Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015 Issue No. 612

Friday BulletinThe

The Weekly Muslim News Update

www.islamkenya.org

Page 2 Page 7Page 3

The media in the country has being told to respect Muslims sensibilities and avoid publishing inflammatory and inciting con-tent which is deliberately made to pro-voke anger in the community.

The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) secretary general Adan Wa-chu took issue with some section of the local media for republishing caricatures by a French satirical magazine Char-lie Hebdo which ridicule and demonize Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

In a letter to the Media Council of Kenya, he condemned the publication of sa-tirical drawings by two local newspapers saying that they offended Muslims by demeaning Islam and Prophet Muham-mad, peace be upon him. “Attacks and misrepresentation of Islam and Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him in any negative form, design, style, imagination, figmentation and misrepresentation is un-Islamic, blasphemous and is out rightly unacceptable,” he said.

He called on the media regulator to take stern action against publications which demean Islam stating that the media need to play a more visible role in uniting Kenyans rather than fomenting divisions among religious line.

In reaction to the killing of its journalist by gunmen in Paris, the French Magazine published what it said was caricature of the Prophet, an action which ignited glob-al Muslims anger.

Wachu’s comments were echoed by Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome who castigated the local press for republishing the of-fensive cartoons saying that this was deliberately made to ridicule Prophet Mu-hammad, peace be upon him and offend Muslims.

Addressing the faithful during Friday prayers at Jamia Mosque, he said that such action was in a bad faith that was only meant to insult and provoke Mus-lims. “Don’t provoke us to do what you want us to do, then portray us negatively the way that you have always portrayed us” said Lethome.

RENDITIONED KENYANS: From Left Habib Suleiman, Omar Awadh, Muhammad Ha-mid and Hussein Hassan Agade follow proceeding during a court appearance in a Kampala court on Monday.

Insulting the prophet - The beginning of the end

Insecurity: Give priority to Muslim leaders

Don’t provoke Muslims local media told

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The trial of seven renditioned Kenyans has been slated for March 17 in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The seven are among a group of eleven people accused of being responsible for the July 2010 bombing in Kampala which claimed more than 70 lives.

The date was set after the suspects lost a court bid to block their trial in the High Court until their intended appeal is heard and determined by the Supreme Court.

Through their lawyers Peter Walubiri and Caleb Alaka, the suspects had asked the court to suspend the trial to allow an ap-peal challenging the Constitutional Court decision that dismissed their request to be freed on grounds of torture and human

Trial of renditioned Kenyans for March 17

This Newsletter contains some of Allah’s names. Please do not throw in the trash. Either keep, circulate or shred

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rights violations by the State.

“What I have is an order of the Constitu-tional Court directing me to try the accused persons in the interest of justice. Unless an order from a superior court has been is-sued, the hearing of this case will proceed,” said high court Judge Alphonse Owiny-Dol-lo who presided over the case on Tuesday.

He ruled that the trial of the suspects shall proceed as per the Constitutional Court or-der in which five justices directed the High Court to try the accused persons without any more delays.

The Constitutional court in October last year unanimously dismissed the petition in which the suspects were seeking to halt

Editorial: Teachers’ NEP boycott: A wake up call for the Ummah

The Friday Bulletin

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Teachers’ NEP boycott: A wake up call for the Ummah

Don’t provoke Muslims local media urged

Lethome who is also a member of Jamia Mosque Committee called for restraint and sobriety among Muslims saying that despite the anger, they should not to suc-cumb to emotive reactions.

He accused the West of employing double standards for justifying that the publication of the caricatures as a sacrosanct right to freedom of speech pointing out that like all other rights, freedom has limits and there is no “absolute freedom”.

On his part, the Jamia mosque Imam Sheikh Muhammad Swalihu criticized the depictions stressing that Muslims should change the misrepresentation by spread-ing the true teachings of Islam to demystify the misconceptions being spread by the media.

In his Friday sermon (khutbah), the Imam told Muslims that the best way to defend the Prophet’s honour is by following his teachings which are inscribed in the Quran and the Sunnah (the prophetic traditions).

The decision by teachers to reject calls to go back to their workstations in North Eastern region is crippling education ser-vice delivery programmes in the region.While public schools reopened this week for the new term after a period of two weeks when teachers downed their tools demanding better remuneration, for most schools in the region, the strike appears to be ongoing after hundreds of teachers have maintained they will not travel back to their workstations due to insecurity fears.Even after assurances from the Interior cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery and Mandera Governor Ali Roba that there should be no cause for alarm as security has been beefed up in the affected areas, the teachers remain adamant that they will not risk their lives to work in the region.Their decision was taken after grisly at-tacks claimed by the Somalia based Al Shabbab militia left scores of people dead, the majority being teachers and civil serv-ants going back home for the December holidays.A vast number of teachers working in the region have their origins from other parts of the country and the same is true for teachers in other Muslim dominated areas such as the Coast region.In addition, even in Muslim oriented schools, non-Muslim teachers vastly out-number Muslim teachers many of them who specialize in teaching Islamic reli-gious studies.This state of affairs has arisen due to a prevailing attitude by many Muslim stu-dents to shun the teaching profession. There is a chronic shortage of Muslim students enrolling for teaching courses at colleges and universities and this has even seen Muslim learners from primary to university being taught Islamic studies by non-Muslim teachers and lecturers.

Various mitigation measures to reduce on this problem are yet to yield the desired results. The virtual paralysis of education in North Eastern particularly in Mandera has more than even brought the crux of this problem to the fore. Like other citizens, Muslims need also to play a role in this area and be in a posi-tion not to serve their communities but even other Kenyans. The current situation should not have been a major source of concern which could paralyze the teach-ing in schools if the local communities had produced a significant number of tutors.It is also regrettable that teaches and oth-er civil servants in North Eastern who hail from other parts of the country face dis-crimination from some local residents on the basis of their ethnic and religious back-ground. It needs to be borne in mind Ken-yans working in this marginalized region are providing vital and essential services to the local communities and they deserve respect and acceptance. As Allah stated in Surat Hujiraat, among His wisdom of creating mankind into differ-ent tribes is for communities to be well ac-quainted with each other and not despise one another and this noble Islamic ideals should be instilled in our societies to pro-mote a harmonious rather an acrimonious society.The decision by teachers to shun North Eastern should serve as a wake up call for stronger concerted efforts to ensure that there is a growing number of Muslim quali-fied teachers around the country. Lessons ought to be learnt from this cur-rent debacle and stakeholders in the edu-cation sector such as the Muslim Educa-tion Council should urgently explore more viable strategies to support and encour-age students to embrace the teaching pro-fession.

EDITORIAL Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015

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Renditioned Kenyans

Continued from Page 1“Demonstrations and violence are not the ways of the Prophet and the Qur’an. The only way to defend his honour today is by putting into practice the sublime teach-ings and commandments of Allah and His Prophet peace be upon him,” said Sheikh Swalihu.

The leaders called for peace and calm in the aftermath of a campaign to mock Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.

While several international media outlets such as CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Sky News and New York Times refrained from broad-casting and publishing the offending car-toons, two local dailies- The Star owned by Radio Africa Group and Business Daily, a Nation Media Group publication-chose to republish the caricatures. Following complaints from the Muslim community, the Star ran an apology affirming that it will put into consideration Muslim sensibilities in the future while the Nation Media Group continues to give a mute response to Mus-lim concerns.

their trial on the basis that their transfer from Uganda to Kenya was illegal and they had been subjected to torture and inhuman and degrading acts by security agencies.

In the petition, they had called on the Di-rector of Public Prosecutions not to use their confession in the trial because the statements were extracted from them un-der duress.

The Kenyan suspects include Idris Ma-gondu, Hussein Hassan Agade, Omar Awadh Omar, Muhammad Hamid Sulei-man, Yahya Suleiman Mbuthia, Habib Suleiman Njoroge and Muhammad Ali. Ugandan nationals who are accused of being party to the bombing are Isa Ahmed Luyima, Hassan Huruna Luyima, Sulaiman Hija Nyamandondo, Abubaker Batematyo and Muzafar Luyima.

They face charges related to murder, at-tempted murder and being accessories to terrorism in regard to the twin Kampala bombings in 2010. Their arrest and rendi-tion to Uganda drew a flurry of condemna-tion from the high court, the Muslim lead-ership and civil society organization who accused the government of carrying out the transfer without following the due re-gard of the law. Parliament later issued an order to the government to facilitate their

Corruption in the security force has been cited as a stumbling block in the fight against terrorism and other forms of crime.The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) deputy secretary general Has-san Ole Naado stressed that for strides to be made in the fight against insecurity, corruption in the security sector and other state offices must be addressed.Speaking last week during an anti-terror consultative forum in Nakuru, he urged the government to place more concert-ed effort in the fight against corruption to clamp down the rising insecurity and build confident and trust among Kenyans. ''Corruption among security agencies has emerged as one of the key issues during our consultative forum and members of the community are concerned about confi-dentiality,'' said Ole Naado.He explained that due to endemic corrup-tion among security agencies people are concerned about confidentiality of infor-mation divulged to security personnel.Ole Naado further also called for meas-ures to foster mutual understanding and build good relations among citizens and the security agencies as means of boost-ing the war against insecurity.The forum attracted Muslim leaders drawn from various organizations, peace groups, civil society and community or-ganizations to discuss measures to coun-ter the growing threats of insecurity affect-ing the country.

Graft impediment to terror war

The Friday Bulletin

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DA'WA

SUNDAY LECTURE

“If I was sure I would be faithful to him, I might hope to meet him, and if I were with him, I would wash his feet.” – Heraclius, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire [Sahih Bukhari]

The Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) stands alone as the most re-markable and influential figure in human history. He was described by Michael Hart in his The 100 A Ranking of the Most In-fluential Persons in History as “supremely successful” in both the religious and secu-lar realms. He was the ascetic who spent his nights weeping to Allah and standing in solemn prayer until his feet swelled; He was the military commander who launched 19 battles, fighting in 8 with sword and shield in hand, unifying the tribes of the Arabian peninsula, shaking the foundations of the Byzantine empire and demolishing the Per-sian empire. He was the diplomat who ne-gotiated treaties with heads of state, never breaching his word or compromising his in-tegrity. He was the head of state who trans-formed the marauding Bedouin Arabs into a sophisticated, well-organised and just soci-ety. He was the loving grandfather, devoted to his children and grandchildren, remaining in prostration for extended periods until his grandchildren finished playing on his back. He was the loving husband who described his wife Aisha as the most beloved person to him, treating her with the affection and romance of a true gentleman, breathing his last breath while resting in her arms. He was the quintessence of human perfection and refined character. He was the leader who stands tall above all other leaders.

For Muslims, he is the Messenger of Allah. The final Prophet sent to mankind to com-plete the legacy of Ibrahim, Musa and Isa. He was known by his community prior to Prophethood as ‘as-Sādiq’ (The Truthful) and ‘al-Amīn’ (The Trustworthy). And at the age of 40 he was visited by the angel Ji-bril who revealed the very first verse of the Quran, “Read. In the Name of your Lord, who created”. This remarkable journey con-tinued for another 23 years until the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) discharged the responsibility entrusted upon him of conveying the final revelation.Late in the 19th year of Prophethood, on his return from signing the Treaty of Hudaibiyah that guaranteed peace between the early Muslims and the pagans of the Arabian Peninsula, the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) sent letters to the kings beyond Arabia calling them to Islam. In order to authenticate the credentials of his envoys, a silver seal was made in which were graven the words, “Muhammad the Messenger of Allāh.” [Shahih Bukhari]The manner in which two of these letters were received reveal much of the mindset of their respective civilisations, but more importantly, they provide an insight into the final end of those who ridicule or insult the Prophets of Allah. The first of these letters was sent to Heraclius, King of the Byzantine

Insulting the Prophet – The beginning of the end

SUNDAY LECTUREKumwamini Allah

By: Musa AnisDate:25th Jan. 2015

Time: 2Pm- 4PmVenue: Makina Kibra

Empire, also known as the eastern Roman Empire with its capital in Constantinople. It simply read:

“In the Name of Allāh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the slave of Allāh and His Messenger to Herac-lius, King of the Romans. Blessed are those who follow true guidance. I invite you to em-brace Islam so that you may live in security. If you come within the fold of Islam, Allāh will give you a double reward, but in case you turn your back upon it, then the burden of the sins of all your people shall fall on your shoulders”[Shahih Bukhari].

The response of Heraclius was completely consistent with an empirical rational ap-proach that was to become the forte of progressive western societies. He inves-tigated, questioned and then arrived at an evidence-based conclusion free of bias. He summoned Abu Sufyan, who was then the chief of the pagan Arabs and an adver-sary of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), and placed behind him his companions, instructing them to contra-dict Abu Sufyan if he spoke a lie. Heraclius then proceeded to interrogate him regard-ing this man who claimed Prophethood. Abu Sufyan answered as follows:

“Muhammad descends from a noble family. No one from his family has ever assumed kingship. His followers are those deemed weak with numbers ever growing. He nei-ther tells lies nor betrays others, we fight him and he fights us but with alternate vic-tory. He bids people to worship Allāh Alone with no associate, and abandon our fathers’ beliefs. He orders us to observe prayer, honesty, abstinence and maintain strong family ties.”[Shahih Bukhari]

The response of Heraclius reveals a leader who was endowed with some wisdom and understanding and knew too well the lofty status of the Prophets of Allaah. He neither mocked the call of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), nor accepted it blindly but verified his claim:“I fully realise that Prophets come from no-ble families; he does not affect any previ-ous example of Prophethood. Since none of his ancestors was a monarch, we cannot then allege that he is a man trying to reclaim his father’s monarchy. So long as he does not tell lies to people, he is for the more reason, immune to telling lies as regards Allāh. Concerning his followers being those deemed weak with numbers ever growing, it is something that goes in agreement with questions of Faith until this latter assumes its full dimensions amongst all places and all peoples. I have understood that no instance of apostasy has as yet appeared among his followers and this points to the bliss of faith that finds its abode in the human heart. Betrayal, as I see, is alien to him because real Prophets hold betrayal in abhorrence. Bidding worship of Allāh with no associates, observance of prayer, honesty and absti-nence and prohibition of paganism are traits

bound to subject to him all my possessions. I have already known that a Prophet must arise but it has never occurred to me that he will be an Arab from among you. If I was sure I would be faithful to him, I might hope to meet him, and if I were with him, I would wash his feet.’[5]

Despite the fact that the Byzantine Empire remained at war with the Muslims, their ar-mies frequently meeting on the battlefield, the respect and honour afforded to the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) by Heraclius set a precedent that was to be observed by future generations of Byzantine monarchs. The 12th century Muslim historian, al-Suhayli, reports that Heraclius ordered the letter of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) be preserved in a golden tube. It was ven-erated by successive generations of mon-archs until it reached the monarchs that conquered Toledo in central Spain. Abdul Malik ibn Sa’d, a commander of the Mus-lim armies in Spain narrates that a Christian king brought forth the letter from a golden tube and identified it as the letter of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Abdul Malik wept and asked per-mission to kiss the letter but permission was not granted.

Being a people of Christian faith, endowed with knowledge of the Gospels they fully recognised the Prophethood of Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). More impor-tantly they understood that venerating the signs of this Prophet such as his letter, was a sure means of preserving their kingdom.

The second of these letters was sent to Chosroes, Emperor of the Persian Empire. It stated simply:

“In the Name of Allāh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allāh to Chosroes, King of Persia. Peace be upon one who follows true guidance, believes in Allāh and His Mes-senger and testifies that there is no god but Allāh Alone with no associate, and that Mu-hammad is His slave and Messenger. I in-

Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015

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The Friday Bulletin

Page 4

Insulting the prophetWOMEN

vite you to accept the religion of Allāh. I am the Messenger of Allāh sent to all people in order that I may infuse fear of Allāh in every living person, and that the charge may be proved against those who reject the Truth. Accept Islam as your religion so that you may live in security, otherwise, you will be responsible for all the sins of the Magians.”[Fath al Bari]

The reaction of the Persian emperor reveals ignorance of Prophet-hood, and a level of arrogance that would prove to be their own downfall. The proud monarch was enraged by the style of the letter as the name of the Prophet had been put above his own name. He tore the letter into shreds and forthwith dictated a command to his viceroy in Yemen to send troopers to arrest the Prophet and bring him to his presence. The Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) upon hearing of how his divine call was received invoked Allah against him, “May Allāh tear up his kingdom.” As soon as the troopers reached the city of Madinah, the Prophet was informed by Divine Revelation that the emperor of Persia had been mur-dered by his own son. The Prophet disclosed to them “My Lord has killed your lord.” The news stunned the troopers, and the Prophet instructed them to tell their new monarch that Islam would prevail everywhere and outstrip the sovereignty of Chosroes himself.

Where is the Persian Empire today? Consigned to the annals of history, no trace remains of their kingdom and their proud rulers have left no legacy. Poignantly, the divine retribution for insulting the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) by tearing up his letter was to have their ancient and proud kingdom torn to shreds.

So what of those today who insult the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) through ridicule, smutty cartoons and low budget films? The divine precedent remains exactly the same. Muslims believe that Allah has sent His Prophets and given people the choice to believe or disbelieve, promising each their due recom-pense. He has however given no license to insult, ridicule or mock his Prophets. The message of the Prophets of belief in one Allah and that He alone deserves worship must remain in its pristine con-dition, accessible for all people at all times. It must not be permitted to be disfigured by venal individuals who seek to gain profit through peddling vile obscenities, courting controversy and offending the sensibilities of countless millions.

So where you find a culture or civilisation attacking the persona of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), it is a sure sign of the beginning of their end. A sure sign that they have become so intoxicated with the perception of their own power that they no longer see truth from falsehood, morality from obscenity, or that which benefits them from that which destroys them. Where you find a civilisation that respects and honours the Prophet Muham-mad (sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), even if they do not profess faith in his religion, then that is a sure sign of a nation endowed with some wisdom and knowledge, and of a civilisation that has taken its precautions to preserve its very existence. : www.islam21c.com

Continued From Page 3

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Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015

The Friday Bulletin

page 5

“A girl like you should take off this burqa and start getting an edu-cation,” a middle-aged white woman told a 17-year-old Muslim girl at the dressing room of a respected health club.

The Muslim girl was shocked by these hostile comments but chose not to reply. Later, she reported the harassment incident to the club’s manager. The manager apologized and assured her that this behavior is against their policy, and if it was repeated, he would take an action against the aggressor.

Ironically, this Muslim girl is a national merit scholar who started her college education at one of the well-known universities at age 16.

In the middle of a friendly conversation, a receptionist at a medical clinic told a young Muslim mother who came to see a doctor for her baby, “You don’t know how to drive.” In both cases, stereo-types and presumptions were absolutely wrong.

Cashiers at department or grocery stores often assume that Mus-lim women who wear scarves (in accordance with the Islamic dress code) do not speak English.

One Muslim girl put it this way: “Do I need to wear a shirt with la-bels saying ‘I speak English, I know how to drive, I have an educa-tion’ so that the general public don’t think otherwise just because I am devoted to my religion and covering my hair?”

Anti-Muslim hate: Why Dawah is our top prioritySince September 11, 2001, the damage of planned media cam-paigns against Islam and Muslims has been increasing exponen-tially with time. “Hateful, negative rhetoric regarding Muslims is on the increase both in tone and frequency. It has almost become socially acceptable to engage in bigoted and racist speech about Muslims.”

“More frightening is the reality that the hateful thoughts and speech can turn into hateful, even violent action, which can ruin an inno-cent person’s life,” Karen J. Dabdoub, the director of the Cincin-nati office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ohio, USA, wrote in the Enquirer.

Islamophobes are aggressively organizing propaganda that por-trays Islam as a foreign religion that came with the backward, violent Arabs, who oppress women and deny them their rights of education, driving, working, or even leaving their homes. This completely distorted image is ingrained in the minds of the ma-jority of the American public as a result of organized efforts by bigoted figures.Daniel Pipes, a critic of “Islamism,” has proposed the creation of a new “Anti-Islamist Institute” (AII), designed to expose legal po-litical activities of “Islamists,” according to Jim Lobe of the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS).

The draft of a grant proposal by Pipes’s Middle East Forum (MEF), obtained by IPS, reads, “In the long term … the legal activities of Islamists pose as much or even a greater set of challenges than the illegal ones.” “Pipes is also working with Stephen Schwartz on a new ‘Center for Islamic Pluralism’ (CIP) whose aims are to ‘promote moderate Islam in the U.S. and globally'” and to oppose the influence of extremists,” Lobe writes. “The ‘extremists,’ according to the CIP proposal, are mainly repre-sented by … an array of organizations consisting of CAIR, the Is-lamic Society of North America (ISNA), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), the Muslim Students’ Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), as well as ‘secular’ groups, including the Arab-American Institute (AAI) and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC),” he adds.

Muslim civil rights organizations, such as CAIR, are working day and night to counteract the effects of such campaigns. But they are limited in number and resources compared to Islamophobes. The American people are victims of the biased and racist media propaganda. Ordinary American citizens do not have the time or motivation to filter the information fed to them through media out-lets.

Islamophobia and the duty of da’wah

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Leaving this destructive tide unchallenged could lead to serious consequences: For instance, some Muslims — especially the young — will be forced or tempted to deviate from the authentic teachings of Islam in order to be called liberal or progressive. On the other hand, those who have strong beliefs will be persecuted for false allegations; they will be labeled extremists, isolated, and discriminated against.

We must unite for the sake of Da`wahTo preserve genuine Islam in the West, every sincere Muslim has an obligation to educate as many people as they can about Is-lamic beliefs and values.

Islam is a complete way of life. We must adjust our lifestyle to our religion — not the other way round. That is, we cannot twist the laws of Allah and His message to fit our convenience or to please a person or group.

To accomplish this noble mission, Muslims need to coordinate and unite their efforts to withstand the plots that aim at distorting Islamic teachings under slogans like “Reforming Islam” or “Pro-moting Liberal Islam.” We need to focus our energy in passing the genuine message of Allah to humanity.

In order to do this, we must begin to unite. The Muslim community in the West is so diverse that Muslims end up getting segregated in clusters. Not only is this disunity totally against the spirit of Is-lam, it also makes Muslims much less effective in pursuing their goals or acting as a powerful minority that can positively influence the societies they live in.

Muslims in the West need to put aside cultural differences de-veloped from their ethnicity or original country and consider their Islamic identity as the only source for a unified Islamic culture.Muslims from every background should review all their customs and traditions, give up what is national but not Islamic, and pre-serve only what is compatible with the Quran and Sunnah. Every Muslim must make learning the Arabic language a high priority. In their golden days, Muslims used the language of the Quran to communicate.

Developing a unified set of customs and social behaviors that is based on Islamic teachings and communicating in one language will act as strategies to develop a united Muslim community. (on-islam.net)

Salwa Rashad

Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015

The Friday Bulletin

page 6

Years of taunts, insults and humiliating caricatures of the revered Prophet Muham-mad (peace be upon him) and immigrants, by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has resulted in what the French authorities have long warned against, an explosion of violence leading to the tragic deaths and injuries of more than 20 people.President François Hollande described the carnage as an assault on secular French values, democracy, freedom of speech and expression; he condemned "Islamic terror-ists" for such heinous crimes.The bloodbath in Paris, though, had noth-ing to do with freedom of speech nor, in-deed, Islam.The deliberate provocation of six million Muslims in France and their 1.8 billion co-religionists worldwide through constant racial vulgarity and indignity directed at the Prophet and Islam under the guise of freedom of speech is reckless and repre-hensible. Do French "values" and democ-racy really confer the freedom to denigrate someone who is cherished so deeply by fellow human beings?It is now being promoted that the French media is free to publish anything as a fun-damental right without restrictions of any kind; this is a myth. For example, French law does not permit the publication of ma-terial that promotes the use of drugs; ha-tred based on race or gender; insults about the national flag and anthem; or questions about the Nazi Holocaust. Dieudonné M'Bala, a French comedian and satirist, was convicted and fined in a French court for describing Holocaust remembrance as "memorial pornography".In fact, in 2008, one of Charlie Hebdo's fa-mous cartoonists, Siné, wrote a short note citing a news item that former French Pres-ident Nicolas Sarkozy's son Jean was go-ing to convert to Judaism to marry the heir-ess of a prosperous appliance chain. Siné added the comment, "He'll go far, this lad." For that, Siné was sacked on the grounds of his "anti-Semitism".When Sarkozy was the Interior Minister he ordered the sacking of the director of Paris Match because he had published photos of his wife Cécilia Sarkozy with another man in New York. He even had rapper "Joes-tarr's" song censored because it criticised the politician.A French court banned Closer magazine from re-publishing or distributing photo-graphs in France of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless. Despite this, Muslim women have been ostracised and forbidden to wear the headscarves in educational institutions and are ridiculed, arrested and fined for wearing the face veil in public.The "Quenelle" hand sign has been de-scribed as anti-establishment and anti-Zionist by French youth and famous foot-baller Nicolas Anelka. It has stoked serious controversy in France since first being used by anti-establishment comedian M'Bala in 2005. He has been barred from many thea-tres and convicted a number of times for exercising his "freedom of speech" and us-ing the Quenelle.

Freedom of speech is a French mythOPINION

Firoz Osman

Protests by Muslims about blasphemous films and cartoons have been banned by the French authorities; France was the first country in the world to ban demonstrations in support of the Palestinians massacred in Gaza. This has led to the further marginali-sation of France's Muslim and African mi-norities in the political and social life of the nation and increasing anti-Muslim bigotry and hate-crimes.Many have seen through the hypocrisy of a nation outraged at the murder of 12 people at Charlie Hebdo's office, and yet is com-plicit with Israel in the murder of 17 journal-ists and 2,300 men, women and children in Gaza last year.France's support for the "war on terror", the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and its pivotal role in Libya and Mali, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, adds to the grievance and disaffection of French Muslims. The humiliation, suffering and injustices felt for their co-religionists makes for a common cause.There is undoubtedly political motivation underlying the vile, racist and vulgar car-toons lampooning Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which is fuelling the climate of Islamophobia. Claims by defend-ers of Charlie Hebdo that other religious icons have been vilified disregard the fact that the targeting of Muslims has been more systematic and consistent. Instead of maligning the rich and powerful in soci-ety, the magazine's cartoonists satirise the weak and marginalised, adding fuel to an already volatile fire.When Muslims are mocked and insulted,

and their Prophet, whom they love more than themselves, is dishonoured in an ap-palling way under the guise of "freedom of speech", it has to be a factor in the explo-sion of violent fury in Paris. Freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to de-fame or malign a Prophet except, it seems, in Europe.There has been a near-universal condem-nation by Muslim leaders of the attack on Charlie Hebdo. Muslims have been urged to follow the Prophet's example of never retaliating against those who insulted him personally. Islam emphasizes that the rights of each individual are limited by the rights of others and society at large. These rights do not merely include freedom of speech, but equally the basic right to dig-nity, privacy and respect, and the right not to be subjected to degrading or inhuman treatment. Perhaps the French and their European and Western counterparts (in-cluding those in the supposedly Muslim world) need to imbibe Islamic values of tolerance, respect and honour if the obvi-ous application of double standards is to be avoided in future.

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KENYA MUSLIM ACADEMY

MARAGUA MUSLIM GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL

Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015

MOSQUE OPEN DAY Venue: Masjid Salaam Mugoya South C next to MOWDate: Sunday 25th Jan. 2015Time: From 10.00 amLet us all invite our non-Muslim neighbours, school mates, workmates and friends for this Islamic aware-ness programme.Organised by Da'wah Centre

The Friday Bulletin NATIONAL

Insecurity: Give more priority to Muslim

leadersImams and Muslim preachers deserve to be given priority to protect them against the rising incidences of attacks.Reacting to calls to arm religious leaders to ensure their safety, the national chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) Sheikh Abdallah Ateka said Muslims have been the main victims of the unprecedented attacks and called on the government to investigate and bring to book those responsible for the killings.He said scores of Imams and preachers have lost their lives under mysterious cir-cumstances leaving behind a cloud of fear in the community.''We are the main victims because many of our Muslim preachers have been killed under mysteriously circumstances. If the church leaders’ agitation for arms is based on the number of their killed colleagues then Muslim leaders deserve to be given priority,'' Ateka said.The chairman questioned the rationale be-hind arming religious leaders saying that it is not a practical solution to end the attacks and appealed to the government to beef up security in mosques and churches and seek out gangs who are targeting religious leaders.He emphasized that both political and reli-gious leaders should be at forefront in ini-tiating dialogues to promote mutual under-standing and peaceful coexistence among people of different faiths.Sheikh Ateka’s call came in the wake of a killing of a Mombasa church official as he was on his way to attend services at the Maximum Revival Church in Mvita. The killing drew calls from some religious lead-ers who called on the government to arm church officials as a means of their protec-tion. The Mombasa Catholic church archdio-cese vicar general Willybard Lagho and Congress of Pentecostal and Ministries churches chairman Bishop Tee Nalo came out strongly to oppose the calls stressing that dialogue should be the focal point to nurture peaceful coexistence among Ken-yans irrespective of their religious affilia-tions.

No justification for abuse of Islam- Saudi Arabia

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has rejected a plea by teachers working in North Eastern Kenya to be transferred from the region on security grounds.Last week about 1000 teachers stationed in the counties of Mandera, Wajir and Garissa demonstrated outside the TSC of-fices in Nairobi and demanded to be trans-ferred to other safer counties urging that they no longer feel safe in the region.The commission secretary general Ga-briel Lengoiboni however, maintained that there was no cause for alarm as the work-related and social issues raised by the teachers are being comprehensively ad-dressed by the county governments and area leaders.He noted that the government has beefed up security in the region and all public transport vehicles to the three counties will be given armed security escort.The teachers’ employer further said that security personnel will be posted around learning institutions and other public facili-ties. “In view of the foregoing, all the affected teachers are required to travel to their work stations from Monday 19th January 2015 and start performing their teaching duties by 26th January 2015 without fail,” said Lengoibon.The Kenya National Union of Teacher (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sos-sion however, said that TSC cannot order the teachers to return to the region without consulting the teacher’s union.Sossion noted that security of the teach-ers must be guaranteed before they travel back to their work stations. “TSC cannot direct teachers to report to such area un-less they meet with us.TSC must agree first to a policy meeting. We raised five se-curity concerns but TSC has not respond-ed up to now” said Sossion.

TSC directs teachers to resume work in NEP

Women in Western region have been urged to embrace change in order to con-front social -economic challenges facing them due to inaccessibility to information and education.At the same time, the Muslim women lead-ership has been called upon to address challenges being experienced by women groups at the organizational level by set-ting up leadership training and develop-ment programmes to enhance on effective leadership and management for the suc-cess of the groups.The call was made by the Kakamega Ja-mia Mosque and Islamic centre women leader, Amida Indimuli during the launch of Muslim Women Welfare Community Or-ganization (MWWCO).Addressing participants, Amida noted that the establishment of training pro-jects to empower women with leadership and management skills will realize their dreams of participation in politics, govern-ance and other socio-economic develop-ment activities.

She further emphasized on the impor-tance of women participation in income-generating and micro-enterprise activities to improve and made a call to financial institutions to support Muslim women ac-cess shariah compliant loans to enable them venture into businesses and other investments.On her part, Hawa Omar Malenya,a committee member at Kakamega Jamia Mosque and Islamic centre advised wom-en to ensure their daughters acquire both secular and religious education to enable them have a holistic life and cautioned them against engaging their daughters in early marriages instead support the young girls complete their education and careers. ''Let us employ all available resources including bursaries and CDF in ensuring that our children get educated. Education is the sole inheritance of the parent to their children unlike before,'' said Hawa.Muslim Women Welfare Community Or-ganization (MWWCO brought together eleven women groups.

Women encouraged to embrace change

Rabi ul Thaany 02,1436/January 23, 2015

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday denounced the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo magazine for publishing blasphemous material about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). “The Kingdom condemns the magazine for mocking Islam and the personality of Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of guid-ance and compassion,” a Foreign Minis-try official said, adding “there is no justi-fication for this deliberate abuse of Islam, hurting the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.”The Kingdom emphasized that freedom of expression does not approve insulting religious faith. “We call upon everybody to keep away from creating hatred against

Islam and Muslims,” the official said, while reiterating Riyadh’s condemnation of the terrorist attack on the magazine’s head-quarters.Meanwhile, a leading Islamic organization has called on the United Nations to make “contempt of religions” illegal and urged the West to protect Muslim communities following the attack on Charlie Hebdo.The Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars, headed by Yusuf Al-Qardawi, appealed to Muslims to continue peaceful protests against images of the Prophet Muhammad but “not to resort to any violence.”The union has condemned the publication of offensive material by the magazine.It said that the new drawing would give “credibility” to the idea that “the West is against Islam” and warned the image would incite further hatred.Earlier, Pope Francis criticized the French publication while affirming that there are limits to freedom of speech, especially when it insults or ridicules someone's faith.By way of example, he referred to Alberto Gasparri, who organizes papal trips and was standing by his side aboard the papal plane."If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can ex-pect a punch," Francis said half-jokingly, throwing a mock punch his way. "It's nor-mal. You cannot provoke. You cannot in-sult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others," he said."There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others," he said. "They are provocateurs. And what hap-pens to them is what would happen to Dr. Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit," the Pope fur-ther said.

People who are physically challenged are sometimes wrongly regarded by some as not being able to contribute to society in any meaningful way because of their disability, but there are many whose strength of character and will to overcome all odds, have done more than just prove they can equal the efforts of our best not physically challenged community members.Many have achieved more, much more. It appears that as long as the person has the passion and spark for life, the achievements of that person can become unbelievably outstanding as many of the inspirational stories we are told daily, attest to. Besides being inspirational to other physically challenged people they are equally inspirational to those of us who feel we are unable to make a dif-ference and give up trying when the obstacles we face are minus-cule compared to what these people have had to overcome.Physically challenged people have lots of devices and tools avail-able to them that can help lessen the impact of their limitations. Having a physical disability no longer means sitting on the side-lines.Ummah Foundation for the past years has been striving within its limited resources to make sure we empower our disabled broth-ers and sisters to be mobile and flexible enough to go out to find a living. More than1200 wheelchairs and other paraplegics have been distributed so far to the affected groups and individuals. After some research we have come to notice that the Muslim commu-nity has the tendency of hiding their kids and old for fear of stigma that surrounds disability. Even the National Council of people with Disabilities (NCPWD) could not give us proper statistical figures due to the fact that many have not been registered and therefore cannot be able to access the essential help and support that the

Helping the disabled

The Friday Bulletin is a Publication of Jamia Masjid Committee, P. O. Box 100786-00101 Nairobi, Tel: 2243504/5 Fax: 342147 E-mail: fridaybulletin@islamkenya.org. Printed by Graphic Lineups Limited-Kweria Road info@graphic.co.ke

National body is mandated with in aiding the disabled. We should also reiterate the fact that all people living with disabilities are entitled to certain privileges, stipulated in Kenyan law, that most Muslims are ignorant of and hence are left out. Ummah Foun-dation is in the process of conducting sensitization and aware-ness programs that are geared towards educating our Brothers and sisters about these issues. We would like to note that the NCPWD provides a lot of assistance to the physically challenged and disabled people to overcome some challenges that they face daily. We urge our Muslim families that have within them people with disabilities to have them registered with NCPWD so that the government assistance and funding can include them as well. We also need to understand that disability is not inability and what an able person can do, a person with some disability challenges can do if he/she is properly empowered. We appeal to well wish-ers and donors to come out in full force and let us help our broth-ers and sisters who go around the streets seeking for our mercy. You can donate a wheelchair, crutches and other mobility aids to our offices and we will take the responsibility and burden to make sure they are delivered to the deserving and needy beneficiaries. Contact us:Ummah FoundationVillage Plaza, 2ND Floor, Ngara RdP.O. Box 58717-00200, NairobiTel: +254(20) 20680610/13, Mob: 0734845277Email: info@ummahfoundation.netWeb: www.ummahfoundation.net

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