Duas to be recited in Salaah

Duas to be recited in Qaumah (the standing posture after Ruku before going into Sajda)

رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ حَمْدًا كَثِيْرًا طَيّبًا مُّبَارَكًا فِيْهِ

(Our Sustainer, for You is all praise in abundance, excellent and blessed) Bukhari V1 P110

Duas to be recited in Jalsa (the sitting posture between the two Sajdas)

اَللّهُمّ اغْفِرْ لِيْ وَارْحَمْنِيْ وَعَافِنِيْ وَاهْدِنِيْ وَارْزُقْنِيَ

( O Allah forgive me, have mercy on me, grant me peace, guide me and grant me sustenance) Abu Dawood V1 P123

These Duas should be recited in Fardh, Sunnah and Nafl Salaah

Youngest Qur’an Hafiz Fascinates Nigerians

CAIRO – A three-year-old girl is amazing Nigeria after memorizing the whole Qur’an, becoming one of the youngest Muslims in the world to learn the Noble Book by heart.

“Honestly, I can’t say much but I am very grateful to Allah for this,” Sayyada Maimunatu Sheikh Dahiru, the girl’s mother, told Sunday Tribuneon February 10.

“This is indeed a blessing from Allah. I’m grateful to Allah for this.”

Her daughter, Rukkayatu Fatahu Umar, has completed the memorization of the Noble Qur’an at the age of three year and eight months.

The young Muslim girl began memorizing the Noble Book at an Islamic school founded by prominent Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi.

“We were using a big parlor, which was divided into classes for the learning of the Qur’an,” Maimunatu, who teaches at the school, said.

“At that time, I always carried her on my back while teaching. From there, she started reciting along with the students and before long, she had memorized some verses.

“That was how she started attending memorization class.  Right now, she has completed memorizing the whole Qur’an,” the proud mother said.

The Noble Qur’an is consisted of 114 Surah (chapters) of varying lengths.

Going to the school between 7a.m. and 6p.m. daily, the young girl found little time to play with her peers.

“It is not as if she does not play with her mates. She does, especially with those who are memorizing the Qur’an like her,” Maimunatu said.

“This makes it easier for them, as their focus and attention are directed towards achieving the same goal, which is memorizing the Qur’an.”

Education

 The Muslim girl does not believe she has completed the memorization of the Qur’an as this young age.

“I thank Allah,” she said.

The young Muslim girl is now preparing to go to school soon, breaking a family tradition of sending girls to study at the age of ten.

“My husband has, however, said that the world is changing now, and that there is civilization all over the place,” the mother, who herself memorized the whole Qur’an at the age of 12, said.

“As such, our daughter will have the opportunity of going to a proper school whenever she reaches the age of six.”

The Muslim mother has paid tribute to her father for offering her child the chance to memorize the Qur’an at this young age.

“I’m also grateful that I have a father like Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, who planted my feet, like other people, on the path of Islam,” she said.

“May Allah grant him longevity of life so that he will continue to serve Allah and be useful to Islam and humanity in general.”

Teaching children the glorious Qur'an and the Islamic principles is the responsibility of their parents from an early age which is the best period for implanting Islamic ethics.

Memorizing the Holy Qur’an is one of the most important ways to preserve Allah’s message.

The others are to publish and distribute the book, or the text on the Internet and to recite the parts that one knows to other people.

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) said: “The best amongst you is the one who learns the Qur'an and teaches it.”

Suffering in Silence: Rape

In the last few weeks we have witnessed some of the most horrific acts of violence being perpetrated against women. This has brought the spot light on the crime of rape. On Friday the 22nd February 2013 a Panel Discussion was hosted on Radio Islam International dealing with different aspects of rape.

The panellist for the first segment of the programme was Moulana  Zakariya Philander from Cape Town and Moulana Muhammed Asvat from Springs. Ml Zakariya began by discussing the lowly manner in which women were treated prior to the coming of Islam and how Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam changed that. Ml Muhammed went on to share some of the advice that Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam gave with regards to the treatment of women. Aaisha Radiyallahu Anha narrates that Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said: “The one with the most perfect Imaan and best character from among you is the one who is most kind to his family.”{Tirmizi}

When questioned as to why do men rape, Ml Zakariya shared a number of reasons. He said: “As a lack of respect for women, men consider them to be second class citizen and think that own them and do what they please with them. Furthermore, we are living in a time of instant gratification, where men feel entitled to instantly release their sexual energises. This has caused the scourge in rape” Ml Muhammed added: “ Stereo type behaviour of men also play a role, where men feel they are powerful and can assert themselves over anyone.”

In the second segment of the programme Mufti Sraaj Desai from  Port Elizabeth responded to some of the objection that are level against Islam with regards to the punishment for rape. He said that Umar Radiyallahu Anhu gave the death penalty to the perpetrator of this heinous crime. Mufti Siraaj also spoke about Islam being the only religion which presents an entire concept, if adopted would most definitely curb rape.

In the third segment of the programme, psychologist Fazila Asvat of Rustenburg and social worker Anisa Moosa from Johannesburg spoke about dealing with the trauma of being raped.  A sms was sent in to programme from a sister who was raped three times by a close family member and despite this she said that she has forgiven the perpetrator and pray for his guidance.  Both the guest were amazed by the bravery displayed by this sister and shared words of consolation to the sister

Sister Fazila concluded by saying: “Parents need to put certain protective measure in place to ensure the safety of children, maintain levels of modesty in the home, work on character development and move from dysfunctional homes to functional homes.”  Sister Anisa concluded by saying: “It is not just about rape or violence against women, but rather there needs to be an overall change in perception from grassroots level.”

The programme was well received by Radio Islam International and listeners and has been put up as a Podcast on the  website. You can listen to it here

Yusuf Moosagie

28^th February 2013

Report Says 54 Countries Helped C.I.A. After 9/11

By SCOTT SHANE

Published: February 4, 2013

WASHINGTON — Some 54 countries helped facilitate the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret detention, rendition and interrogation program in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a new human rights report that documents broad international involvement in the American campaign against Al Qaeda.

The report, to be made public Tuesday by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a rights advocacy group, is the most detailed external account of other countries’ assistance to the United States, including things like permitting the C.I.A. to run secret interrogation prisons on their soil and allowing the agency to use their airports for refueling while moving prisoners around the world.

The report identifies 136 people who had been held or transferred by the C.I.A., the largest list compiled to date, and describes what is known about when and where they were held. It adds new detail to what is known about the handling of both dedicated Qaeda operatives and innocent people caught up by accident in the global machinery of counterterrorism.

Some of the harsh interrogation methods the C.I.A. used on prisoners under President George W. Bush have been widely denounced as torture, including by President Obama, who banned such techniques. In addition, some prisoners subjected to extraordinary rendition — transferred from one country to another without any legal process — were sent to countries where torture is standard practice.

Such operations remain the subject of fierce debate, with former Bush administration officials asserting that they were necessary to keep the country safe and critics saying the brutal interrogation techniques were illegal and ineffective. The debate has been renewed most recently with the release of the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” which portrays the use of torture in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, though intelligence officials deny that was the case.

When he took office in 2009, Mr. Obama rejected calls for a national commission to investigate such practices, saying he wanted to look forward and not back. The Senate Intelligence Committee recently completed a 6,000-page study of the C.I.A. detention and interrogation program, but it remains classified, and it is uncertain whether and when it might be even partially released.

Amrit Singh, the author of the Open Society report, “Globalizing Torture,” said she had found evidence that 25 countries in Europe, 14 in Asia and 13 in Africa lent some sort of assistance to the C.I.A., in addition to Canada and Australia. They include Thailand, Romania, Poland and Lithuania, where prisoners were held, but also Denmark, which facilitated C.I.A. air operations, and Gambia, which arrested and turned over a prisoner to the agency.

“The moral cost of these programs was borne not just by the U.S. but by the 54 other countries it recruited to help,” Ms. Singh said.

For some former intelligence officials, such critiques of the aggressive operations against Al Qaeda smack of second-guessing. Michael V. Hayden, the former C.I.A. director, said in a panel discussion last week at the American Enterprise Institute that few voices had called for restraint in the panicky aftermath of 9/11.

“We are often put in a situation where we are bitterly accused of not doing enough to defend America when people feel endangered,” Mr. Hayden said. “And then as soon as we’ve made people feel safe again, we’re accused of doing too much.”

But Ms. Singh said that the United States had flagrantly violated domestic and international law and that its efforts to avoid accountability were “beginning to break down.”

In December, the European Court of Human Rights found the C.I.A. responsible for the torture of Khalied el-Masri, a German citizen abducted by the agency and taken to Afghanistan in a case of mistaken identification. And on Friday, an Italian appeals court convicted a C.I.A. station chief and two other Americans of the kidnapping of a radical cleric taken from the streets of Milan in 2003 and sent to Egypt. Twenty-three Americans had previously been convicted in the case.