Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015 Issue No. 627

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

Friday BulletinThe

The Weekly Muslim News Update

www.jamiamasjidkenya.org

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Don’t profile Muslim, Somali community- Kerry

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From Left: The newly appointed Regional Commissioner for North Eastern Ambassador Muhamoud Saleh, the Editors Guild chairman Linus Kaikai and the North Eastern Pro-fessionals Association (NEPA) chairman Abdirazak Arale share a word during a media engagement forum on Tuesday at Stanley hotel.

The newly appointed Regional Com-missioner for North Eastern has prom-ised to bring a positive change in the insecurity prone region. Ambassador Mahmoud Saleh said his focus will be to enhance on security of the region and eventually bring to an end the rampant acts of terrorism which have been detrimental to the social and economic fabric of the three counties of Mandera, Wajir and Garissa.Ambassador Mahmoud was appoint-ed recently to take charge of security matters in the region following recom-mendations from North Eastern lead-ers to President Uhuru Kenyatta to lo-calize the security apparatus as it had proved an effective mechanism in the past to address insecurity. The former envoy to Saudi Arabia is coming back to familiar territory where as the Provincial Commissioner; his zero tolerance policy towards abuse by security forces is credited for bring-ing an end to the Shifta menace which for several decades had plagued the region. “My strategy will focus on community involvement and I will work closely with local and religious leaders, the youth and other stakeholders to en-hance on security in the region,” he said during a consultative forum on Tuesday between the North Eastern Professionals Association (NEPA) and the Editors Guild.He called for support and participation in the efforts to curb insecurity while emphasizing that local communi-ties have an important role to play in the efforts to bring about a climate of peace in the region.The commissioner said the challenges of terrorism should not be seen as a Somali or Muslim problem but part of the global challenges which is be-ing experienced in many parts of the world. “It is important for all Kenyans to remain united in the fight against terrorism. This is not a Somali or Muslim problem but a global phenom-enon,” he said.In his remarks, the NEPA chairman

Visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry has cautioned Kenyan authorities against the profiling of the country’s Muslim and So-mali population in the war against terror.Kerry who jetted into the country on Sun-day for a two day visit ahead of President Obama’s visit in July held talks with Presi-dent Uhuru Kenyatta where the fight against Somalia based terror group Al Shabaab fea-tured high on the agenda.He said counter-terrorism efforts should fo-cus more on persuading and preventing the youth from joining extremist groups adding that a successful strategy to defeat extrem-ist groups depends on building trust between government and communities.Such measures, he said must involve reli-gious leaders and local citizens, whose par-ticipation is key in fighting against criminal acts.“The success of this strategy depends on building trust between the authorities and local communities, and that includes mem-

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The prophet's kindness towards people of the book

Editorial: Worrying trend in terror war

New NEP security boss promises climate of peace

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MP decries abductions,killings in NEP

bers of Kenya’s Muslim community who were among the first to march against the terror-ists in Garissa. And it also includes Somali refugees in Kenya, who are here after all because they fled from their country and de-spise Al-Shabaab” Kerry said. The top US diplomat noted that defeating terrorism requires comprehensive long term strategies that include border security and law enforcement actions stressing that hu-man rights and the rule of law should be up-held in counter-terrorism war.His sentiments were echoed by the former US assistant secretary of state Johnnie Carson who warned against measures that could alienate the Muslim community.“The country should be careful not to alienate its Muslim citizen population who contribute so much to the diversity, vitality and health of Kenya,” said Carson who spoke on Voice of America television.Same sentiments were echoed by British

The Friday Bulletin Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015

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EDITORIAL

Climate of peace for NEPContinued From Page 1

Picture these situations In Lodwar, a person walks into school ad-ministration office seeking information on the number of Muslim student with a view of facilitating iftar during the coming month of Ramadhan. In response the school calls in the police and the benefactor is hounded to the cells after being labeled an Al Shabbab operative on a mission to gather information.Down at the coast in Kilifi, a private tutor is arrested and detained by the police: His crime? Teaching a group of Somalis the Swahili language.In another incident, a couple expecting blissful moments during their honeymoon instead find themselves spending five days in police cells after being accused of being on surveillance mission of important buildings in the city. The main evidence: taking a selfie on a city street-the popular trend of taking photos with smart phones among young people. And the now familiar story of person with mental disabilities who made local and international headline for being on a sur-veillance mission at the President Uhuru’s rural residence in Gatundu for a possible terrorist attack. Even after he was certified by doctors as suffering from mental ill-ness, security officers chose to continually detain him for several more days before he was quietly released.

These are some of the disturbing realities which are becoming the poster face of the operations of security agencies in their fight against terrorism. In all these incidents-and these are the tip of the iceberg, it appears that suspicions remains the most crucial source of evidence to detain people who are later released after there are found in-nocent. While the legal maxim is that suspects are innocent till proven guilty by the courts, when it comes to matters terrorism it is the other way around as even before investi-gations commence, an arrested person is quickly tagged with the terrorist link, ar-raigned in court and the face splashed on television screens and newspaper. A few days later these “dangerous” people are quietly released but leaving behind endur-ing psychological scar of trauma, victimiza-tion and image damage. As we have stressed time and again, we strongly condemn the beastly acts where marauding gangs have gone on rampage to kill and main innocent people. Religion, or whatever reason cannot be used as a justification for these lurid actions and those in charge of security should use all legal means at their disposal to ensure that plans of these killer gangs are nipped in the bud before they materialize. But at the same time, disregarding the law and re-sorting to suspicions, innuendos and base-

less facts to victimize innocent people also deserves the strongest condemnation in equal measures. It is also a worrying phenomenon that while the government issued an amnes-ty to those who are associated with Al Shabaab, at the same time as media re-ports suggest, an ironic twist of a return of disappearances and extra judicial killings by police squads, is putting the whole am-nesty offer into question. Over the years, the security machinery in the fight against this runaway crime have chosen to take a path which borders on re-pression and collective punishment there-by building a culture of mistrust with the community thus alienating them from play-ing a constructive role in policing matters.Our call to the security officers is that while they should undertake their duties to safeguard the nation, at the same time, this should be done with professionalism and due diligence to ensure that the blaz-ing guns target criminals and not innocent people.To Muslims, in this heightened times when attention is being focused on members of the community through a negative prism, exercise caution and restraint in public and avoid being entangled in incidents which could lead to suspicion and victimization from the public and security agencies.

Worrying trend in terror war

Abdirazak Arale said the activities of the Somali militant groups were a potent dan-ger to the Somali community and the na-tion at large and called for concerted efforts to eliminate the problem which he said was affecting all Kenyans regardless of ethnic or religious background. “We call upon all Kenyans to rise up and eliminate this can-cerous disease. It is our national duty and responsibility to stand up and be counted.” he said.He further called for attitudinal change in the way security agencies relate to Muslims particularly members of the Somali commu-nity. “Whereas the emergency laws have been repealed, police attitude towards the northern people has never changed. Col-lective punishment and gross human rights abuses are the norm whenever there is an insecurity incident,” he said.“The contemptuous disregard of the con-stitutional rights of the local communities results in mistrust, fear and despondence among the local population. This leads to the loss of crucial human intelligence that would have helped to avert impending at-tacks and commission of other serious crimes,” the chairman further added.Speaking at the event, the chairman of the Editors Guild Linus Kaikaki spoke on the need for the country to integrate and re-main united saying this will act as bulwark against forces that aspire to see Kenyans divided along religious lines. “They want to create an impression of them against us. Al Shabbab is not a Kenyan invention and to

High Commissioner Christian Turner who called for the need to counter terrorism by building trust and understanding with the affected communities and leaders. “Earning the trust of communities is abso-lutely critical to defeating terrorism. If you don’t reach out to these communities and understand the causes that drive people to radicalization then we won’t ultimately win this war,” said Turner during his appear-ance on a local talk show programme.The Muslim leadership, human rights and civil society organizations have on several occasions decried state counter-terrorism measures which they say target and vic-timize the population including the extra-judicial killing of people who are accused of having links with criminal groups.Last week 11 bodies were found in a mass grave in Lanbiib Wajir county, sparking fears from human rights organizations and families of missing people that this could be a pointer to a return of extrajudicial kill-ings by police targeting those said to be terror suspects.In an open letter to Kerry prior to his arrival in the country, human rights groups urged the Obama administration to put pressure on the government to end state sanctioned victimization against its citizens, abuse of the rights of refugees and an unfavorable media environment as part of its cam-paign against terrorism. “Security forces have routinely responded to suspected

associate them with Somalis or Muslims is a case of misinformation,” he said.A BBC journalist and member of the Edi-tors Guild David Okwembah called for an audit of the more than 2,000 Kenyan youth who were trained by the government in 2009 to fight in Somalia against Al Shab-bab. “No one wants to tackle this question but we need to know the fate of these youth who were given military training in Manyani and Archers Post. Are there the one who are causing this mayhem in the country?” he asked as he called on the government to come clean on the matter.His comments were supported by former Mandera East MP Muhammad Hussein Ali who said that even after the defence com-mittee in the last Parliament demanded for answers, the government has continued to stay mute on the matter. “They remain a danger to the country. These are guns for hire, they can be used by clan militias, war-lords and terrorists to cause mayhem in the country,” he said.The forum was aimed at building a working relationship between NEPA and the media to sensitize the population on their roles and responsibility in enhancing security matters.The association plans to hold public forums in universities and other institutions to de-mystify the prevailing negative narratives of associating terrorism with particular communities and also sensitize the public on their roles to address this growing chal-lenge.

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The Friday Bulletin

Very rarely we hear positive stories of inter-religious affairs in the news nowadays. It is becoming a cultural trend that conflict and controversy drive the propaganda for the media, fuelled by politicized “religions,” and even more so between the religions of the people of the Book and Islam.

Very rare is the positive coverage between the Judeo-Christian faiths and the Islamic faith, but unbeknown to many, the relation-ships between them date way back, even before the coming of Islam.

Upon the first revelation of the Quran in Mount Hira’, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) rushed back home to his wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. She assured him that whatever it is he was hearing was in-deed a true revelation from Allah. Although she had yet to understand what the revela-tion meant, she wrapped her husband in a blanket and consoled him from his fears.

Once they had both calmed down, Khadi-jah urged the Prophet to consult her cousin, Waraqah ibn Naufal, a wise elderly Chris-tian believer. Waraqah then relayed that this was the beginning of the birth of Islam and that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had a turbulent journey ahead. Unfortunately, Waraqah passed away a lit-tle later but his words held throughout the embodiment of Islam. It was through this act alone, that Muslims were to “rely” on Christian for protection while the revela-tions reeled in.

In the first emigration of fleeing the pagan Quraysh oppression, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received directive for the Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia, a country under the peaceful rule of a devout Christian King. The Christian King, Ne-gus, welcomed the Muslim envoy peace-fully, even when two of the Quraysh came to sabotage their good relations. It was through the narrations of chapter Maryam that the Muslims were saved by the King Negus and good relations between Mus-lims and Christians were sealed, by Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and one of the leaders of the emigration.

Even with the discrepancy in belief of the status of Jesus (peace be upon him), Ne-gus turned the Quraysh back towards Mak-kah with their gifts that they were to ex-change for the Muslims who had fled their land. The King decided immediately that he wouldn’t swap a single Muslim for any of the Quraysh’s presents, and that they – the believing Muslims – were allowed to live and practice their faith in Abyssinia as long as they wished.

The Prophet's kindness to Jews and ChristiansBesides the Christians, the Jews are also considered Ahlul-Kitab, which literally means the “People of the Book.” Those who follow the scriptures of the Torah (the Jews) and the Gospel (Christians) fall into this family, and had always enjoyed good relations with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the first generations of Muslims.

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The Prophet’s kindness towards people of the bookMaria Zain

DA'WA

SUNDAY LECTURESUNDAY

Namna ya kukabiliana na mitihani 2 By: Abu Hudhayfa

10th May 2014 Time: 2.00 pm -4.00 pm Venue: Makina Kibera

In the Quran Allah says: “O people of the Scripture! You have naught (of guidance) till you observe the Torah and Gospel and that which was revealed unto you from your Lord. That which is revealed unto (Muham-mad) from thy Lord is certain to increase the contumacy and disbelief of many of them. But grieve not for the disbelieving folk.” (Al Ma’idah 5: 68)As Islam began to grow and spread throughout Arabia, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) met with many Chris-tian communities and Jewish Tribes to spread Islam, but never outwardly con-verted them. He did, however, encourage them to continue to follow their Scriptures and not to compromise their faiths. He also reminded his Muslim followers: "He who wrongs a Jew or a Christian will have myself as his accuser on the Day of Judg-ment." (Al-Bukhari)

In his plight to create a peaceful spread of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had his followers enact a docu-ment to regulate the relationship between people of the Book around Madinah, where Islam was a growing civilization. According to the sources, this is what the document said: “Whoever joins the signatories of this scripture would be entitled to our help and would not be subject to any injustice, nor should the Muslims cooperate against them. The children of Ouf (a Jewish tribe) are community of believers. The people of the scriptures are allowed to follow their re-ligion as much as the Muslims are allowed to follow theirs, and so are their allies ex-cept the one who commits injustice or sin, for he does not harm but himself… The signatories of the document are entitled to mutual advice, sincerity and assistance rather than fighting each other…” (503)This document was the first in history es-tablishing religious pluralism and freedom of beliefs. Peace was enacted as long as everyone celebrated the goodness of their religions and did not impose their beliefs on others. It was also known that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never ridiculed other religions and his spreading of the messages of Islam was always im-bued in kindness through his speech and actions.

Even when Islam was insulted, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would peruse wisdom and dignity when explaining their miscon-ceptions. Even so, he would only speak when he was directed to do so: “Nor does he speak out of [his own] desire. It is but a revelation that is revealed, taught to him by one of awesome power.” (An-Najm 53: 3-4)Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) though, openly encouraged the people of the Book to reinstate monotheism, some-thing that was and is quickly being lost: “Say: ‘O People of the Scripture. Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partners unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then

SUNDAY LECTURE

Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015

SUNDAY LECTURE

SUNDAY

Lecturer:Muhammad SwalehTopic:Extremism in Islam part 2

Date: 9th April 2015 Time: 2.00 - 4.00 pm Venue Jamia Multi-Purpose Hall

SATURDAY LECTURE

SUNDAY LECTURE

SUNDAYReverts’ Basic 6-Months CourseThe Programme will In Shaa’ Allaah com-mence as from Saturday, 8th May 2015.Venue: Jamia Training Institute (JTI) at Lecture Room 2 Time: 2.00 pm.

All are welcome to join.

say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him)’.” (Al-Imran 3: 64) There are always more similarities be-tween the people of the Book than differ-ences, and this is something that we need to remember when reading contemporary news in the mainstream media nowadays.

His respect for Non-Muslims in warWhen it comes to the command to engage in battle, Muslims are not allowed to fight unless in self-defense or to drive out op-pression. Even so, there is a comprehen-sive directive of the rules of war, and no Muslim is allowed to harm a non-Muslim who is unarmed, one who is working in the fields or those who take refuge in Mosques, Churches, Synagogues and Temples. This shows the continuous respect for non-Mus-lims, even during war.

Mainstream media dictates controversy and animosity between religions, particu-larly between Islam and People of the Book. Unfortunately, many people are swayed by it, naively unknowing that most of the problems are instigated by political propaganda or non-practicing or misin-formed individuals. It takes time to read up on the history of interfaith relations, espe-cially during the time of Prophet Muham-mad (peace be upon him), but it is worth it because he is the best example of how to peruse relations with others. Not every-thing always ran smoothly and there were turbulent phases of disagreement (like the Battle of Khaybar), but Allah gave a com-prehensive list of directives on how the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to deal with each unique situation.

It pays to understand this because many are often misled by those who cause de-hiscence within a very fragile society, but the underlying reminders often relay the kindness of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) upon the Ahlul Kitab (the People of the Book) those who Muslims honor as people who were given revelations by Allah Himself: the Christians and the Jews.

The Friday Bulletin

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Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015

Ramadhan is coming up and Alhamdullillah that we are alive to begin preparing for it. Coming up is another chance to earn Al-lah’s mercy, seek forgiveness for our sins and gather all the barakah that we possibly can. Alhamdullillah!Unfortunately, I missed fasting during Ramadhan last year; I was too sick to even attempt to keep fasts. I was undergoing chemotherapy and my last session was a day before Eid.But the truth is that these fasts are not the only ones I have missed in my life. Think-ing back, I have missed fasts in previous Ramadhans, due to traveling, sickness or pregnancy. Some fasts are from a few years back that I have yet to complete.Yikes! That is a lot of fasts.Are you in a similar situation like me? The fact is that sisters will inevitably miss fasts due to reasons like pregnancy, breastfeed-ing and menstruation. If we don’t keep track of these fasts, sooner or later you will lose count of the number of fasts you have missed. What we need is a method to count and a plan to make up missed fasts. Are you feeling a little jittery about the num-ber of fasts that you have to make up? (I know I am!)Come on, grab a pencil, paper, and a cal-culator and follow along my simple method for counting missed fasts. We’ll then learn the rulings on when missing fasts is al-lowed, and explore the various ways in which we can make them up to get make up as many of them as we can before Ram-adhan, in sha Allah.Are you ready? Bismillah!We should first ask ourselves: “Why do I want to or need to make up the missed fasts?”Allah says: “…Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grate-ful.” [Qur’an 2: 185]Alhamdulillah, Allah grants us concessions when we are traveling, sick or pregnant, but fasting during Ramadhan is obligatory, so we must make up these missed fasts as soon as possible, preferably before the next Ramadhan begins. Reminding our-selves of this will renew our intention and make us firm in our aim. If of course, like me, you have missed fasts from many pre-vious years, the first step is to secure your intention to make them up and then count the missed fasts.Counting missed fasts1) Draw a table with five columns:‘Year': the year in which you may have missed fasting‘Completed Fasts': how many fasts you did manage to complete that year‘Missed Fasts': how many fasts you missed during the Ramadhan of that year‘Reasons for Missed Fasts': the reason for which you missed the fast (see below)‘Done': where you will make a note of missed fasts that have been made up2) In a vertical list, make rows, writing down the year from which you officially started

Make up for your missed fasts easily before Ramadhanfasting (the year menstruation began) and end the list at 2014.3) Now, before we begin calculating the number of missed days, it would help to re-mind ourselves of the situations that make it permissible to skip fasting during Rama-dhan. This will refresh our memory and remind us of any circumstances we have faced in past Ramadhans that we might have forgotten about.According to scholars, one is allowed to give up fasting during Ramadhan if they are: • Sick• Menstruating• Traveling• Pregnant or breastfeeding (if your health does not allow you to continue fasting)• In old age• Suffering from intense hunger or thirst• Under compulsionSo, with these in mind, start with the most recent year (as it will be the freshest in your mind) and recall if you faced any of these circumstances and write the number of missed days in 2014.For me, it would be 30. So in the column for “Completed Fasts”, I put 0; for “Missed Fasts”, I put 30 and for “Reasons for Missed Fasts”, I put sickness.Following these steps, work backwards, thinking of all the reasons that excuse one from fasting and fill in each column. If you didn’t fast during Ramadhan due to preg-nancy, then simply write the number of days corresponding to the year of birth of your children, with the same method being applied to any years that you were breast-feeding.What if you don’t know exactly how many fasts you have missed in the past year?If you are counting fasts missed from many years, it may be difficult to remember how many you missed and why. In this case, you need to think hard and estimate the most likely number of fasts that you have missed. Generally, sisters are aware of fasts they miss due to menstruation, so these should be fairly easy to remember.Commit to Making Up Missed FastsSo, have you finished counting the number of days you did not fast?Does it look like it’s a lot? Well, mine looks overwhelming too!But not to worry, in sha Allah, Allah will make easy for us anything we are sincere about, as He says in the Qur’an:“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope” [Qur’an 2: 286]Let’s begin preparing our game plan on how to reduce this number, in sha Allah. It’s important to remember that it would help to start with small, manageable goals rather than big ones, as the latter have a greater chance of failing.When I finished chemotherapy and start-ed getting better, I planned to complete missed fasts during the following Decem-ber, so that all my missed fasts for 2014 would at least be completed.But I was in for a huge disappointment. I couldn’t do it.And I blame my failure on my “big” plans

WOMEN

more than my health. Had I made small goals and started sooner, I would have been able to manage them!Organize your timetable and yourself for fastingFasting and managing normal life is so much easier in Ramadhan, due to the at-mosphere of Ramadhan, everyone around us is fasting and of course, because the month of Ramadhan is filled with Allah’s blessings!So during the year, if we begin with a fo-cused approach and planning, fasting will not only be easy, but also enjoyable.1) Mark the days on the calendar in which you plan to fast. Begin now and continue even after Ramadhan ends. Fast in small manageable chunks (2 or 3 days a week), to develop a solid routine where you check off fasts that you have made up. Planning in advance will also give you a heads up so you can plan your groceries, cooking and appointments accordingly.2) Grab a lunar (Islamic) and a solar (Gregorian) calendar. Mark the days on the solar calendar that coincide with al ayy-am al bidh, the white days (13, 14, 15th of each Islamic month) in the lunar calendar and also prioritise fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, in accordance with the Proph-et’s sunnah.3) Get your dua book ready. This is something that I would really like to do this Ramadhan. In this dua book, write down all the duas that you want to make in your own language, for yourself, spouse, children, parents, friends, cousins, the ummah, mankind, any issue that is troubling you and something that you really want. Organ-ize recommended duas from the Qur’an and Sunnah so that you become familiar with them now until they are second nature to you during Ramadhan. Try to go through these duas after praying tahhajjud, after salah, on Jumu’ah and after iftar, as duas are readily accepted at these times.Commence!Now you are ready to begin fasting!Depending on your routine and engage-ments, you can either fast for a week con-secutively or you can break it up and fast on the days mentioned earlier. As you start fasting, keep a tally on the number of fasts in the fifth column of the table titled ‘Done’, starting with 2014 and moving backwards.Does it all seem a tad overwhelming to you too?Sometimes when I see my list, it seems just so daunting and I ask myself, “how can I do it?” I don’t really want to die with any fasts pending in my account. But you and I should not and cannot think like this! As long as we really want to do it, Allah will make it easy for us. It may take many months to complete missed fasts from the previous years, but we just need to keep going. Either we succeed or die trying, to-gether in sha Allah.So come along dear sisters, grab your pens, paper, calendars and du’a books and get to work! May Allah accept our fasts from us and make them easy for us, ameen.

SUNDAY LECTURE

Sana Waseem

The Friday Bulletin

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The interpretation of the verses of the Quran is normally made with reference to the historical, grammatical and theme as-pects of the verses.Some of the Quranic verses were revealed addressing issues current to that time of history, while others were revealed ad-dressing a general principle or a matter applicable to every time and place. All verses serve as guidance for Muslims.The substance addressed to a specific lo-cation with specific people may or may not apply to subjects outside the scope of the verses. Unless the addressees are eluci-dated, the Quranic verses would not be interpreted correctly.Misinterpretation of the verses of the Quran occurs when the historical, gram-matical and theme contextual aspects are not taken into consideration.Unfortunately, some people wrongly ac-cuse Islam of teaching violence based on an improper understanding of a few verses of the Quran that were actually addressed to a specific group of people, with a spe-cific historical background. We will explore these verses in the light of their historical framework and of the subject matter in or-der to bring about their correct meaning and purpose.The first to be addressed is verse 191 from Chapter 2:This verse is misunderstood to command Muslims to kill disbelievers, Christians and Jews.In order for us to study this verse within its historical and subject matter context, we need to consider verse 190 as well. Verses 190-191 say: “And fight in the cause of Al-lah those who have (initially) waged war against you, but do not transgress limits (by causing more damage to your enemy than the damage they initially caused you, thereby expanding the circle of war). In-deed, Allah loves not transgressors. And slay them wherever you overtake them and expel them from where they have expelled you (a reference to Quraysh who for 14 years had been expelling the Muslims from Makkah), for tumult and op-pression (that Quraysh heavily incurred on you) are worse than killing; but fight them not at the Inviolable House of Worship, un-less they (first) fight you there. If they were to fight you, then do not be reluctant to kill them. Such is the recompense of the dis-believers (in the sanctity of the Holy Shrine of Ka’bah).} (Al-Baqarah 2: 190-91)Considering the history surrounding these verses, we learn that they were revealed after the peace treaty of Hudaybiyah signed between the Idolaters of Quraysh and the Muslims in the year six after emi-gration, and prior to the performing of one of the treaty’s conditions. This con-dition states that the Muslims visit Mak-kah and perform the Lesser Pilgrimage in the following year. At the time to perform the Lesser Pilgrimage in the following year, some Muslims were concerned that Quraysh may not fulfill its promise in al-

lowing the Muslims to enter Makkah and conversely attack them while performing their rituals. This legitimate concern was indeed answered by Allah in the above verses. In case Quraysh broke the Hu-daybiyah peace agreement by attacking the Muslims during the pilgrimage, only then Muslims were commanded to defend themselves and were given the details of how to act in the battlefield.Muslims were told to kill the Idolaters wherever they may come upon them and to drive them away from wherever they ini-tially drove them away. Muslims also were commanded to preserve the old sanctity of the Shrine of Ka’bah by not fighting in it “But fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they [first] fight you there.”Note in verse 190 the subject of the verb “fight” is the clause {those who have [ini-tially] waged war against you}. This de-scriptive clause is making direct reference to Quraysh and could not be mistaken by any other than the Idolaters of Quraysh.Similarly, the first part of verse 191, the subject of the verbs “slay,” “overtake,” and “expel” is Quraysh, who earlier had expelled the Muslims from Makkah. The second part of verse 191, however, a new descriptive word, kafireen, is given to the subject to-be-killed for fighting in the Sa-cred Mosque. The word kafireen (disbe-lievers) can take two possible meanings:a. Quraysh who is the reference in the pre-vious verse and who is also the guardian of the Holy Shrine, and,b. Specific people of Quraysh who disbe-lieved in the age-old sanctity of the Ka’bah and incurred violence within it. If Quraysh or those who disbelieved in the age-old sanctity of the Ka’bah fight you, only then do not be reluctant to kill them.The majority of the Quranic interpret-ers took the word kafireen in the second part of verse 191 to mean the Idolaters of Quraysh as a whole. Other interpreters took the word kafireen to be those who in-curred violence within the Holy Shrine of Ka’bah from amongst Quraysh. Dr. Fathi Othman in his book The Concepts of the Quran is one of those who took this ap-proach. Dr. Othman’s approach seems to be the more accurate one, since the re-quital of killing is made to the subject in the second part of the verse 191, those who ‘disbelieved in the sanctity’ of the Inviola-ble House of Worship.In either case, the word disbelievers in verse 191 cannot be taken to mean Chris-tians nor Jews or any disbeliever other than Quraysh. Thus, the claim that Islam teaches violence is proven false. On the contrary, many see these two verses as ground for Islam’s quest for peace. Such that even when Muslims were commanded to fight in self defense, they were instruct-ed to practice war-morality: Do not start a fight. But fight in the cause of Allah those who initially fight you, but do not transgress limits thereby expanding the circle of war.

Quran verses misinterpreted as teaching violenceFeysal Burhan

Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015

The word “limit” is interpreted by the ma-jority of scholars as “limiting enemy’s loss only to their own.” Any more loss beyond that is considered transgression. Thus, the verse teaches Muslims not to start hostility and to use hostility-stopping techniques if war ever started.Causing more damage to the enemy is an invitation to more violence. Furthermore, the Quran commands Muslims that if the opponents inclined towards truce, they are to seek an end to hostilities. Allah said:{But if the enemy inclined to peace, then incline to it.} (Al-Anfal 8: 61)Reflecting on this Islamic fundamental teaching, Karen Armstrong in her book, Muhammad, A Biography of the Prophet stated:“The Quran teaches that war is always abominable. Muslims must never open hostilities, …but, once they have taken a war, Muslims must fight with absolute commitment in order to bring the fighting to an end as soon as possible.” (209)Studying the Quranic verses in the light of its historical context is an ever important matter in understanding Islam, its people and their culture.The second verse to be examined is verse five from chapter At-Tawbah, or Declara-tion of Disassociation. In order to do a fair study of the verse, again, its subject mat-ter context must be considered along with other verses that were revealed with it. Additional consideration must be given to the events and time period in which these verses were revealed.

Al-Shabaab attacks with abusive opera-tions and by targeting entire communities – Muslims, ethnic Somali Kenyans and Somali refugees—based on their ethnicity, nationality or religion,” the groups which included Haki Africa, Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI) and US based Human Rights Watch said.In his address the visiting diplomat as-sured US help in the fight against terror-ism and pledged over nine billion shillings from the US government to aid the war on terrorism. The money will be used for border secu-rity, intelligence sharing, security co-oper-ation, equipment, military training, security personnel, de-radicalization and counter-terrorism strategies.

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The Friday Bulletin

page 6

Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015

GHANIMA Girls Secondary School is a Girls Boarding School owned by AMA and is located along the Namanga Highway 10 Km from Kajiado Town . Its adjacent to Umma University. The School has form one and two.The Following vacancy is available;PRINCIPALQualification:1. Should be a Muslim preferably a Lady.2. Be a holder of at least a degree in Education.3. Has held the position for not less than three years or have served as a deputy for not less than five years.4. Have a proven good track record.5. Knowledge of Arabic will be an added advantage.A good package would be offered including housing. Should be ready to assume office im-mediately.Application, CV and other testimonials should be sent to the undersigned email not later than 15th May 2015 Email: kenya@direct-aid.org. c.c. ghanimagirlssec@gmail.com

GHANIMA Girls Secondary School

The government should live up its obliga-tion of providing security to Kenyans as this remains its primary responsibility to ensure safety for its citizens.

These sentiments were made by Fatma Hydar a Nairobi women activist and for-mer director of women affairs at the Su-preme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUP-KEM) who said that recent events in the country which have claimed the lives of scores of innocent people point to a laxity on security matters by the state security agencies.

As consequences for its failures, she said Muslims are now facing the blame for the spiral rise in acts of terrorism which have been witnessed in the country.

“How do these people come into the country at will to kill people? The govern-ment is failing its people. The responsibil-ity to provide security squarely falls upon the government,” she said on Sunday at Jamia Mosque during a forum to discuss the rising growth of Islamophobia.

Participants expressed their indignation at the rise of anti-Muslim attitude saying that while the acts of terrorism may have been carried out by some deranged Mus-lims, it is wrong to portray the faith and its adherents as purveyors and supporters of these acts of criminality. “In 2007, church-es were accused of fanning ethnic conflict which resulted in more than 1,000 people losing their lives during the post-election violence while in Baragoi, more than 40 policemen were killed but Christians nor the local communities were blamed for these massacres,” said Riziki Ahmed a counselor at the Family Resource Centre.

She called on the Muslim leadership to come up with strategies to address the rising tide of Islamophobia which she said needed urgent attention. “Muslims face constant harassment in matatus, streets and other public places. Madaaris and mosque are being vilified as breeding grounds for terrorism and our leaders are keeping silent,” she said.

The Da’wah Centre administrator Feysal Kassim said various programmes will be initiated to demystify prevailing misinfor-

Take charge of security, govt told

The Busia county government will support projects that will assist contribute to the so-cio-economic development of Muslims.Addressing Muslim faithful at the official open-ing of the newly constructed Osia mosque in Teso North sub-county, the governor Sospe-tor Ojaamong said county development pro-grammes will be extended to all residents without discrimination and urged Muslims to play a more viable participatory role in devel-opmental matters.He assured that the community in Busia coun-ty will not be discriminated against in matters pertaining to employment, development pro-grammes and service delivery stressing that his government will recognize their role and contribution to the development of the county and the nation at large. “I want to assure you we are going to do eve-rything possible as the county government of Busia to cater for your needs particularly in area of development,’’ he said.At the same time Ojaamong urged Muslims in the county to take the education of their children seriously by giving them the neces-sary support to excel academically in order to compete favourably in the job market.He enumerated further that through its bur-saries scheme programme, the county gov-ernment will provide support to ensure bright and needy students pursue and further their education without any hindrances.On his part the Osia Mosque chairman Hus-sein Omasete paid tribute to the governor and all those who supported the construction of the mosque saying that their contribution will go to great lengths in fulfilling the aspira-tions of Muslims in the area.Hussein said the mosque will be a centre of Islamic activities in Teso North Sub-county serving the Muslim population with pro-grammes targeting the society in general.

Busia governor pledges to support Muslim projects

Kenya will be among the countries mark-ing the Global Messenger Day on Satur-day May 16. The event is aimed at calling people to get to know and love Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.The local event is being organized by the Da’wah Centre based in South ‘C’ Nairobi and will be held outside Jamia Mosque. The event will be marked in more than 50 countries around the world and will involve engagements with Muslims and non-Muslims on the noble traits of Proph-et Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a personality who championed the ideals of justice, peace and tolerance among humanity.The global activities are being coordinat-ed by the UK based the Islamic Educa-tion and Research Academy (IERA). The Da’wah Centre chairman Ogle Musleh explained that the event will also serve as platform to portray the correct teach-ings of Islam and curb the prevailing mis-information attributed to the faith as well as fostering better relationship between Muslim and non-Muslims. “Research shows that a large percent-age of the Kenyan public have never spoken to a Muslim about Islam. This is a unique opportunity for Muslims to change the narrative and negative perceptions about Islam and Muslims. The emphasis is about people converting to Islam, but to strike warm and meaningful conver-sations with a view to building long-term relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims,” he said.Last year, Kenya for the first time partici-pated in the Global Da’wah day held on July 5 2014 which was marked in almost 100 cities worldwide. Under the “What’s Your Goal?” da’wah campaign, the event was designed to coincide with the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and aimed at encour-aging Muslims to share the message of Islam with their local communities.The Da’wah Centre which is based at Masjid Salaam in Mugoya estate and is involved in various activities which in-clude da’wah training, street da’wah pro-grammes, organizing forums and events to foster better understanding of Islam among non-Muslims and free distribution of Quran and Islamic literatures among other activities.

Kenya to mark Global da’wa day mation about Islam and build closer relation-

ships between Muslims and non-Muslims. “We are planning to hold mosque open day events where we will have sessions with non-Muslim inside mosques and answer their queries on Islam,” he added.

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The Friday BulletinNATIONAL

page 7

Kadhis have been called to intensify mar-riage education programmes to enlighten couples on strengthening their marriages. The call was made by Amida Indimuli, a women leader at the Kakamega Jamia Mosque who said marriage is a pillar which holds society and there was need for mar-riage education programmes to sensitize and educate Muslims on aspects which will enhance their marital life.

Addressing a Muslim women convention at the mosque over the weekend, Amida em-phasized that families needs to be sensi-tized on conflict management strategies and against involvement in practices that could be detrimental to their marital relations.

She cited ignorance and disregarding dia-logue as the main contributing factors lead-ing to high divorce rates in the community in the region and called on Kadhis and Islamic scholars to play a leading role in promoting harmony among families.

The women leader further advised Kadhis and Islamic scholars to step up, guidance and counselling services to safeguard the sanctity of marriages in the Muslim commu-nity.

In her counsel to the couples, Kakamega Jamia Mosque committee member Hawa Omar Malenya encouraged couples to seek Qur'anic guidance and also show respect and affection to each other to strengthen their marriages.

Advice on compatibility, practical realities of marriage and nurturing marital relations formed among key issues of discussions during the forum.

The one day convention attracted over 200 Muslim women drawn from various women groups within the region.

Intensify marriage education, Kadhis urged

Rajab 20,1436/ May 08, 2015

A Member of Parliament from North East-ern region has raised concerns over the rising cases of abductions and killings of persons alleged to have links with terror. The concerns comes barely a week after a mass grave containing 11 bodies was found in Lanbiib, Wajir county prompting fears of a resurgence of extrajudicial kill-ings by state security operatives.Mbalambala MP Abdikadir Omar Aden condemned the killings and expressed grave concerns on the rising cases of dis-appearances of individuals allegedly at the hands of security officers and stressed that the trend must be addressed by the government. The MP further faulted the extension of the dusk to dawn curfew which was first im-posed on the region by the Inspector Gen-eral of Police Joseph Boinnet following the attack on Garissa University College by Al Shabaab militants where 148 people lost their lives.“The continued abduction of people by unidentified contingents of the government security agencies and reported cases of extrajudicial killings together with blan-ket dusk to dawn curfew will continue to isolate the native Somali communities in NEP,” he said.Abdikadir urged the government to adopt a strategy of winning hearts and minds of communities to defeat the scourge of ter-rorism citing the example of United King-dom where terrorist attacks from Northern Ireland were contained with the support of the public.“The government must change its cur-rent strategy in NEP if it is to win the war against Al Shabaab. The war against ter-ror cannot be won without the participation and support of the communities in the ar-eas most affected,” Abdikadir said.He observed that while area residents are willing to work with the authorities in deal-ing with the threat of radicalization and ter-rorism, the hard line approaches taken by the government is only instilling fear in the population and proving to be a major set-back in the efforts to tame insecurity. “The government must stop scaring the people of NEP and subjecting them to blanket punishment. The curfew and the abductions must come to an end,” he add-ed.Meanwhile a family in Garissa is in agony after their kin, a prominent religious leader was allegedly taken away by security of-ficers on Monday. Speaking to journalists, the family of Sheikh Abdullahi Khalif spoke of their anguish and pain since his ar-rest by three armed people who identified themselves as security officers.The Sheikh was picked from Umul-Qura, an Islamic religious institution (duksi) in Garissa town by the officers in plain clothes on Monday morning before he was forcibly bundled into a waiting Toyota land cruiser vehicle and driven away to an un-known destination.

“They grabbed him and put him into the wait-ing land Cruiser in full glare of his students,” said his eldest son Abdi Khalif Abdullahi who spoke to journalists at their home in Bula Sa-laam in Garissa.He said they were unable to reach the Sheikh by phone as calls to his number went unanswered on Monday and Tuesday before it was apparently switched off. Relatives and neighbours appealed to the government to have him released or produced in court. “We appeal to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and help trace his whereabouts because the family is suffering and they want to know where he is. We are also con-cerned about his safety,” said Jamila Jelle, a sister of the missing Sheikh.Human right activist and coordinator North-ern Forum for Democracy Khalif Abdi claimed more than 30 people in Garissa are missing after they were allegedly arrested by security officers under unexplained circum-stances.

MP decries abductions and killings in NEP

A unified and common structured curric-ulum to enhance on learning in madaaris in the country will soon be realized. This was revealed by the Muslim Educa-tion Council (MEC) executive director Munawar Khan who said the proposed syllabus has already been delivered to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Devel-opment (KICD) as part of the validation process.

“The progress made so far is very en-couraging and I urge all stakeholders to cooperate and support this important exercise,” he said during a three-day retreat for education stakeholders held recently at Umma University in Kajiado county.

The proposed curriculum will provide learners with teachings on the Quran, seerah (biography of the Prophet, peace be upon him), Arabic language, hadith (prophetic traditions), tawheed (Islamic monotheism), fiqh (jurisprudence) and akhlaq (Islamic moral values).

While the government through 2013 Ba-sic Education Act recognized madaaris and duksis (religious schools in Somali communities) as formal schools, Islamic schools have been operating without a clear curriculum with each institution op-erating independently without a standard syllabus. Some institutions have locally generated curriculums while some de-pend on already developed learning guides from countries such as South Af-rica, United Kingdom and United States.

It is from this back drop that Muslims Ed-ucation Council being a body mandated by the 2013 Basic Education Act to rep-resent Muslims on matters of education took it upon itself to coordinate and initi-ate the process of madrasah curriculum development.

The process began with a stakehold-ers’ conference at the Jamia mosque in September last year where the need for a common curriculum for all madaaris in Kenya was unanimously approved. A 16-member committee led by Ahmed Yusuf, the former CEO of Kenya Na-tional Examination Council (KNEC) was formed to spearhead the process.

According to Munawar, the validation process at by KICD is a monumental step in the process of having a unified madrasah syllabus. “We are optimistic that we are soon coming to the culmina-tion of this long journey,” he said.

In their address to participants during the retreat, the Chairman of Majlis Ulamaa Kenya Sheikh Khalfan Khamis and his counterpart from the Jamia Mosque council of scholars Sheikh Fathahudin Thangal encouraged MEC and educa-tion stakeholders. They said that the all inclusive unified madrasah curriculum is timely and urgently needed to streamline madrasah teaching.

Curriculum for madaaris to be ready ‘soon’

Last month Ummah Foundation was involved in a 10 kilometre charity walk to save mothers in Africa from maternal mortality. This was a “Save A Mum initiative” that was Organ-ized by Chase Bank Foundation in partnership with the African Medical and Research Foundation (AM-REF) aimed at saving the lives of thousands of women and children. The charity walk aim was to raise more funds to train new midwives in rural Kenya, which will reduce maternal mortality by improving access to pre-natal care. In the strong belief that no woman should die giving life and that no child should be left an or-phan due to lack of health care for women. AMREF, Chase Foundation and other donors like Um-mah Foundation launched the campaign to draw at-tention to the plight of African mothers and to mobilize support across the world to ensure that mothers get the basic medical care they need during pregnancy and childbirth. Ummah Foundation was one of the substantial donors towards the initiative. Statistics has shown that:- Over 162,000 mothers die every year due to a lack of simple medical care.- 1 in 39 African women run the risk of dying from pregnancy or childbirth related risk.- Over 80% of these deaths are as a result of com-plications that could be taken care of in facilities with basic emergency obstetric care services.- One midwife can look after 500 mothers and safely deliver 100 babies annually To combat these challenges, this initiative came up to assemble resources from as many well wishers as possible to put to a stop to these manageable risks that as team we can easily defeat. Over the years Ummah Foundation has been struggling on its own by sponsoring Midwifery students to undertake the courses that are offered at Pumwani Maternity Hos-pital. We realised that on our own, we cannot afford to train as many midwives to meet the challenges we face as a country and continent. When Amref and Chase Foundation came up with the team initiative, we jumped at it and saw how we can together afford more trained experts to fight the men-ace of maternal death. We also appreciate the fact that even the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta is thinking in the same direction and together we can bring change by alleviating the silent killer that is robbing us of our mothers, daugh-ters and sisters daily.We also need to understand that Muslims are the worst hit by this calamity due to some cultural val-ues that have subjected our populace in the rural ar-eas from accessing primary health care. We are duty bound to sensitise our community about these needs and together we can succeed in bringing the change that we all desire in shaa Allah.Contact us:Ummah FoundationVillage Plaza, Ngara Rd, NairobiP.O. Box 58717- 00200 Tel;+254-202680610/13, 0734845277,Email: info@ummahfoundation.netWeb: www.ummahfoundation.net

Save A Mum Initiative

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

DA‘WAH OFFICERJamia Mosque Committee is looking forward to get the service of an active, energetic, youthful person (or man) for the above post. He should have the following Qualifications and Experience:• A practicing Muslim and holder of at least of a Bachelor’s Degree in Islamic Studies or related disciplines from a recognized Islamic Institu-tion.• Have at least Three years experience in the field of Da‘wah and Ad-ministration.• Knowledge of Arabic, Kiswahili and English is Essential.• Good computer and report writing skills. • Excellent Moral Values and Good Inter-Personal Relations with oth-ers.Duties and Responsibilities of the Da’awah Officer • Must be able to deliver Friday Khutbah and talks/lecturers in the Mosque.• Coordinate the meetings and activities of the Da’awah subcommittee and the Majlis Ulamaa of Jamia Mosque. • Do follow ups on Da’awah subcommittee and Majlis Ulamaa meeting including minutes, and reports. • Be able to give lectures to University, College and Secondary students on various Islamic and contemporary matters.• Be able to work under minimal supervision and report to the Direc-tor of Da’awah and or the convener of the Da’awah subcommittee.• Perform any other related function given to him from time to time by the Da’awah committee or the Executive committee.

Qualified candidates should send the application letter, CV and other testimonials to:The Secretary General,

Jamia Mosque Committee,P. O. Box 100786 – 00101, Nairobi

E-Mail: jamiamajlis@gmail.com Before 10th May 2015

VACANCY

In a fresh crackdown on Muslim religious rights, Muslim shops and restaurants in a Chinese village in northwestern China’s Xinjiang province have been or-dered to sell cigarettes and alcohol or face closure.“We have a campaign to weaken religion here and this is part of that campaign,” Adil Sulayman, Aktash village party committee secretary, told RFA’s Uighur Service on Monday.The new orders, signed by the Aktash village Party Committee of Laskuy Township, say in part, “all restaurants and supermarkets in our village should place five different brands of alcohol and cigarettes in their shops before [May 1, 2015].”Shopkeepers were also instructed to promote the products in “eye-catching displays.”.Authorities warned that “anybody who neglects this notice and fails to act will see their shops sealed off, their business suspended, and legal ac-tion pursued against them.” The notice also said the order was handed down from the top ranks of China’s ruling Communist Party.Sulayman said that over the past years, abstention from alcohol and cigarettes had become common in Aktash and other parts of Laskuy, with some 70-80 percent of people between the ages of 16 and 45 refraining from drinking and smoking. The general rule in Islam is that any beverage that get people intoxicated when taken is unlawful, both in small and large quantities, whether it is alcohol, drugs, fermented raisin drink or something else.Weakening religion Launched under the pretext of fighting extremism, the new campaigns against Islamic features were regarded as targeting Uighur Muslims’ faith.Since April 2014, authorities of Xinjiang started offering cash rewards to in-formants who report on their neighbors for wearing beards.Earlier in December, China banned the wearing of Islamic veiled robes in pub-lic in Urumqi, the capital of the province of Xinjiang.Uighur Muslims are a Turkish-speaking minority of eight million in the north.In 2014, Xinjiang banned the practicing of religion in government buildings.In Au-gust, the northern Xinjiang city of Karamay prohibited young men with beards and women in burqas or hijabs from boarding public buses. Police have also raided women’s dress shops in the province to confiscate full length robes.(Onislam.net)

China forces Uighur Muslims to sell alcohol