The Saudi Mufti Prohibits giving money for Iftar charity, legitimizes slavery

The Saudi Mufti Prohibits giving money for Iftar charity, legitimizes slavery

    Monday, April 08, 2024   No comments

Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority, issuing a religious decree concerning the practice of giving Iftar sadaqa in the form of cash (money), provided reference that can be seen as legitimizing slavery despite its abolition all around the world and despite the evidence in the Quran that designated slavery as evil and encouraged Muslims to free slaves when unable to fast, break an oath, or commit other moral or legal infractions. The Fatwa comes in a time when more than 2 million people in Gaza are starved to death and could need cash provided to them through aid organizations who can only receive money from the world community.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom said, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwa, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, issued a ruling that giving Zakat al-Fitr in money is not valid “because that is contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. May God bless him and grant him peace and the Rightly Guided Caliphs who used to remove it from food.”

The Saudi Mufti added that “Zakat al-Fitr has been prescribed for all Muslims, males and females, old and young, free and slaves.”

It should be noted that other Sunni schools of law consider giving iftar charity in the form of cash (or anything of value), to be valid.

The kingdom has been run through an arrangement that granted Wahhabi scholars from Al Sheikh clan, religious power in return for their blessing of the form of governance in the kingdom under the control of the Al Saudi clan. Saudi Arabia’s official religious practices are derived from the Wahhabism, the strictest religious sect in Islamic societies and Wahhabi religious figures use textual evidence irrespective of rational facts and changed circumstances. The same sect is followed by members of al-Qaeda and the “Islamic State”.

Inflation contributes to declining income and increasing poverty in the United States

Inflation contributes to declining income and increasing poverty in the United States

    Tuesday, September 12, 2023   No comments

The US Census Bureau announced that inflation caused a decline in real income by 2.3% in the United States in 2022 despite raising wages, while poverty increased with the cessation of government aid, which was provided during the Corona pandemic.

Liana Fox, a Census Bureau official, explained during an online press conference that “high inflation led to a decline in real average family income,” which amounted to $47,960.

The official poverty rate remained stable compared to last year, at 11.5%, or 37.9 million people, living on less than $14,880 annually, or $29,950 for a family of four.

But another measurement showed a completely different truth. This measure, also published by the Census Bureau, adjusts the income below which a person is considered poor, taking into account government assistance and the cost of child care and medical expenses.

According to this measure, the poverty rate rose for the first time since 2010, increasing from 7.8% to 12.4% between 2021 and 2022.

The child poverty rate doubled, rising to 12.4%, while it was 5.2% in 2021, a historic low.

The Great Convergence: Global Equality and Its Discontents

The Great Convergence: Global Equality and Its Discontents

    Friday, June 16, 2023   No comments

An article in the magazine "Foreign Affairs" talks about global income levels, within the next twenty to thirty years, and says that the number of Chinese who earn salaries equal to the salaries of middle-income Americans will be equal, which reduces American hegemony.

The current century has witnessed a significant decline in global income inequality, after falling to levels not seen in more than a century. This is the conclusion reached by Branko Milanovic, one of the world's foremost inequality researchers.

Milanovic said in an article published in the American magazine "Foreign Affairs", that "at a time when the population of the United States is only 4% of the world's population, increasing equality would be beneficial to the planet as a whole, but it heralds the end of American hegemony."

According to the author, inequality is measured using a Gini coefficient (a unit of measurement), which extends on a scale from 0 (perfect equality) to 100 (where one person gets all the income in the world).

On this measure, the inequality index fell from 69 in 2000 to 60 in 2018, and it is certainly lower today. In other words, the world is more equal now than at any time since 1875.

Recently, that number due to inequality within countries has risen slightly, and now stands at about 13, up from 7 in the 1990s. Conversely, the component decreased from a high of 63 in 1988 to only 47 in 2018 due to inequality between countries.

This is a complete reversal of what happened during most of the Cold War, when inequality between countries was increasing, but inequality within a single country was greatly reduced.

Milanovic notes in his article that "in the 1970s, India's share of global GDP was less than 3%, while the share of Germany, a major industrial power, was 7% by 2021, then these proportions reversed."

People who were poor by the standards of the United States, and other rich countries, were rich by global standards.

"People's incomes in Asia have reached unprecedented levels," adds Milanovic.

For every 100 middle-income Americans, 25 Chinese earned an equal amount.

Within the next 20 to 30 years, the number of Chinese earning salaries equal to that of middle-income Americans will be equal, and then rapidly exceed that proportion.

"This, in turn, reflects a broader shift in economic, technological and even cultural power in the world," says Milanovic.

For the global genetic coefficient (the unit of measure) to continue to decline, Africa will need to become significantly richer in the coming decades, "which is not likely to happen yet," according to Foreign Affairs.

Chinese firms put deeper roots in Pakistan in post-flood reconstruction; more joint efforts needed for regional recovery

Chinese firms put deeper roots in Pakistan in post-flood reconstruction; more joint efforts needed for regional recovery

    Sunday, October 09, 2022   No comments

Chinese infrastructure companies in Pakistan are playing an increasingly important role in supporting the regional economy and livelihoods as the country looks for more joint efforts from the international community to facilitate the gradual recovery from the lingering devastation of recent floods.

While Chinese companies have taken an active approach in providing constant aid, they have also beefed up efforts to maintain the smooth operation of their projects in some key areas such as power generation and housing in Pakistan, as the country, hit by unprecedented floods in September, has seen its economic recovery slowing down.

Industry insiders and experts said that more joint efforts, including safety guarantees for local personnel and projects of Chinese companies, are needed more than ever to ensure the smooth operation of these projects.

Read the full story...

From the Croatian capital, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Ukrainian grain is exported to rich countries but not poor ones

From the Croatian capital, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Ukrainian grain is exported to rich countries but not poor ones

    Thursday, September 08, 2022   No comments

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country wants to start exporting grain from Russia as well, similar to the export of Ukrainian grain.

Speaking at a press conference with his Croatian counterpart, Zoran Milanovic, in the capital Zagreb, which he is visiting as part of a tour of the Balkans, Erdogan added, "Grains are exported to rich countries, but not poor ones. Unfortunately, Ukrainian grain is exported to rich countries but not poor ones."

Erdogan recalled the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his annoyance over the export of Ukrainian grain to countries that impose sanctions on Russia.

He continued, "There is a delay in the start of grain exports from Russia, and I will discuss this issue in detail during my meeting with President Putin next week, and all we hope for is that the grain reaches poor countries."

And he added: "Most of all this is the issue of energy. Energy prices are rising. Now Europe is confused about how to face the next winter, and I hope this crisis ends well."

The Turkish President and his Croatian counterpart chaired the meeting of the two countries' delegations, after the end of their bilateral meeting at the Croatian Presidential Palace in the capital Zagreb.

On Wednesday, Putin stressed that "the West was not fair enough regarding the grain shipment deal from Ukraine, because most of the grain shipments did not go to the poorest developing countries, but to Europe."

Earlier, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said that "Ukrainian grain ships are heading to places other than those they were intended to go to."

Last July 22, a Russian-Ukrainian memorandum of understanding was signed in Istanbul, under the auspices of the United Nations Secretariat, on facilitating the movement of Russian food products and fertilizers on world markets.

In another context, the Turkish president announced that the volume of trade exchange between Turkey and Croatia amounted to $900 million last year.

According to UN, Saudi Arabia is responsible for killing 60% of children and use of white phosphorus yet the media ignore its war on Yemen

According to UN, Saudi Arabia is responsible for killing 60% of children and use of white phosphorus yet the media ignore its war on Yemen

    Tuesday, September 20, 2016   No comments

ISR review comment: Media bias: Saudi Arabia is responsible for killing 60% of the children killed in Yemen and using illegal weapons. Yet, media outlets ignores the Saudi crimes in Yemen but report on the horrors of war in Syria, which was made worse by militant groups ideologically inspired and politically and militarily assisted by Saudi Arabia. it is this bias that allow the bloodshed to continue.

Yemeni children who survive Saudi bombs may not survive siege-caused famine

Saudi Arabia appears to be using U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in its war in Yemen

Saudi Arabia appears to be using U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions in its war in Yemen, based on images and videos posted to social media, raising concerns among human rights groups that the highly incendiary material could be used against civilians.

Under U.S. regulations, white phosphorus sold to other countries is to be used only for signaling to other troops and creating smoke screens. When the munition explodes, it releases white phosphorus that automatically ignites in the air and creates a thick white smoke. When used against soldiers or civilians, it can maim and kill by burning to the bone.

It is unclear exactly how the Saudis are using the munitions, but the government has already received widespread condemnation for its indiscriminate bombing in civilian areas since its campaign against rebel forces in Yemen began in 2015.

U.S. officials confirmed that the American government has supplied the Saudis white phosphorus in the past but declined to say how much had been transferred or when. After reviewing a social media image taken from the battlefield that showed a white phosphorus mortar shell, a U.S. official said it appeared to be American in origin but could not trace it to a particular sale because some of the markings were obscured.

“The United States expects any recipient of U.S. military assistance to use those items in accordance with international law and under the terms and conditions of any U.S. transfer or sale,” said a State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss politically sensitive issues. SOURCE

Media bias sample: WashPost coverage of ME ignores the Saudi war on Yemen as if Syria is the only war zone in the region.