into focus the enormity of the gender bias prevailing in Muslim societies, particularly through the misuse of the law of polygyny. Without doubt, Ms. Mai …

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• 16 April

  TURKEY: Obama Offers Islam a Handshake By Hilmi Toros

  ISTANBUL, Apr 7 (IPS) – On his first visit to a Muslim country this week, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed “a new chapter” in U.S. engagement with the Islamic world. He drew much praise, while some remain skeptical. “The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam,” he told the Turkish Parliament in capital Ankara Monday. …

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