4Apr

UN appoints Gaza war investigator

by iqu Uncategorized

UN appoints Gaza war investigator

Richard Goldstone, right, will lead the fact-finding investigation into the Gaza war [Reuters]

The United Nations has appointed a former war crimes prosecutor to investigate offences allegedly committed by Israeli and Palestinian fighters during Israel’s war on Gaza.

Richard Goldstone, a Jewish judge from South Africa, will lead a fact-finding team on the mission, ordered by the Human Rights Council in January.

“I am confident the mission will be in a position to assess, in an independent and impartial manner, all human rights and humanitarian law violations committed in the context of the Gaza conflict,” Goldstone said in a statement issued on Friday.

Other members of the group are Christine Chinkin, a British professor of international law, Hina Jilani, a Pakistani lawyer and retired Irish army colonel Desmond Travers.

Palestinian focus

The investigation’s mandate is to focus only on Palestinian victims of the 22-day war.

In depth

Analysis and features from after the war

More than 1,100 Palestinians were killed when Israel launched a two-week ground offensive on Gaza in December and January after a week of aerial bombardment.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights put the final death toll at 1,417, including 926 civilians, and published a list of their names.

The Israeli military, however, says only 295 civilians were among 1,116 Palestinians killed between December 27 and January 18, without providing a list of the dead.

It insists it did everything it could to prevent casualties among Gaza civilians during the war, including dropping leaflets and sending phone messages to civilians to evacuate certain areas.

The military also claims Hamas fighters used civilians as human shields, booby-trapped homes and shot at troops from densely populated areas.

Israeli co-operation

Israeli officials on Friday did not say whether or not they would co-operate with the UN investigation.

It has rejected previous human rights council investigations, including one led by Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, calling them “biased”.

The Israeli military earlier in the week closed its own investigation into claims that Israeli troops shot unarmed Palestinian women and children during the Gaza war.

Military investigators said on Monday that they “found crucial components of [the allegations] were based on hearsay and were not supported by specific personal knowledge”.

Source:

Agencies

4Apr

” network revealed

by iqu Uncategorized

Global ‘cyber spy’ network revealed

The Canadian team said the “GhostNet” system was armed with sophisticated spy tools [GALLO/GETTY]

A cyber spy network based almost entirely in China has hacked into computer networks around the world, stealing classified information from governments and private organisations in more than 100 countries, a team of Canadian researchers has reported.

The system, dubbed “GhostNet” by the researchers, infiltrated networks in dozens of embassies, foreign ministries, government departments and offices in several cities belonging to the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan government-in-exile, the Canadian team said.

The network was uncovered after the Munk Centre for International Studies was initially approached by the Dalai Lama’s office to investigate allegations of Chinese espionage.

In over 10 months of study, they then found a far larger spy network, targeting more than 1,295 infected computers in 103 countries.

‘High-value targets’

According to one of the researchers, close to 30 per cent of the infected computers “are considered high-value political and economic targets”.

‘GhostNet’

Spy network based almost entirely in China, although it is not clear who is running it or for what purpose

Network uses malicious software, or “malware” installed in remote computers, allowing hackers to retrieve files and information at will

Software allows hackers to remotely switch on infected computers’ webcams and microphones, enabling them to listen in on conversations

Researchers say at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries were found to be infected

They include computers located at ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organisations, news media, and NGOs, Ronald Deibert, director of Munk’s Citizen Lab, wrote in an email.

The study did not name specifically which governments had been targeted by the spy network, although the researchers said the system was focused on the governments of South and Southeast Asian nations.

They said they had seen no evidence that US government offices had been breached.

The researchers said the GhostNet system – which they described as still active – had been armed with a wide-ranging set of tools, including the ability to retrieve documents, and turn on web cameras and audio systems to act as remote listening posts.

The study found that the network was based almost exclusively in China, although the researchers stopped short of saying the Chinese government was involved in the system.

Easy to hide

“One of the characteristics of cyber-attacks of the sort we document here is the ease by which attribution can be obscured,” Deibert said.

Chinese officials have denied the government is involved in cyber spying [GALLO/GETTY]

“Regardless of who or what is ultimately in control of GhostNet, it is the capabilities of exploitation, and the strategic intelligence that can be harvested from it, which matters most.”

He said the study highlighted the growing capabilities of cyber attacks and the ease with which the internet can be used to gather high value and sensitive information.

Speaking to The New York Times, a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in the city dismissed the idea China was involved.

“These are old stories and they are nonsense,” Wenqi Gao, told the paper.

“The Chinese government is opposed to and strictly forbids any cybercrime.”

4Apr

musical aspirations of cats

by iqu Fun

Cat listening to Lata Mangeshkar

Cat listening to Himesh Reshmia

Cat listening to BABA Ram Dev

Cat listening to Anup Jalota

Cat listening to Kumar Sanu

Cat listening to you

3Apr

Action: Ask Calif. Radio Station to Reprimand Anti-Muslim Hosts

by iqu Uncategorized

April 2, 2009

CAIR ACTION ALERT #572:

Action: Ask Calif. Radio Station to Reprimand Anti-Muslim Hosts
Segment misstated Muslim beliefs, mocked Islam and political participation by U.S. Muslims

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/2/2009) – CAIR today called on a San Francisco, Calif., radio station to reprimand two talk show hosts for a recent segment in which they mocked Islam, misstated Muslim beliefs and cast suspicion on political participation by American Muslims.

KSFO 560-AM host Brian Sussman and co-host “Officer Vic” said during their Monday program: “Islamic finance is about living within your means and helping the needy – unless they’re Jews,” and “The great honorable qualities of that good old time religion: honor killings, female circumcision, not allowing women to drive…Jews are monkeys, pigs.”

Listen to the audio.

CAIR is asking American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact KSFO officials and advertisers to express their concerns about the hosts’ anti-Muslim remarks.

“Radio hosts are free to hold bigoted views, but listeners have no obligation to subsidize those views by purchasing the goods or services of companies that choose to advertise on hate-filled programs,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “So-called ‘honor killings,’ female genital mutilation and not allowing women to drive are not part of Islam. Muslims respect Jews and Christians as ‘people of the book’ who received earlier revelations from God.”

He cited the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, which states: “Those who believe (in the Quran), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), the Sabians, and the Christians – any who believe in God and the Last Day and work righteousness – on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Quran, 5:69)

Hooper said this was not the first time Sussman made offensive remarks relating to Islam. In 2005, he asked a caller to prove he was not Muslim by saying “Allah is a whore.” In 2007, another host at KSFO warned “enemy” Muslim nations: “You keep screwing around with stuff like this, we’re going to kill a bunch of you – millions of you.”

CAIR is part of the Hate Hurts America Multifaith Community Coalition (HHA), a group of religious and civic organizations seeking to challenge hate speech in American society.

HHA was formed as a result of radio talk show host Michael Savage’s rhetorical attacks on religious and ethnic minorities. It waged a successful campaign to urge advertisers to stop running commercials on Savage’s program. The coalition includes public officials and civil rights advocates, as well as representatives of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Latino, and Asian communities.

SEE: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.)

1. CONTACT KSFO to express your concerns about the hosts’ anti-Muslim remarks and to ask that they be formally reprimanded.

CONTACT:

Mr. Michael Luckoff
President & General Manager
KSFO-AM
900 Front Street
Tel: (415) 954-8181
Fax: (415) 391-2795
E-Mail: mickey.luckoff@citcomm.com

Also e-mail the station: http://www.ksfo560.com/contactus.asp
Copy to: jack.swanson@citcomm.com, info@cair.com, anthony.licciardi@citcomm.com, briansussman2@yahoo.com, deidra.lieberman@citcomm.com, ken.berry@citcomm.com, leerodgers@abc-sf.com, ksfordb@abc.com

2. LISTEN TO THE STATION either in the San Francisco Bay area or online at: http://www.ksfo560.com/ Take note of the contact information for advertisers and contact them to express your concerns about the hosts’ anti-Muslim views

2Apr

Of Ganymedes

by iqu India, Kerala, Uncategorized

A teachers job is often thankless…I have known many who started the job with enthusiasm which declined as I watched…often exponentially.

But today, my day was made when I was presented with a set of jeans and T shirt by my erstwhile students.

Maybe they knew the drudge of a teacher since they were all three of them teachers themselves in other engineering colleges (and studying for M. Tech. here in TKM College of Engineering)

This is a new thing to me. 25 years of unrelenting sameness of students’ psychology turned me a cynic. Today the cynic is baffled. The optimist in me says “I told you so”.

Anyway my next classes will be a bit more sincere. The bright young faces who will sit before me in future classes will not listen to a jaded pessimist but one who believes that his voice will be engraved in impressionable minds.

2Apr

‘un-Islamic

by iqu India, Islam

Kashmir scholars denounce stone-throwing as ‘un-Islamic’

Religious scholars in Kashmir have denounced stone-throwing as “un-Islamic” in a fatwa.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Last Updated: 6:40PM BST 01 Apr 2009

Kashmiri Muslim demonstrators throw stones: rKashmir scholars denounce stone-throwing as 'un-Islamic'

Kashmiri Muslim demonstrators throw stones as Indian police clash with demonstrators during a protest in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar Photo: EPA

The fatwa follows a spate of clashes between local Muslim youths and Indian army troops in the capital Srinagar which have left more than 60 dead since last summer.

The clashes have become a regular fixture every Friday, when young men wearing headscarves pelt police and troops to protest against their presence in the state. Their attacks are apparently designed to replicate those against Israeli forces in Gaza’s Palestinian Authority.

The Sunday Telegraph letters

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He bears no malice, but he is a worried man

Day of anger threatened over cartoons of Prophet

A senior Islamic scholar has now called for an end to the attacks, which he said were forbidden by the Prophet Mohammed.

“Stone pelting cannot be justified. Islam is about discipline. [The] Prophet Muhammad, too, has asked us to refrain from it,” said Maulana Showkat Ahmed Shah , president of Jamiat-e-Ahli-Hadees. He quoted the Prophet, saying stone-throwing “neither hunts a game nor kills (or hurts) an enemy, but it gouges out an eye or breaks a tooth.” His call has been backed by Srinagar’s police chief, Afdallul Mujtaba.

It was rejected, however, by militant leaders in Kashmir, including Qazi Nisar, the chief priest who said it was justifiable resistance against Indian rule.

“People in Kashmir are fighting for their freedom and have no other means but to pelt stones to register protest,” said Asiya Andrabi, a senior militant leader in the state.

2Apr

‘t recant her faith in Islam

by iqu Gora Chaudhary, Islam

VirtueOnline – News – News – SEATTLE: Priest won’t recant her faith in Islam

SEATTLE: Priest won’t recant her faith in Islam

By Richard C. Dujardin
Journal Staff Writer
http://www.projo.com/religion/content/episcopal_muslim_priest_04-01-09_F3DT8I4_v15.36a8f35.html
April 1, 2009

The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, the Episcopal priest who has been told by Rhode Island Bishop Geralyn Wolf that she had until the end of March to recant her faith in Islam or face expulsion from the Episcopal priesthood, said Tuesday she still has no intention of doing so and realizes that by dawn Wednesday she may no longer be a priest.

Reached by phone as she was stepping into a language academy in Seattle where she has begun studying Arabic, Redding said she had spent part of Tuesday mourning her impending expulsion.

“There is an acknowledged sadness, because if it were not for the limited vision of one particular bishop I still might have been able to function as a priest.”

Although Redding has never ministered in Rhode Island since Bishop George N. Hunt, the then-bishop of Rhode Island, ordained her 25 years ago, she has remained, at least until now, under the jurisdiction of Rhode Island’s bishop because she has never changed her canonical residence.

Bishop Wolf – who plans to release a statement on Wednesday – initially called Redding back from Seattle in 2007 after learning, at a bishop’s meeting, that Redding had converted to Islam while continuing to serve in the Olympia, Wash., diocese as an Episcopal priest. Redding’s unusual step did not seem to raise the ire of the then-bishop of Olympia, who called her move innovative.

Bishop Wolf – who plans to issue a statement on Redding on Wednesday – said she became particularly concerned because Redding had publicly recited the Shahada, the statement of belief that is at the cornerstone of becoming a Muslim and that she was attending prayer services at a mosque in Seattle.

Bishop Wolf has repeatedly insisted that such a melding of two faiths is impossible because of key differences between the two particularly on such things as belief in the incarnation and belief in Jesus as the only-begotten son of God. After initially placing Redding on a year-long suspension from priestly duties that lasted an additional two months to give her time to reconsider, she warned Redding in September that she had six months to recant or be deposed.

On Tuesday, Redding said she still sees herself as both Muslim and Christian and sees no reason to change.

“I am Muslim and I am a Christian and Episcopalian,” she said. “I will continue to follow the path that God has called me.”

Redding said she fully expects that when she rises Wednesday sometime between dusk and dawn, she will recite the first of the five prayers that the faith requires Muslims to recite each day. She will also gather at the local mosque for community prayer services, and on the weekend, visit a local Episcopal parish for Christian worship.

“I know that not all places are happy with my presence,” she said. “This is not about making people uncomfortable or making them feel their spaces are being violated. So I go to places where people recognize me as a Christian.”

On Thursday, the day after her 25th anniversary of her ordination to the priesthood, Redding marked the anniversary with a book signing celebrating the publication of a new book, Out of Darkness Into Light, that she had co-authored, looking at the Koran from Jewish, Christian and Muslim perspectives. On Wednesday evening she is expected to be the subject of a profile on CNN.

Ruth Meteer, communications officer for the Diocese of Rhode Island, said Bishop Wolf was waiting until the last minute to see if Redding changed her mind, and will release a statement on Wednesday.

2Apr

Twitter updates: The G20 summit

by iqu Uncategorized

Twitter updates: The G20 summit

Thousands of activists and trade unionists have protested ahead of the summit [AFP]

Stay up-to-date with the latest developments at the G20, with reports from our correspondents in and around the conference at Al Jazeera’s G20 Twitter channel.

If you would like to receive updates directly to your mobile device, activate ‘device update’ on your Twitter account settings and ensure you are following ‘AJEG20’.

Al Jazeera’s correspondents at the G20 summit

	Alan Fisher (AF) @ the G20 summit		Jonah Hull (JH) @ the G20 summit		Hamish MacDonald (HM) @ the G20 protests
	Nazanine Moshiri (NM) @ the G20 protests		Rob Reynolds (RR) with US President Barack Obama		Camille El Hassani (CE) with US President Barack Obama

*This application utilises the Adobe Flash player and may take a couple of minutes to load.

Source:

Al Jazeera

2Apr

Who are the G20 protesters?

by iqu Uncategorized

Al Jazeera English – THE 2009 G20 LONDON SUMMIT – Who are the G20 protesters?

Who are the G20 protesters?
By Jacqueline Head in London
A range of protests are taking place ahead of and on the day of the G20 summit [AFP]
A range of protests are taking place ahead of and on the day of the G20 summit [AFP]

Thousands of people from a large range of groups including anti-capitalists, environmental activists and those angry at the global economic downturn are protesting in London in advance of Thursday’s G20 summit.

Many are using social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to drum up support and organise events, as well as broadcast their messages to the wider public.

Anti-capitalists

Anti-capitalist protesters have harnessed the recession as a vehicle to promote their ideology to people disillusioned with the government’s handling of the economic crisis.

The “G20 meltdown”, which is planning “four horsemen of the Apocalypse” processions through the city, aims to protest outside banking institutions, winding up at the Bank of England on Wednesday.

Follow Al Jazeera’s correspondents at the G20 Summit

Its campaign points to the collapse of world markets as a sign that “capitalism is not working”, and adds free markets have been “heating up our world for years, melting the icecaps, burning up the rainforests, pushing the planet to tipping point”.

Another group, the Government of the Dead, suggests Wednesday is the day to “dance on the grave of capitalism” with a “Financial Fools Day Party”.

These groups, once viewed as traditionally anti-establishment, could be joined by those with more moderate views, including workers and those hit by the economic crisis.

The “Youth Fight for Jobs Campaign”, which will take place on Thursday, is a sign of added social unrest due to the recession.

The campaign calls for a “bailout for the rest of us” with better pay and conditions for young workers, along with an end to university fees.

Environmental activists

Groups urging action on climate change have also linked their campaigns to the current economic crisis.

In depth

The Climate Camp, which blames the “failed economic system” for looming environmental catastrophe is planning to protest outside the European Climate Exchange.

Kevin Smith, a participant from the group, told Al Jazeera they had chosen the spot because “carbon trading hasn’t worked, and it’s not going to work”.

The group believes carbon trading is used by wealthy industrialised nations to avoid reducing their emissions by trading carbon credits amongst themselves.

Smith said the group, which plans to set up a 24-hr camp outside the exchange, “hopes to provoke a critical awareness that the type of measures G20 are going to propose won’t work” to solve climate change.

“The type of measures G20 are proposing are essentially at odds with getting back on track on climate change. We want solutions to come from the real people, the public,” he said.

A global “Fossil Fools Day” will also have a large presence at G20 protests, which aims to “end of the fossil fuel empire” and begin a “more just and sustainable world”.

An “ice-berg demo” is also planned to take place outside the Excel Centre, where the G20 summit will be held, with participants encouraged to bring ice cubes to highlight the rise of global warming.

Anti-war groups

A “jobs not bombs” protest is being planned outside the US embassy on Wednesday, followed by a march to Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop the War Coalition.

Protest groups on Saturday urged G20 leaders to ‘put people first’ [ GALLO/GETTY]
The economy is also being used as a tool by anti-war campaigners, with anger over the amount of money being spent on war and saving financial institutions.

David Wilson, from the coalition, told Al Jazeera there is a stronger trend towards activism this year “because people are fed up”.

“There’s always money for wars and bankers but no money for civilised society,” he said. Protest groups on Saturday urged G20 leaders to ‘put people first’ [ GALLO/GETTY]

The group are calling on Barack Obama, the US president, to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, self-determination for Palestine, an end to nuclear weapons, along with a call for jobs to be created instead of bombs.

Alternative summit

A summit that aims to promote alternative ideas and strategies for politics, the environment and the economy will be held a day ahead of the G20 conference.

The summit, launched in direct response to the meeting of world leaders, will include a number of well-known speakers including Ken Livingstone, former London mayor, and Tariq Ali, novelist and political campaigner.

The Alternative London Summit says it is for “everyone who thinks that the bankers and politicians in their pay have been making a mess of things and need to be sacked and replaced”.

A number of anarchist groups are also expected to join protests, calling for a change in society and an end to the rich elite.

Some British press have highlighted concern that anarchist groups secretly plan to storm banks or cause protests to turn violent, while others are pointing to an increased police presence.
Source: Al Jazeera

1Apr

How Laura converted to Islam

by iqu Uncategorized

3.1.09

CS: How Laura converted to Islam

my name is laura and i am an 22 years old german convert. i was raised in a christian family, protestant. the family of my father is atheist but my father converted to christianity when he got cancer in 1984. The family of my mother is very practicing religious, my grandfather was pastor and my uncle still is a pastor (i dont even know if pastor is the right word for a protestant?).

my father died in 1992 when i was 6 and my brother 8, from that time on my mother raised us alone and did her job very very well, may Allah reward her for everything she did and sacrificed for us, ameen.

maybe a bit similar to you i was raised christian but we were not practicing. when my father was still with us he used to take us to church every sunday but after his death we never went again, maybe just sometimes when my grandfather or my uncle had a special speech.

as i became a teenager i started to doubt some things like how could jesus be the son of god and at the same time father, son and holy ghost? so i started to become even more distant to my religion…when i was 16 years old i went for one year to brazil to live there as an exchange student. i was located in the north-east, the city called Recife and though this country is amazingly beautiful it is so poor and dangerous, especially where i lived at that time!

i had really so much fear, i was afraid that i would never return to germany or at least not in good conditions! and so i started to search for protection, first physical protection, but there was none! one day i realised the only one who can protect me and support me and bring me home safe is god, and the only way for me to get close to him is by having a religion i could believe in.

i remember that in a letter to my friend i wrote her that when i get home healthy and in good condition i would start to believe in god. so, still in brazil i started to search for a religion that would be right for me, that i could believe in without doubt and that could finally give the peace to my heart and take away my fear. i started to search about the very basic ideas of any religions… i read about hinduism, buddism and so on… i think they had very nice ideas and beautiful thoughts but it was nothing touching my heart.

then finally i read about islam, that there is just one god who sends his message by his prophets and so on… and i felt like i came home, like i had entered a room i knew very very well but i just havent been there for so long time… i thought, why do you tell me all this, i know that this is the truth for so long time, al hamdoulilah!!!

i returned very healthy and happy to germany in summer 2003 and i believed in god!!! i returned to brazil twice in the following years for vacations just to try to realise what had happened to me and how much i had been blessed with every experience i made, maybe that was His way to guide me, to wake me up and to change my life…at christmas 2003 i met a very nice girl from iraq and i told her that i knew islam was my truth but i had no sources to get more information.. al hamdoulilah she helped me, gave me a quran and took me to a mosque in her city… from that time on i started to read as much as i could get… books about islam, about women in the middle east and so on and so on…

when i became 18 years old i was sure that now i knew enough about islam to say that it was the right way for me, and so i converted few days after my birthday, in february 2004, al hamdoulilah. first i told my mommy and my brother, and al hamdoulilah they took it very nice!!! my mother said once that she knew that when she, coming from a very religious background, raised her children not so practicing one would go back to a religion, she didnt knew which religion but anyways she knew it 🙂 and my brother loves everything i do, hes just too cute!!!

the only problem i was facing was the fact that i wanted to wear hijab like one year after my conversion. my mother was first very much against it, on one hand because she just didnt understand the meaning and advantage of hijab and on the other hand because i come from east germany, and its really not easy for foreigners (or foreign-looking people) in east germany, believe me!!! so she was afraid that i would face discrimination or have major problems just because of hijab. but after she saw how comfortable and well i felt in my hijab she got very quickly on my side and supported me
wherever she could, al hamdoulilah!!!

after some time all my family knew about it and accepted me as i am, like always!!! al hamdoulilah, i dont know how i deserve all these blessings, al hamdoulilah al hamdoulilah!!! i dont think that ive lost friends because i came to islam, i have lost friends when i went to brazil or when i finished high-school and moved but the very important people in my life are still on my side before and after islam, al hamdoulilah!!! after finishing high school i moved to west germany because with hijab you are not very welcome in the east, unfortunately. and i dont want to live somewhere where people stare very angry at you and tell you to go back to your country because here you are stealing their jobs…

anyways all these little problems are nothing compared to the blessings i got. my heart feels so warm and wide, there are so many tears inside of me, tears of joy!! my life is very calm now, very peaceful and serene. i am still studying… allahu alem where i will go, allahu alem when and whom i am going to marry someday, allahu alem what will happen in my future but i know everything will be like it should be because i am in His hands, i am here to serve Him and He is here to guide me and protect me and let me go through the things He has prepared for me, al hamdoulilah!

thank you very much for reading these lines. may Allah bless you. as salamu aleikum,

ur sister… ur laura

28 opinions:

*~Ange~* said…

i love your pic Laura. You look so cute in abaya and hijab!

January 3, 2009 4:41 PM

kakchik said…

I just love her, her pic too and her story, it’s humbling to know that she found Allah just because she wants protection from this dangerous world and she found it on her own.

January 3, 2009 5:06 PM

ZAIDI said…

Allah bless u

January 3, 2009 5:10 PM

Natasa said…

it is so sad that Laura beside her uncle and grandfather never heard Jesus’ good news… when I read converts stories most of them said that they were raised in Christian families but from their explanations is obvious that maybe they called themselves Christians but they didn’t have Jesus… they maybe went to church but they weren’t part of His body… BIG difference… Christians are those who follow Jesus in their action, words, lifestyle, who have His spirit in them, who are transformed by His Spirit and Word…. sorry, but I had to say this…

January 3, 2009 5:13 PM

*~Ange~* said…

Natasa – for us that isnt the issue.. its usually because we grow up Christian but dont accept that God had a son or is apart of a trinity and so on. We believe God is ONE only.
When we come to know that Islam sees jesus as a prophet like all other prophets – then that makes sense to us.
Especially when jesus himself never said he was God and when asked he said basically “Everything i do is through God, i do nothing nothing of myself”

January 3, 2009 5:19 PM

Mona said…

What a great story, I love this series.

January 3, 2009 6:27 PM

washi said…

Mash’Allah Laura, your story is so inspiring!!
Ange, I agree with Mona…keep them coming 🙂

January 3, 2009 6:45 PM

Ameenah said…

MashaAllah Laura you’re story was inspiring! May Allah bless you and keep you protected. Ameen!

January 3, 2009 7:30 PM

Natasa said…

I know how Islam think of Jesus… but His words don’t allow this opinion… I just don’t understand why all of you converts say that you are “ex-Christians” when is obvious from yours testimonies that you didn’t have deep inner relationship with Jesus (I don’t speak of empty theology, christless religion, go-to-church thing)…

January 3, 2009 8:31 PM

*~Ange~* said…

we cant have an inner-relationship or any kind of ‘relationship’ with jesus because he was a prophet. A messenger from God but still a man.

The only inner-relationship we can have is with God himself – not his prophets.

We look to prophets as an example of how to live our lives, but we dont claim to have them within us or have a relationship with them.

please explain what u mean by “His words don’t allow this opinion”

January 3, 2009 8:50 PM

Anonymous said…

Salam. This is a very touching story. Thanks to both Laura and Ange. I love this series too.
Ruth

January 3, 2009 10:49 PM

Laura said…

as salamu aleikum to you all.

thank u very much for all these sweet and warm words!!!
may Allah bless and guide us all, ameen.

@Ange: concerning that abaya, actually it was you who inspired me to wear abaya and so after some research on fashion and stuff i started to sew them by my self and now i just wear abaya and feel very happy. so thank you very much because u helped me to make this decision.
yazak Allah kheir

take care, laura

January 3, 2009 11:33 PM

*~Ange~* said…

laura – aaww shucks.. alhamdulilah.

well honestly you look soo cute in abaya!

you should show us how you make them!

January 3, 2009 11:37 PM

Laura said…

hehhee, ur soo sweet ur self dear!!! well, inshallah in february ill have more time to make a new abaya so then i
ll make some pictures inshallah and tell you how i did it… inshallah

ma salamah

January 3, 2009 11:46 PM

Pixie said…

Natasa: I WAS raised by a very practicing Christian family while not my own, and they are still most deeply accepting of my conversion to Islam (my Catholic mother is not, nor my agnostic father), but Ange is right, I personally had a deep relationship with Jesus, as I love him, but I rejected people saying he was the son of God. It is not a thing that made his life of any value. It is not a thing he ever said himself. It is not historically based, but is in fact imitation of some basic bleeding god mythology such as the Egyptian Horus, and some other Celtic God who is crucified, but very familiar to Romans and that area at the time. The Catholic Church (a little after early Christianity where there still hadn’t been the conference of Nicea—I am talking after they HAD the vote to decide Jesus was the son of God) the Church inherited the mythology of Isis for Mary, and Jesus’s story became woefully similair to a that of a Celtic pagan God who has crucified on a cross and rose from the dead. Anyways, as a Muslim, there were too many holes in the story to rely on it, even raised in the strong Christian practicing background I was surrounded in (the women in that household were more similar to my Islamic beliefs than indeed many Muslims).

Noor Dini: MashaAllah. May Allah S.W.T bless you and keep you safe, ameen.

January 4, 2009 1:19 AM

Pixie said…

Laura: May Allah S.W.T bless you also, increase your imaan, and keep you safe, ameen.

January 4, 2009 1:21 AM

*~Ange~* said…

im actually reading a historical book now written by a clergyman of the church and its all about the beginnings of christianity in Rome.
Pixie is right – they threw so many different beliefs into Christianity from previous relligions.. then comes the Council at Nicea where they even voted on women’s roles in the Church and basically had them demoted in every way possible way. Even during this time some major Christian groups protested and denounced the Council’s version of Christianity and rejected the idea of Jesus being God and opposed this idea as sinful and against Jesus’ true teachings. But with Rome being Rome, their ‘put-together’ voted-on version reigned supreme and is now what we know as the Catholic Church.
So Natasa – as much as we all love Prophet Jesus and respect and follow his teachings, we do not accept that he is God. And we do not accept the Bible 100% because that book has been changed sooo much in History by the Church and Kings, that to this day no Bible we read today matches word for word the oldest Bibles still in human hands. and did you know that also at the Council of Nicea these men voted on what BOOKS would be included in the Bible? They excluded some books such as the Gospel of Barnabas which was actually written by a companion of Jesus (who by the way claims that Jesus was not God and purely a man and even states that jesus was angry at people who worshipped him) and instead decided to include 4 gospels by 4 men, who have no last names (bit strange for any historical writer) who lived after Jesus’ death and never met the man… and coincedently have word-for-word sentences in each other’s gospels, which makes Biblical Scholars theorise that they were copied off each other (in particular the gospel according to Mark.

January 4, 2009 1:40 AM

Diali said…

nice story Laura,
May Allah make us better muslims
Amine

January 4, 2009 3:12 AM

NiDa said…

MashaAllah Laura – deine geschichte ist wirklich sehr schon – und ja ich weiss genau wast du meinst mit Ost Deutchland, da hab ich auch fuhr jahre gelebt und weil ich dan nicht islam practiciert habe wahr ich immer nuhr ein auslender :(!

January 4, 2009 3:42 AM

Aalia said…

Very beautiful & touching story!! Barak Allahu feeki for sharing it with us and inspiring us, Sister :
-D You do look very beautiful in the jilbab, BTW!

To Natasa & All: No Christian in this world today follows what Jesus truly taught. The only group of people who did were the people who lived during the Messiah’s time and followed his true message after he ascended into Heaven. They were of course persecuted for preaching Islam by way of Jesus’ statements.

(Why was there a vote for deciding if Jesus really was the “son of God”?)

Believing in the miracle birth of the blessed Virgin Maryam (who is accredited as being one of the most purest women in history and will be one of the 4 women leading us) is obligatory on every Muslim. To deny the birth, life and miracles of Jesus (by the permission of Allah) is to deny the Quran and various ahadith that speak of the matter.

OKay, I am done now 😀

January 4, 2009 4:08 AM

Anonymous said…

I am glad you found a religion you can believe in. you never had that before your conversion. you never really knew Jesus before and don’t know Him know. you believe he was born miraculously, but don’t see hoe He could be a man and God at the same time. The One God of all that is created. The council of Nicea may have voted on that matter, but it was definitely not when that was first believed. Jesus Himself said He was God, Paul expressed that belief throughout the new testament. Hebrews and Colossians especially defend who Jesus Christ was thought to be. It’s not too late to get to know Him and Ii pray that you do.

January 4, 2009 10:50 AM

*~Ange~* said…

look anon.. i could sit here and type away all my beliefs against the trinity, jesus as god, the nicea council, integration of pagan religions into christianity.. i would be here all day.
im firm in islam. you can pray all you want… it aint gonna happen.
pray for something more important – like peace for palestine.
And when you pray – make sure it is to God and not to Jesus – so Allah will hear you.

January 4, 2009 5:02 PM

ipv6 said…

@Natasa
To be a Christian one dont need to have a deep inner relationship with Jesus. They belief in the basic principal of Christianity..either they pactice it or not that was a different matters all together. Many Christian in the world doest life as Christian should.Some merely a born Christian, the attand the sunday church yet doent have deep inner relationship wth the Jesus. Many of them in the US, and they happily celebrated the christmas…
Looking at your words, you have read(learn?) a bit about Islam and their prophets. I would encourage you my dear, to read some more…
I won’t accentuate anything here, just read and ponder. be fair and weight between the two.untill then have a interesting journey then.

@laura
Salam,
Yours case is not an isolated cases, many has been travel the same journey before you and saw the significant differences beween their old faith and the religion of Islam. The new gain knowledge have englighten then like never before…especially for the Cristian they can reconnect the chain of events and fill the gap that is abundance in the Bible(of many version) as well as the contradiction within the scriptures themself.

January 4, 2009 5:43 PM

*~Ange~* said…

IPV6 –
that is a pefect way to describe it..

filling in the gaps and reconnecting. that is exactly how i felt when i was still not a muslim but learning about islam.. i felt like i was putting the missing pieces of a puzzle together

January 4, 2009 6:05 PM

Girly said…

Ange and Pixie, you two gave great explanations for your beliefs.
Laura: I wish I has as much stregth as you. May Allah SWT continue to bless you.

January 5, 2009 4:45 AM

amy said…

salam laura,
may Allah be with u ALWAYS 🙂 ur story really have touched me today.

January 5, 2009 10:54 AM

ipv6 said…

As a christian before, it should’nt be any difficulty to see the contradict scriptures in their holly book(as some part has been long lost(due to effect of nature and unsophisticated writting material) and some parts has been alter by human to their liking), on how many big wing and factions that don’t even recognized others as Christian..

January 5, 2009 8:42 PM

sepha said…

hi Laura!
your post intrigued me so much that i couldnt sleep for like 2 nights! I am also german and 20 years old…and still struggling with my faith! It’s amazing how your mother accepted your choice…i wished my mum would, too!

umm, there are so many questions i’d love to ask you…

wslm 🙂
sepha

January 8, 2009 8:21 AM