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”.

Media review: The Gaza war creates a new Islamic front and threatens American influence--Foreign Affairs

Media review: The Gaza war creates a new Islamic front and threatens American influence--Foreign Affairs

    Saturday, February 10, 2024   No comments

The American magazine Foreign Affairs published a long article dealing with the impact of the Gaza war on the Islamic and Arab worlds, saying that this war created a new Islamic front that may be the greatest challenge facing America.

The article, written by Toby Matthiesen, a senior lecturer in global religious studies at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, explained that the Gaza war is no longer limited to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel.

He pointed out the extension of this war and the participation of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” that includes Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen in it, and it has gone beyond that until it has now become, 4 months after its beginning, a strong unifying force for Sunnis and Shiites and has awakened a comprehensive Islamic front that includes the Sunni Arab masses, who are opposed by a majority. Overwhelming, Arab normalization.

The article added that for the United States and its partners, this development constitutes a strategic challenge that goes far beyond confronting the Iraqi factions and the Houthis with targeted strikes. By bringing together a region long divided, the war in Gaza threatens to further undermine American influence and, in the long term, could make many American military missions untenable.

He said that this new rapprochement also raises major obstacles to any US-led efforts to impose a top-down peace agreement that excludes Palestinian Islamists.

The writer reported that Arab opinion polls and social media show great Arab support for the Hamas movement and its strategy of armed resistance, and a significant decline in support for the United States and the regimes closely associated with it.

The same opinion polls now show, according to the article, that an overwhelming percentage of the population - more than 90% - opposes establishing relations with Israel, adding that the Arab Opinion Index for last January, a survey conducted in Doha that included 16 Arab countries, shows agreement. More than 3 quarters of respondents said their views of the United States had become more negative since the war began.

Matthiesen advised the pro-Western Arab countries to seek to bridge the widening gap between their policies and the sympathy of their citizens, saying that after years of neglect, these masses will urgently press for a just solution to the Palestinian issue, which threatens to spark a new wave of Arab uprisings.

He stressed that it is increasingly clear that it will be impossible for Washington to stop the regional escalation unless it is able to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, end the occupation, and finally establish a viable Palestinian state, adding that in the absence of concrete, credible steps in this direction, the pressure will continue. Popular influence on governments in the region.

Matthiesen concluded his article by emphasizing that without a just and broad solution to the Palestinian issue, the Middle East will never achieve lasting peace or the kind of political and economic cooperation that many have long dreamed of, indicating that the alternative is an endless cycle of violence, the decline of Western influence, and the integration of the region. In a way that is completely different from what the West wants, and even fundamentally hostile to it.

Sheikh al-Azhar: Western civilization bears the largest part of the tragedy of modern man

Sheikh al-Azhar: Western civilization bears the largest part of the tragedy of modern man

    Thursday, June 01, 2023   No comments

The Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, received today, Thursday, at the headquarters of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, the United Nations High Representative for the Dialogue of Civilizations, Miguel Moratinos, and ways to enhance joint cooperation were discussed.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar welcomed Moratinos, stressing Al-Azhar's openness to dialogue with all believers in religions, cultures and civilizations.

Al-Tayeb pointed out that the world is currently facing a very complex crisis, which is the crisis of excluding religious and moral values from people's lives, stressing that this crisis does not only resonate and affect its makers, but also extends to all humanity, east and west, indicating that this crisis is The basis for all the conflicts and wars that our world is exposed to today.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar pointed out that Western civilization bears the largest part in the tragedy of modern man, when it sought to exclude religion from people's lives, and focused on satisfying human desires and promoting material thought.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar touched on the human suffering today, from the lack of food and medicine, and the climate change crisis, in addition to social crises.

Eid Mubarak: Muslims around the world celebrate the end of the month of Ramadan

Eid Mubarak: Muslims around the world celebrate the end of the month of Ramadan

    Saturday, April 22, 2023   No comments

After a month of fasting, reflection, and prayers, Muslims around the world mark the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan, with prayers, visits to family and neighbors to ask forgiveness, and recommit to a more balanced life.

These are some images of Muslims celebrating Eid 2023.

In The News: Vatican official says the West bears a great responsibility in destabilizing the Middle East

In The News: Vatican official says the West bears a great responsibility in destabilizing the Middle East

    Friday, April 21, 2023   No comments

The Dean of the Department of Eastern Churches in the Vatican, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, said that the West bears a great responsibility in destabilizing the Middle East, because of its tendency to transfer its culture to the region, and to demand that its peoples adapt their lives to this culture.

The Dean of the Department of Eastern Churches added that they, "as Western Catholics, apologize for their support of this short-sighted vision," adding, "We commend your heroic efforts in being witnesses to our common faith over hardships, of all kinds."

The "Vatican News" website indicated that this statement was made in the presence of more than 250 representatives of the Catholic Churches in the Middle East, who were present at the opening of the "Rooted in Hope" symposium, which is being held in Nicosia until April 23, and is organized by the "ROACO" organization concerned with aid. Eastern churches.

Vatican Radio pointed out that what worries Archbishop Gugerotti is "the dispersion of Christians in the Middle East, resulting from the current tragic situation, which profoundly affects their daily lives."

It is noteworthy that Pope Francis said, last year, that the West cannot be described as an "example to follow" because it took the wrong path, describing it as the greatest graveyard of humanity.

He also said last month that the interests of multiple "empires" are driving the war in Ukraine, not just Russia, adding that the conflict was fueled by "colonial interests, and not only because of the Russian Empire, but because of other empires as well."

Saudi Salafi Religious Leaders rebuke Taliban over Women Education Ban

Saudi Salafi Religious Leaders rebuke Taliban over Women Education Ban

    Saturday, December 24, 2022   No comments

 The largest Saudi religious body calls on the Taliban to reverse the ban on girls from university education and affirms that “preventing women from education is not permissible in Islamic law.” The Afghan government orders civil organizations not to allow women to come to work

Today, Saturday, the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars called on the Afghan government to enable Afghan women the right to education in educational institutions, and to reverse its decision to prevent women from doing so, noting that preventing women from education is not permissible in Islamic law.

And the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars stated in a statement today, Saturday, that “Islam, with its tight legislation and its complete constitution, preserves every human being, male and female, his rights,” and lists his duties, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The commission, which is the largest religious body in the Kingdom, affirmed that “Islam, with its rulings and legislation, preserves the legal rights of women completely and undiminished, so women enjoyed, under this true religion, their rights that preserve their humanity and preserve their dignity. diverse science, and participated in the Muslim community throughout history in its renaissance, leadership and prosperity.

The Council of Senior Scholars noted, “At the forefront of the rights that Islam has preserved for women is the right to education, as the legal texts that encourage and encourage learning tend towards women as well as towards men.”

Last Wednesday, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom's surprise and regret at the decision of the Afghan caretaker government, led by the Taliban movement, to prevent Afghan girls from having the right to university education.

Last Tuesday, the Taliban decided to ban university education for women in Afghanistan indefinitely, according to a letter sent by the Ministry of Higher Education to all public and private universities.

The letter, signed by Minister Nada Muhammad Nadeem, said: “I inform you all to implement the aforementioned order to stop female education until further notice.”

The ban on higher education for women comes less than 3 months after thousands of them took university entrance exams across the country.

"Serious complaints have been received regarding non-compliance with the Islamic headscarf and other rules and regulations related to women's work in local and international organisations," the ministry responsible for approving licenses for NGOs operating in Afghanistan said in a letter seen by AFP.

In its letter addressed to international and local non-governmental organizations, the ministry added that “in the event of neglecting the guidance … the organization’s license will be revoked.”

Two non-governmental organizations that spoke to AFP confirmed that they had received the letter from the ministry.

"We are suspending all our activities as of Sunday," a senior official of an international organization involved in humanitarian work in several remote areas of the country told AFP, on condition of anonymity. "We will soon hold a meeting of senior officials from all NGOs to decide how to deal with this issue," he added.

Likewise, another official working for an international non-governmental organization concerned with food distribution said that the ban is “a big blow to female employees.”

"We have a large number of female staff to address concerns about humanitarian assistance to Afghan women," he added, asking, "How do we address their concerns now?"

Dozens of international and local NGOs operate in various sectors in various remote areas of Afghanistan, and many of their employees are women.

In response to the latest decision, the UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, said the ban was "a clear violation of humanitarian principles."