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Tag: Muslim

  • Barack Obama Confirms Death Of American Hostage Held By IS

    Barack Obama Confirms Death Of American Hostage Held By IS

    WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – US  President Barack Obama on Tuesday confirmed the death of  Kayla Jean Mueller, an American aid worker who had been held hostage by ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) militants, saying the United States would “find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible”.

    Mueller’s family also said in a statement that they were “heartbroken” to learn of her death and released a copy of a letter she had written in 2014 while in captivity.

    The comments by Obama and the family come four days after ISIS said Mueller, a 26-year-old humanitarian worker from Arizona, was killed when Jordanian fighter jets bombed a building where she was being held, although Jordan expressed doubt about the Islamist militant group’s account of her death. Mueller was determined to have died after her ISIS captors privately contacted her family over the weekend, a White House spokeswoman said.

    “Over the weekend, the family received a private message from Kayla’s ISIL captors containing additional information,”National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, using an acronym for Islamic State. “Once this information was authenticated by the intelligence community, they concluded that Kayla was deceased.”

    A family representative, who asked not to be identified by name, said the family received a private message from her captors over the weekend containing “additional information, which the intelligence community authenticated and deemed credible”.

    Neither Obama nor the family gave details of the circumstances of her death. US officials said that the family received an email and photo from ISIS that confirmed she was dead.

    US officials said they had no evidence to support Islamic State claims that she was killed in a Jordanian air strike, adding the details surrounding her death remained unclear.

    “It’s unclear from the intelligence picture how she died,”said one US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

    Mueller was the last-known American hostage held by Islamic State, which controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq. She was taken hostage while leaving a hospital in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in August 2013.

    The group has beheaded three other Americans, two Britons and two Japanese hostages – most of them aid workers or journalists – in recent months.

    “No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

    “ISIL is a hateful and abhorrent terrorist group whose actions stand in stark contrast to the spirit of people like Kayla,” Obama added.

    Even after ISIS Friday announced her death on Friday, the family had expressed hope that she was still alive.

    On Tuesday, her parents and brother issued a statement saying, “Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice and peace.”

    The family also released a handwritten letter they said she wrote to them in the spring of 2014 while in captivity. In it, she states that she was “in a safe location, completely unharmed + healthy.”

    “I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free,” the letter states. “I am not breaking down + I will not give in no matter how long it takes,” the letter states.

    US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement, “The world is united in condemning ISIL’s continued murder and imprisonment of innocents.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Sabah Christian Angry That Daughter Was Converted To Islam Without His Knowledge

    Sabah Christian Angry That Daughter Was Converted To Islam Without His Knowledge

    PAPAR, Feb 8 — Sitting on the porch of his wooden stilt house, Sabahan rubber tapper Jilius Yapoo’s eyes welled up with tears when he recalled his shock earlier this week when he saw his 16-year-old daughter in a tudung (Muslim headscarf) for the first time.

    The staunch Christian dusun said he had gone to his daughter’s hostel to take her home for the weekend when the teenager emerged garbed in the tudung, looking upset.

    “She was wearing the tudung and showed it to me. I teared up and she looked at me and cried.

    “She told me she had converted into Islam and could not back out now. I was absolutely speechless,” said Jilius, choking back tears.

    The father of eight from the Kaiduan village in Kawang lodged a police report on Wednesday after being told by his relative that his daughter was seen in the Muslim headscarf at her school SMK Kinarut.

    He said he had earlier tried to take the matter to the school’s Parents Teachers Association meeting but was allegedly rebuffed and told to calm down.

    Jilius said he had also tried to see his daughter the day of the meeting, but was not able to.

    “It was only two days later that I went to pick her up from school to take her home for the weekend when I got to see her, but she said she would not be coming home this week,” the distraught father lamented to Malay Mail Online when met at his home yesterday.

    “She is only 16, underaged, and should not need to make a decision like this. Even if she had willingly declared the words (shahadah, the Islamic declaration of belief Allah and Muhammad), and wanted to convert, she and the school should have informed me,” said Jilius.

    Malay Mail Online had on Thursday reported that authorities are investigating the alleged “Islamisation” of a Christian student in SMK Kinarut near here by the school hostel’s warden.

    It is believed that the school’s former hostel warden had incited the conversion of the student with the recital of the shahadah, forcing her into embracing Islam despite being “underaged”.

    According to the student’s mother, Jaina Yassin, her daughter had a lot of Muslim friends in school but never mentioned anything about changing her faith.

    “We used to pray as a family with our pastor, who came to the house sometimes. When we heard she was wearing a headscarf and had converted, our hearts just sank.

    “How can this happen?

    “We have three other children studying in the same school and I fear this might happen to them as well,” she said, adding that the church pastor had suggested they consider transferring her out of the school.

    The family, with Jilius as the sole breadwinner, earns a small income of up to RM350 a month.

    The money is used to support the ten people living in their home, which is in the rural West coast of Sabah.

    The village consists mostly of subsistence farmers and there is no telephone reception or television available, although there is electricity and running water.

    “I sent her to school for her to learn and get an education. Not to be converted into another religion.

    “As long as she is underaged and under my care, she cannot make this decision. When she reaches the age of consent, then it is up to her,” said Jilius.

    Village safety and security committee chairman Michael Frederick said it was unusual for the school to allow a religious conversion without asking for the student’s parent’s permission.

    “Usually they notify parents just to take their students out from school and a letter needs to be produced and signed by parents and acknowledged by the committee.

    “We are not against freedom to choose religion but I hope the authorities will look into this and ensure it was carried out properly in the future, without ill motives from the school, and with parents consent.

    “We cannot have students going to school one religion and coming out another,” said Michael.

    Sabah police have said that the case has been referred to the state religious authorities for further action.

    State Education Department director Datuk Jame Alip when contacted said that the matter is now in the hands of the police. He declined further comment.

    Christian groups in Sabah have recently cried foul to alleged furtive attempts to convert Bumiputera followers of the faith to Islam.

    In January 2014, a group of indigenous Sabahan villagers from the remote Pitas district were reportedly deceived into embracing Islam for RM100 by a Muslim welfare group.

    Sabah Council of Churches as well as the Roman Catholic Church of Sabah had also complained officially to the Education Ministry last year of a covert ploy to convert under-aged Christian students at the residential Labuan Matriculation College to Islam.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • JAIS Compares Women To Houses, Asserts That Women Should Cover Aurat To Prevent Rape And Other Form Of Harassment

    JAIS Compares Women To Houses, Asserts That Women Should Cover Aurat To Prevent Rape And Other Form Of Harassment

    KUALA LUMPUR ― Muslim women should cover up their “aurat” to prevent rape and other forms of sexual harassment, Selangor’s Islamic authority said in its Friday sermon today.

    The sermon, prepared by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and available to mosques statewide, also compared women who do not cover up to homes which are left unlocked, and therefore are liable to break-ins by robbers.

    “The easiest comparison we can take is a house which was left by its residents who returned to their hometown. House A was left with its windows and doors properly locked, its fences secured with padlocks. Meanwhile, House B was left open and carelessly abandoned.

    “Which house would robbers love and break into? Surely house B because it was exposed and made it easy for external elements to intrude. Therefore, that was a simple analogy for women who cover up their ‘aurat’,” said the sermon.

    “Aurat” in Malay refers to “intimate body parts” that Muslims must cover with clothing; exposing these is considered sinful.

    According to contemporary Muslim teachings, Muslim women’s “aurat” towards unrelated men is their whole body except their faces and both palms.

    Friday prayers are attended almost exclusively by Muslim men in Malaysia.

    Jais claimed covering up would help women to stop themselves from being harassed physically and mentally, in addition to preventing negative ills such as rape, illicit sex and incest.

    The sermon also refuted claims that the Islamic practice of covering up suppresses individual rights, blaming so-called “enemies of Islam” for perpetuating the notion.

    “Allah prohibits men and women from exposing their aurat not to restrict their freedom, but because Allah exalt and appreciate them. No man or woman are persecuted by covering their aurat, but exposing it means being cruel to themselves and destructing others,” it added.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Malaysian Interfaith Council Brands Distribution Of Free Qurans In Vernacular Language As Attempt To Propagate Islam

    Malaysian Interfaith Council Brands Distribution Of Free Qurans In Vernacular Language As Attempt To Propagate Islam

    KUALA LUMPUR — An interfaith group today accused a project to distribute one million copies of the Quran of being a concerted effort to persuade non-Muslims to abandon their faith, and urged non-Muslims not to accept the translation of the Islamic holy text.

    The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) also dismissed the project’s purported objective to remove misconceptions of Islam, and labelled it a disguised propagation of Islam and in “bad faith”.

    “MCCBCHST is of the view that the intended distribution of the translated copies of the Quran to non-Muslims is obnoxious as a similar right is not given to non-Muslims,” the group said in a statement.

    The group further said the Quran should not be distributed so freely as the copies might be disrespected, and some Muslims might find it blasphemous to see non-Muslims owning those translated copies of Quran.

    “MCCBCHST therefore, advise Non-Muslims not to accept the translated copies of the Quran. The Non-Muslims have every right to protect their religion and to alert their children and members of their family of the advances made by Islamic Information and Services Foundation,” it said.

    It also warned Muslims that propagation of religion by inducements or other pretexts may amount to an offence under Section 298A of the Penal Code.

    On January 9, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reportedly launched a project called “One Soul, One Quran”, organised by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation.

    Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying that the one million copies of translations in Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay languages will be for public distribution, in order to combat allegedly misleading interpretations of Islam as a “cruel religion”.

    MCCBCHST slammed the reasoning given by Dr Mahathir as nonsensical and misdirected, as non-Muslims have not carried out any acts of terrorism in the name of Islam and, therefore, are not confused.

    “It is Muslims who are indulging in killing and condemnation of other religions and religionist. Therefore, the need is for Muslims to be educated on the true teachings of Islam and not the non-Muslims,” said the group.

    The group also listed down several instances of efforts to convert non-Muslims, including the involvements of evangelical groups such as Hidayah Centre Foundation (HCF) and Multiracial Reverted Muslims (MRM), and federal and state religious authorities.

    Racial and religious tensions have simmered for the past few years as Muslim groups accuse Christians of trying to convert Muslims with their insistence on referring to God as “Allah”, while Christian groups complain of Bumiputera Christians in Sabah being duped into embracing Islam.

    Proselytisation of non-Islamic religions to Muslims is an offence in Malaysia, but not vice versa.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Malaysia’s Fatwa Committe In The National Council For Islamic Affairs Declared Ideology Preached By IS Contradicts Islam

    Malaysia’s Fatwa Committe In The National Council For Islamic Affairs Declared Ideology Preached By IS Contradicts Islam

    PETALING JAYA: The Fatwa Committee of the National Council for Islamic Affairs has declared the ideology being preached by the Islamic State (IS) as contradicting Islam, saying that those who join the terrorist organisation are “fighting in vain”.

    The council said that the tendency of some Muslims to fight for IS in Syria stemmed from confusion and a lack of understanding on the concept of jihad and martyrdom.

    “The call of jihad held by IS  contradicts Islam and can lead to kufr (disbelief) because they permit the killing of fellow Muslims.

    “Therefore, the council stresses that the actions of Muslims in Malaysia who have or wish to join IS in the name of jihad are fighting in vain as their struggle is not classified as jihad nor are their deaths categorised as martyrdom under Islamic law,” the committee said in a statement on the e-Fatwa portal on Sunday.

    It advise Malaysians to seek awareness and not be easily influenced by the IS propaganda.

    “Most Sunni scholars worldwide have reminded Muslims not to be influenced by IS due to their violent tendencies and their practice of apostatising those who do not share their beliefs, as well as permitting the shedding of their blood.

    “They kill innocent people and drove the Christians and Yazidis from their land with so much brutality,” it added.

    The committee made the ruling after convening for its 106th conference in October, where it discussed the issue of Malaysian Muslims fighting for IS in the Middle East.

     

    Source: www.thestar.com.my