Articles

Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, called on Wednesday for a serious campaign against terrorism, and said that US officials’ definitions of terrorism are unacceptable.

The indecent haste with which the rulers of Pakistan have surrendered to US demands in the new crusade against Islam reflects the deep divide between the rulers and the Pakistani masses.

Sudan is cosying up to Uncle Sam to the extent of providing the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with information on Osama bin Ladin, and offering Washington bases on its own territory to be used as airfields during the ‘war against terrorism’, according to reports citing American sources in Khartoum.

The attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre on September 11 have caused a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred, bigotry and intolerance all over the Western world. Particularly hard-hit are American Muslim and Arab communities, as well as other dark-skinned groups.

Imam Husayn, the son of Imam Ali (a), was born on the 3rd of Sha'ban, 4AH (626 CE). Like his brother Hasan (a), the Imam was very close to his grandfather the Prophet (s), and resembled him in appeareance. His name was given to him by the Prophet, and is the dimunitive form of the Arabic 'Hasan'. The Prophet recited adhan in his ear at birth, and foretold the fated of the Imam at Karbala, calling him "Sayyid ash-Shuhada".

After the Prophet [sAW] himself there is no other figure in Islamic History who has exercised the same comprehensive and lasting influence as Imam Ali [AS]. This can in part be seen from the duality of titles that one may be applied to him with respect to Sunni and Shi'ah tradition respectively. From the Sunni point of view he is the fourth among the rightly guided caliphs, from the Shi’ah point of view he is the first of he 12 Imams [AS], that in itself indicates that he holds an honoured position in the totality of Islamic tradition despite varying interpretations.

The assumption of the caliphate by Imam Ali [AS] took place either on the same day Uthman was assassinated or according to another source some five days later. It would be useful in order to understand what transpires during the exercise of rule by Imam Ali [AS] to go back a little to examine the nature of the opposition to Uthman because many of the factors of political disunity that were operative during the caliphate of Uthman persisted into the caliphate of Imam Ali [AS].

THE TRIPLE HELIX: GENE, ORGANISM, AND ENVIRONMENT by Richard Lewontin. Harvard University Press, 2000. Pp. 136. Hbk. US$23.

Tens of thousands of people may have died in the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on September 11.

The US’s position as the dominant power in the world is now widely recognised, as is its freedom to do as it pleases, virtually anywhere in the world, with scant regard even for its Western allies, let alone anyone else. Equally clear is its ability to manipulate international institutions such as the UN to legitimise its actions...