Nigeria’s Muslim north erupts as Christian incumbent takes commanding lead in presidential election

Opposition supporters in Nigeria’s Muslim north set fire to homes bearing ruling party banners and heavy gunfire rang out in several towns as officials released presidential election results on Monday showing the Christian incumbent Goodluck Jonathan has an insurmountable lead.

Results were pending in four states from Saturday’s election but tallies released live on national television indicated Jonathan has a commanding lead of more than 11m votes with about 6m left to be announced. The Muslim north had largely voted for former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

Witnesses said youths in the northern city of Kano were setting fire to homes displaying the banners of Jonathan’s People’s Democratic party. Associated Press saw hundreds of youths carrying wooden planks in the street, shouting “Only Buhari” in the Hausa language.

In Kaduna, home to the vice president Namadi Sambo, young men burned tyres in the streets and threw stones at police and soldiers trying to restore order, according to witnesses.

Shehu Sani, a civil rights leader, said: “I’m holed up in my room. There’s gunshots everywhere. They are firing and killing people on the street.”

Kaduna state police spokesman Aminu Lawal described the fighting as an uprising.

Federal emergency management agency spokesman Yushua Shuaib declined to release casualty figures, fearing they would further stoke sectarian violence. “Such a thing can encourage a reprisal attack,” he said.

Election officials said they would finish releasing election results throughout Monday regardless of the violence.

Over the weekend, opposition supporters rioted in the north-east state of Gombe. Protesters burned down the house of the local chairman of the ruling party, two hotels and at least two buses. The rioters accused the state government of rigging the results to ensure Jonathan got at least 25% of the vote.

Police chief Suleiman Lawal said on Sunday there had been a “complete breakdown of law and order”.

Nigeria’s elections have long been marred by violence and rigging. On Saturday, a police officer was shot dead at a Maiduguri polling station and a hotel blast in Kaduna wounded eight people.

Nigeria, an oil rich nation of 150 million people, is divided between the Christian-dominated south and the Muslim north. A dozen states across Nigeria’s north have Sharia law in place, although they have secular state governments.

Thousands have been killed in sectarian in the last decade, but conflict is often rooted in struggles for political and economic dominance. Muslims in the north regard Jonathan as the Christian from the south who took over after the death of the country’s elected Muslim leader.

The People’s Democratic party has dominated Nigerian politics since it became a democracy 12 years ago. Many of the north’s elite wanted the ruling party to honour an unwritten power-sharing agreement calling for a Muslim candidate to run for president, yet Jonathan prevailed in the party’s primary election.

Source: guardian

10 Dua’s from The Holy Quran

Allah the All Mighty said in the Holy Quran:

” And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor).” [ Quran 2:186 ]

Sleeping on the right side in Islam

The Prophet Mohammed SAWS (pbuh) used to sleep on his right side , as opposed to the right side. There are several reasons why this may have been told to you, depending on your actual health condition. In some situations, sleeping on just the left side can be bad for your heart or it can make sleep better by giving your body a better ability to function.

Sleeping on your left side may be bad for your heart. This is especially true for those who are suffering from chronic heart failure or have had a heart attack. Sleeping on your left side will decrease the sympathetic nervous activity in your body. This activity normally controls blood pressure and the heart rate.

When lying on your right side, you may lower your blood pressure and heart rate, which is good for individuals suffering from heart conditions. Lying on the left side decreases your heart’s ability to function properly.

Doctors recommend that patients with a heart condition, especially chronic heart failure try sleeping on their right side if it is comfortable for the patient.

Pregnancy Benefits.

Avoid the left: Whenever possible, avoid sleeping on the left side of your body. You place a lot of strain on the heart, as well as your lungs, stomach and liver. Some of these organs can press into the heart’s region, making it even more difficult to work properly.

The Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to sleep on his right side, putting his right hand on his right cheek, and this is what the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recommended others to do. According to a saheeh hadeeth narrated from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib, the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When you go to bed, do wudoo’ as if for prayer, then lie down on your right side…” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Wudoo’, 239).

So if you sleep on your right side you gain banafit from Allah because it is Sunnah and it is also good for your health.

The Sunnah is to put one’s right hand under one’s cheek. It was narrated that Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, “When the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went to bed at night, he would put his hand under his cheek, then say, ‘Allaahumma bismika amootu wa ahyaa (O Allaah, in Your name I die and I live).’ Then when he woke up he would say, ‘Al-hamdu Lillaah alladhi ahyaanaa ba’da ma amaatanaa wa ilayhi al-nushoor (Praise be to Allaah who has brought us back to life after causing us to die, and to Him is the resurrection).’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6314)

Source: theislamicnews

Dress code for men in Islam

Islamic Dress code for men

The Islam instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way. Some people may do a double take when they learn that Muslim men have a dress code as well. Some men take their dress code lightly. Some think the women’s code is more important and thus spend their lives lecturing various women about what to wear and what not to wear. These men need to seriously understand that disobedience to Allah is disobedience to Allah whether you are a man or a woman. Muslim men should cover themselves from the navel to the knees.

Narrated by ‘Ali (R.A): The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Do not show your thigh, and do not look at the thigh of anyone, living or dead.”(Abu Dawood (3140) and Ibn Maajah:1460) The majority of fuqaha’ are of the view that these ahaadeeth should be followed and they stated that a man’s ‘awrah is from the navel to the knee. See al-Mughni, 2/284 Most of the scholars say it is authentic and a man should cover navel to knee.

Silk is haraam for males, because the Prophet (pbuh) said: “These two [gold and silk] are forbidden for the males of my ummah and permissible for the females.” Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 3640; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.

The scholars are agreed that it is haraam for men to to wear pure silk, because of the hadeeth of ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (R.A), who said that the Prophet (pbuh) took a piece of silk in his right hand and a piece of gold in his left, held them aloft and said: “These are haraam for the males of my ummah and permitted for the females.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 2/1189).

Abu Moosa (R.A) reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Gold and silk have been permitted for the females of my ummah and forbidden for the males.” Indeed, a stern warning has been narrated concerning this matter, as was reported by al-Bukhaari (5853) and Muslim (2069) in the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (R.A), who reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Silk is only worn in this world by the one who will have no share of the pleasure of the Hereafter.” Anas (R.A) reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever wears silk in this world will not wear it in the Hereafter.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5832).

The scholars allowed men to wear silk in certain exceptional circumstances where there is shar’i evidence to support this, such as Muslim combatants in war who are allowed to wear silk in order to show off and annoy the enemy, which is a kind of psychological warfare. People who are sick may also be permitted to wear silk to relieve their suffering, as Anas (R.A) reported that the Prophet (pbuh) allowed ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf(R.A) and Ibn al-Zubayr ((R.A) to wear silk because of a skin irritation that they suffered from. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 10/295, and Muslim, 3/1646).

The scholars also allowed men to wear garments containing four fingers’ width of silk, because of the hadeeth of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (R.A) who said that the Prophet (pbuh) forbade the wearing of silk except for an area the width of two fingers, or three or four.” (Reported by Muslim, 3/1644).

If the item that a man is going to wear is made of natural silk, then it is not permissible for him to wear it, no matter how it looks or feels, and no matter whether it is a shirt, pants, socks, a necktie or anything else.

Similarly it is not permissible to wear the skin of a dead animal (one that has died of natural causes) unless it has been tanned. With regard to wearing clothes made of wool, goat hair and camel hair, these are pure and permissible.

It is not permissible to wear thin or see-through clothing that does not conceal the ‘awrah and it is haraam to imitate the mushrikeen and kuffaar in their manner of dress, so it is not permissible to wear clothing that is unique to the kuffaar.

Narrated by ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (R.A) said: The Prophet (pbuh) saw ‘Ali (R.A) wearing two garments dyed with safflower and said: “These are garments of the kuffaar; do not wear them.”(Muslim, 2077)

It is haraam for women to imitate men and men to imitate women in the way they dress, because the Prophet (pbuh ) cursed the men who imitate women and the women who imitate men.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5546).

It is Sunnah to pay attention to keeping one’s clothes clean, without feeling arrogant or exaggerating about that.

Narrated by ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (R.A): The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “No one will enter Paradise in whose heart is a mustard-seed of arrogance.” A man said: “What if a man likes his clothes to look nice and his shoes to look nice?” He said: “Allaah is Beautiful and loves beauty; arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”(Narrated by Muslim, 91).

It is mustahabb to wear white clothes because the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Wear white clothes, for they are the best of your clothes, and shroud your dead in them.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 994, hasan saheeh. This is what the scholars regarded as mustahabb. Also narrated by Abu Dawood, 4061; Ibn Maajah, 1472.

It is haraam for the Muslim man to let any garment he wears hang down beneath his ankles (an action known as isbaal); the limit for any garment is the ankles.

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (R.A) that the Prophet (pbuh) said; “Whatever of the lower garment is beneath the ankles is in the Fire.”(al-Bukhaari, 5450. )

Narrated by Abu Dharr (R.A) that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “There are three to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection and will not look at them or praise them, and theirs will be a painful torment.” the Prophet (pbuh) repeated it three times. Abu Dharr (R.A) said: “May they be doomed and lost; who are they, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said: “The one who lets his garment hang beneath his ankles, the one who reminds others of favours he has done, and the one who sells his product by means of false oaths.” (Muslim,106)

In Islam It is haraam to wear garments of fame and vanity, which means a garment that stands out from others so that people will look at the wearer and he will become known for it.

Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (R.A): The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever wears a garment of fame and vanity, Allaah will dress him in a garment like it on the Day of Resurrection.” According to another version, “…then set it ablaze.” And according to a third version, “will dress him in a garment of humiliation.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4029; Ibn Maajah, 3606 and 3607; classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, 2089.

And Allah knows best.

Source: theislamicnews

“You could say that 80-85 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists… This is an enemy living amongst us.” Joe McCarthy could have said it. In fact, it was New York congressman Peter King who uttered these words in 2004.

In keeping with the spirit of this statement, King is using his position as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee to wage a war of bigotry against American citizens who follow the religion of Islam.

There are a growing number of American citizens who are resorting to terrorism. They often operate alone, though some have worked as the American wing of foreign terrorist groups; as about a dozen Americans who were arrested in Yemen last year did.

Domestic radicalization is an active threat, and there is no doubt that Islamic fundamentalists are largely responsible. Proof positive is the fact that nearly all of the 125 American citizens who have been convicted of terrorism since 2001 have been either Muslim, Muslim converts, or were working on behalf of Islamic organizations.

Indeed, it is worrisome that even 8% of American Muslims believe that suicide bombing is acceptable in the defense of Islam (13% if you include those who think suicide bombing is sometimes acceptable) – it only takes one, after all (Rand).

There is, however, something deeply troubling about the backlash against Muslim citizens. The issue of homegrown terrorism needs to be addressed – and soon – but surely we can find a better way to do it than by holding Red Scare style congressional hearings and ostracism.

The inquisitorial blade has been raised against the American Muslim community due to perceived threats which are as capable of harming Muslims as anyone.

Does anyone imagine that the terrorists on 9/11 believed that their Muslim American counterparts would have been spared the flaming jet fuel or falling buildings? A critical step we must take when dealing with homegrown terrorism, is to realize that American Muslims are at risk just as much as any American.

In other words, homegrown terrorism is a threat to the American community at large, not just the American Muslim community. The problem which Representative King has wrongly identified as the greater American Muslim community is in reality the much smaller radically religious individuals and groups who are from various backgrounds.

Paul Hill, a notable Christian abortion doctor murder, was assuredly not Muslim, yet went on to commit a rather gratuitous act of terrorism.

And if we want to take a global look at the state of things, we will notice that the Hindu Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, who preformed suicide bombing operations over 200 times, were the first to use the tactic on a massive scale and actually invented the concealed suicide belt.

Terrorism is not merely a Muslim affair, and we risk isolating the American Muslim community when we act as if it is.

The New York police department put together a report on homegrown terrorism in 2007, and the following quote does justice to the reality we face today. “Radicalization in the West often starts with individuals who are frustrated with their lives or with the politics of their home governments.

These individuals ultimately seek other like-minded individuals and form a loose-knit group or social network.” We are threatened by people who believe the use of violence to threaten a civilian population (terrorism) is the surest way to effect change in the world, and we are actively pushing people to believe this.

Belief is the catalyst which brings about an action. Homegrown terrorists, who are often unremarkable people in most aspects, come to believe that they are in a situation so dire that there is no other choice besides terrorism. So as Representative King declares a siege on the American Muslim population, he is only pushing more and more people away from the mainstream.

So long as American Muslims have to fear the public’s reaction to their religion, radicalization is a likely result. You can only push people so far, and while terrorism is never justified, it always appears justified in the eyes of those committing it.

I have been careful to use the term “American Muslims” in this article for a reason. The people Representative King is targeting are not foreigners; they are our neighbors. Today American Muslims are facing discrimination for their faith because of the acts of a few radicals.

The American community – assuming such a thing exists – is responsible to ensure that the Muslims among us are not ostracized. We cannot allow American Muslims to suffer our collective bigotry and ignorance any longer. So as the insanity initiated by Representative King continues, we have a responsibility to counteract that force with positive pressure which encourages unity and communication.

We only leave ourselves at risk when we fail to integrate the American Muslim community within the larger American population – just as we would if we ostracized any population.

Homegrown terrorism is a real and present threat to our nation, and pushing each other apart, tearing our society to pieces, only does the job of the terrorists for them.

Source: albanystudentpress



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