Prophet Muhammad said, "When one of you puts on sandals, he
should first put on the right foot " (Hadith
Sahih Muslim 877) He also said, "He who does not obey Muhammad disobeys
God." (Hadith Mishkat 144)
Left Shoe News, 31 January,
2002
Nigeria
2 Jan, 2002
Muslim militia kills 20
Nigerian Christians
Sunday: About 20 people were killed when Muslim militiamen raided a
Christian village, Dagwom Turu, about 70 km S of Jos.
Soldiers pursued the Islamists killing 8 of them. They recovered modern rifles,
machetes, bows and arrows, Islamic literature and charms.
23/1/02 Sharia acquittal in Nigeria
Eighteen year old Hafsatu Abubakar, who faced stoning to death under
Islamic law for adultery, has been acquitted. The judge of the Sokoto state
Sharia court said that there were discrepancies in the evidence. A crowd of 500
supporters cheered the verdict.
21/1/02 Sharia judge
flogged for drinking
Five thousand people in the town of
Kaura Namoda in north-eastern Zamfara state cheered and laughed when a Sharia
judge tasted his own medicine.
Judge Mohammadu Na'ila was given 80 lashes of the whip after being found guilty
under Islamic law of drinking alcohol.Zamfara was the first state to
reintroduce Sharia laws about 2 years ago. HRAIC considers the 7th
Century laws to be barbaric.
3 Jan,2002 “Osama” a popular name for baby boys.
A Calabar woman is seeking a divorce after her husband insisted on naming their
new-born Osama. The mother said: “Osama bin Laden is a criminal with an
inclination towards shedding innocent blood”. With his name, she fears he will
take after the terrorist. Her husband said Osama is “a hero who taught
Americans the lessons of their lives”.
In Kano, 36 year-old Muslim, Sadiq Ahmed said: “My wife gave birth to our third
child on 15 September and I named him Osama in honour of Osama bin Laden who
has proved to the world that only Allah is invincible, by exposing Americans to
shame despite its claim of being the strongest nation on earth”.
Afghanistan
Beating of women, public execution, amputation and
stoning in Taleban Afghanistan.
26/1/02 Shinwari must go! Chief Justice wants Taleban-style
punishments to continue.
Chief Justice Fazul Hadi Shinwari of the Afghan interim government says he
wanted adulterers whipped or stoned to death, the hands of thieves amputated
and murderers publicly executed. Proselytising Christians could face the death
penalty and Muslims who drink receive 80 lashes.
The Taleban regularly held executions and amputations at sports grounds.
HRAIC considers such Sharia punishments as vicious and barbaric. It is not a
matter of imposing Western values on Afghanistan. Twenty-first Century Muslims
oppose Seventh Century punishments such as whipping, stoning and amputation.
See Reform_Islam
31/1/02 Afghan women to
return to study
During five years of hardline Islamic rule, which ended late last year,
women were banned from study or work and could only receive an education
clandestinely.
On Wednesday over 500 young female hopefuls will be taking the Kabul University
entrance exams in at least six subjects, from biology and mathematics to
history and languages. The university will be showing positive discrimination
towards females and putting on extra classes for them to make up for the gap in
their education.
23/1/02 Pledges of aid to help rebuild Afghanistan
Many billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Afghanistan after
decades of war.
Some of the pledges to date are:
EU: $495 M this year, US $296 M this year, Japan: up to $500 M by 2004, Saudi
Arabia: $220 M over 3 years, UK: $288 M over 5 years, Germany: $362 M over 4
years, Pakistan: $100 M over 5 years, World Bank: $500 M over two and a half
years, Asian Development Bank: $500 M over two and a half years.
23/1/02 China wants Xinjiang al-Qaeda fighters to face trial at home.
The Taleban gave aid and training to Muslim separatists fighting Chinese
rule in the far-western province of Xinjiang. China is wanting the US to return
them to China for trial.
31/1/02 Afghanistan to re-adopt solar calendar.
The solar calendar (365 ¼ days = 1 year) was used in Afghanistan until 1999
when the Taleban adopted the lunar calendar (354 days = 1 year) used by Saudi
Arabia. This means they are now in 1381 not 1423, dating from the time of
Muhammad.
Pakistan
Also banned, the Jaish-e-Mohammad (Army of
Muhammad) is blamed by India for the attack on its parliament in Delhi in
December last year. It is fighting a holy war to set up an Islamic state in
Kashmir.
13/1/02 Violent Islamic groups banned in Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf says about 400 people were killed in sectarian
religious violence last year. The Sunni Sipah-e-Sahaba (The Army of the
Companions of Prophet Muhammad) and the Shi'a Tehrik-e-Jafria (The
Movement of Followers of Shi'a) were involved and have been banned. The Sunni
group, in particular, wants Shi'ism banned in Pakistan, and the right to kill
them as non-Muslims.
America
A 15 year-old student, Charles Bishop apparently
committed suicide by crashing his light plane into a Florida skyscraper.
Although a note “expressed sympathy” with Osama bin Laden, the police say
he had acted alone.
7 Jan 2002 Plane crash boy “acted alone”
,/p>
16/1/02 The charges against John Walker Lindh
Walker , a young American
converted to Islam in 1997, traveled to Yemen in 1998 and 2000 to study Arabic
and Islam. Around May 2001, he joined the Pakistan group Harakat ul_Mujahidin,
in order to fight India in the disputed state of Kashmir. He received weapons
training in a camp north of Islamabad, but then went to Afghanistan to help the
Taleban and al-Qaeda.
He met Osama bin Laden three times and learnt, before September 11, that
attacks were planned on the USA. He was at the front line north of Kabul when
the US bombing began, and he was captured at Kunduz after the Taleban collapse
there.
The charges against him are: Conspiring to kill US nationals in Afghanistan and
supporting foreign terrorist organizations.
HRAIC calls on citizens to report to the FBI anyone who converts to Islam.
Converts are often more fanatical than someone born into the religion. Also
second generation immigrants, instead of being more Westernized, moderate and
tolerant than their parents may be more hardline and recruited to terrorism.