Update 5: CNN says they failed to join some Islamic schools:

“They went to the madrassa [a Muslim school] of Jaish-e-Mohammad where they informed them about their desire for jihad. However, the management of the madrassa refused to keep them, and advised them to go to Jamat-ud-Dawa Lahore. Interestingly, the Jamat also refused to keep them as they could not provide a surety. Thus, they came along with their friend Umar Farooq to Sargodha,” the report said.

Source

Update 4: New York Times confirms arrests?

SARGODHA, Pakistan — Five young Muslim American men arrested here Wednesday were on their way to the heart of the Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan’s tribal areas with the intention of training to fight against American troops in Afghanistan, Pakistani police authorities said Thursday.

The men, a tight circle of friends in their late teens and their 20s from the Washington suburbs, had been in contact through YouTube with a Pakistani militant with links to Al Qaeda before arriving in Pakistan on Nov. 30, said the Pakistani officials, who had firsthand knowledge of the case.

….

The police identified the others arrested in Sargodha as Ramy Zamzam, 22, a dental student of Egyptian background at Howard University, who was described as a sort of “ringleader”; Waqar Khan, of Pakistani background, who was reported to have family connections in Karachi; Ahmad A. Mini, 20, born in Eritirea; and Aman Hassan Yemer, 18, a native Ethiopian.

Source

Update 3: The owners of the Facebook group dedicated to the brothers closed it down saying: “We have decided with careful consideration to close the group out of respect for the family members of our brothers.”

Update 2: Message from CAIR below.

Update 1: Apparently, the New York Times (via AP) is reporting that a farewell video was made by the brothers.
____

There was a lot of news and rumors spreading on Facebook of 5 brothers in the Washington DC area gone missing the past few days. Looks like they were in Pakistan and may have been arrested.

According to the Pakistani News:

SARGODHA: An Anti Organized-crime Cell raided a house situated in Aziz Bhatti Town of Sargodha and arrested five foreign nationals.

DPO Sargodha Dr. Usman Anwar told Geo News that the police raided the house of Khalid Farooqi, an activist of banned outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad, and arrested five foreign nationals from there.

The arrested foreigners include 2 Yemenis, 1 Egyptian, 1 Swedish and 1 US-born Pakistani.

The DPO told that these people had been living in Sargodha since Nov 30 and it was quite a possibility that they were engaged in acts of terrorism.

Initial investigations have identified them as Ahmed Abdullah, Waqar Hassan Khan, Eman Hassan, Yasir and Rami Zamzam.

Security agencies have initiated further investigations in this regard.

According to the AP:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani police say they have detained five U.S. citizens in a raid on a house in the east of the country.
Police officer Tahir Gujjar declined to say why the men were arrested Wednesday in the town of Sargodha.
He says three of the men are Americans of Pakistani descent, one is of Egyptian descent and the other is of Yemeni heritage.
He says they are being interrogated by senior police officers.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said officials there were aware of the reported arrests, but had no more information.

Of course it’s on FOX news.

More sources:
Another local DC news article.

I actually knew one of the brothers and the others I’ve seen around. Shocking and strange, but then again the Pakistani government is just obeying the command of their owners in America.

Message from CAIR:

CAIR: Muslim Community Assists FBI in Finding 5 Missing Youth

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/9/09) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a news conference later today in Washington, D.C., at which it will outline how the Muslim community assisted the FBI in resolving the case of five Muslim young men from Virginia who left the country recently under mysterious circumstances.

WHAT: CAIR News Conference on Case of 5 Missing Youth
WHEN: Wednesday, December 9, 4 p.m. (Eastern)
WHERE: CAIR’s Capitol Hill Headquarters, 453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C.
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com

“The Muslim community has taken the lead in bringing this case to the attention of law enforcement authorities and will offer ongoing cooperation with the FBI as the investigation moves forward,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

The parents of the missing young people and local Muslim leaders recently informed CAIR of the disappearances. CAIR immediately informed the FBI and, along with the families and Muslim community leaders, has been working to assist the agency as the investigation moved forward. The families were also assisted in obtaining legal representation to make sure their constitutional rights were protected.

At today’s news conference, CAIR officials and other Muslim leaders will outline the sequence of events in the case, urge anyone aware of the missing group’s activities to come forward and warn against the dangers of adopting or promoting extremist religious views.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Related posts:

• Etidal Abdullah – Missing Muslim Sister in Lackawanna, NY – Action Required Now!
• Civil War in Pakistan?!?
• Youth Fighting outside the Prophet’s (s) Mosque in Madinah, Some Arrested

Few would deny that Muslims too are victims of Islamist terror. But a new study by the Combating Terrorism Center in the US has shown that an overwhelming majority of al-Qaida victims are, in fact, co-religionists.

In the battle against unbelievers, can one also kill Muslims? Even the terror network al-Qaida is troubled by this question.

A leading al-Qaida ideologue for the terror network, Abu Yahya al-Libi, has developed his own theologically-based theory of collateral damage that allows militants to kill Muslims when it is unavoidable.

Even the Iraqi affiliates of Osama bin Laden’s terror group, who are known to be particularly bloodthirsty, claim that they too consider this question. For instance, in a message claiming responsibility for an August attack in Baghdad, the group wished those Sunnis injured in the “operation” a speedy recovery and expressed their hope that those killed would be accepted by God as “martyrs.”

But even as such apologetic communiqués from al-Qaida show the terror network stylizing itself as a defender of the true faith wrestling with religious concepts, they also make it look as though any dead Muslims are regretful but isolated cases. The facts, though, tell a different story.

Between 2004 and 2008, for example, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for 313 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 3,010 people. And even though these attacks include terrorist incidents in the West — in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005 — only 12 percent of those killed (371 deaths) were Westerners.

New Report Shows Many More Muslims Killed Than Non-Muslims

It is, of course, no surprise that al-Qaida kills more Muslims than non-Muslims — particularly for people in the Islamic world. But a new report by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the United States’ Military Academy at West Point in New York — which has gathered together these and other relevant figures in one report (“Deadly Vanguards: A Study Of al-Qaida’s Violence Against Muslims “), spells out the discrepancy in black and white.

The authors of the study admit that their report likely omits a number of Muslim victims. But that was the price of their rigorous methodology, used in an effort to avoid accusations of partisanship.

The researchers only counted the attacks for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility, thus preventing accusations that they were seeking to make al-Qaida look even worse than it is. Still, it is well known that al-Qaida does not claim responsibility for every attack perpetrated, meaning that many victims are likely left out of the report. Furthermore, the researchers only included attacks reported on by the Arab media and relied on the numbers they reported — out of a conviction that the Arab media is more highly regarded in the Muslim world than the Western media. That, though, is not always the case.

Blurred Figures And Inexact Categories Are Problematic

The greatest potential for inaccuracy in the report, however, is the placing of victims into only one of two categories: Western or non-Western. The assumption being that Western would also mean non-Muslim and vice versa. The problems with such a system of categorization are myriad. Not all those living in the Muslim world are Muslim: In Iraq, al-Qaida has launched attacks against Kurds, Yazidi and Christians. Secondly, a lot of the Muslim victims are actually — and deliberately — Shiites. A Sunni group, al-Qaida considers the Shiites to be unbelievers.

Unfortunately news reports don’t tend to differentiate between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, explains Scott Helfstein, one of the writers of the report. This is also the reason for the non-Western and Western categories. “It is easy for journalists to count nationality but they rarely, if ever, identify religion,” Helfstein writes in reply to e-mailed questions from SPIEGEL ONLINE. The report’s writers were well aware of the problem. “But we were not able to find a way around it,” Helfstein notes.

Indeed, the report’s authors confront the shortcomings of their methodology head on. In one passage, they remove attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan from their calculations altogether, resulting in the share of Westerners killed in al-Qaida attacks rising to a much more significant 39 percent. If one removes the Madrid and London attacks from the statistics, though, the share of murdered Westerners drops back down to 13 percent.

Perhaps more significantly, if one only examines attacks in 2007 and disregards those having been perpetrated in Iraq and Afghanistan, the share of non-Westerners killed by al-Qaida rises to 99 percent. In 2008, it was 96 percent.

Non-Westerners 38 Times More Likely To Be Killed

Put another way, between 2006 and 2008, non-Westerners were 38 times more likely to be killed by an al-Qaida attack than Westerners.

“Since al-Qaida has limited capability to strike against its Western enemies, the group maintains its relevance by attacking countries with Muslim majorities,” the study concludes.

The conclusions reached by Helfstein and his co-authors are hardly world changing. They are valuable nonetheless, in that they provide a numerical foundation to the relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim al-Qaida victims.

Still, critics will no doubt point out that the study comes from the CTC, an organization that is part of an American military school. In recent years, the CTC has released a number of excellent studies on terrorism. But because it is actually supplying arguments, backed by scientific research, for the fight against terrorism to decision makers, politicians and military personnel in the US, it cannot be considered strictly neutral. That also applies to this case, especially since a number of American officials have recently begun stressing the point that al-Qaida is particularly violent toward Muslims and can now rely on solid data to back up their argument.

This perceived lack of neutrality doesn’t change the fact that the fundamental findings of the report are correct and meaningful. The authors conclude that if they compare statistics for the years from 1995 to 2003 (excluding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US as a solitary event), they find that al-Qaida is becoming more violent and “increasingly indiscriminate” in its attacks.

Just how big a problem this discrepancy between Muslim and non-Muslim victims will become for al-Qaida remains to be seen. Even prior to the report’s release, however, it had become a subject of intense debate within the Jihadist seen — with more and more ideologues coming to the conclusion that al-Qaida’s fight on behalf of the downtrodden Muslims isn’t worth it.

Source

Related posts:

• America Kills Afghanis Working With Them
• Americans are more approving of terrorist attacks against civilians than Muslims in Muslim countries
• 93% of Muslims Worldwide Condemn 9/11!

You know what I find really hilarious from this story is when they tried to join a group in Pakistan, they were rejected for not being Pakistani. Sounds like a lot of BS to me.

This is an amazing quote from his lawyer:

“If this is the FBI’s idea of a terrorist, they are using a net that is designed to catch minnows instead of sharks.” — J.W. Carney, Mehanna’s lawyer, after his 2008 arrest (Boston Globe, Nov. 12, 2008)

I agree 100%.

Let’s not forget innocent until proven guilty.

This should be warning to all Muslims. If some shady Muslim guy is telling you he has connections to go perform Jihad overseas, you know what to say. “Nah bro, I’m good.”

In the early-morning hours of Oct. 21, federal authorities arrested 27-year-old Massachusetts resident Tarek Mehanna on charges that he conspired to provide material support to terrorists and planned to carry out a “violent jihad” by killing U.S. politicians, attacking American troops in Iraq and targeting customers at U.S. shopping malls. U.S. attorneys claim that Mehanna worked with two other men on various plans designed to “kill, kidnap, maim or injure” U.S. citizens and soldiers from 2001 to 2008. He will be held in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Oct. 30. If he is found guilty, Mehanna faces up to 15 years in prison.

Fast Facts:
• A U.S. citizen, Mehanna is the fifth person living in the U.S. to be arrested on terrorism charges in the past five months.

• Was arrested at his parents’ house in Sudbury, Mass., an affluent Boston suburb.

• Graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in May 2008. His father is a professor of medicinal chemistry at the school.

• Had been planning to move to Saudi Arabia to become a pharmacist.

• Was questioned by the FBI on Dec. 16, 2006, about Daniel J. Maldonado, a Methuen, Mass., resident who was suspected of training at a terrorist camp of al-Qaeda’s and plotting to overthrow the Somali government. Maldonado later admitted to training with al-Qaeda and is now serving a 10-year prison sentence.

• Arrested in November 2008 for statements he made during the 2006 questioning. Mehanna had claimed that Maldonado was living in Egypt and working for a website, but FBI agents recorded a phone conversation between the two men in which Maldonado urged Mehanna to join him in “training for jihad” in Somalia. Was indicted for allegedly lying to authorities in January 2009.

• According to U.S. attorneys, Mehanna’s current plot had two co-conspirators — a man named Ahmad Abousamra and a third person, who is cooperating with authorities and has so far been unnamed. The three men met before the Sept. 11 attacks and attempted to join terrorist groups in Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

• A 2004 trip to Yeman proved fruitless when the men were unable to locate anyone affiliated with terrorist camps. They returned to the U.S. and allegedly plotted attacks on shopping malls. They abandoned their plans after failing to obtain automatic weapons.

• Used the code terms “peanut butter and jelly” when discussing fighting in Somalia and “culinary school” for terrorist camps.

• Appeared in federal court just hours after his arrest wearing a black sweatshirt and sweatpants. Witnesses say he refused to stand up at his bail hearing, kicking his chair over and making rude comments.

Quotes By:
“When the FBI asked me where Dan was … I told them I was still in Egypt … and he had called me the day before from Somalia.” — From an unsealed FBI affidavit (Boston Globe, Nov. 12, 2008)

“I don’t ever remember if he said the word Somalia on the phone, but that’s a problem because, like, lying to them in and of itself is a crime.” — Regarding his 2008 arrest (Boston Globe, Nov. 12, 2008)

“I can only think of the countless imprisoned Muslims in the jails of tyrants around the globe and hope that if it is not Allah’s Decree to free them in the near future, that they taste the sweetness that Allah has placed them in prison to taste.” — Letter allegedly written from prison and published on MuslimMatters.org after his 2008 arrest (Associated Press, Oct. 21, 2009)

Quotes About:
“If this is the FBI’s idea of a terrorist, they are using a net that is designed to catch minnows instead of sharks.” — J.W. Carney, Mehanna’s lawyer, after his 2008 arrest (Boston Globe, Nov. 12, 2008)

“The killing of civilians was considered O.K. because civilians are taxpayers and are non-believers.” — U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks, on Mehanna’s beliefs (Bloomberg, Oct. 21, 2009)

“No, definitely not.” — Ahmed Mehanna, father of the accused, when asked if he believed the charges filed against his son had any merit (Associated Press, Oct. 21, 2009)

May Allah make it easy for him and his family.

Source

Related posts:

• MANA: The FBI Raid and Shooting Death of Imam Luqman
• Message from Tarek Mehanna’s Brother
• Dozens killed in Yemen air strike on al-Qaeda suspects, al-Awlaki may have been amongst them UPDATE: Awlaki is reported to be alive and well

Click here to view the embedded video.

May Allah protect the innocent.

Look’s like Pakistan is acting like the American criminals of Abu Ghraib.

This is not how the Prophet (saas) treated prisoners even if they are prisoners. If they are innocent then they are cowards and deserve to be reprimanded. If they are prisoners then you respect them. You bring them food and keep them healthy. Actions like this from the Pakistani army will only increase the violence. I pray these cowards lose their position in the army.

From Sahih al Bukhari:

Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah: When it was the day (of the battle) of Badr, prisoners of war were brought including Al-Abbas who was undressed. The Prophet looked for a shirt for him. It was found that the shirt of ‘Abdullah bin Ubai would do, so the Prophet let him wear it. That was the reason why the Prophet took off and gave his own shirt to ‘Abdullah. (The narrator adds, “He had done the Prophet some favor for which the Prophet liked to reward him.”) (Book #52, Hadith #252)

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• Pakistani Government turns to Sufis and creates the “Sufi Advisory Council” (SAC) to combat “extremism”
• New Iraq Abuse Claims, UK Investigates

There were around total 800+ attendees and some estimates put it closer to 1,000 making it the largest Ilmfest yet. Most of the audience were from the student groups (student tribes – Qaba’il [singular: Qabeelat]) from New York (Tayybah), New Jersey (Durbah) and the host Maryland-DC-Virginia (Nurayn). There were also people from all the way the West Coast to down south Texas to all the way up north to Seattle, Washington. I also met a brother from the UK. A lot of credit and respect is due to the core set of volunteers (which was very small for such a large event) from Nurayn.

Going back to the title of the post I must say that with all the hate, labeling, negative opinions, etc. on AlMaghrib Institute over the past years (which I myself have engaged in, may Allah forgive me), they have really stood ground, ignored the haters and continued to grow leaving behind the rest of the organizations. They have set the standard year after year and continue to increase it with new ideas and projects. I think Allah took all the barakah from the haters and gave it to AlMaghrib. From almost every perspective, AlMaghrib has excelled, although there is always area for improvement, but overall it is the only organization which I find myself recommending to young Muslims who are trying to get back into or start practicing Islam. Of course I recommend other outlets, but by far the most popular one is AlMaghrib.

Ilm to Action

So how is AlMaghrib putting knowledge into action? They don’t stop after they leave the seminar. Seriously they don’t stop. Over the past few years where ever there is an AlMaghrib Qabeelah (tribe, literally – student group in AlMaghrib) there were consistently doing and planning something in between each seminar. Some of them are planning/doing something once a month (the larger ones in large Muslim populated areas). What do they do? Anything to please Allah. Social work, relief work, dawah, teaching, etc. are some of the areas they try to implement within their local community in order for it to grow.

As an organization, even AlMaghrib has done a lot outside of it’s main focus. They had an online fundraiser for Gaza raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in hours. They joined up with other organizations to help Imam Siraj Wahhaj and also to fight Malaria. They also answered the call from MuslimServe.org which was trying to get Muslims to answer the call from President Obama to become active in doing social work and projects in their local communities. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the projects that are listed there were done by AlMaghrib students.

It doesn’t even have to be large it could be making a short film or having a picnic for Eid to feeding homeless people or organizing halaqaat to teach those who haven’t attended a seminar what they learned. It’s literally anything that improves their local community and brings them closer to Islam and worshiping Allah. One thing I’ve noticed that AlMaghrib Institute doesn’t really highlight or list all the work each Qabeelah has done over the past several years of it’s existence.  If they were I’m sure it would be a lengthy list of many social, dawah and community projects.  I think this is an extraodniray feat since it’s further proof of their intentions.  They aren’t doing it to show Muslims that AlMaghrib is doing all this good or to show non-Muslims that Muslims are good.  They are doing it simply for the pleasure of Allah (swt) and solely because it is their duty as a Muslim and a firm believer.

Army of Volunteers and Leadership

AlMaghrib is an instant pool of volunteers that can get things done. Wherever there is a qabeelah there is a group of brothers and sisters ready to work for Islam. There are over 15+ cities with active qabeelahs with hundreds of volunteers. On top of this, there is leadership. Each qabeelah has their own Ameer (Leader Male – like my first name) and Ameerah (Leader – female). They report to the AlMaghrib headquarters to get their guidelines and how to run their student group. From what I noticed, it is fairly simple for each Qabeelah to run independently. The obvious and clear guideline is the Islam with the Qur’an and Sunnah. What AlMaghrib headquarters offers is the basic administration advice and help. Other then that the leaders of each qabeelah function by themselves doing whatever work that needs to be done for their local community.

The AlMaghrib shuyukh specifically, Shaykh Muhammad AlShareef, Shaykh Waleed Basyouni and Shaykh Yasir Qadhi are the leaders. The basically run the show and give the final say. This is probably one of the most unique factor and major difference between AlMaghrib and other organizations. Without naming any names, most other organizations have a set group of non-scholars running the show and simply tell the scholar what to do. With AlMaghrib the scholars are actually the ones in control. I believe this is one of the reasons why they are so successful. With an ummah that lacks leadership from the local masjid to an entire Muslim country, AlMaghrib doesn’t lack this. As much as many may differ with their leadership you have to respect the fact they have leaders.

Forget about the bad apples and focus on the action

The theme of this year’s Ilmfest was Generation Islam with each speaker covering various subjects. The main point that was repeated in every lecture I listened to was simply apply our knowledge with action to our communities. From helping the youth to respecting our elders to fighting terrorism to doing social work and more. Now with all groups and organizations there will be a few haters and bad apples. Recently there was some haters complaining of Sh. Waleed’s lecture “Reclaiming Islam from the Jihadists”.  I thought this lecture was extremely important and should be played in front of the entire Muslim community in America.

These haters complained how Sh. Waleed was attacking the “mujahideen” (as they call them).  What mujahideen are they talking about?  The mujahideen of Omar al Mukhtar defended Muslims not kill them.  The mujahideen of Salah ad-Deen defended Muslims not kill them.  These so-called “mujahideen” kill any human that doesn’t agree with them.  The proof is clear and anyone can see who is real and who is fake.  I’d rather call them a bunch of Muslim thugs with guns, big beards and turbans.  They have the heart to kill Muslim women without any hesitation then they are not worthy of the title of ‘mujahideen’.  They buy their kafir-made weapons from kafir drug dealers and kafir human traffickers to kill Muslims. Wow, amazing “jihad”!? Now don’t get me wrong there are true soldiers who are fighting to protect their people and defend their home, but there are those who are just out there for blood from anything.

What’s even more interesting is that if they were alive during the Khilafat of the 1800s or 1700s or 1600s or even back to the 1000s or 1100s they’d be fighting the Caliph since he would be a “deviant” or in other words not following “their way”.   How much more Muslim blood do they have to spill before they stop? Instead of trying to rebuild their countries and stop the violence, they want to continue until everyone who’s not with them is dead.   It’s like their the crips and everyone else is a blood or vice versa (same difference).  In fact they are like the khawarij.

Back to the lecture that Sh. Waleed gave at Ilmfest.  He totally owned them and refuted them.  Especially the young ones who are in America who support these extremists.  One point he made that has stuck in my head was the fact that most of these brothers (mostly brothers, very few sisters) who support this terrorism are inactive in their communities.  They don’t give back to their communities but instead sit online discussing on forums.  They don’t do anything with their lives.  You don’t see them organizing relief efforts or helping raise money for those in need.  All this is so true, because I know a few examples of this. Many of them blog online in America and post online forums sitting in their suburban home while the government watches them.  Ever wonder why innocent people like Aafia Siddiqui or Fahad Hashmi or Sh. Ali Tamimi or Ahmed Abu Ali or Sami Arian end up in jail while these fools are still sitting in front of their computers blatantly and publicly supporting terrorism?  I would not be surprised if they were actually working for the government just to trap more innocent brothers and sisters.

The reality the ones who support this type of terrorism in the name of Jihad are bums.  Straight up online internet bums.  These are the haters that hate on AlMaghrib and all other organizations who are actually doing something.   They are the ones who would blog “media releases” from various media wings from international Muslim gangs.  I applaud Sh. Waleed for calling these fools out and refuting their deviant and violent beliefs.  I pray that the Ilmfest lectures are available soon.

They are like bad apples.  When they hit the ground, no one eats them. They just rot and decay into the ground.  The good apples are the ones that are consumed and make their benefits reach their communities bodies and make them healthier and stronger.  So let’s all be good apples and let the bad apples rot and decay into the ground.  May Allah (swt) increase the good apples and decrease the bad apples.  Ameen!

Related posts:

• AlMaghrib Institute and Islamic Relief raise over $150,000 within 4 hours for Gaza
• Bayyinah Institute and AlMaghrib Institute Join Forces
• AlMaghrib finally puts a sister on stage – Dalia Mogahed to be speaking at Ilmfest 2009 in Baltimore

After being kidnapped at the age of 16 by a group of thugs and enduring a year of rapes and beatings, Assiya Rafiq was delivered to the police and thought her problems were over.

Then, she said, four police officers took turns raping her.

The next step for Assiya was obvious: She should commit suicide. That’s the customary escape in rural Pakistan for a raped woman, as the only way to cleanse the disgrace to her entire family.

Instead, Assiya summoned the unimaginable courage to go public and fight back. She is seeking to prosecute both her kidnappers and the police, despite threats against her and her younger sisters. This is a kid who left me awed and biting my lip; this isn’t a tale of victimization but of valor, empowerment and uncommon heroism.

“I decided to prosecute because I don’t want the same thing to happen to anybody else,” she said firmly.

Assiya’s case offers a window into the quotidian corruption and injustice endured by impoverished Pakistanis — leading some to turn to militant Islam.

“When I treat a rape victim, I always advise her not to go to the police,” said Dr. Shershah Syed, the president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Pakistan. “Because if she does, the police might just rape her again.”

Yet Assiya is also a sign that change is coming. She says she was inspired by Mukhtar Mai, a young woman from this remote village of Meerwala who was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council. Mukhtar prosecuted her attackers and used the compensation money to start a school.

Continue reading here.

The Pakistani police and the thugs who raped her are cowards. Do they not fear the wrath of Allah? Do they not fear the hellfire? I pray that Allah delivers justice. I pray to Allah that those who forbid the evil and promote the good are victorious. Ameen!

Related posts:

• Umar Lee forgot about AlMaghrib Institute and the Great Salafi Scholars
• “You Muslim people scare people when you wear that clothing”
• Jihad Failure: From Mujahideen to Thugs

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said:

“If two Muslims meet each other with their swords, then both the killer and the killed will be in the Hell-fire.”

Someone then said:

“O God’s Messenger, that is the case for the killer but why should that be the case for the killed?”

He (peace and blessings of God be upon him) replied:

“Because he wanted to kill his companion.”

Sources: al-Bukhari and Muslim

I pray to God that the Muslims stop fighting each other and start helping each other build their communities and putting families back together. Ameen!

Related posts:

• Layla Khalil, 57 of Iraq and Parveen Ali, 26, of Pakistan – Vicitims of the Binghamton Shootings
• While America continues to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, 600,000 Americans will lose health care
• America will never win in Iraq or anywhere in the Muslim world

Toronto Event replaced with Online Fundraising.

Dear readers, May Peace and Blessings from God be with you.

Due to the overwhelming positive response that we’ve received online, from Australia, to California, to the UK, and the UAE, we’ve consulted with our team, and have decided to call off the upcoming relief event at Pearl Banquet Hall in Toronto on Saturday, June 27th. We’re going to aim a little higher.

We want to raise no less than $1 Million for our displaced and desperate brothers and sisters in Swat. We obviously can’t do this without your active support, promotion, involvement, and help.

The process is very simple.

Related posts:

• SWAT Relief – Sat. Jun. 27 – Toronto, CA
• AlMaghrib Institute and Islamic Relief raise over $150,000 within 4 hours for Gaza
• UPDATED: SeekersGuidance raises $252,000 in 2 hours for Islamic Relief’s Feed the Needy Campaign

May Allah guide us all. Ameen!

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Taliban chief killed by ‘own guard’

A Taliban leader who criticised the group’s Pakistani head of command over attacks that killed two civilians has been shot dead, reportedly by one of his own guards.

The shooting of Qari Zainuddin on Tuesday appears to indicate the deepening of divisions within the Taliban as Pakistan’s military conducts an operation to rid the Swat valley and South Waziristan of Taliban strongholds.

Zainuddin, who was shot dead in the town of Dera Ismail Khan in the southern tip of the North West Frontier Province, had emerged as Baitullah Mehsud’s chief rival.

Zainuddin was pronounced dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest upon arrival at the local hospital, a local doctor said.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, said: “Zainuddin had accused Baitullah Mehsud of going against the tenets of Islam for carrying out attacks on religious scholars.
“He said he would take his men and go after Baitullah Mehsud.”

Baz Mohammad, one of Zainuddin’s aides, was also wounded and said that the guard stormed into a room at the compound immediately following morning prayers and opened fire. Mohammad accused Mehsud of organising the attack.

“It was definitely Baitullah’s man who infiltrated our ranks, and he has done his job,” Mohammad said.

Mahmood Shah, a former Pakistani security official, said that the incident sends a message to the government that it must launch a comprehensive operation to eliminate Mehsud.

“You simply can’t eliminate him through local efforts; instead, you need a major force,” Shah said.

The military has been attacking fighters loyal to Mehsud, Pakistan’s Taliban leader, in the South Waziristan region that borders Afghanistan.

On Monday, Taliban fighters used rockets, mortars and other weapons to attack Pakistani military positions in the northwest, but the military responded swiftly with air raids that left at least 25 dead, officials said.

Divisions

Zainuddin had denounced Mehsud for attacks that left two civilians dead, attacks that had apparently been launched in retaliation for an army offensive in the Swat Valley.

Zainuddin had said: “Whatever Baitullah Mehsud and his associates are doing in the name of Islam is not a jihad, and in fact it is rioting and terrorism.”

The motive for criticising Mehsud was not clear, but whatever the reason, it has exposed divisions within the tribes.

Hyder said: “For the first time, there is a real sign showing there is a split within the tribes in that particular area and that is happening just as the military operation is under way.”

“In the past, whenever there has been a confrontation between the military forces and loyalists of Baitullah Mehsud, there had been political intervention and talks to try to negotiate a settlement.

“But now the government is determined to go after Baitullah Mehsud.

“The military has decided it wants to take on Baitullah Mehsud for the first time in a determined and concerted manner.”

While Mehsud has not claimed responsibility for the attack on Zainuddin, Hyder said that “his death would be a set back for the military which was planning its military operation in South Waziristan.”

Source

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