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Tehran, October 05: The visiting head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog set Oct. 25 as the date for his inspectors to check Iran’s newly revealed uranium enrichment site and struck an upbeat note Sunday, saying Tehran’s confrontation with the West is shifting gears to more cooperation and transparency.

Though the United Nations has no “concrete proof” of an ongoing nuclear weapons program, the chief of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said he has “concerns about Iran’s future intentions.”

Hyderabad, October 04: The flood fury in river Krishna has cut a devastating swathe in hundreds of villages along its course in Andhra Pradesh. The toll — unofficial reports put it over 100 — does not reflect the magnitude of the devastation.

Thousands have been rendered homeless and remained without food and water for the second consecutive day, most parts of Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar districts were still under knee-deep water and the submerged temple town of Mantralayam resembled just a huge mound of sand after water receded.

One of the greatest men in the history of India is unarguably Mahatma Gandhi. The way he gave shape and character to India’s freedom struggle is worthy of a standing ovation. He sacrificed his own life for the sake of his country. The respect that he earned for himself despite leading a simple lifestyle is much appreciable. Mahatma Gandhi played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle of India. His non violent ways and peaceful methods were the foundation for gaining independence from the British. Read about Mahatma Gandhi’s role in freedom struggle of India.

Every Muslim talks about the Golden Age of Islam, and is nostalgic about it. Rightly so. In terms of science, medical progress, scientific achievements, and philosophical, religious inquiries, Islam and Muslim societies were recognized as the gateway to knowledge. While the Muslims derive great satisfaction in recounting the past glory of Islam, no one is interested in answering the questions as to how these things ended?

Al-Qaida’s deputy leader on Monday seized upon President Barack Obama failure to bring about a freeze in Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and called him a “fraud” in a new audio message.

Ayman al-Zawahri’s 28-minute audio message was mainly to deliver a eulogy for slain Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, but he also took the opportunity to slam NATO member states operating in Afghanistan, including Germany, which he criticized for keeping troops there.

Sholapur, September 28: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar says he wants to retire from politics and give younger leaders a chance. Plain enough but his party members are guessing who the younger leaders are going to be.

“It is time for the younger generation to play a greater role and for me to slowly step back. Isn’t that a good idea?” said Pawar, 69, at an election rally of the NCP in Sholapur on Sunday.

The start of the Jewish Day of Atonement at sundown Sunday marked the beginning of a day like no other in Israel, on which even Israelis with no connection to religion tend to put their normal lives on hold.

This year Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, comes at a particularly somber time following revelations of a previously hidden Iranian nuclear facility and more missile tests by the Revolutionary Guard.

The worlds of economics and religion may seem far apart but a meeting in South Korea has been attempting to narrow the gap between the two.

Religious and political leaders gathered in Seoul for a conference on interfaith co-operation.

They concluded their three-day meeting with a call for religious perspectives to be taken into account by governments tackling issues like the financial crisis.

I am no hero. I just acted as an Iraqi who witnessed the pain and bloodshed of too many innocents.

I am free. But my country is still a prisoner of war. There has been a lot of talk about the action and about the person who took it, and about the hero and the heroic act, and the symbol and the symbolic act. But, simply, I answer: what compelled me to act is the injustice that befell my people, and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by putting it under its boot.

“The Hour/Qiyamat will not come until the sunrises from the West. When people will see it, then those who are one earth will become Muslims but that is the time when acceptance of Islam will not profit them. For, by then the door of Taubah (seeking forgiveness) will have already closed down on them.” [Narrated by Abu Huraira (RA) and reported by Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 4636].

Recently NASA confirmed sunrise from the west on Mars. Explaining the phenomenon of Retrograde Motion, a scientist said: “All the planets including earth will go through the same experience at least once.”

In what is being hailed as an historical, never-done-before event, a New Jersey mosque is organizing a Muslim Day of Prayer on Capitol Hill on Friday, September 25, to pray for the soul of America and showcase Muslims’ spiritual unity.

“The situation of Muslims and how they are perceived by the society at large is still not very good, and what better way to show what we’re about than by gathering together to peacefully pray?” Hassan Abdullah Esq, the head of the Dar-ul-Salaam mosque, told IslamOnline.net.

London, September 24: India’s first lunar mission has found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface, The Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

India’s first lunar mission has found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface.

Data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft also suggests water is still being formed on the moon, the British newspaper said.

“It’s very satisfying,” the newspaper quoted Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission’s project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, as saying.

Islam was introduced to India by the Muslim merchants long before the Islamic conquests ever begin and one of the largest Muslim population in the world such as Indonesia were converted to Islam due to the interaction with Muslim merchants and not by conquests.

Entrepreneurship has a long history in Islam and in fact it started with the Prophet of Islam who himself was a merchant and encouraged business activities. This tradition was carried on and trade flourished in Islamic world eradicating poverty and developing societies with the increased wealth till the time there was Muslim Rule.

Saudi Arabia has become a home away from home. Ramadan is the blessed month for Muslims and a time to earn great rewards. It is spiritually and physically the best month for Muslims. As Muslims follow the Hijrah (Lunar) calendar, which is shorter by 11 days as compared to Gregorian (Solar) Calendar. This allows the sliding of the Ramadan each year by 11 days and it comes in different seasons over a long period. This gives Muslims an opportunity to fast in different weather conditions.

Pakistani families uprooted by conflict with the Taliban face a miserable Eid al-Fitr, with no cash to splash on celebrations and longing to return to homes they fear no longer exist.

“All I want is to go back home this Eid,” said Khalida Bibi, a 10-year-old girl standing in a queue to collect packages from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in the Jalozai camp for displaced people in northwest Pakistan.

On 14th of September 09, exactly one year after starting of random picking of ‘suspected’ people from Jamia Nagar, a Muslim majority area of Delhi in the name of ‘fighting Terrorism’, we got a call from a lawyer friend, who works on human rights issues especially Juvenile Justice saying, a boy has been picked up from Shaheen Bagh of Jamia Nagar. Our first thought was, oh, one more illegal detention! Hence, we started contacting family members, Journalists and community leaders. Meanwhile, some of us rushed towards Jamia Nagar police station to enquire about the same.

The Iftaar dinner hosted by the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad had a surprise visitor– the ISI Chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha. Wearing a black sherwani and a white salwar(rather than the Army uniform), he broke bread with the host Sharat Sabharwal and some other A-listers of Pakistan power circuit.

In the aftermath of Gujarat carnage the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee subtly reprimanded Modi Governemtn that Raj Dharma should have been followed. The implication was that state should have actively intervened to protect the innocents who were killed during the violence. What will one say if the same state selectively picks up innocent citizens, kills them and presents false stories to save its skin?

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan this year will soon come to an end. Ramadan will be concluded with a festivity called Id-ul-Fitr.

In this modern age where man is full of guilt complexes, perhaps the most forgotten or suppressed concept in their hearts or minds is that implied in the word “forgiveness.”

But Idul Fitri which in Indonesia is more commonly called “Lebaran” is a perfect moment for Muslims to apply the word`s meaning to relatives and friends.

Muslims in France’s army who go on the pilgrimage to Makkah this year will not have to travel on private commercial flights or bunk with ordinary civilians. In a break from tradition, the Defence Ministry will provide a plane to fly them to Saudi Arabia and organize their stay.

For any western government to arrange a hajj trip would be unusual. It is especially so here, in a country so protective of its secularism that it regulates what Muslim girls can wear in school and is considering a blanket ban on the face-covering Islamic niqab.

Brussels, September 13: Dutch-language public schools in Belgium will ban the wearing of hijab in classes, following the suit of many European countries.
“This decision promotes the feeling of equality and prevents group formation or segregation on the basis of external symbols of life philosophy,” the schools said in a statement cited by Reuters on Friday, September 11.

The ban will affect 700 schools in the northern region of Flanders, including some in Brussels.

School officials argue that the ban was taken to guarantee equal treatment of all pupils within the school grounds.

Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power) is described in the Quran as, “better than a thousand months” (97:3). Any action done on this night such as reciting