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The civilian death toll in Afghanistan has risen by 24 per cent this year, the United Nations has said.

In a new report released on Friday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) blamed bombings by the Taliban and air raids by international forces for the majority of the killings.

The report said that 1,013 civilians were killed on the sidelines of their country’s armed conflict from January to the end of June, compared to 818 in the first half of 2008 and 684 in the same period in 2007.

Nigeria, August 01: A US-based human rights group has called for an investigation into the killing of the leader of the Nigerian Islamist group blamed for a series of deadly attacks in the country’s north.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Friday reports that Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of Boko Haram, was shot and killed while in police custody were “extremely worrying”.

“The extra-judicial killing of Mr Yusuf in police custody is a shocking example of the brazen contempt by the Nigerian police for the rule of law,” Eric Guttschuss, the organisation’s Nigeria researcher, said.

The recent presidential elections in Iran have revealed a major problem for the Islamic Republic: It is, and has always been, politically fractured. To find the initial cracks, just look back to 1979. The revolutionaries and the disciples of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, sharply disagreed as to how the state should be constructed and what its objectives should be.

Prejudices against women are a universal phenomenon, found in almost every human society. When such prejudices are sought to be given religious sanction, it becomes much more difficult to do away with them. Lamentably, certain views and prescriptions contained in the corpus of traditional Muslim jurisprudence or fiqh do indeed militate against women, and even go against the spirit and teachings of Islam, a religion that stresses women’s rights and equal status.

Gaza City, July 29: Police order a lingerie shop to hide its scantily clad mannequins. A judge warns female lawyers to wear head scarves in court. Beach patrols break up groups of singles and make men wear shirts.

It’s all part of a new Hamas campaign to get Gazans to adhere to a strict Muslim lifestyle — and the first clear attempt by the Islamic militants to go beyond benign persuasion in doing so.

It suggests that having consolidated its hold on Gaza in the two years since it seized control by force, Hamas feels emboldened enough to extend its ideology into people’s private lives.

After a sequence of brutal accidents that targeted some of the Muslim communities all over Europe ending with the murder of Marwa Al-Shirbini in Germany, IslamOnline.net (IOL)’s European Muslims Page launched the “Islamophobia in Europe” poll asking its readers whether a Muslim woman living in Europe would take off her hijab (Islamic veil) for any reason or not.

It was really unexpected to find most of the voters (67.86%) rejecting the idea of giving up hijab for any reason, while a minor number of voters (32.14%) agreed to take it off.

Unless President Barack Obama resolves to expunge ‘special’ from the U.S.-Israeli ‘special relationship,’ this entangled alliance will continue to ensure that the U.S. is portrayed as guilty by its association with Tel Aviv’s thuggish behavior in Palestine and elsewhere. And by the U.S. insistence that Israel not be held accountable under international law.

Laying down a code of conduct for its fighters, the Afghan Taliban has issued a book restricting the use of suicide bombings and guiding fighters on how to act on hostages and win hearts and minds of the Afghan people. “A brave son of Islam should not be used for lower and useless targets,” says the book obtained.

The book, “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Rules for Mujahideen”, says that Taliban fighters should avoid civilian casualties while launching attacks. “The utmost effort should be made to avoid civilian casualties.”

Dubai, July 27: Saudi Arabia’s likely decision to bar the elderly, children and patients, will not impact the Haj quotas, feel Haj and Umra operators in the UAE.

Saudi Arabia is likely to bar people older than 65, less than 12 years old, pregnant women, obese, those suffering from contagious diseases and those with weak immune systems from performing the Haj this year due to the H1N1 swine flu virus epidemic.

The decision regarding the ban will be announced in a few days, said Haj officials.

Like the status of women in all the World’s religions, in Islam and Muslim societies patriarchy played and in many cases continues to influence the status and roles of women. The place of women in the formative period of Islam reflected Qur’anic concerns for the status and rights of women as well as the patriarchal structure of the societies in which Islamic law was developed and elaborated. The status of women and the family in Islamic law was the product of Arab culture, Qur’anic reforms, and foreign ideas and values assimilated from conquered peoples.

Darra Adamkhel, a small, dusty town that consists of one main street with some alleys all lined with shops and workshops, is one of the most famous and unique bazaars in Pakistan and its restive tribal belt.
It is the place where anyone can buy weapons made by the local population who are able to manufacture exact replicas of any kind of gun in the world.

“We can copy any kind of arms, even a rocket launcher,” Gulrez Khan, an arms dealer in the town, told IslamOnline.net.

In Ladakh, do as most tourists do. Skip the momos and gorge on Israeli and Italian food. A first time traveller to this Ladakh capital may be surprised that many restaurants don’t even have momos in the menu, as their owners concentrate on foreign tourists who skip local food for Israeli and Italian deliccies.

The influence of the continuing anti-American sentiments in India, dating from the Cold War days, was very much in evidence before and during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit.

Even before she arrived, this lobby noted the suspected American efforts to undermine the India-US nuclear deal by persuading the G8 to deny to India the enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which had earlier passed muster at the meetings of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the deal.

“Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects anonymous testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifada.” They recount experiences that deeply affected them, including abusing Palestinians, looting, destroying property, and other practices “excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases.”

Henna is considered a basic element for women’s make-up. It’s made from leaves of the henna tree which women usually collect, grind, and smooth before mixing with hot water and leaving for fermentation. Henna can also be bought ready-made from salons.

Henna normally requires several hours to give the sought colour to the hair and make it more lustrous. Henna used for make-up is usually mixed with dried lemon that should be crushed and boiled and when it cools, it must be mixed with the henna to provide the best outcome.

Like the ghost of Hamlet’s father, the evil spirit of the Gaza War refuses to leave us in peace. This week it came back to disturb the tranquility of the chiefs of the state and the army.

“Breaking the Silence”, a group of courageous former combat soldiers, published a report comprising the testimonies of 30 Gaza War fighters. A hard-hitting report about actions that may be considered war crimes.

It was just the beginning. The first day of the war launched by Israeli Occupation Forces against the Gaza Strip, was Saturday 27 December 2008. In Gaza City, many targets were bombarded; among them, the Arafat police compound (Al-Jawazat), Al-Mashtal interrogation and detention center, Al-Abbas main police station, the headquarters of the Security and Protection Force, the Saraya security compound – including Gaza Central Prison. The destruction of the Ministry of Interior, located in the compound of ministries, started at 1:30 three nights later, on Tuesday, 30 December.

I follow all the Islamic tenets in the right interpretation and spirit and so, I can say that there is no such thing as yoga being haram (disallowed) in Islam. Rather, I have found that Islamic yoga is a reality. It is possible to employ the skills of yoga to worship Allah better and to be a better Muslim.

Washington, July 22: The United Nations says it needs $5bn to help the world’s poor this year, warning that the need for aid has never been greater.

John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said on Tuesday that more than $4.8bn of the agency’s $9.5bn target for the year had yet to be raised – the biggest ever shortfall at the mid-year mark.

UN projects that could be affected include those which provide shelter, food, water and medical aid, and those that clear landmines and help people improve their agricultural output.

Baghdad, July 21: Abject poverty across Iraq is fuelling an illegal trade in human organs. Hundreds of people are believed to have sold kidneys and other organs through dealers in the capital, Baghdad, over the last year.

Karim Hussein made the long journey from Amara, a province in the south of Iraq, to Baghdad because he was desperate for the $3,000 he would get from the sale of a kidney there.

“I thought I would be able to get work in order to be able to pay my debts back, but the daily amount I am getting is not enough to feed my family, I have eight children.”

A first of a kind lexicon in Australia is going to guide politicians, police and public servants on how to speak about Islam and terrorism without implicating the peaceful religion, in a bid to defuse growing anti-Muslim sentiments in the country.
“Talk about ‘violent extremists’, because that’s what they are, or name the group,” Hass Dellal, head of the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF), told The Age on Monday, July 20.

The book, A Lexicon on Terror, is sponsored by Dellal’s Foundation and the Victoria State Police.

This is Cynthia McKinney and I’m speaking from an Israeli prison cellblock in Ramle. [I am one of] the Free Gaza 21, human rights activists currently imprisoned for trying to take medical supplies to Gaza, building supplies – and even crayons for children, I had a suitcase full of crayons for children. While we were on our way to Gaza the Israelis threatened to fire on our boat, but we did not turn around. The Israelis high-jacked and arrested us because we wanted to give crayons to the children in Gaza.

Muslims on Monday celebrate, “Isra wal Miraj,” the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Allaihi Wassalam’s “Night Journey and Ascension,” which Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan has declared a non-working holiday in the region’s five provinces and one city.

On 27th Rajab (40 Aamul Feel) the Holy Prophet (PBUH) made known to the people his mission of Prophet hood.

The 27th is therefore, a highly blessed night.

1. Take a bath and put on clean clothes.
2. Give alms in the way of Allah.
3. Just before midnight pray 12 Rak-a’t Namaaz, in 6 sets of 2 Rak-a’t each. In every
Rak-a’t recite Soorah Al Faatih’ah and any other Soorah (any one soorah from Soorah Muhammad to An Naas).

After the salaam recite each of the following Soorahs 7 times:

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.