Blogger: Hakim Abdullah
Article: Shakiel Humayun: The World of Jinn
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-23 02:00:13

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Godly Religions
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-20 19:09:08

Godly religions’ exhibition in Tehran. See more pictures here.

p.s. More pictures,

Blogger: Chaldean Thoughts
Article: The Murder of Sister Karen Klimczak
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-19 14:41:00

UPDATE - Mar. 10, 2007
On Wednesday, Craig M. Lynch, the murderer of Sr. Karen Klimczak was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Since her murder, I asked myself, “What does Sr. Karen think of her murderer?.” Knowing her work of peace, I had a feeling she has already forgiven him. I wasn’t mistaken. The Buffalo News reports:

Fifteen years before Sister Karen Klimczak was strangled by an ex-convict

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Life is normal for Iran’s Jews, says leader
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-19 10:23:17

Blogger: Jewschool
Article: Interfaith Chanukah Gathering in Jerusalem
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-18 18:38:23

If you’re looking looking for a some interreligious dialogue and good times to make your Chanukah complete, this Tuesday night is the Interfaith Hannukah Celebration with the Abrahamic Reunion at the Van Leer Institute (right next to the President’s House on Rechov HaNasi). Details:

The Abrahamic Reunion, a group of Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Jewish religious and spiritual leaders invites everyone to an interfaith celebration of the fifth candle of Chanukah on Tuesday, Dec 19, starting at 5:00 PM

Rav Ari Smadja, the Chief Rabbi of Ramat Shlomo, will give teachings in the spirit of Hannukah.

There will be music and piyutim for Chanukah and food. The Chanukah candles will be kindled with blessings for peace by Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze religious leaders from the Abrahamic Reunion including religious leaders and spiritual leaders.

Planned to be there is an all-star cast including Druze Sheikh Hussein Abu Rukkun, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari of the Old City Sufi Center, Ibtisam Mahamid of the Women’s Interfaith Encounter Network, Greek Melkite Deacon Jiries Mansour, Reverend Abuna Abu Hatoum of Nazareth, Ibrahim Abuelhawa of the Mount of Olives, Elias Jabbour of the International House of Hope, Imam Khalil Albaz of the Bedouin community of Tel Sheva, Elana Roszenman of the Women’s Interfaith Encounter Network, Sderot Chief Rabbi Zion Cohen and other special guests.

For more info: Eliyahu at 02-563-7578 or 050-569-1697.

Blogger: Hakim Abdullah
Article: Secular Nationalism & Jahiliyyah
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-17 19:48:32

As I have previously discussed on Wa Salaam, I think many of the problems of the Middle East (M.E.) stem from socio-political events occurring at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. However, reaching this far back is too difficult to make conclusive and believable arguments, especially since no one […]

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: World Press Coverage of Egypt’s Baha’i Verdict
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-16 13:45:00

Among many news agencies, the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, the BBC, International Herald Tribune (1), International Herald Tribune (2), Guardian Unlimited, Agence France Presse (AFP), The Daily Star, Arab News, The Washington Times, al-Jazeera, al-Jazeera (English), al-Arabiya, Middle East Online and Yahoo News have published Press Releases such as the one below:

The verdict throws the status of Egypt’s Bahai community into limbo

An Egyptian court denied Bahais Saturday the right to state their religion on official documents and described them as pro-Israeli apostates, in a landmark case condemned by rights organisations.

The appeal, seen as a test of religious freedom in the Arab world’s most populated country, left Egypt’s 2,000-string Bahai community suspended in a constitutional vacuum.

The supreme administrative court ruled against the right of Hossam Ezzat Mussa and his wife, Rania Enayat, to state their religion on official documents.

Judge Sayed Nofal, speaking after reading out the verdict, said “the constitution promotes freedom of belief for the three recognised heavenly religions and they are Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

“As for the Bahais, Islamic jurists have all agreed that the Bahai faith is not one of the three recognised religions,” he said.

“Those who belong to this religion are apostates of Islam, because the faith’s principles contradict the Islamic religion and all other religions.”

The couple had filed the case in 2004. In April this year a lower court ruled in their favour.

In May, however, the decision was suspended by the Supreme Administrative Court pending an appeal by the interior ministry, and the couple’s identity cards were confiscated.

Saturday’s verdict throws the status of Egypt’s Bahai community into limbo, in a country where carrying identity papers at all times is required by law and essential for access to employment, education, medical and financial services.

Without the official ID cards, Bahais cannot apply for jobs, buy property, open bank accounts or register their children in schools. They are also subject to arrest for not carrying valid identity papers.

Human rights organisations condemned the court’s decision.

“It’s a regrettable decision, but it’s a crisis for the government more than for the Bahais,” said Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who has closely monitored the case.

“Now the government is forced to find a solution for the hundreds of citizens who have no papers,” he said.

About 20 Bahais attended Saturday’s court session with large ID cards hanging around their necks, with the word ‘Bahai’ written in large letters. [Correction: those demonstrating with signs were not Baha’is, but rather human rights activists supporting the Baha’is].

A handful of other people attended the session and broke out into the Islamic chants of “God is Greatest” and “There is no god but God” as soon as the verdict was read out.

Despite the fact that Bahais have been in Egypt for as long as the religion has existed — 163 years — most Egyptians had not heard of the religion until the April ruling.

The faith was founded in 19th-century Persia. It promotes the idea of progressive religious revelation, resulting in the acceptance of most of the world’s religions.

Under the late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Bahais were suspected of collaborating with Israel because the faith’s highest governing institution is based in Haifa. In 1960, Bahai assemblies and institutions were dissolved.

The Judge in Saturday’s hearings reiterated the accusation.

“One of the first goals of the Bahai movement is to maintain their relationship with the occupying powers, which embraces them and protects them,” he said.

Of the faith’s 12 principles, which include the unity of mankind, the elimination of all forms of prejudice, gender equality and independent investigation of truth, it is obedience to government that is most highlighted in Egypt.

Egyptian Bahais do not join political parties, take part in demonstrations or hold elections for their spiritual assemblies.

“We don’t want to cause problems. We just want to exercise our rights as Egyptian citizens,” Labib Hanna, professor of engineering at Cairo University recently said.

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Home Support for Egyptian Baha’is
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-14 22:47:00

Today, in Manal & Alaa’s Egyptian blog, a post was also prominently featured calling for support of the Egyptian Baha’is in their landmark case which is to be ruled on by the Supreme Administrative Court this coming Saturday, 16 December. As one of the world’s most popular blogs Manal & Alaa ranks in “Technorati” between 1,000 and 3,000 out of millions of blogs.

The post is entitled “A stand in solidarity with the Egyptian Baha’is for the purpose of their right to document their religion, or writing-in ‘other’ in the religion section of official documents.”

Then it states:

Location: The State’s Judicial Assembly–Giza street–next to Cairo Sheraton.

Organizer: The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights + Egyptian Bloggers and Individuals Against Religious Discrimination.

Description: The Egyptian Ministry of Interior requires the citizens to acquire and carry identification cards and legal documents such as birth certificates and others…it also requires that the religion section be filled-in, and refuses leaving it blank…but at the same time it prevents the Egyptian Baha’is from documenting their religion in official documents, or obtain birth certificates for their children who are born to Egyptian Baha’i parents, and does not leave them a choice but to lie [deceive] in choosing between Muslim or Christian…even though these are religions that they do not belong to, and they demand to enter the word “other” in the religion section.

Join us in the stand in solidarity on Saturday, 16 December in front of the State’s Judicial Assembly from 10 to 11 in the morning for the right of all Egyptians to a just homeland for all its sons.

Several other independent Egyptian blogs continue their campaign in publicizing this event and in proclaiming their support for the Baha’is, such as the one by “3arabawy” and another one in a blog named “Arabist.” A simple search will divulge several other Egyptian blogs with the same message of solidarity and support.

On Saturday, the panel of senior judges sitting at Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court will have to reach a just decision based on constitutional guarantees for all Egyptian citizens. Any judgement they make will have an enormous impact on the cause of civil liberties in Egypt for decades to come, impacting many other Egyptians.

The Baha’is are simply asking to be able to exercise their rights to citizenship, to be able to obtain employment, get educated, travel, register their children when they are born, open bank accounts, drive their vehicles with a valid license, have their marriages recognized and legalized, be able to obtain pensions due to them, be able to vote and contribute to society, have their dead buried with dignity and obtain their death certificates, be able to obtain passports, and simply become recognized as human beings…none of this can be accomplished without being permitted to obtain ID Cards as well as all other required official documents. The case is not about recognizing the Baha’i Faith, it is simply about citizenship!

Blogger: Chaldean Thoughts
Article: Praying With The Iraqi People
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-14 20:42:00

A Christian Science Monitor journalist/Writer/Contributer wrote last week:

Does it matter that Iraq is almost completely a Muslim society and I’m a Christian? As I pondered this question, I found where Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this newspaper, wrote: “God is universal; confined to no spot, defined by no dogma, appropriated by no sect. Not more to one than to all, is God demonstrable as

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: The discrete and inconspicuous Jews of Iraq
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-13 09:16:24

David Sheena, who left Baghdad in 1955 for the US, describes the gathering storm of anti-Jewish oppression as he was growing up. Extracts follow from his article of 7 December in the Jewish Advocate (with thanks: Israel B).

“As a child, I was not aware of the long and rich history of our people, but I was aware that I was comfortable, and a part of that people. Even so, I was keenly sensitive to our position as Jews in a Muslim country. We were educated, economically well-off, and part of the cultural elite of Iraq. Our life was rich and substantial, but we had to be discrete, watchful and inconspicuous. We could not expose our Judaism; there were no Jewish stars, no openly displayed Hebrew and our talitot had no overtly Jewish symbols.

“I began to sense that something was not right, that all was not in place.(..) I felt around me the tangible fear as the witch hunt began for Zionists around 1949 and 1950.

“I remember the vague apprehension that was felt everywhere and the stories being told around 1950 of houses being targeted for searches for any Zionist connection. I recall my mother and father sanitizing our house and burning anything that could be incriminating. It was obvious that this was the ‘revenge’ of the Iraqis on the native ‘enemy’ Jewish population; after all the Iraqi Jews were also the people of Israel who had just humiliated Iraq - among other Arab countries - in Israel’s war of independence in 1948.

“In 1950 after outbreaks of anti-Jewish riots, Iraqi Jews were compelled to renounce their citizenship and leave for ‘parts unknown’ (Israel would never be publicly acknowledged to exist) under the Law of ‘Surrender of Iraqi Nationality’. After virtually the entire Jewish population registered to leave, the state froze all assets and property, effectively robbing the Jews of their life savings. Only Israel was willing to rescue the Iraqi Jews during this ’second exodus’. (…)

“It was such a surprise for me in America to first hear someone say publicly out loud: ‘give this to the Rabbi’. That is when I knew I was in America.”

Read article in full (subscription required)