THE AHMADIYYA POST: August 2011

Health: Roger Allsop World Record Holder - Living Younger

In the early hours of the morning, a man who is 70 years and 4 months old broke the world record to become the oldest man to swim the English Channel. The whole journey covering over 21 miles took him 17 hours and 51 minutes.

An Imam, Syed Farasat Ali Bukhari, in Norway has applied for a license to open up a primary school in Norway to teach 200 children his ideology. What is his ideology? Part of his ideology which he has preached on video is that all Muslims living in an Islamic state who do not fast in Ramadhan should be beheaded. He believes that all Muslim Scholars agree with him and his absurd interpretation of Islam.

Beyonce’s revelation that she is pregnant with her first child caused tweeters to set a Twitter world record that night of 8,868 tweets per second. It is a universal truth that wherever and whenever a couple announces they are pregnant every person becomes joyous and celebrates because it is a blessing from God.

Remember, that it is small and apparently insignificant issues and minor suspicions that lead to major problems, which do not only harm a few individuals or groups, rather they actually hinder the progress of the entire country.

No loyal German citizen can tolerate that the great efforts they have made to raise and maintain Germany to its current high standing should ever be put at risk. In truth, one who loves his country can never contemplate such an act.

Steve Jobs is an American business magnate and inventor. Co-founder of the revolutionary company Apple Inc, Chief Executive of Pixar animation studios and director of The Walt Disney Company. He is at the forefront of technological advancement and a highly successful entrepreneur. It's obvious why Fortune Magazine named him 'CEO of the decade'. His own company Apple Inc started from a humble garage in the late 70s with friend Steve Wozniak. It has since been nurtured into a multi-billion dollar brand and Jobs is now worth over $8.3 billion.

This September, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA will commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sep 11, 2001, with a nationwide blood drive to collect 10,000 units of blood.To honor the victims of 9/11, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA has launched “Muslims for Life,” to reiterate the message that Islam values the sanctity of life.

Shabhaz Taseer (centre) with family in a ceremony months before recent kidnapping

LAHORE: Misfortune struck the Taseer family a second time this year. Shahbaz Taseer, eldest son of slain former governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer and his wife Amna, was abducted in broad daylight from Lahore’s Gulberg area on Friday morning.

In the second high-profile case within a fortnight in Lahore, Taseer was abducted on the way to his office by at least three armed men.

The UN offices in Ajuba, Nigeria have been car bombed by a Nigerian Islamist terror group calling themselves Boko Haram (Boko in Hausa language means Western Education and Haram in Arabic means forbidden, hence ‘The Western Education is Forbidden Terrorist Group’).

The current death toll is 18 and rising; over 60 people have been injured.

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast and is a frightening storm destroying everything in its path, according to an astronaut on the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum said that Hurricane Irene, like all hurricanes, looks "terrifying from above," and its evolution into a major storm this week has been unmistakable from orbit.

Obesity is now a pandemic, particularly in the developed countries, but the other countries also are battling (or eating) to catch up.

New figures published in The Lancet medical journal give the latest forecast that the number of obese Britons will swell to a staggering 26 million by 2030. Over the next 20 years the clinically obese population in the UK will increase by 11 million.
In the worst case scenario, almost half of adult men in the UK could be obese by 2030. Obesity prevalence among UK men is forecast to rise from 26% to between 41-48%. The proportion of obese women is predicted to increase from 26% to 43%.

The hearts of Indian youth pulsate to the beat of slogans like freedom and democracy. They need to become a great superpower – yesterday. Their homeland has to free itself from the Narnian winter of ignorance, corruption and superstition. This is the 21st Century, Dude! Kids want to be cool like their bros in California.

What political system will bring wealth and luxury into their outstretched arms? But what kind of democracy do they really want? How much time and effort will they put into bringing about change?

Greatest Person of The Month: Wu Juping.

What an uplifting story. Niu Niu, a beautiful two year old toddler fell out of her family's apartment window in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on July 2, 2011. She was ‘Home Alone’. A neighbour, 31 year old woman called Wu Juping, saw the child dangling from the window - which was 10 floors up. The shocked Wu kicked off her shoes, and ran with to catch the child.

Niu Niu fell into her outstretched arms and seriously broke Wu’s arm. Wu had managed to save the life of this child.

A strong work ethic is a trait that is admired and sought after by everyone; however a good work ethic affects your life in more ways than you might think. Firstly, what is work ethic? It is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character.

American actor, film producer and hardest working man in the entertainment industry, Will Smith, gives reasons for his global success, including his personal drive and work ethic:

Once a year during Ramadan, community members are invited to share in iftar, the evening meal in which Muslims break their fast.

During the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, families of the Baitul Baseer Mosque come together, especially on weekends, for the iftar, or the evening meal that breaks the fast.

Once a year during Ramadan, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community opens its doors to the mosque and invites the non-Muslim community to participate in the meal.

Candles were lit by members of a civil society for victims of the attack on the Ahmadiyya sect in Lahore

The virtual conspiracy of silence after the murder of 94 Ahmadis in Pakistan exposes the oppression suffered by the sect.

I often find myself defending Pakistan against the unbidden prejudices of the outside world. No, Islam is not the cause of terrorism. Yes, the Taliban is a complex phenomenon. No, Imran Khan is not a major political figure.

This past week, though, I am silent. The massacre of 94 members of the minority Ahmadiyya community on May 28 has exposed something ugly at the heart of Pakistan – its laws, its rulers, its society.

The authorities in Cirebon, Indonesia, on Thursday escorted a man suspected of having links to the suicide bomber who blew himself up at the local police compound last month.

CIREBON, INDONESIA — Before he strapped on his suicide vest, walked into a crowded police station mosque and blew himself up last month, Muhammad Syarif was typical of the scores of angry young men who pass their days at fundamentalist mosques in this coastal Javanese city.

Mr. Syarif, 31, was a familiar face at often-violent protests, organized by local clerics, against alleged places of immorality, like karaoke bars and unregistered Christian churches. Last year, he joined mobs wielding sticks, staves and machetes who clashed with members of Ahmadiyya, a minority Muslim sect deemed heretical by fundamentalists.

Deden Sudjana faces prison after surviving a mob attack.

DENPASAR, Indonesia — An Indonesian man who survived a deadly mob attack by Muslim hard-liners was sentenced Monday to six months in prison, prompting outrage from rights groups over a sentence harsher than those received by some of his assailants.

Deden Sudjana, a member of Ahmadiyya, a minority Muslim sect that many conservative Muslims consider heretical, was found guilty by a district court in Banten Province on charges stemming from the attack in February. Judges said that he had refused police orders to leave the scene and that he had wounded one of the attackers.

On 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, an electronic billboard displays a 15-second video promoting the campaign of Muslims for Peace to raise awareness about Islam.

It is hard to make it in New York — whether in the arts, in finance, politics or fashion. But no endeavor in the city can be more competitive than the one where you try to get the attention of passers-by in Times Square by smiling at them and handing them glossy leaflets intended to make them think.

Into that bazaar of mass preoccupation, half a dozen members of an organization called Muslims for Peace fanned out Friday, smiling and offering their wares. They belonged to a sect, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, that embraces a pacifist tradition within Islam.

When the Indonesian government says it is tolerant of religious minorities, don’t believe it. It is the government’s laws and their selective enforcement that are fueling extremist violence, as well as the continued harassment and persecution of religious minorities.

While all religious minorities are at risk, Indonesia’s Ahmadiyya have been particularly persecuted compared to other minorities. An incident that received international notoriety occurred in February 2011, when more than 1,000 villagers armed with machetes and sticks stormed a house of Ahmadiyya worship, killing three and wounding six others. This happened in a village in Banten, not far from Jakarta. For a short while, graphic video footage of the attack went viral on YouTube (it was quickly taken down). The attackers were caught on tape stoning their victims to death, then beating the corpses as police officers and villagers watched and did nothing to stop the bloodshed.

Glen Ellyn, IL — Today was the kickoff for the "Muslims for Life" campaign at the Baet-ul-Jaamay Mosque in Glen Ellyn. The campaign is a nationwide initiative created by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to bring a message of peace and sanctity of all human life.

"Terrorists have painted an untrue picture of Muslims," said Harris Zafar, spokesman for the Chicago West Chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Society. "As we approach the tenth anniversary, (of Sept. 11) we thought the best thing to do… in remembrance of those who lost their lives, is to collect blood."

A HEARTFELT plea for peace from a dad just hours after his son was killed may have saved a city from further bloodshed, a top cop said yesterday.

West Midlands Chief Constable Chris Sims was speaking after a visit to the home of murder victim Haroon Jahan, 21, to meet his grieving father Tariq.

Mechanic Haroon was one of three men killed by a hit-and-run driver while helping to protect a mosque and shops from rioters in Birmingham.

Republican presidential contender Michelle Bachmann has recently faced questions regarding her comment that she is "submissive" to her husband because of her religious beliefs. She has vacillated in her explanation. When running for Congress in 2006, she told an audience that she studied tax law because her husband instructed her to do so, and in order to be submissive to him she obeyed. She explained, "[m]y husband said 'Now you need to go and get a post-doctorate degree in tax law.' Tax law! I hate taxes -- why should I go and do something like that? But the Lord says be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands."

When asked, in the Iowa GOP debate last week, about her previous comments regarding her marriage and her desire to be submissive to her husband, she seemed to backtrack, explaining: "[w]hat submission means to us ... it means respect. I respect my husband ... and he respects me as his wife."

Beijing, 28th May 2011: At the National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao laid down the gauntlet to the world by charging CAST with the mission to make China develop power and strength in science and technology. Also, to foster a large number of talented individuals in order to "gain the upper hand" in international competition.

Loyal Americans have contributed to this country's success through hard work, regardless of background. Muslim-Americans are no exception. President George Washington, in a 1785 letter to the Virginia Legislature, declared he would welcome Muslims if they were industrious.

He had set this paradigm for others to follow at the age of 11, when he had to manage his family's Rappahannock River Plantation because his father died. Washington may have set the precedent on becoming an American, but in my opinion he unintentionally set the tone for what it means to be a Muslim-American as well.

A summary of the Sermon delivered by His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad on August 12th 2011 from London

‘I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me.’ - Holy Quran (2:187)

Hudhur recited the following verse at the start of today’s Friday sermon:‘And when My servants ask thee about Me, say: ‘I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way.’(2:187)

An annual peaceful gathering of over 30,000 members of the Ahmadiyya Community in Hampshire UK

At this defining moment in time, the world seems to be in chaos. There is no one ideology, no one philosophy, no one teaching adopted by mankind. Therefore division and disorder is inevitable and apparent. The perception of division is the root of all hatred, intolerance and ignorance. As Obama countlessly mentions, we need to focus on our similarities and not superficial differences. Our similarities are core principles and show that we are all connected whether we know it or not, whether we see it or not, whether we like it or not.

Police looking on Facebook and Twitter for signs of unrest spreading will have missed out – they should have watched BBM

In October 1985, on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham where the death of Cynthia Jarrett sparked riots that culminated in the brutal murder of PC Keith Blakelock, a community leader stood on his chair at a packed open-air meeting.

The man bellowed into a megaphone to the 150 residents in front of him: "You tell them that it's a life for a life from now on. This is war."

LONDON — London police force say 1,000 people have now been charged in the unrest that rocked the capital for four days, as human rights groups reiterated concerns that the sentences being handed out nationwide are disproportionate.

Acting chief Tim Godwin issued a statement Wednesday that said while the milestone is significant, the investigation is ongoing. He urged the public to turn in anyone involved in the disorder.

White house hosted its annual Iftar dinner just a few days ago with about 100 guests including 32 Ambassadors, mostly from Muslim countries, a hand full of congressmen including the first Muslim American elected Congressman; Mr. Hamza Abdullah, and some prominent Muslim community members including the National Vice-President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, U.S.A, Mr. Naseem Mahdi.

Two members of British parliament, Siobhain McDonagh and Eric Lubbock, have condemned the recent lenient sentences handed down to 12 men involved in a brutal attack against members of Ahmadiyah sect in Cikeusik, Banten.

Siobhain, also the chairwoman of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said she was shocked at the sentences given Indonesia’s reputation for tolerance.

“These verdicts show a disturbing shift in the country’s commitment to freedom of religion and justice,” she said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The controversial American Pastor (Rev.Terry Jones) from Florida has surfaced once again. He was the instigator of the attempt to disgrace the Holy Quran last November calling it an 'International Burn a Quran day', and has now carried out this distasteful act of ignorance by burning around 30 Qurans in a local ceremony consisting of a few of his companions. This stunt was widely condemned with pleas from the Obama administration, US military officials, The Vatican and religious leaders across the world.

Leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA speaks with President Obama about 9/11 commemoration.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA’s National Vice President, Mr. Naseem Mahdi, attended the annual White House Iftar Dinner last night, along with other American Muslim leaders.

President Obama highlighted the many contributions and services of American Muslims. He also paid tribute to the brave men and women, including several American Muslims, who perished on 9/11: "We must be the America they lived for, and the America they died for."

A HISTORIC friendship link between people in the Leamington area and in Bo in Sierra Leone is about to get even stronger.

Thanks to the efforts of former North Leamington pupil and UK Young Ambassador Ben Wesson and Catherine Moody, the youth coordinator for Warwick district group One World Link (OWL), eight young people will be travelling to the African country in March.

Tears flowed as U.S. President Barack hosted the traditional Ramadan dinner at the White House, only one month shy of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mr Obama, who turned 50 last week, led the emotional evening last night and thanked the Muslim community for their help in dealing with the September 11 tragedy, which caused nearly 3,000 deaths.

The riots that ripped through several cities in England early this week resulted in the deaths of three young South Asian Muslim men in Birmingham on Wednesday. However, the local Muslim community decided to reply with prayer instead of more violence.

The three victims had been standing with other local residents in an effort to protect their property from looters when a car plowed through the line of defense.

An estimated 300 Muslim and Sikh men gathered near the site of the killings, according to Guardian News. Some of the men were seeking revenge. As the crowd considered their options, Tariq Jahan, whose son was among those dead, appealed to the crowd not to avenge the crime.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is now established in 200 countries of the world with Chile and Barbados being of the latest additions. The progress of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was laid out by His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide spiritual head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He announced it before a crowd of 30,000 members in the English countryside of Hampshire, UK on the 23rd of July 2011.

AJ Stream: In response to requests from our online community, we are focusing on the Ahmaddiya Muslim community. The ongoing battle between Ahmaddiyas and mainstream Muslims has gone largely unreported in the mainstream media. It's based on the Ahmaddiya belief that their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a Prophet and Messiah sent by God to save the world. Mainstream Muslims consider that heretical because they believe Muhammad was the last Prophet. So are the Ahmaddiyas believers or heretics?

VAUGHAN, ON, July 16, 2011 /CNW/ - Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth are gathered for a three-day retreat at the Bruce's Mill Conservation Area in Stouffville, Ontario. Delegates took time to break the world record of human formation of a Smiley Face.

With weather turning hot, organizers were concerned how long it would take to gather everyone and make them stay for ten minutes in the smiley-face formation required by the Guinness World Records body.

LiveStrong: You may be reading this blog as a sufferer or you may know a person suffering from a natural disease, disorder or ailment. This article is here to give you hope and an alternative approach towards life. I am giving you the perspective and personal experiences of great men among humanity who themselves overcame adversity and did not ever think of giving up. All men, women and children come across pain and suffering in their lives therefore this message is poignant to all mankind.

LONDON, August 4, 2011 PRNewswire

In the wake of the lenient sentences handed out to murderers and extremists in Indonesia British parliamentarians have stepped up their call for human rights in Indonesia.

Growing up as a member of the privileged class of Karachi, I was blinded to many of the realities of my city. My friends and I were what the average Pakistani would call "burgers," an affectionately derogatory term to describe the Westernized brats of the wealthy.

UK: Jalsa Salana UK 2011 BBC Evening News

Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt giving his speech at Jalsa Salana UK 2011

The UK's Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, has appreciated the values displayed by Ahmadi Muslims, particularly the way they integrated within their local communities across the world, especially in the UK.

Keith Ellison said he chose to swear on Jefferson’s Koran for his oath of office because it showed that Jefferson believed wisdom could be gleaned from many sources

“Ramadan,” said President Obama at a White House iftar dinner in 2010, “is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America. The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan — making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago.”

Film: The Ahmadiyya Post - Ramadhan and Me - Trailer HD

Ramadhan and Me

Press: Jalsa Salana UK 2011 ITV Evening News

The Earl of Wessex was greeted by His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, world Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

HRH, the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward today paid a visit to the Fazl Mosque in South West London. The Fazl Mosque, commonly known as the ‘London Mosque’ is owned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is London’s oldest mosque.

A summary of the Sermon delivered by His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad on April 29th 2011 from London

The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, in some of his books, announcing his being the Messiah and Mahdi, has brought to the attention of the scholars, the pious and the general public who are seeking truth that in place of issuing edicts of infidelity without reason, or general public following their scholars without thought or understanding, help should be sought from Allah. … The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, in one of his books, Heavenly Sign, has outlined the procedure.

Many pious-natured try this prescription. They sought guidance from Allah and Allah guided them. Allah also guides such pious-natured who are in the search of righteousness and Allah guides them in that respect. In these times too, to prove the truth of the Promised Messiah, Allah continues to guide those who are sincere in the search of truth. I will present a few of the examples of such people at this time.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Secretary General. And thank you for your leadership in organizing this meeting. I am honored and delighted to be here with so many colleagues from around the world. And it’s a particular pleasure for me to be back at the Research Center for Islamic History, Art, and Culture in this magnificent Yildiz Palace here in Istanbul. Fifteen years ago I was here when the secretary general was then leading this organization, and he and I participated in a remarkable dialogue with representatives from Istanbul’s diverse religious communities.

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