Articles

Muslim governments, vying with each other to demonstrate their readiness to back the so-called war against terrorism, are tightening the noose on Islamic charities and schools, controlling their funding, enrollment and curricula to eradicate ‘Islamic extremism’.

Deep divisions in the interim Afghan government, papered over and ignored under American pressure, erupted last month when Abdul Rahman, the minister of aviation and tourism, was beaten to death on the tarmac of Kabul airport on February 14.

The International Prisoners of Faith conference organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission attracted a larger crowd than expected in London on 17 February 2002. During the day-long event academics, ulama, Islamic activists and IHRC officers addressed attendees on aspects of imprisonment for one’s beliefs.

Vladimir Putin — a former KGB operative plucked from obscurity by President Boris Yeltsin, who appointed him prime minister of Russia — used the Chechen war to secure his election as president in March 2000, and continues to exploit it to maintain his popularity while conceding privately that victory is not on the cards.

The Management of Islamic Activism: Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood and State Power in Jordan by Quintan Wiktorowicz. Pub: State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 2001. Pp: 205. Pbk: $18.95.

The annual celebrations of the Islamic Revolution in Iran on February 11 were marked this year by mass defiance of the US after George Bush’s State of the Union address on January 29 promised action against an "axis of evil" comprised of Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

Under George Bush the US is well on its way to establishing a commonwealth of social and moral lepers whose members include such outcasts as the zionist state of Israel and Hindu-ruled India.

American culture is behaving like a disease agent and poisoning human minds. Recent studies published in a variety of influential Western medical journals indicate an alarming increase in mental illness worldwide.

Here we present an abridged version of a speech given by IQBAL SIDDIQUI at a conference on Terrorism: Definitions, Causes, Roots and Solutions convened by the Institute of Islamic Studies, London, at the Islamic Centre of England on November 13, 2001.

In addition to suffering caused by the Saudis’ well-known incompetence, this year the hujjaj are being confronted by another ordeal: new security measures in Jeddah. Ostensibly intended to prevent pilgrims from disappearing after completing their Hajj, the plan is both sinister and degrading.