60 Islamic ways to get and keep your wife's love

1. Make her feel secure; (sakina- tranquillity) QUIT BEING AGGRESSIVE

2. When you go home say 'Assalamualaikum. ' (Greetings) It kicks the shaitaan out of your home!

3. Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) described the wife as a fragile vessel and said to take care of this vessel that’s fragile. Remember that there is goodness in this vessel so treat it gently.

4. When you advise her, do so in privacy, in a peaceful environment. NOT IN PUBLIC as it’s a type of slandering.

5. Be generous to your wife- it keeps her LOVED

6. Move and let her have your seat. It will warm her heart.

7. AVIOD ANGER. HOW? Keep your wudu at all times. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said if you are angry, sit down, if you’re sitting, then lie down. Follow the sunnah!

8. Look good and smell great for your wife. IT keeps the LOVE!

9. Don’t be rigid. It will break you. Prophet Mohammed – sallallahu alaihi wa sallam (SAW means “May the blessings and the peace of Allah be upon him” (Muhammad).) said 'I am the best amongst you and I am the best to my wife'. Being rigid and harsh will not bring you close to Allah and neither does it make you more of a man.

10. Listen to your wife-BE a GOOD LISTENER

11. YES to flattering NO to arguing. Arguing is like poison in a marriage. Al zawai said 'When Allah (swt) wants evil for people He will leave them to argue amongst themselves'.

12. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said to call your wives with the best name, any name she loves to hear. Prophet Mohammed sallallahu alaihi wa sallam called Aisha 'ya Aish' as an endearment.

13. Give her a pleasant surprise. I.e. if she loves watermelon, bring her one out of the blue. It will grow the love in her heart.

14. Preserve your tongue! Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said the tongue will throw people in the hell fire so watch what you say and how you say it!

15. All of us have shortcoming. Accept her shortcoming and Allah (swt) will put barakat in your marriage.

16. TELL her you appreciate her. SHOW her you appreciate her.

17. Encourage her to keep good relation with her relative, her mum and dad etc.

18. Speak with her with a topic of HER interest.

19. In front of her relative praise her. Confirm/ realize that she is wonderful, and that she is a good person in front of her family.

20. Give each other gifts. You will love each other more. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said gifts increases love.

21. Get rid of the routine once in a while, surprise her with something, it will get rid of the rust and polish it!

22. Husnul zaan- We have a demand from Allah (swt) that we have to think good of people. Think good of your spouse.

23. Ignore some of her mistakes- pretend you did not see/hear some of her small mistakes. It was a practice of Ali (RA). It’s like putting a hole in your memory. Don’t save it in your memory!

24. Increase the drops of patience, especially when she is pregnant or when she is on her monthly period.

25. Expect and respect her jealousy. Even Aisha (ra) used to get jealous.

26. Be humble. If your profession is good, respect that she is looking after your children, she is much more than you, she is the leader at home, her strength is your strength, and her success is your success.

27. Don't put your friends above your wife.

28. Help your wife at home. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam used to help his wives at home and he was the best of creation. He used to sew his own clothes.

29. Help her respect your parents, you can’t force her to love them, but she can be helped to gradually love them.

30. Show your wife she is the ideal wife.

31. Remember your wife in your duaas. It will increase the love and protect it.

32. Leave the past. It brings nothing but pain and grief. It’s not your business. The past is for Allah (swt).

33. Don't try to show her that you are doing her a favour by doing something, like buying food for the house, because in reality we are the courier of sustenance, not the providers, as Allah is the provider. It’s also a way of being humble and thankful to Allah (swt)

34. Shaitaan is your enemy, not your wife. Sometime when husband and wife are talking a fight breaks out, then shaitaan is present there as a third person so he is the real enemy. It is not enough to hate the shaitaan, but you have to see him as an enemy as Allah has commanded. Shaitaan loves divorce. HE comes everyday and sits office and asks the devils what they have done, some say i have made a person steal, or i have made someone drink etc. And one devil will say i have made a man divorce his wife, and he is crowned as the one who has done the best job.

35. Take the food and put it in her mouth. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam taught us this. It’s a blessing. The food doesn’t just go to her stomach, but straight to her heart. It increases the love and mercy between you.

36. Protect your wife from the evil of the shaitaan and mankind. She is like a precious pearl that needs protecting from the envy of human devils and shaitaan.

37. Show her your smile. Smile at your wife. IT’S A CHARITY.

38. Small problems/ challenges can become a big problem. Or if there is small thing she didn't like and you keep repeating them anyway, it will create a wall between you. Don’t ignore them as it can become big.

39. Avoid being harsh hearted and moody. Allah said of prophet (saw) 'if you were harsh hearted they (the companions) would have left you.' It confirms prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was not harsh hearted, so GET RID OF IT.

40. Respect her thinking. It’s strength for you. Show you like her thoughts and suggestions.

41. Help her to achieve her potential and help her to dig and find success within as her success is your success.

42. Respect the intimate relationship and its boundaries. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said she is like a fragile vessel and she needs to be treated tenderly. Sometime she may not be feeling well; you must respect and appreciate that feeling.

43. Help her to take care of the children. Some men think it makes them appear less of a man but in fact it makes you appear a bigger man and more respected, especially in the sight of Allah (swt).

44. Use the gifts of the tongue and sweet talk her. Tell her she looks great, be an artist. Pick and choose gifts of the tongue.

45. Sit down and eat with her and share food with her.

46. Let her know you are travelling. Don't tell her out of the blue as it’s against Islam. Tell her the date/ time of when you are coming back also.

47. Don't leave the house as soon as trouble brews.

48. The house has privacy and secrecy. Once you take this privacy and secrecy to your friends and family you are in danger of putting a serious hole in your marriage. This secrecy stays home. Islam is against leaving them out like a garage sale for anyone to come and pick and choose.

49. Encourage each other for ibadah, i.e. plan a trip for hajj or umrah together. It increases and strengthens the love when you help each other perform a good deeds together i.e, do tahajuud together,or go to a dars together etc.

50. Know her rights, not only written in paper but engraved in your heart and engraved in your conscious.

51. Allah( swt) said 'live with your wives in kindness.' Treat them with kindness and goodness. It means in happy times and in sadness treat her with goodness and fairness.

52. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam showed that at the time of intimacy. Don’t jump on your wife like an animal!

53. When you have a dispute with your wife don’t tell everyone. It’s like leaving your wounds open to germs so be careful who you share your problems and disputes with.

54. Show your wife you really care for her health. Good health of your wife is your good health. To care for her health shows her that you love her.

55. Don’t think you are always right. No matter how good you are you have shortcomings. You are not perfect as the only one who was perfect in character was prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam Get rid of this disease.

56. Share your problems, your happiness, and your sadness with her.

57. Have mercy on her weakness. Have mercy when she is weak or strong as she is the fragile vessel. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that your wife is a trust in your hand.

58. Remember you are her strength, someone to lean on in times of hardship.

59. Accept her as she is. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that women are created from the rib which is bent. If you try to straighten her you will break her (divorce). Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that you may dislike one habit in her but you will like another manner in her so accept her as she is.

60. Have good intention for your wife all the time, Allah monitors your intention and your heart at all times. Allah (s.w.t) said Among His Signs is that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect.._

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Why Kashmir Burns

It's our inability to talk about Kashmir outside the framework set by popular media, government propaganda and the rhetoric of nationalism, that fails us in the eyes of Kashmir today Smita Singh Bangalore/ Srinagar I was 13 in March 1991 when I reached Kashmir। My father was posted there as part of the army's Engineering Signals Regiment। I looked out as our convoy crawled through the empty streets of Srinagar, silent but for the graffiti screaming from a wall here, a poster there - 'Indian Dogs Go Away', 'We Want Freedom', 'Hizbul Mujahideen Zindabad', some incomprehensible scrawls in Urdu - until we entered the cantonment। Bungalows and beautiful lawns, tree-lined pavements and the olive green of the uniforms - comforting, familiar and welcome। The images of the ghost town receded, but not for long. It was the year of the Kanun Poshpura rapes. Kashmir was ablaze with anger at the alleged mass rape of women in the village by army soldiers of the 4th Rajputana Rifles. According to the villagers, on February 23, 1991, the men were rounded up for questioning while the soldiers entered their homes and raped the women. Women: anywhere from 23 to 100 in number, 13- to 80-year-old, married, unmarried and pregnant. After many complaints by local and international media about the lack of proper investigation, massive agitations, and more violence, a committee set up by the Press Council of India, at the request of the army, was sent to investigate the case.The Press Council is neither a government body nor an investigative one. The case was never investigated by the police because ASP Dilbaugh Singh was first said to be on leave and by July had been transferred out of the region. In its report, the committee called the allegations a hoax to malign the army, instigated by militant groups and, of course, the ubiquitous foreign hand.I returned to Kashmir 18 years later to another summer, another agitation. On May 30, 2009, the bodies of 22-year-old Neelofar and her 17-year-old sister-in-law, Asiya, were discovered in a stream in the apple town of Shopian. Their family and locals suspected foul play even as early post-mortem reports suggested rape and murder. It took no less than six months, three post-mortems, an exhumation, four suspensions of state police officers, besides the charge-sheeting of six doctors, five lawyers and two witnesses - and hundreds injured in agitations - for the CBI to conclude that there had been no rape or murder.The CBI indicted 13 people for falsifying evidence to malign the security forces. The deaths were attributed to drowning in the Rambi Ara Nallah - first of its kind in living memory. No one had ever drowned in the stream before.June 2009: the call for bandh was clear - only nervous, tense groups of browns and greens assembled, stop¬ping, checking, watching from behind bunkers, sandbags and bullet-proof glass. For the first time in my life I passed an army checkpoint without a salute to the vehicle; this time I was in a 'civilian' vehicle. We were asked to step out while an armed soldier demanded that all four wheels be taken out for a thorough check. It started to sink in that I was married to a Kashmiri Muslim and what it means to travel as a 'civilian' on this side of the cantonment.Life within the perimeters of shutdowns, curfews and agitations is a strange experience - everything comes to a standstill except the mind. With nothing to do, nowhere to go, family and friends gather around for talks and tea. A pretty college student remembers the Amarnath land row agitation. "There was a complete shutdown for a month - no TV, no news, no school or college, ration supply cut off, plus shoot at sight orders... It was like we would go mad for not screaming. Only when the protesters came out braving the security forces did we feel alive - we would make food for them and drop them in packets from windows and balconies."Traders lose money and businesses, students fail degrees, the old and sick suffer without treatment, and yet, support, from moral to material, pours forth from every corner for the call to shutdown the valley for the two girls found dead in the small town of Shopian. "The girl who died, Asiya Jan, was very good at Mathematics. I read it in the newspaper. Did you know?" the student asks. I shake my head. The names had not made it to my newspaper back in Bangalore.A neighbour drops in with video clips of anti-India sloganeering to everyone's general amusement. They are on his cell phone. "Ragdo Ragdo, India Ragdo," shout men in a frenzy, sending the girls into peals of laughter. 1990s: Shafiq, now 33, remem¬bers his teens - living through cordon and search operations. "I was 14 when a cousin and I were prodded in the back by rifles all the way to the school ground where identification parades take place. You had to walk down this path, past military vehicles inside which an informer sat. Even with loudspeakers blaring Hindi film music, you could hear screams. We'd know an interrogation is in progress. Someone has been identified. I remember getting slapped by my father once for wearing red. Colours got you in trouble, made you more noticeable... After you have been paraded, you sat down watching uncles, brothers, cousins, friends doing the routine. Rich, poor, old and young - hundreds squatting on the ground through rain, snow or sun for hours.During Ramadan, when the masjid gave a call for Iftar, we would still be sitting huddled together like cattle. Some old men would lick the sweat off their palms to break the fast. We knew some of us would never see our families again... or loud colours or music for that matter."Thousands disappeared forever and many more appeared in unmarked graves over the years since then.Srinagar opened to business as usual the next day and we felt compelled to make the perfunctory trips to the Dal Lake and the gardens. Every picture had a bunker in the background, every garden full of gregarious Indian tourists, some happily posing with the armed forces, whom we carefully avoided looking in the eye. "Picnic in Palestine," quips a cousin. I pass the gates to the cantonment - the old familiar comfort, alien and out of reach today. While returning, we get stuck in a traffic jam caused by some lal batti (red light) staff cars. A minister seems to be in a hurry. The self-disparaging Kashmiri sense of humour is never better than when the talk turns to elections and governments. "There is this anecdote that's quite popular here. A father and son on a scooter stop at a red light adjacent to Farooq Abdullah's lal batti vehicle," an uncle tells me. "To the son's enquiry, the father replies, 'That's my chief minister sitting in the front,' and pointing at the back at Omar who is then only a boy, he says, 'and that's yours.'"Back home, it's news time. Kashmiri youth call Indian media BLINDIA. "They should come here to host their panel discussions and talk shows. While our newspapers are gagged, their reporters have a free run. Even then they don't report on our rapes and murders. Why are there no vigils and investigations on Shopian?" asks Sheeba, a medical student. "It's like we don't exist till we throw stones or are killed."This screaming, writhing non-existence is not new to the Kashmiri. Its landscape, just like poverty in India, has been used for centuries to work through different narratives. It fits well in most, albeit minus its inhabitants who smudge the scene. From conniving and treacherous to hapless victims and pawns, many epithets, many portraits of the Kashmiri - none valiant, none spirited. In this mirror, they must decline to recognise themselves, as they do every day.My husband tells me of a great grand uncle's wish on his death bed, "Yile aes azaad gatchow maine kabre peth ieezew van-ne." (When Kashmir is azaad, come to my grave and let me know.) He died when Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh.Indefinable and fast receding, freedom may be a very distant dream for this generation, but their urgent demand is acknowledgment of the existence they have and of our complicity in it. It's our inability to talk about Kashmir outside the framework set by popular media, government propaganda and the rhetoric of nationalism, that fails us in the eyes of Kashmir today - both the land and its people.
Thanks: Based in Bangalore, Smita Singh is a freelance television writer working for BBC World, National Geographic, and national networks

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By LIZ GOOCH
Published: July 28, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Bright studio spotlights illuminated the faces of four nervous young men, arms linked as they anxiously awaited their fate. Cameramen stood poised, ready to capture the climactic moment. Finally, the chief judge broke the suspense.
Reality show contestants had their hair and make up done before the filming of the show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Two of the contestants had been eliminated. The other two had taken a step closer to their dream. Winners and losers, each clad in crisp, dark suits and formal black hats, took turns hugging each other.
The competition is called “Imam Muda,” or “Young Leader” — a Malaysian venture into religious-themed reality TV.
The basic premise may replicate that of reality shows like “American Idol” around the globe, but here, inside an auditorium at one of Kuala Lumpur’s largest mosques, are notable variations on the tried-and-true formula.
The prize pool, too, offers a clear indication of the detour the show takes from the usual reality show script. Cash and a new car are up for grabs, but the winner will also be offered a job as an imam, or religious leader, a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia and an all-expenses-paid pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
The show, which debuted in May with 10 contestants — whittled down from more than a thousand applicants with backgrounds ranging from banking to farming — has built an impressive following among young Malaysians. It is the most-watched show ever on Astro Oasis, a Muslim lifestyle cable channel, and its Facebook page has more than 50,000 fans.
Viewership is expected to soar on Friday, when the winner will be announced in a live broadcast from a convention hall. The two finalists have spent recent days in their hometowns, giving sermons and organizing community events. During the finale, they will be required to debate religious and news topics, as well as recite passages from the Koran.
Some political commentators say the show’s popularity reflects the increasing Islamization of this Muslim-majority nation of 28 million. The program’s creators, who are already planning a second season, say they are trying to provide an entertaining way of making Islam more relevant to the lives of the young and extending the role of religious leaders beyond the mosque.
A collaboration between Astro Oasis and a regional government’s Islamic affairs department, the show requires the contestants, ages 18 to 27, to master and demonstrate the duties of an imam through both practical and theoretical activities. In addition to preparing unclaimed corpses for burial, a task that some contestants said was particularly memorable, the men have also had to counsel wayward teenagers, console elderly people abandoned by their children and display their skills in reciting parts of the Koran.
Izelan Basar, the show’s creator and Astro Oasis’s channel manager, said his aim was to find a way to make Islam more appealing to young people.
“In every religion, the toughest challenge is to attract the youth,” he said, noting that most of the country’s imams were older men.
In preparation for the show, producers surveyed young people about the type of imam they wanted to see in their mosques.
“They said, ‘We want someone who can talk on the same wavelength, who can be one of us, an imam who can play football, can talk about the World Cup, can talk about the environment and U.F.O.’s, for example,’ ” Mr. Izelan said.
While an imam’s main duties include delivering Friday sermons and leading prayers, Mr. Izelan said that contestants were also coached for the show in public speaking, suitable dress, how to talk with children, even how to hold their cutlery, as well as studying the Koran.
Malina Ibrahim, 32, a banker who watches “Imam Muda” at home with her parents, predicted that the show would encourage young people to follow Islam more closely.
“If you have a husband in your family with that kind of knowledge, people will look up to you,” said Ms. Malina while eating lunch with friends in a food court in the city center.
The judge each week is Hasan Mahmood al-Hafiz, a former national grand imam. He says he is looking for someone with a strong grasp of Islam, but also general knowledge and communication skills, “strong morality” and open-mindedness. There is a shortage of young men with the qualities to make a good imam, he said, something he hopes the show will help change.
Through most of the show’s run, the contestants have been confined to a hostel, cut off from family and friends, newspapers, television and the Internet. One contestant, Mohammad Taufek bin Mohammad Noh, was permitted to leave briefly for his wedding, but he had to return to the hostel after the ceremony.
So the contestants heard only snippets about the show’s success from the crew, and some seemed pleasantly surprised that their performances had gained such a following, especially with female viewers.
Ahmad Hazran bin Ahmad Kamal, 25, a banker who was eliminated in the semifinal last week, confessed that while he had no problem addressing a crowd, he became nervous when talking to girls.
“But if they want to marry me, why not?” he said, smiling shyly.
On Friday, the show’s fans will discover whether Hizbur Rahman bin Omar Zuhdi, 27, or Asyraf bin Mohammad Ridzuan, 26, will be named Malaysia’s first “Imam Muda.” Mr. Hizbur, a religion schoolteacher, said he hoped to “use ‘Imam Muda’ as a platform to become a model for teenagers and the community.”
“The benefit of this program — fame — is an asset to attract youngsters to live the religion,” he said.
Mr. Asyraf, who had already worked as an imam for four months, said he joined the show because he wanted to reach more people and improve his knowledge of Islam.
“I feel so happy and blessed,” he said after learning that he had made it to the finals.
Mr. Izelan, who said he had fielded inquiries from television stations in Turkey and Egypt about producing similar shows, seems genuinely taken aback by the success of “Imam Muda.”
“We have provided a platform and some level of fame,” he said. “Where they go now is up to them.”
THANKS:A version of this article appeared in print on July 29, 2010, on page A6 of the New York edition

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दलित की बेटी से बैर क्यों !

दलित की बेटी से बैर क्यों !
सैयद एस क़मर की क़लम से
ज्योति बाफूले ,पेरियार स्वामी और बाबा साहब आंबेडकर दलित आन्दोलन के आदर्श और प्रेरक माने जाते हैं.कालांतर में बाबू जगजीवन राम और कांशीराम ने आन्दोलन को दिशा देने में अपनी महती भूमिका निभाई.आज दलित वोट के दावेदार तो कई हैं लेकिन अतिरंजना नहीं कि कांशीराम की उतराधिकारी और बहुजन समाज पार्टी के साथ-साथ उत्तर प्रदेश की मुखिया मायावती की पहुँच दलित समाज में सीधी है.
मुसलमान भी उनसे इस मसले पर खफा रहा कि उन्होंने कुख्यात मुख्यमंत्री को समर्थन किया था.जिसके रहनुमाई में गुजरात जैसा मुस्लिम विरोधी नरसंहार हुआ.क्या मुसलमान इस सच से अनजान हैं कि सबसे पहले जनता पार्टी ने ही पुरानी भाजपा जनसंघ को बढ़ावा दिया.और तब के जामा मस्जिद के इमाम बुखारी ने भी सार्वजानिक रैलियों को खिताब किया था.क्या आप उसके बाद यह भी भूल गए कि वी पी सिंह के दौर में ही भाजपा सरकार में आई और उसकी संख्या अचानक उछाल पर आई.आप यह भी नज़र अंदाज़ कर रहे हैं कि बिहार में भाजपा के साथ कौन है!आप यह न भूलें कि बहुजन वाहिद दल रहा जिसने सबसे पहले सबसे ज़्यादा लोकसभा या विधान सभा की टिकटें मुसलमानों को दी.उत्तर प्रदेश में जीत कर आने वाले इस दल से मुसलमान अधिक रहे. मायावती पर तरह तरह के आरोप लगे हैं और लगते रहते हैं. प्रदेश की सियासत में अब सत्ता भोग चुके और दल करीब-करीब दूसरे ,तीसरे या चौथे पाइदान पर हैं.स्वाभाविक है, उन पर आरोप लगेंगे.सबसे ज़्यादा धन-सम्पत्ती रखने के साथ दलितों का ही उत्थान नहीं करने के आरोप उन पर हैं.लेकिन उनके समर्थकों ने इन सारे आरोपों को सवर्ण मीडिया की उपज बताया है.आप असहमत हो सकते हैं !डी एस फॉर से बहुजन समाज पार्टी तक का सफ़र निसंदेह बहुत कंटीला है.कांशीराम के जीवन को होम कर इस समाज को जो शक्ती और ऊर्जा मिली है उसमें मायावती का भी योगदान है किंचित सही , आप इस से इनकार नहीं कर सकते.राजनीति में आने से पहले एक सरकारी स्कूल में पढ़ाने वाली मायावती इतनी धनवान कैसे बन गई सवाल के साथ आरोप है! लेकिन लोग भूल जाते हैं कि इस पार्टी का सिद्धांत शुरू से ही रहा है एक वोट और एक नोट.कांशीराम कहा करते थे. इस नोट के साथ उस व्यक्ति का जुड़ाव अपने आप समाज और दल के साथ हो जाता है.आज स्थितियां बदली हैं, और जुड़ाव के तरीके भी.देश और समाज में इधर दो दशक से वैभव आया है.मायावती अगर धन लेती हैं तो इसका उपयोग सिर्फ निजी नहीं होता, सार्वजानिक भी होता है.यानी दल के लिए आज पैसा ज़रूरी है.देश की हर राजनितिक पार्टी बड़े उद्योगपतियों से धन लेती है.बहुजन लेती है तो खुजली क्यों !और दलों या सियासी लोगों की तरह बहन जी गुप्त तरीके से न पैसे की उगाही करती हैं न ही उन्हें जमा करती हैं देश से बाहर किसी हसीं वादियों वाले देश में. पार्टी समर्थक खुद पैसा देते हैं.सब कुछ पारदर्शी होता है. अपना जन्मदिन हो या पार्टी की रैली, तोहफे के रूप में कार्यकर्ताओं से बड़ी-बड़ी रकम सार्वजनिक रूप से ग्रहण करने की अनूठी कला सिर्फ मायावती ही जानती हैं। बाबा साहब आम्बेडकर और कांशीराम के सपनों को साकार करते हुए दलित उत्थान की बातें करने वाली मायावती क्या यह बता सकती हैं कि उनके सत्ता में आने के बाद किसका उत्थान हो रहा है। उन दलितों का, जो उन्हें वोट और नोट के साथ कुर्सी पर बिठाते हैं, या फिर सत्ता भोग रहे मायावती और उन जैसे चन्द नेताओं का। ऐसे सवाल और दलों से क्यों नहीं !दरअसल पहले होता यह था कि कुछ लोग मैदान में खेला करते थे और दूसरे सिर्फ देखा करते.उन्हें सिर्फ तालियाँ बजाने दिया जाता.आज वही तालियाँ बजानेवाला तबका खुद खेलने लगा है और धीरे-धीरे पहले के खिलाड़ी धकियाये जा रहे हैं.सहज है उनका कोफ़्त होना .जहां तक कुछ कमियों का सवाल है तो व्यवस्था अभी वही है, सदियों पुरानी.सरकार बदल जाने से सम्पूर्ण व्यवस्था में आमूल परिवर्तन नहीं हो जाता.और जो समाज सदियों से शोषित रहा उस से आप अचानक संभ्रात शालीनता या अनुशासन की उम्मीद कैसे कर सकते हैं. सार्वजनिक रैलियों में करोड़ों रूपए की माला पहनने वाली मायावती को कार्यकर्ता पैसा देते हैं । राजनीति में रहने वालों के लिए जनता का स्नेह और विश्वास ही सबसे बड़ी पूंजी होती है, और यह बड़ी धनराशि बताती है कि उस पूंजी की मायावती के पास कोई कमी नहीं है।महज 54 साल की उम्र में उत्तरप्रदेश जैसे सबसे बड़े राज्य का चौथी बार मुख्यमंत्री बनना यह जताने के लिए पर्याप्त है कि जनता का विश्वास उनमें है। जनता ने उनमें जो आस्था जताई है उसे काम के जरिये मायावती उन्हें लौटाना भी जानती हैं और लौटा भी रही हैं.हाँ यह आरोप किसी हद तक सही हो सकता है उन्होंने विकास के लिए अधिकाँश उन्हीं क्षेत्रों का चयन किया जहां दलितों की आबादी ज़्यादा हो.। केंद्र की बैठकों से प्राय: दूर रहने वाली मायावती पिछले दिनों आयोजित राष्ट्रीय विकास परिषद की बैठक भले नहीं आई। लेकिन उनके प्रतिनिधि के बतौर शामिल हुए प्रदेश के वित्त मंत्री लालजी वर्मा ने बहन जी का जो भाषण पढ़ा। उसमें यह साफ़ है कि उनकी सरकार राज्य में समाज के बिल्कुल पायदान पर खड़े दलित, शोषित, पिछड़े वंचित व उपेक्षित तथा सर्वण समाज के गरीब लोगों को सबसे पहले सहारा देकर उनकों आगे बढ़ने का मौका देन की कोशिश कर रही है। मुख्यमंत्री ने कहा कि हमारी हर नीति और फैसले के केंद्र में इन्हीं वर्गो को रखा गया है। इन्हीं वर्गो की बुनियादी सुविधाओं को सबसे अधिक तहजीह दी गई है। जमीनी जरूरतों के साथ साथ सर्वजन हिताय व सर्वजन सुखाय की अपनी नीति से जोड़ा है। मायावती की सफलता इसमें मानी जाएगी कि वे जनता से किए वादों को कितना पूरा कर पाती हैं और राज्य को कितना आगे ले जा पाती हैं।
स्कूलों में दलित रसोइया हो या नहीं प्रदेश का ताज़ा मुद्दा है. पहले भी यह विवाद हो चुका है, जब 2007 में उत्तर प्रदेश के तत्कालीन मुख्य सचिव के 24 अक्टूबर 2007 के रसोइये के चयन मे आरक्षण लागू करने के आदेश के बाद ये चिंगारी भड़क गयी थी और कन्नौज जनपद के मलिकपुर प्राथमिक और जूनियर विद्यालय में प्रधान ने पहले से खाना बना रही पिछड़ी जाति की महिला को हटाकर दलित महिला को लगा दिया था राजनितिक विश्लेषकों का कहना है कि उत्तर प्रदेश में इस साल पंचायत के चुनाव होने है ऐसे में वर्तमान प्रधानो/सरपंचो को गाँव में जातीय राजनीती करने के स्कूल के मिड डे मील का अखाडा मिल गया है व्यवस्था को सामान्य रूप से चलाने के लिए पिछले उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार के आरक्षण आदेश को पिछले तीन साल से अनदेखा करने वाले प्रधान अब अपनी प्रधानी के अंतिम चरण में इसे लागू क्यूँ करना चाहते है लोकतंत्र की सबसे छोटी इकाई ग्राम पंचायत में अचानक यह दलित प्रेम जागना वोटो की राजनीती भी हो सकती है अभी-अभी खबर जो कहती है , उसके मुताबिक शासन ने मिडडे मील पकाने वाले रसोईयों की नियुक्ति में लागू आरक्षण व्यवस्था को समाप्त कर दिया है। दरअसल , स्कूल छोड़ देंगे, लेकिन दलित के हाथ का बना खाना नहीं खायेंगे। जैसे जातिवादी नारे गली-गली में लगवाए जा रहे थे. यह सब अपने अपने वोटो को इकठ्ठा रखने का बढ़िया हथियार भी हो सकता है अब नियुक्तियों में विधवा, निराश्रित, और तलाकशुदा महिलाओं को प्राथमिकता दी जायेगी।
पिछले महीनों कांग्रेस के युवा और चर्चित हस्ताक्षर राहुल गाँधी ने कहा, 'देश का भविष्य गाँव और गरीबों के हाथ में है, केंद्र से राष्ट्रीय ग्रामीण रोजगार योजना के तहत करोड़ों रुपए आ रहे हैं, जिससे दलितों और गरीबों को फायदा होता है, लेकिन राज्य सरकार इस दिशा में ठीक से काम नहीं कर रही है।'बहन जी उलटवार कर कहती हैं कि केंद्र सरकार चाह कर भी महंगाई को रोकने में नाकाम है। गरीबों का जीना दूभर हो गया है। लिहाजा केंद्र गरीबों को राहत के लिए पर्याप्त व्यवस्था करे। उत्तर प्रदेश की मुख्यमंत्री मायावती ने कहा है कि उत्तर प्रदेश में गरीबी रेखा से नीचे [बीपीएल] जीवन-यापन करने वाले परिवारों की संख्या काफी बढ़ गई है। उनका राशन कार्ड बनाने के लिए केंद्र अब भी 2002 की ही सूची पर अटका हुआ है। इस बाबत राज्य सरकार का प्रस्ताव अर्से से केंद्र के पास लंबित है। बहनजी ने सारा ठीकरा केंद्र पर ही उतारा है और विकास के असमान वितरण के लिए कांग्रेस को दोषी ठहराया है.
इस महत्वपूर्ण कहे जाने वाली राष्ट्रीय विकास परिषद् की बैठक में बहन जी भले न आई हों लेकिन उन्होंने अपने लिखित भाषण के द्वारा जो बातें कही हैं फितरतन उनके समर्थकों में हर्ष ही व्याप्त है. उन्होंने दलगत और धर्मगत राजनीति से हटकर काम करने की ज़रुरत पर भी बल दिया है।



साभार :Hamzabaan हमज़बान ھمز با ن

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Veiled Threats?By MARTHA NUSSBAUM

The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless. Tags:descrimination, equality, Human Rights, Islam, muslim veiling, philosophy, religion, women In Spain earlier this month, the Catalonian assembly narrowly rejected a proposed ban on the Muslim burqa in all public places — reversing a vote the week before in the country’s upper house of parliament supporting a ban। Similar proposals may soon become national law in France and Belgium. Even the headscarf often causes trouble. In France, girls may not wear it in school. In Germany (as in parts of Belgium and the Netherlands) some regions forbid public school teachers to wear it on the job, although nuns and priests are permitted to teach in full habit. What does political philosophy have to say about these developments? As it turns out, a long philosophical and legal tradition has reflected about similar matters.

What is it to treat people with equal respect in areas touching on religious belief and observance?
Let’s start with an assumption that is widely shared: that all human beings are equal bearers of human dignity. It is widely agreed that government must treat that dignity with equal respect. But what is it to treat people with equal respect in areas touching on religious belief and observance?
We now add a further premise: that the faculty with which people search for life’s ultimate meaning — frequently called “conscience” ─ is a very important part of people, closely related to their dignity. And we add one further premise, which we might call the vulnerability premise: this faculty can be seriously damaged by bad worldly conditions. It can be stopped from becoming active, and it can even be violated or damaged within. (The first sort of damage, which the 17th-century American philosopher Roger Williams compared to imprisonment, happens when people are prevented from outward observances required by their beliefs. The second sort, which Williams called “soul rape,” occurs when people are forced to affirm convictions that they may not hold, or to give assent to orthodoxies they don’t support.) The vulnerability premise shows us that giving equal respect to conscience requires tailoring worldly conditions so as to protect both freedom of belief and freedom of expression and practice. Thus the framers of the United States Constitution concluded that protecting equal rights of conscience requires “free exercise” for all on a basis of equality. What does that really mean, and what limits might reasonably be placed upon religious activities in a pluralistic society? The philosophical architects of our legal tradition could easily see that when peace and safety are at stake, or the equal rights of others, some reasonable limits might be imposed on what people do in the name of religion. But they grasped after a deeper and more principled rationale for these limits and protections. Here the philosophical tradition splits. One strand, associated with another 17-century English philosopher, John Locke, holds that protecting equal liberty of conscience requires only two things: laws that do not penalize religious belief, and laws that are non-discriminatory about practices, applying the same laws to all in matters touching on religious activities. An example of a discriminatory law, said Locke, would be one making it illegal to speak Latin in a Church, but not restricting the use of Latin in schools. Obviously, the point of such a law would be to persecute Roman Catholics. But if a law is not persecutory in this way, it may stand, even though it may incidentally impose burdens on some religious activities more than on others. If people find that their conscience will not permit them to obey a certain law (regarding military service, say, or work days), they had better follow their conscience, says Locke, but they will have to pay the legal penalty. A modern Lockean case, decided by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1993, concerned an ordinance passed by the city of Hialeah, Fla., which made “ritual animal sacrifice” illegal, but permitted the usual ways of killing animals for food. The Court, invalidating the law, reasoned that it was a deliberate form of persecution directed at Santeria worshippers.
Erin Schell Another tradition, associated with Roger Williams, the founder of the colony of Rhode Island and the author of copious writings on religious freedom, holds that protection for conscience must be stronger than this. This tradition reasons that laws in a democracy are always made by majorities and will naturally embody majority ideas of convenience. Even if such laws are not persecutory in intent, they may turn out to be very unfair to minorities. In cases in which such laws burden liberty of conscience ─ for example by requiring people to testify in court on their holy day, or to perform military service that their religion forbids, or to abstain from the use of a drug required in their sacred ceremony ─ this tradition held that a special exemption, called an “accommodation,” should be given to the minority believer.
Do the arguers really believe that domestic violence is a peculiarly Muslim problem? If they do, they are dead wrong.
On the whole, the accommodationist position has been dominant in U. S. law and public culture ─ ever since George Washington wrote a famous letter to the Quakers explaining that he would not require them to serve in the military because the “conscientious scruples of all men” deserve the greatest “delicacy and tenderness.” For a time, modern constitutional law in the U. S. applied an accommodationist standard, holding that government may not impose a “substantial burden” on a person’s “free exercise of religion” without a “compelling state interest” (of which peace and safety are obvious examples, though not the only ones). The landmark case articulating this principle concerned a woman, Adell Sherbert, who was a Seventh-Day Adventist and whose workplace introduced a sixth workday, Saturday. Fired because she refused to work on that day, she sought unemployment compensation from the state of South Carolina and was denied on the grounds that she had refused “suitable work.” The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in her favor, arguing that the denial of benefits was like fining Mrs. Sherbert for her nonstandard practices: it was thus a denial of her equal freedom to worship in her own way. There was nothing wrong in principle with choosing Sunday as the day of rest, but there was something wrong with not accommodating Mrs. Sherbert’s special religious needs. I believe that the accommodationist principle is more adequate than Locke’s principle, because it reaches subtle forms of discrimination that are ubiquitous in majoritarian democratic life. It has its problems, however. One (emphasized by Justice Scalia, when he turned our constitutional jurisprudence toward the Lockean standard in 1990) is that it is difficult for judges to administer. Creating exemptions to general laws on a case by case basis struck Scalia as too chaotic, and beyond the competence of the judiciary. The other problem is that the accommodationist position has typically favored religion and disfavored other reasons people may have for seeking an exemption to general laws. This is a thorny issue that requires lengthy discussion, for which there is no room here. But we don’t need it, because the recent European cases all involve discriminatory laws that fail to pass even the weaker Lockean test. Let’s focus on the burqa; arguments made there can be adapted to other cases. Five arguments are commonly made in favor of proposed bans. Let’s see whether they treat all citizens with equal respect. First, it is argued that security requires people to show their faces when appearing in public places. A second, closely related, argument says that the kind of transparency and reciprocity proper to relations between citizens is impeded by covering part of the face. What is wrong with both of these arguments is that they are applied inconsistently. It gets very cold in Chicago – as, indeed, in many parts of Europe. Along the streets we walk, hats pulled down over ears and brows, scarves wound tightly around noses and mouths. No problem of either transparency or security is thought to exist, nor are we forbidden to enter public buildings so insulated. Moreover, many beloved and trusted professionals cover their faces all year round: surgeons, dentists, (American) football players, skiers and skaters. What inspires fear and mistrust in Europe, clearly, is not covering per se, but Muslim covering.A reasonable demand might be that a Muslim woman have a full face photo on her driver’s license or passport. With suitable protections for modesty during the photographic session, such a photo might possibly be required. However, we know by now that the face is a very bad identifier. At immigration checkpoints, eye-recognition and fingerprinting technologies have already replaced the photo. When these superior technologies spread to police on patrol and airport security lines, we can do away with the photo, hence with what remains of the first and second arguments. A third argument, very prominent today, is that the burqa is a symbol of male domination that symbolizes the objectification of women (that they are being seen as mere objects). A Catalonian legislator recently called the burqa a “degrading prison.” The first thing we should say about this argument is that the people who make it typically don’t know much about Islam and would have a hard time saying what symbolizes what in that religion. But the more glaring flaw in the argument is that society is suffused with symbols of male supremacy that treat women as objects. Sex magazines, nude photos, tight jeans — all of these products, arguably, treat women as objects, as do so many aspects of our media culture. And what about the “degrading prison” of plastic surgery? Every time I undress in the locker room of my gym, I see women bearing the scars of liposuction, tummy tucks, breast implants. Isn’t much of this done in order to conform to a male norm of female beauty that casts women as sex objects? Proponents of the burqa ban do not propose to ban all these objectifying practices. Indeed, they often participate in them. And banning all such practices on a basis of equality would be an intolerable invasion of liberty. Once again, then, the opponents of the burqa are utterly inconsistent, betraying a fear of the different that is discriminatory and unworthy of a liberal democracy. The way to deal with sexism, in this case as in all, is by persuasion and example, not by removing liberty. Once again, there is a reasonable point to be made in this connection. When Turkey banned the veil long ago, there was a good reason in that specific context: because women who went unveiled were being subjected to harassment and violence. The ban protected a space for the choice to be unveiled, and was legitimate so long as women did not have that choice. We might think of this as a “substantial burden” justified (temporarily) by a “compelling state interest.” But in today’s Europe women can dress more or less as they please; there is no reason for the burden to religious liberty that the ban involves. A fourth argument holds that women wear the burqa only because they are coerced. This is a rather implausible argument to make across the board, and it is typically made by people who have no idea what the circumstances of this or that individual woman are. We should reply that of course all forms of violence and physical coercion in the home are illegal already, and laws against domestic violence and abuse should be enforced much more zealously than they are. Do the arguers really believe that domestic violence is a peculiarly Muslim problem? If they do, they are dead wrong. According to the U. S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, intimate partner violence made up 20 percentof all nonfatal violent crime experienced by women in 2001. The National Violence Against Women Survey, cited on the B.J.S. Web site, reports that 52 percent of surveyed women said they were physically assaulted as a child by an adult caretaker and/or as an adult by any type of perpetrator. There is no evidence that Muslim families have a disproportionate amount of such violence. Indeed, given the strong association between domestic violence and the abuse of alcohol, it seems at least plausible that observant Muslim families will turn out to have less of it.
RelatedMore From The StoneRead previous contributions to this series.Go to All Posts »
Suppose there were evidence that the burqa was strongly associated, statistically, with violence against women. Could government could legitimately ban it on those grounds? The U. S. Supreme Court has held that nude dancing may be banned on account of its contingent association with crime, including crimes against women, but it is not clear that this holding was correct. College fraternities are very strongly associated with violence against women, and some universities have banned all or some fraternities as a result. But private institutions are entitled to make such regulations; a total governmental ban on the male drinking club (or on other places where men get drunk, such as soccer matches) would certainly be a bizarre restriction of associational liberty. What is most important, however, is that anyone proposing to ban the burqa must consider it together with these other cases, weigh the evidence, and take the consequences for their own cherished hobbies. Societies are certainly entitled to insist that all women have a decent education and employment opportunities that give them exit options from any home situation they may dislike If people think that women only wear the burqa because of coercive pressure, let them create ample opportunities for them, at the same time enforce laws making primary and secondary education compulsory, and then see what women actually do.Finally, I’ve heard the argument that the burqa is per se unhealthy, because it is hot and uncomfortable. (Not surprisingly, this argument is made in Spain.) This is perhaps the silliest of the arguments. Clothing that covers the body can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the fabric. In India I typically wear a full salwaar kameez of cotton, because it is superbly comfortable, and full covering keeps dust off one’s limbs and at least diminishes the risk of skin cancer. It is surely far from clear that the amount of skin displayed in typical Spanish female dress would meet with a dermatologist’s approval. But more pointedly, would the arguer really seek to ban all uncomfortable and possibly unhealthy female clothing? Wouldn’t we have to begin with high heels, delicious as they are? But no, high heels are associated with majority norms (and are a major Spanish export), so they draw no ire. All five arguments are discriminatory. We don’t even need to reach the delicate issue of religiously grounded accommodation to see that they are utterly unacceptable in a society committed to equal liberty. Equal respect for conscience requires us to reject them.
[For more on this issue, visit the Times Topics page on Muslim veiling.]

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Sayed Ahmed Qadri Gaya

Syed Ahmed Quadri (Urdu: سيد احمد قادري ) is a famous urdu writer, educationist and a journalist of Gaya.
Ancestry
Syed Ahmed Quadri born in Gaya. He was the son of the Urdu Novelist Syed Badar Auranga Badi.

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HAS ALLAH NOT GIVEN US THE RESOURCES?

HAS ALLAH NOT GIVEN US THE RESOURCES?

Recognize how many important resources are within Muslim control.
To mention just a few...........


70% of world oil reserves, totaling 550 billion barrels, are in "Muslim countries." (U.S. Geological Survey & Oil and Gas Journal)
49% of the world's Natural Gas reserves, totaling 2532 trillion cubic feet, are in Muslim majority countries. (Oil and Gas Journal)
21% of world production of Uranium, totaling 6,421 tons annually, is from "Muslim countries." (The Journal of the Uranium Institute)

Aren't Our Resources What We Were Colonized For?
Saudi Arabian Crude Oil and Petroleum products alone generated $43.2 billion in revenue in 1999.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "People share in three things--The water, the graze, and the fire (includes power resources)" (Abu Dawud)
This hadith establishes public ownership of the natural resources in the Islamic State.
If money from the Ummah's resources today were distributed according to Allah's Laws, nobody in the Islamic State would be living below poverty level. Do we need relief organizations, or international aid? Or do we need the backbone to establish all the systems of Islam? For example, 717-720 C.E: Khalifa Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz: Under the Khalifa's guardianship, there was no poverty in the Islamic State. No one qualified for Zakah money, so the money was sent out of the State to free slaves in Europe.

DO WE NOT SUFFICE IN NUMBERS?
Today, there are an estimated 1.4 - 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.They form about ¼ of the world's population. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish." Someone asked: "Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?" He replied: "No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will remove the fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and put enervation into your hearts." Someone asked: "What is enervation?" The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) replied: "Love of the world and dislike of death." (Abu Dawud)

IS IT ARMIES WE LACK? OR THE SHIELD?
837 C.E.: Khalifa Mutasim sends the entire army of the Islamic State in response to the call for help of only one Muslim woman, who was captured by the Romans, and rescues her.
1993: Approximately 30,000 Muslim women were raped in Bosnia alone.Their cries for help not met.
Muslims have 119,381,333 million men available in their militaries,and 72,247,573 in military manpower fit for service.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Behold, the Imam (Khalifa) is but a shield from behind whom the people fight and by whom they protect themselves." (Muslim)

ARE WE NOT AWARE THAT NATIONALISM IS HARAAM
The Muslim Ummah, which should be One, is today divided into 53 different countries, where Muslims form the majority by religion.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The Muslim Ummah is a unique Ummah among the whole of mankind: Their Land is one, their War is one, their Peace is one, their Honor is one and their Trust is one." (Ahmed)
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "People should give up their pride in nations because that is a Coal from the Coals of Hell-Fire." (Abu Dawud & Tirmidhi)
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "He is not one of us who calls for asabiyyah, (nationalism) or who fights for asabiyyah or who dies for asabiyyah." (Abu Dawud)

OUR POWER IS IN RE-ESTABLISHING THE SYSTEMS OF ISLAM.
As a Muslim community, we do not lack any type of assets - whether it be natural resources, our numbers, or our capabilities. We have the power to be successful in this world and in the hereafter.
What we lack is the proper implementation of this power. What we lack is the proper organization of the State. We have the perfect solution for our current condition in the form of the Islamic systems. The longer we delay in implementing this solution, the more will our resources be wasted in mismanagement and extortion, and the longer the Muslim Ummah suffers.




Thanks
Council on American-Islamic Relations
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