Tough Choice for Muslim Americans
New Yrok
It was the 1980s, and Maher Hatout needed money for the Muslim community in Los Angeles. Saudi Arabia, Libya and other foreign governments were offering millions of dollars to help build mosques and Islamic schools in America.But Hatout saw danger in this helping hand. He refused the donations.
These days, debate among U.S. Muslim leaders about whether to accept money from foreign sources has gained urgency as the community has been scrutinized unfairly, its members say for any links to extremists because of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Iraq war.
It is a complex issue for American Muslim organizations. They face their greatest demands ever to defend adherents' civil rights, and they need money to better establish themselves in this country. The depressed economy has hurt fund-raising, and many U.S. Muslims have been withholding donations for fear any gift will seem suspicious to law enforcement.
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http://cbs11tv.com/localnews/topstories_story_123154458.html Islamic artwork sold at Christie’s
Daily Times Monitor
Two masterpieces of Islamic art, a medieval walnut door and a gilt bronze cockerel made almost 1,000 years ago for a fountain in Moorish Spain, sold at Christie’s auction house this week for under £1 million each. The cockerel was seen in public for the first time at the London auction rooms.
It was probably the last such viewing of the bird, as it has been sold to a private collector, The Guardian reported. It was made for the inner courtyard of a palatial home when Spain was under Arab rule, and for the past two centuries has been in the collection of a European aristocratic family. The cockerel sold for just under the £1m estimate, but the beautifully carved medieval walnut door from Seljuk Anatolia sold for £766,850, almost four times its estimate. The door, covered in intricate carvings and inscribed with an Arabic proverb, is the twin of one in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. It was about to be converted into a coffee table before Christie’s Islamic expert, William Robinson, spotted it during a routine valuation.
Taken From: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-5-2003_pg9_6
Here's a Model for How to Shape a Muslim State
Since the end of Soviet rule, Moscow has accomplished in one Islamic province here in central Russia, called Tatarstan, something we seem to want for Iraq: an easygoing, secular, peaceable, multicultural society that is, in a small way, a model for its neighbors. Improbable as it may seem, we might learn something here.Tatarstan, to be sure, is a far cry from Iraq, although Islam was imported here fromBaghdad in the 10th century. The most conspicuous difference is that Muslims here constitute only about half of the population. During four centuries of stressful coexistence with Russian Orthodox Christians, the Muslim Tatars have necessarily become the most adaptable of Islamic peoples. (The conventional epithet is "cunning," which Russians mean as an insult and Tatars take as a compliment.) The prevailing language is Russian, the dress is Western, and intermarriage is commonplace. But there are some relevant similarities. Like the Iraqis, Tatars have a historical memory of a time when they represented a cosmopolitan culture. In the early 20th century, Muslim schools here taught science and engineering, Kant and Descartes, alongside scripture. For many Tatars, as for many Iraqis, Islam is just one component of a rich ethnic identity.
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1052712000&en=7f3a543991389f3b&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1' Mosques Week' to be held May 16-23
Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, wife of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and Chairperson of the UAE General Women's Union, will sponsor "Mosques Week", from May 16 to 23.
The event will be organized jointly by theUnion and the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf to highlight the important role played by the mosque in the life of individuals and societies. Mohammed Nakhira Al Dhaheri, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf, said the initiative is part of country's series of noble events which are held under the wise directives of Sheikh Zayed.
The week will underline the distinguished role played by the mosque in instilling Islamic teachings and morals in the minds of Muslims, particularly the youth who represent the majority of the population and constitute the future of the Islamic nation.
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http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=86276Egypt: Muslim clerics complete course, are felicitated
Cairo, The Azhar Shariff has held a function to felicitate the 123 Muslim clerics from various parts of the world who have completed a three-month refresher course. They were drawn from such countries asAlgeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Sheikh of Azhar then inaugurated yet another similar training course for 24 imams and preachers fromChina, the Comoro Islands, India, Algeria, Sudan, and Nigeria. Apart from the Azhar Sheikh, other prominent personalities who attended the function included the Minister of Endowments, the Mufti of Egypt, ambassadors of various countries, includingChina, and others.
Taken From:
http://www.islamicnews.org/english/en_daily.html