Articles

Despite Washington’s recent diplomatic scramble to get support for its “war on terrorism,” getting key Arab countries on board remains an unfinished task. This became clear during US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s tour earlier this month of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Rumsfeld’s efforts were received tepidly by Washington’s Arab allies.

Palestinians across the occupied territories marked the first anniversary of the intifada against Israel on September 28, setting off another round of fierce Israeli blood-letting that cost more than 40 lives in the next two weeks.

George W. Bush insists that nations who do not support the “war against terrorism” are themselves terrorists: Muslim leaders in Southeast Asia have their own reasons to take the ‘ultimatum’ seriously.

As the US war on Afghanistan intensifies, a motley collection of warlords and bureaucrats is being assembled to take over from the Taliban.

he beginning of US assaults on Afghanistan on October 7, killing scores of people, may have little to do directly with the attacks on September 11 in New York and Washington, despite claims to the contrary.

For anyone who wants to know how Balkan powder-kegs form, the latest developments in the Macedonian peace process are enlightening. After collecting and destroying almost 4,000 weapons from the fighters of the National Liberation Army (NLA), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has wrapped up its mission to Macedonia.

The Sudanese government’s determination to mend relations with Washington and its decision to jump on the “war on terrorism” bandwagon have brought noisy demonstrators onto the streets of Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan.

The Turkish parliament on October 3 passed 34 amendments to the constitution. Designed to ease Turkey’s entry into the EU, they are impressive only on paper.

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir [AS] laid emphasis on the following factors – firstly his choice inherited from his father of political quietism, that is to say his refusal openly to contest rule by the Umayyads. And secondly as a corollary to that a growing emphasis upon the transmission of a unique body of knowledge as constituted the essence of the Imamate. Thirdly a clarification of specific details on which the emergent law of the Shi’ah community differentiated itself from the legal precepts of the surrounding Sunni Community, for example in the call to prayer the inclusion of ‘haya ‘ala khair al-‘aml’ ‘Hasten to the best of deeds’ included by Shi’ah Muslims but omitted by Sunni Muslims – it was Shi’ah belief that it was blocked by the second caliph ‘Umar.

The period in question is the period three caliphs and his abstention from public or political involvement, and his tenure as the fourth of the rightly guided caliphs (from the Sunni point of view). The obstacles that confronted him - you could talk about the existence of a rival centre of power in Damascus under the auspice of Mu’awiyah, who using the assassination of Uthman the third caliph as a pretext now wished to deny legitimacy to Imam Ali [AS] and refused him his loyalty and his obedience.