DAILY NASIHA TO FORUM MEMBERS

[alimsuf]

Any forum member should pls. pertake in Amr bil ma'arouf and Nahy anil Munkar by offering sincere advices, sermons, and reminders that will keep us
spritually faithfuled and flavoured;
personally principled;
socially rightened;
economically reached;
politically wised;
educationally gianted.
Thanks for this sadaqatul- jariyah.

[Samba]

Jewish Attorney exposes US Double Standards

Jeddah:Jewish-American attorney and civil rights activist, Stanley Cohen, who is defending several Muslims in the United States has said the American administration is ignoring its own acts of terrorism and harassing Arabs and Muslims. Cohen while speaking at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) here on December 18, said, ?Muslim leaders like Abdur Rahman Al-Amoudi (convener of American Muslim Council) are being harassed and arrested. (Al-Amoudi was arrested for traveling to Libya and accepting $10,000 from the Libyan government without a license.) In the past, most people were fined for such a violation, but Al-Amoudi was prosecuted and imprisoned,? Cohen said. Cohen said the US was highly selective and kept varying its definition of terrorism to suit its own needs. ?Terrorism is terrorism, whether it?s carried out by individuals or by governments. Historically, more acts of terrorism have been perpetrated by governments, which kill more people than individuals do. The US changes its definition of terrorism singling out violence perpetrated by individuals or non-government groups, while ignoring acts of violence and destruction wrought by governments close to the US,? Cohen said. Cohen said, Ariel Sharon should be put at the top of the list of wanted terrorists for the acts of violence he has perpetrated against the Palestinian people, but the US turns a blind eye to his atrocities,? he added. When asked why a Jewish American is so ardently fighting for Muslim rights, Cohen said: ?For more than a thousand years, Muslims have defended Jews throughout the world. They have the same beliefs and core values. Muslims and Jews are brothers. There is much more that unites us than divides us.? Cohen said the issue of Israel was only a few decades old, but Jews and Muslims have co-existed for 1,400 years. Cohen said, the American people are good, simple people. It is the American administration that is creating problems for Muslims and Arabs. I encourage Arabs and Muslims everywhere to take all legal, peaceful means of resistance. Vote for anyone but Bush, write letters, join protests, do anything you can, he added. Cohen said the exodus of over 100,000 Muslims from America after Sept. 11 is a sad commentary. ?There has been a dramatic decline in the number of new immigrants to America. There has been a drop in the number of Asians, Africans and Arabs coming to the US. New immigrants always bring energy, dreams, hard work, growth and revitalization to the US. As an American Jew, I feel America needs Muslims.? (courtesy Arab News, Jeddah)

[Samba]

Ten Thousand Tales of Lost Childhood

The pathetic lives of little Muslim children employed in zari workshops in the dusty by-lanes of Mumbai should compel the community to take positive steps to bring hope to these children

By Mohammed Hanif Lakdawala

Unorganised, unaware of their rights and underpaid, children buried in the dusty by- lanes of Dharavi have over 10,000 tales of lost childhood. Here, children work for over 15 hours in the 250-odd zari workshops. Many of them are under 14.

Salim (11), who works in a zari workshop, came to Mumbai two years ago from Darbangha district in Bihar. After two years, he is still waiting for his first salary. "I will start earning only after I become a 'karigar' for which I need to work faster and put longer hours to start earning. I am still learning,'' he says. He works from 8 am till midnight. Ten-year-old Sajid gets Rs 50 a week and he speaks about managing accounts with adult-like maturity. "We have to be careful in spending this money,'' he says. They have to buy needles (costing Rs 12 each) if they break it. They usually end up buying two in a week. He keeps Rs 2 aside for breakfast- a cup of tea and two biscuits. He gets lunch and dinner at the workshop, which is largely dal and rice.

The colossal zari industry remains inconspicuous in the Dharavi slum pocket and remains hidden from the law-keeper's eye. Rusted iron staircases lead you to these embroiders' dens, most of which are on the first floors of grocery stores and tailor shops. The workshops look similar, barely 10 feet by 10 feet or smaller in size, with no ventilation, and fine fabric spread out on wooden planks where the workers sit.

Their living condition can best be described as inhuman. One such unit is home to 40 children. They sleep, work and bathe in the same room. The employer, after the recent Govandi raid where 14 children were rescued from one such unit, insists that these children are getting a good deal. But the lean bodies and tired expressions of these children tell a different story.

This could be anywhere in Jogeshwari, Dharavi, Govandi, Cheetah Camp or Kurla. It's a fiercely guarded secret. Every stranger on the street is followed by a dozen eyes. This correspondent from Islamic Voice made several clandestine visits to these places.

In one unit at Kurla, thirty children-between the ages of six to 15-are sitting in rows on the floor, working zari into saris stretched on wooden stands. There is no conversation. Even when the children look up with their yellow eyes, the hands don't stop-fast fingers deftly pick up the metal spirals, kazab (gold wire) and golden stars from a bag and tack them on to the fabric.

There is a window on the far side with a projecting grill, which touches the grill of another sweat-shop with another 30 children across the street. It's like a scene that multiplies itself in a movie.

The workers are black with dirt and perspiration that the four fans on the ceiling do not dry. Their abnormally knobby bodies are covered with glitter from the zardozi work.

Ask the one, who has not even looked up, his name, and he stares blankly. He's not shy; he chooses not to reply. A child's curiosity doesn't live here. The employer is not in the room, but his fear is. They have to finish the intricate zardozi sari in three days; and every minute counts.

Rehan 7,who works in one such unit, wakes up at 7 am and works for up to 18 hours. At 1 am, he unhooks the saris from the stands and brings down his bed sheets from a shelf, stretches out on the floor between the stands and falls sleep.

Shaheed 9, who works in a Dharavi unit, said that they have a bath once a week. If you get them to spread their fingers, in the webs of the hand, you can see the path, mites have taken-a textbook case of scabies. Most suffer from skin infections. In other karkhanas, as these sweat-shops are known, there is evidence of leprosy.

For the employer, water is an avoidable expense. Food is an avoidable expense as well. Most of the kids chew on zarda, an addictive substance that kills hunger. For the first two months, zarda is free, after that, the employer takes a cut from the child's salary. Boarding and lodging is free.

Yes, the workers do get a salary after their year-long unpaid traineeship is over. Salaries begin at Rs 10 a week (but you pay out of your own pocket if you break the Rs 3-4 zari needle), Rs 1,000 a year. By the time he turns 14, the legal age in the country for children to work, he is already sending back to his parents in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or West Bengal, a sum of Rs 10,000-a year. Rs 10,000 is the average price at which the employer sells a zardozi sari or Kurta.

Eleven years, and the government policy on child labour boils down to a knee-jerk reaction: Raid. Johnson Fernandes of Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), who has made a film on zari workers titled Dastaan Nanhe Haton Ki is categorical: ''Raids are not a solution. The magnitude of the problem is very large. There have to be very concrete plans for rehabilitation. At the moment, there are none at all.''

Asked about the government's policy beyond raids, P T Jagtap, additional commissioner of labour, admitted there is none. ''Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should come forward and, personally, I think the parents should be punished, '' he neatly passes the buck. Of late, these children have begun getting a 30-minute break when they can get to study. This break comes on the initiative of Pratham, an NGO co-founded by Farida Lambay vice-principal of Nirmala Niketan. The NG0 is making an attempt at giving some kind of education to these children.

Mohammad Hakim (9) is one of those who is benefitting from the programme. He sits huddled in a corner, writing his name, erasing it and rewriting it. For Hakil, who has never been to school, the written word is as fascinating as a new toy.

Despite these odds, these children have learnt not to complain. But the truth comes tumbling out when asked about their lives back home. Yes, they miss their village, their parents, the freedom. None of these children ever play or go out. But, the work is not bad, insists Salim. When asked whether he would want his brother to join him, he says, "No. I wrote to my parents not to send him here. He should study. This is not life.''

from: islamicvoice.com

[*~MuDa~*]

Thank u reforters, who do u guys work por?....Al Jazira?

[EMTL]

Assalamu alaikum,
The Holy Prophet (SAW) was also quoted by Imam Tirmidhi [RL] to have said, " A wise man is one who keeps a watch over his bodily desires and passions, and checks himself from that which is harmful and strives for that which will benefit him after death; and a foolish person is one who subordinates himself to his cravings and desires and expects from Allah (SWT) the fulfilment of his futile desires."

[Samba]

No Entry!
By Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal

Last week I visited Dubai on a business trip. I arrived at the hotel - the Marriott Dubai - with a colleague of mine, also a Saudi.

We looked for a restaurant to have dinner, but they were all closed due to the late hour - 11:30 p.m. Finally we did find one that was still open, but to our surprise we were forbidden entry because we were wearing our traditional robes and the restaurant only allowed people in Western clothing to enter (remember this is in Dubai, a member of the GCC).

This reminded me of an incident which happened to me while I was at university.

In the late seventies, while I was studying at King Abdul Aziz University in the School of Environmental Design (now known as the College of Environmental Design), an American professor of mine invited me to have tea at his home. I went to visit him at his home in the Lockheed compound in North Obhur.

When I arrived, the security guards refused to allow me to enter because I had the bad taste to turn up in Saudi clothes and no one was allowed to enter unless they were wearing Western clothing.

I turned my car around and never went back to the Lockheed compound.

This indicates, to me at least, a deep hostility on the part of Lockheed toward its host country and a deep and abiding contempt for its people. Nevertheless, Lockheed has every right to forbid anyone it chooses to enter its compound. It is a private home just like your own, to which you may admit or forbid whomever you please.

The Dubai Marriott, on the other hand, is not a private home - it is a hotel serving customers from all over the world and located in a country whose national dress happens to be different from Western clothing.

That the two incidents are both related to an American company is a point worth highlighting.Imagine for a moment if a Saudi-owned hotel in the USA forbade people to enter one of its restaurants unless they put on Saudi robes.

What do you think would the Americans do?

What do you think their press would say?

How many articles insulting the hotel and its management would be written?

Would they stop there or would they go on to attack the Saudi owners of the hotel and then their country, Saudi Arabia? Would that be enough or would they go on to heap insults on the Arab world and Islam in general as well?

So the question, dear readers, is, when next you visit Dubai, will you be staying at the Marriott?

(Arab News)

[ummita]

Brothers and sista.......stick to these DO'S & DONTS

God-fearing people should be the best in morals and manners.  Islam forbids any action which infringes on the rights of others or harms oneself.  Forbidden to Muslims are:  dishonesty, theft, murder, suicide, bribery, forgery, interest and usury, gambling, lottery, consumption of alcohol or pork, backbiting, gossiping, slandering, hoarding, destruction of property, cruelty to animals, adultery, fornication, etc.

While forbidding these things, Islam enjoins upon mankind the use of all clean, healthy and useful things, and asks us not to deprive our bodies of clean food and healthy recreation.  Islam also encourages marriage and stable family life, modesty, generosity, hospitality, respect for parents, honorable treatment of women, helping those in need, etc.

Alimsuf jazakallah this is indeed a very gud thread.......more blessin 2 u

[alimsuf]

Salaam all,
As usual during my coffee/smoko break in-between lectures, I picked out my Newspaper to glace what my immediate enviroment was (Briton) as they skimply report world events.
The wonderful story was about the celeberation for the 1st brioton lesbian to have her baby from the sperm the lesbian couples bought on the net......
I am not psycologist, but still cant understand the prefence of lebianism and gayism against the natural cohesion of attracting sexes. Is that civilisation? You dat imitate Oyinbo, see his kind of life and belief..