Muslim view of Islamic history

1. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims, who constitute one-fifth of the world population.

2. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world – including in Europe, the US (20,000 reverts/year), and Canada.

3. Islam is the second-largest religion after Christianity, which has 1.9 billion adherents.

4. There are more Muslims than Catholics (1.1 billion).

5. Muslims constitute the religious majority in 57 countries.

6. There are more Muslims than Chinese people.

7. There are more Muslims in China (33 million) – than there are Canadians in Canada.

8. There are more Muslims in Europe (25 million), than there are in Yemen (20 million) or Syria (18 million).

9. There are more Muslims in Canada (600,000) – than there are Greek, Ukrainian, Serb and Russian Orthodox combined (480,000), Presbyterians (410,000), Protestants (369,000), Jews (330,000) or Buddhists (300,000).

10. There are more Muslims in United States (over 8 million) than Jews (6 million) or Hindus.

11. The first Canadian mosque – Al Rashid – was opened for prayers in Calgary in 1938 by Yusuf Ali – the renowned English translator of Holy Qur’an. The host of the event was the Mayor of Hanna, Alberta, a Christian Arab. Edmonton’s Mayor was also in attendance.

12. Alan Okanovic – a young Bosnian refugee – completed a cross-Canada bike trip to raise awareness and funds for children of war torn countries. Okanovic, made his arduous journey across Canada on bike and personally delivered the funds raised to Chechen refugee camps.

13. When Muslim Arabs took over the City of Jerusalem in 638 CE – they allowed Jews to return after 500 years. The Jews had been banished from Palestine since 135 CE by Romans. The Christian of Jerusalem used to dump their garbage at the site of Temple of Mount, which was cleaned on the orders of Muslim Khalifah, Umar – and the site was handed-over to the chief rabbi of the city.

14. Muslim Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453 CE, putting a end to the Byzantine empire. They practiced so much tolerance to their non-Muslim subjects that the popular cry among the Balkan peasants at the time was “Better the turban of the Turk than the Tiara of the Pope”. Even the well known American Zionist Jewish intellectual, Dr. Bernard Lewis could not hide that truth in “The Arab in History” – A general belief at time held the God of vengeance delivered us out of the hands of the Romans by means of the Arabs. It profited us not a little to be saved from the cruelty of the Romans and their bitter hatred toward us (Jews and Christians).

15. Abbas ibn Firnas constructed the first flying machine and tested it in 852 CE in Cordoba (Muslim Spain) by wrapping himself in a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts and by jumping from the minaret of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Though this attempt was unsuccessful, he continued working on improving his design.

16. Khalifah al-Ma’mun (813 -833 CE) built world’s first observatory in Baghdad.

17. In 1502 CE – the Portuguese adventurer Vasco da Gama made his second incursion into the Indian Ocean with a fleet of 25 ships. On his way to India – he encountered a large ship carrying 700 men, women and children returning from Hajj. He confiscated its goods and then set fire to the ship. As the pilgrims jumped overboard to escape the fire – Portuguese sailors in boats lanced all of them saving only 20 of the children, who were rescued for the Franciscan fathers to be turned into Christians.

18. In October 1992 – an Israeli El-AI Boeing 747 carrying chemical and biological agents from the US – crashed into a housing complex in Amsterdam shortly after taking-off. Hundreds of poor inhabitants have died since then and many of the survivors are still showing symptoms similar to those of nerve gas poisoning. The US also supplied similar WMDs to Saddam Hussain’s Baathist Army – which it used against Iranian and Kurds.

19. The Suez Canal – initiated by the French consul, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was a disaster for Egypt.- which in the end had to provide all the money, labour and materials as well as donating 200 sq. miles of Egyptian territory gratis – and yet the shares of the Canal Company were all held by Europeans. The immense outlay helped to bankrupt Egypt – and this gave Britain a pretext to set up a military occupation there in 1882 in order to protect the interest of western vultures (mostly Jews).

20. In British occupied Egypt – there were 17 general elections held between 1923 and 1952 – all 17 won by the nationalist Wafd party – which wanted to reduce British influence in the country. However, Wafd was only permitted to form government five times – after the remaining elections – the part was forced by the British and its puppet Egyptian king to stand down.

21. In 1978 – When Reza Shah’s Israeli-trained military massacred 900 civilians in Tudeh Square – then “born-again” Christian president of the US, Jimmy Carter, did not bother to lift his Zionist finger against America’s “Statesman’” in the Middle East.

22. In 1991 – US Senator Pressler at a press conference in New Delhi (India) – responding to the question about the possibility of ex-Soviet Union’s newly break-away five Muslim countries of Central Asia – an association with the other Muslim countries in the area, said – We would have to be mad to permit the formation of a block composed of ten Muslim countries. As if the Zionist did not know that there exist NATO, EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, and many other such associations exist around the world.

23. The common perception that Islam was brought to Americana by African slave Muslim – is totally wrong. The traditions found among the remnants of some Amerindian tribes on the US East Coast proves that some Muslim must had visited American continent before Columbus.

24. The “professed Zionist”, Lord Churchill was the prime minister of Britain when Europe was “liberated” from the Nazis. This was when 300,000 to 500,000 displaced Jews, instead of being resettled in their own homes in Europe – were shipped to British occupied Palestine instead. If he had truly cherished the Jews, as much as he had claimed, surely, he and the rest of European Christian and World Zionist Federation leaders would have done more to settle them comfortably in their own homes rather than have them banished to an inhospitable and unwelcoming land. This proves that only those leaders were glad to get rid of Europe of “Jewish menace” – but even more pleased to the knowledge that henceforward – they would be “pain in neck” for the Muslim Arabs.

25. Recently – Archaeologists have discovered the 100,000-year-old fossilised remains of a previously unknown giant camel species in Syria:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6035113.stm

26. October 9, 2006 – Columbia University Medical Center (New York) research report says that the so-called ‘Mediterranean diet’ (based on fruits, vegetables, olive oil and a paucity of red meat and dairy products) may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease – Based on a look at 1,984 adults with an average age of about 76, of whom 194 already had the debilitating brain disease and 1,790 did not. What they ate during the preceding 12 months was analyzed for how well it matched the Mediterranean diet.

27. In 1256, Pope Innocent (1198-1216) summoned the faithful Christian lords of Hungary to invade Bosnia and seize the lands and treasures of its “blasphemers.” In 1247, the Pope urged the Bosnians to return to the Catholic fold, reminding them that his predecessors “had tried to redeem their see by devastating the greater part of it and by killing or carrying away in captivity many thousands of Bosnians.” The Bosnians responded by adopting Bogomilism as the official state religion. In one last supreme effort, the Papacy “supported the Emperor Sigismund of Hungary, who held Croatia and Dalmatia, and who wished to add Bosnia to his kingdom.” Though the Emperor “scored the success of capturing the Bosnian king,” West writes, the Bosnians were unimpressed “and replaced him by another, also a staunch Bogomil.” After the Turks came to the Balkans, the Bosnian Bogomils, hoping to escape persecution from their neighbors, openly supported the Turks against the Christian rulers. As a result, the Turks in 1415 offered the Bogomils military protection, secure titles to their land and freedom to practice their religion – if they counted themselves as Muslims and did not attack Ottoman forces. The Bogomils quickly accepted the offer.

28. November, 1947 issue of ‘The American Magazine’ – published an article written by present king of Jordan’s great-grandfather, King Abdullah. In the article the king disputed western mistaken view that Arab opposition to Zionism (an later Zionist state) is result of longstanding religious or ethnic hatred. He noted that Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful co-existence in the Middle East, and that historically Jews have suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe. Pointing to the so-called ‘Holocaust’ – the monarch asked why the US and Europe are refusing to accept more than a token of handful Jewish immigrants and refugees. It’s unfair, he argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the crimes of Europe. The similar comments from Iranian president Dr. Ahmadinejad – got him the title of ‘Hitler’ from some Zionist puppet US and EU leaders.

29. September 2006 military coup – General Sonthi Boonyaratglin became the first Muslim military-ruler of Buddhist majority Thailand. Muslims (mostly of Indonesian and Malaysian ethnicity) – make 10% of the total population, mostly located forest-rich Pitani, which is home to 35% of country’s total export. King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the constitutional monarch of the country.

30. Arab Muslims made their first attempt to conquer Byzantine capital Constantinople in 32 AH (653 CE) during the time of the third Khalifah of Islamic state – Hazrat Usman. An army, led by the Prophet’s () brother-in-law, Mua’wiya ibn Abi Sufyan, then governor of Syria, marched through Asia Minor as far as the shores of the Bosphorus. Famous Companion Hazrat Abu Ayyub al-Ansari was martyred during the siege of the city and was buried under the walls of Constantinople. This was followed by several other expeditions till the city fell to Muslim Turks in 1453 CE and the tomb of Hazrat Ansari was recovered.

31. In 212 AH (827 CE) – Emir of Tunis, Ziadat Ullah al-Aghlab dispatched his naval force under the command of Qadi (Judge), Asad ibn al-Forat – who was one of the greatest Muslim scholars of 9th century and also a daring soldier and brave seaman to conquer island of Sicily. His army fought several battles with the army of Emperor Michael II. Arab army settled in the cities they conquered and established a principality governed by successive rulers till the conquest of the entire island was completed by the fall of Syracuse, the last of its strongholds, in 264 AH (878 CE). Then there rose a Muslim state in Sicily, which lasted till it was destroyed by the forces of Duke Roger, the Norman, in 464 AH (1072 CE).

32. In 231 AH (846 (CE) – a great expedition of privateers with the support of the Emir of Sicily, Muhammad ibn Khafaja – sailed from Sicily toward the ‘City of Caesars’,Rome. After conquering Gaeta and Fondi – it anchored at the mouth of the Tiber. In those days – ‘The Walls of Rome’ did not enclose the entire old city; the Vatican, which included the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul and a large number of old temples and tombs. The privateers stormed that district and took away rich ornaments from temples and a silver altar from the tomb of St. Paul – and besieged the city. Pope Sergius panicked and asked Emperor Louis II, King of the Franks and the Lombards – who hastened to send a large force to fight the invaders. But what saved Rome from Muslim occupation was the disagreement between the Muslim leaders themselves. They raised the siege of the city after a fierce combat with the troops of the Emperor and returned to the south laden with spoils and captives in 850 CE. These daring attacks revealed to the Papacy and to Christendom the weakness of the ‘Eternal City’ and to the danger it was exposed. Pope Leo IV – the successor to Pope Sergius, hastened to fortify it and included the Vatican and the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul within the protection of the walls. He also fortified this suburb, which is still called the ‘Leonine City’ in his memory.

33. Uzbekistan took its name from Khan Uzbek, the ruler responsible for the conversion of the ‘Golden Horde’ to Islam at the beginning of the 14th century. Its cities Tashkent Bukhara, and Samarkand remained the centers of learning for some centuries at time when the entire West was engulfed in darkness. Bukhara is the hometown of Ibn Sina (b. 980 CE) – known to the West as Avicenna – A philosopher and a great physician of his time – indeed the greatest name in world medicine. He wrote ‘The Canon of Medicine’, a systematic encyclopedia based on the achievements of Greek and Arab physicians. Present-day Bukhara is city of more than 500,000 people – full of impressive architectural delights – among them the mausoleum of Samanid and the Kalyan minaret, which is listed as ‘historical monument’ by the UN.

34. In 785 CE – Amir Abd al-Rehman I started the construction of the ‘Great Mosque’ of Cordoba – on the site of an old church purchased from local Christian community. The mosque, known as ‘the jewel of Islam’ was completed in 1000 CE. The whole area of the mosque – 189m by 137m was enclosed with 18m high buttressed walls. These were pierced by 21 horseshoe arches having doors encrusted with shining brass. The roof was protected by 1-inch thick plate of lead and its outside was decorated with exquisite designs. The mosque was divided into two parts – the courtyard and a prayer chamber. More than 300 attendants were responsible for the upkeep of the mosque. At night, 10,000 pots of oil were utilized to light 2,400 lamps, including 280 huge chandeliers – some with 1,000 lights. In the 13th century when Christian crusaders occupied the city – they converted the mosque into a Christian house of worship. In the process, they cemented most of the doors and archways – and inside its walls built dozen of chapels. For 755 years the mosque has been converted into a church – yet the aura of its former Muslim magnificence remains.

35. Long before the Ottoman rule in Arabia ended – there has been stirrings of nationalistic thoughts in Judeo-Christian Europe. It was considered that the right of every ‘distinct community’ to have an independent country of its own. Inspired by these ideas – a number of books were published on the concept of so-called ‘Jewish nationhood’ (while Jewish communities were scattered all over the world) in the second half of 19th century. The best known among them was ‘Der Judenstaat (The Jewish state’ – written in 1896 CE by Theodor Herzl – an atheist Jew and political journalist from Austria. This book was considered as ‘Zionist Bible’ by fanatic Zionist Jews who eventually occupied Muslim majority Palestine in 1948.

36. In 1982 – Zionist entity attacked Lebanon and occupied the country killing tens of thousands of Muslims and Christians – most of them Palestinian refugees sheltering in caps run and protected by United Nations. The Zionist occupation lasted for 18 year until Hizb’Allah’s fighter forced IOF to retreat. Only Syria and to a lesser extent Islamic Iran, among 57-Muslim nation-states. Took some steps to save Lebanese people. The truth of the matter is the Zionist entity would not have ventured into Lebanon had it not first endured peace with Egypt at Camp David (for an annual US bribe of $1.5 billion) and dividing Arabs. The Zionist entity carried out its second such adventure in middle of 2006 – but got its nose bloodied in 34-day fighting with Hizb’Allah.

37. In 1991 – Saddam Hussain occupied one of Iraq’s former province – Kuwait. Instead of setting the issue through Arab League – the rest of oil-rich Arab puppet regimes invited the US and its ‘willing collaborators’ to destroy the most advance country amongst them – and more than paid for the expenses that the western Halakus might have incurred in the process. Many years later US Secretary of States, Lawrence Eagle burger, admitted on CNN (Sept. 13, 2001) that the primary US motive in the ‘Gulf War’ had been the removal of ‘potential’ Iraqi threat to Zionist entity. This the reason the US occupation forces has created a ‘civil war’ in occupied Iraq to divide it into three smaller states.

38. The total amount of the so-called USAID doled out in form of payable loans to all the world’s poor nation (including the parasite state of Israel) – doesn’t exceed $10 billion per year. This is less than one quarter of the amount that is due in charity from only the rich Arabs if they followed Islamic injunction of ‘Zakat’ in true sense – and certainly that would have made the fate of Muslims throughout the world today much better indeed.

39. Golda Meir (later prime minister of Zionist entity) was born in Russia, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and in 1921 migrated to occupied Palestine as a settler. In 1949, Golda Meir became Tel Aviv’s first ambassador to the Soviet USSR.

Representing Zionis entity, Ambassador Golda Meir, a Bolshevik Jewess, met with two representatives of the Soviet Union – Kaganovich, a Bolshevik Jew and Stalin who had married three Bolshevik Jew women. They made a secret agreement – a Pact:

i) Israel would not allow any Western country, especially the U.S. to build military bases on Israeli territory.

ii) Israel would allow an official communist party to function freely in Israel.

iii) Israel would not make any agreement to solve the Palestinian problem.

iv) Israel would influence world Jewry, especially in the U.S. to have western powers adopt a policy of favoring Israel over the Arabs.

v) Israel was to continue its Marxist economic policies and prevent any free-enterprise tendencies.

And Soviet’s part of Pact was:

i) The Soviets would institute a pro-Arab policy solely as a camouflage for its true intentions which was to furnish aid to the Arabs, but never enough to enable the Arabs to destroy Israel.

ii) The Soviets would open the gates of Soviet satellite countries to Jewish immigration to Israel. Should this be insufficient, Soviet Russia then would open its own gates to immigration.

iii) The Soviets would absolutely guarantee the security of Israel

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-b…6/10/06/p11296

40. In 1406 CE – The Muslim world lost one of its greatest historiographer, historians, and brilliant scholar in the person of Bu Zayd ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun al-Hadhrami (b. 1332 CE). Living in one of world’s most turbulent centuries – he observed at first hand – even participated in such decisive events as the birth of new states – the death throes of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) and the advance of the Christian Reconquest – ‘The 100 Year War’, the expansion of Ottoman Empire, the decline of Byzantium and the great epidemic of ‘Black death’. He was born in Tunis to a family who had emigrated there following the Crusaders’ occupation of Seville nearly a century earlier. In 1364 CE – on a peace mission to King Pedro I of Castile, Ibn Khaldun visited Seville – the city where his Yemeni ancestors had settled in the 8th century. He may have gazed up at the ceiling of the ‘Real Alcazar’ and admired the splendid workmanship of the Muslim craftsmen in the style know today as ‘Mudejar’. The ‘lion and castle’ – the emblems of Castile and Leon – were symbols of the ruling houses of Spain.

41. 2001 – Andreas von Buelow, Germany’s former Minister of Technology in an interview dismissed Washington’s official story of 9/11 attack – blaming al-Qaeda – “I wonder why many questions are not asked. For example, for 60 decisive minutes, the military and intelligence agencies let the fighter planes stay on ground; 48 hours later, however, the FBI presented a list of 19 suicide attackers. Within 10 days, it emerged that seven of them were still alive”.

42. From 1538 to 1588 CE – Mimar Sinan (‘Architect Sinan’ – the name by which he is known in Turkey) – served as chief architect to the Ottoman court. He completed his largest and most famous mosque in 1557 CE for Sultan Suleyman I, ‘The Magnificent’. Like the nearby Byzantine Hagia Sophia, the Suleymaniya Mosque is comprised of a huge central dome that raises from four pillars; around it, smaller arches and domes echo it and, when pierced with windows, cast light from each side. This creates a great openness while at the same time emphasizing height.The overall effect is one of proportional balance on an awe-inspiring scale – of spatial unity and – as befits a house of Allah – spiritual tranquility.

43. In 1312 CE – African Muslims arrived in the Gulf of Mexico for exploration of American interior using the Mississippi River as their access route. These Muslim explorer were from Mali and other parts of West Africa. The brother of Mansa Musa, Abubakari, was one of the first to set sail to Americana from Africa.

44. In 1492 – When Christopher Columbus ‘accidentally’ found Americana – he was strongly influenced by geography of the 13th century Arab scholar – Al-Idrissi, who served as an adviser to King Roger of Sicily. Columbus had with him a copy of Al-Idrissi’s works mentioning the discovery of a new continent by eight Muslim explorers. Columbus also had two Captains of Muslim origin during his first voyage – Martin Alonso Pinzon, captain of the Pinta – and his brother Vicente Yaneex Pinzon, the captain of the Nina. The Pinzon family was related to Abuzayan Muhammad III – the Moroccon Sultan of the Marinid Dynasty (1196-1465 CE).

45. On October 21, 1492 – Columbus wrote in his dairy of seeing a mosque while sailing near Gibara on the north-east coast of Cuba.

46. In 1539 – Estevanico, an Muslim Arab Negro from Azamore, on the Atlantic Coast of Morocco – was one of the first of three people crossed the continent from Mexico in search of the fabled ‘Seven Cities of Cibolia’ – and discovered two present-day states – Arizona and New Mexico.

47. In 1654 – an English explorer from Jamestown reported finding a colony of bearded people (Moors) wearing European clothing, living in cabins, engaging in mining, smelting silver, and dropping to their knees to pray many times daily in the mountains of what is now, North Carolina.

48. In 1670s – United States government sought protection against King of England – from Ottoman Empire – for an annual tribute of $87,000. At the same time, State of Virginia General assembly 1670 Act declared who will be slave – excluding Turks and Moors, whose countries were in amity with the England. Moors’ country Morocco was the first country to award recognition to the US independence from British Crown under the leadership of Gen. George Washington.

49. The descendants of some of the early Muslim visitors of North America are members in many of the present-day American-Indian tribes. For example, Alibamu tribe of Alabama; the Apaches; Anasazi; Arawak; Arikana; the Black Indians near New York; the Cherokees; Creeks; Makkahs; Mahigans; Mohanets; Mohegans; Naticokes; Zulus and Zuni.

50. In the Jewish Bible (Isaiah 28:25-27) – the prophet Isaiah contrasts “Nigella (Black seed) with wheat. Black seed was also found in Tutankhamen’s tomb – proving that it was an important item – as it was customary to place in tombs items needed for the afterlife. For Muslim Arabs – Nigella Sativa (Habba Souda) is not only food but also a valued traditional medicine for asthma, cough, stomach aches, abdominal pain, colic, general fatigue, rheumatism, mouth and larynx diseases, skin disease, cancer, urination, liver function, digestion, for dissolving kidney stones and ‘brain stimulation’. According to one Haddith – The Prophet Muhammad () described the Habba Souda as a cure for every disease except death.

51. In 1967 – The Zionist entity built its first nuclear device – but it was not until 1968-1969 that US officials concluded that an Israeli bomb was about to become a physical and political reality. The US government officials believed that Israel was reaching a state “whereby all the components for a weapon are at hand, awaiting only final assembly and testing.” In the first months of the Nixon administration, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird believed it was important that Washington try to check Israeli nuclear progress for the sake of stability in the Middle East. In April 1969 national security adviser Henry Kissinger issued National Security Study Memorandum (NSSM) 40 requesting the national security bureaucracy to develop options for dealing with the Israeli nuclear problem. A Senior Review Group (SRG), chaired by Henry Kissinger, was formed to deliberate and propose avenues for action to the President.

52. Former US president Eisenhower (a Jew) wrote in his memoirs that the smartest thing he ever did was, as a lieutenant colonel going nowhere, to ask Bernard Baruch (a Russian Jew and financial high priest of the Wilson and Roosevelt administrations) for advice on his career. Within months, despite his utter incompetence and lack of combat experience, Ike was picked to become the first five-star general in US history, and overlord of the most terrible war criminals in human history.

53. The ‘Id al-Mawlid’ celebration as we know it today – was an invention of the Fatmids – the Shia Ismaili (Agha Khani) dynasty that ruled over North Africa in the 10th century. During this era, first in their North African capital of Mahdiyya and later in Cairo – the Mawlid was part of a celebration of the ‘Five Impeccable Ones’ – especially revered in Shi’ite belief – the Prophet Muhammad (); his cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (as); the Prophet’s grandsons al-Hassan and al-Hussain, and Fatima al-Zahra (as), the Prophet’s daughter and the eponym of the Fatmid dynasty. The Mawlid entered Sunni communities through the work written by Qazi (judge) Abbas Ahmad al-Azafi (d. 1236) of city of Ceuta (Morocco). In 1337 CE – Mawlid was held in Fez by the Marinid Sultan Abu’I-Hassan Ali.

54. The Persian-speaking Sunni Tajiks espoused Islam over 1200 years ago. Tajikistan was home of genius poets like Rudaki, Saadi, Khayyam, Firdousi, Hafiz, and the greatest physician, philosopher and author – Abu Ali Sina.

55. The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus is built on the old site of Baptist Basilica of John the Baptist (prophet Yahya), which was erected on the site of the Roman Temple of Jupiter. After Muslim Arabs conquered Damascus in 635 CE – Muslims and Christians agreed to partition the church between them, and they used to perform their rituals side by side. In 705 – the Umayyad Khalifah al-Walid purchased the whole building and commenced to build the mosque – which took ten years and eleven million gold dinars. Built on an area of 161m by 97m – this brilliant handiwork of the Umayyads is one of the world’s largest Islamic houses of worship.

56. 1947 – Washington is displeased by Syria’s government.A CIA-Army `political action team’ mounts a coup, employing a `CIA asset,’ Gen. Husni Za’im. As senior CIA Mideast agent Miles Copeland delightfully recalls, the Americans kept calling Za’im `our boy,’ or `Husni,’ and ordering him about. The day after Za’im’s coup, Copeland and the American agents went to inform the new dictator whom he would appoint as ambassadors and cabinet ministers. When the Americans called him, `Husni,’ Za’im ordered them to `stand at attention,’ and address him as `Excellency.’ US-Syrian relations have been terrible ever since. Two subsequent, US-backed coups backfired.

57. 1952 – The US helps engineer a coup against British puppet ruler of Egypt, King Farouk. CIA backs a young colonel, Gammal Abdel Nasser. But when the US later tries to pressure Nasser into joining Washington’s `new order’ for the Middle East, the Baghdad Pact, Nasser rebels and becomes America’s enemy number one. CIA tries first to overthrow, than assassinate Nasser. All attempts fail.

58. 1953 – Iran’s popular, elected leader, Mohammed Mossadegh, attempts to assert Iranian control of his nation’s oil industry, whose profits go to the US and Britain. A CIA coup overthrows Mossadegh, and puts `our boy’ Reza Shah on the throne. Iran’s CIA/Mossad trained secret police keep the Shah in power through a reign of terror. Islamic Revolution sweeps Iran in 1979, ending USrael domination.

59. 1957-58 – US and Britain thwart popular uprisings against King Hussein of Jordan.

60. 1958 – Washington installs a client regime in Lebanon, which then dutifully calls for US troops. Beginning of Lebanon’s 35 years of instability and civil war.

61. 1958 – Britain’s Iraqi puppets, King Faisal and Nuri as-Said, overthrown by the bloodthirsty Col.Kassim. US use Kassim to attack Nasser. Kassim murdered by Col. Aref in CIA-mounted coup. Aref’s helicopter blown up. A few more murders later, CIA helps engineer into power a promising, young, Baath Party enforcer, atheist Saddam Hussein.

62. 1960 – Anwar Sadat goes on CIA payroll. After Nasser’s death, CIA puts Sadat into power in Egypt and get him sign peace-treaty with the Zionist entity. Corrupt and hated, Sadat is assassinated to great popular joy.

63. 1969 – The US elbows Britain out of Libya to gain control of its high-grade oil. CIA overthrows British puppet, King Idris, and – in one of its most brilliant moves – helps into power a young, ‘Muslim reformist’ colonel Muammar Qadafii. When Qadafi subsequently trumpets the Arabs are being robbed of their oil by the west, and raises prices, he goes unto America’s hit list.

64. 1976 – US, Iran and Zionist entity secretly arm Iraq’s Kurds and promote their rebellion to destabilize Iraq. Kurdish revolt plays major role in igniting Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988 in which more than one million died on both side. US abandons Kurds, gets chummy with Baghdad.

65. 1980 – Saddam Hussein becomes America’s most important Middle East ally in trying to crush Iran’s Islamic revolution. Urged on, armed and financed by the US and its puppet Arab regimes, Saddam invades Iran in 1980. CIA and Pentagon supply military advice and intelligence on Islamic Iran. US and British intelligence help Iraq obtain its chemical and biological warfare capabilities.

66. 1983 – US attempts to install a client, Christian regime in Lebanon to get rid of Syrian influence. US Marines sent to Beirut, under cover of `peace-keepers.’ They are bombed out of Lebanon by a ‘suicide bomber’ (some points fingers to Mossad and some to Amal) – killing 309 Americans, including CIA’s top Middle East staff.

67. 1985 – CIA’s revenge backfires. Lebanese CIA agents detonate truck bomb in Beirut in a failed attempt to assassinate Amal’s leader, Sheik Fadlallah. Eighty-three civilians killed, 240 wounded.

68. 1986 – US tries to assassinate Col. Qadafi by bombing his residence in Tripoli (Libya). One of his baby daughter killed, one injured. He escapes. Three other attempts to assassinate Qadafi using CIA-organized Libyan exiles, fail.

69. 1996 – The Bay of Camels – CIA’s biggest flop since Cuba. Urged on by President Clinton, CIA mounts an elaborate coup against Saddam Hussein. Iraqi exiles, armed and trained by CIA-Mossad, to march on Baghdad from US-British occupied Kurdistan. CIA organizes a cabal of generals to assassinate Saddam. Public places in Baghdad are bombed, many civilians killed, in order to `destabilize’ Iraq (this while the US is busy denouncing terrorism). But Saddam’s spies have infiltrated the plot. The whole operation collapses. CIA’s agent network in Iraq is rolled up. Many Kurds back Saddam – turn on pro-US Kurds. CIA and Mossad agents in occupied Kurdistan run for their lives, abandoning allies and tons of documents. Saddam is strengthened. CIA’s inept Director, John Deutch, fired for this ‘Mother of All Fiascos’.

70. During the later half of 12th century – Michael the Elder – Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch wrote about 500 year of Muslim tolerance towards Christian ‘Dhimmis’ as compared to their fellow Roman Christians – “This is why the God of vengeance, who alone is all-powerful, and changes the empire of mortals as He will – giving it to whoever He will, and uplifting the humble – beholding the wickedness of the Roman (Christians) who, throughout their domination, cruelly plundered our churches and our monasteries and condemned us without pity – brought from the region of the south the sons of Ishmael, to deliver us through them from the hands of Romans. And, if in truth – we have suffered some loss, because the Catholic churches, that had been taken away from us and given to the Chalcedonian – remained in their possession; for when the cities submitted to Arabs, they assigned to each denomination the churches which they found it to be in possession of (and at that time the great church of Emessa and that of Harran had been taken away from us); nevertheless it was no slight advantage for is to be delivered from the cruelty of the Roman, their wickedness, their wrath and cruel zeal against us, and to find ourselves at peace (with Muslims).

71. Amir Muawiyah (661-680 CE) employed Christians very largely in his service. Christians held high posts at court – a Christian Arab was court poet and the father of St. John of Damascus was counselor to the Khalifah Abd al-Malik (685-705 CE). In the service of Califhah al-Mu’tasim (833-842) – there were two Christian brothers, Secretary of state Salmuyah, and Ibrahim, Minister of Finance.

72. The kingdom of Servia first paid tribute to Ottomans in 1375 CE and lost its independence after the disastrous defeat of Kososvo (1389 CE) – where both the king of Servia and the Sultan were killed. The successors of the two states entered into friendly association – the young Servian prince Stephen, acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey by giving her siste in marriage to the new Sultan, Bayazid and formed with him a league of brotherhood. Under Stephen’s successor, George Branovich, Servia enjoyed a semi-independence – but in 1438 CE, he rebelled against Ottomans taking side with fellow Christian king of Hungary, John Hunyady – while Turks and Hungarian were at war. During the battle – he asked John Hunyady: ‘If you’re victorious, what will you do?’ ‘Establish the Roman Catholic faith,’ was the answer. Then he sent messenger to the Sultan to ask: ‘If you come out victorious, what will you do with our religion?’ ‘By the side of every mosque shall stand a church, and every man shall be free to pray in whichever he chooses’. However, the defeat of John Hunyady at Varna in 1444 CE brought Servia once again under tribute and in 1459 CE she finally became an Ottoman province.

73. The US has 25% of all the prisoners in the entire world – More than 2 million prisoners – more than 1 out of every 150 people in the US – 30 times higher than in China – are behind bars. The US is now the world’s biggest system of what are effectively concentration camps, though most of these prisoners are behind masonry walls and inside prison buildings. No other country imprisons people as readily, or casually, as does the US. It is estimated that America has at least 100,000 completely innocent people in jail, but the statistics of innocence may well run far higher. The number of people known to be innocent, and yet who were actually sentenced to death in recent years in America, is already running into the hundreds. Of America’s more than 2 million prisoners, about 50,000 are known to be foreign citizens. This proportion might seem small, but remember that 50,000 prisoners are more than the entire prison population of many other countries. Often, foreign citizens have been sentenced to death, while the US didn’t even bother to notify the foreign government that their citizens were arrested. Several other governments are working hard just to try and obtain even the most primitive judicial rights for their own nationals, who have been seized and held in abusive conditions by the US Zionist empire. And yet, the United States of America somehow still brags about its own legal system, while criticizing other countries.

http://www.jail4judges.org/

74. On August 14, 1947 – The British occupied India was partitioned into two sovereign states – Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, based on religious majority of the inhabitants. The people of state of Jammu & Kashmir, being more than 85% – wanted to join Pakistan, but their Hindu ruler acceded to India and subsequently Indian armed forces occupied that territory. This Indian aggression has resulted in three major wars between India and Pakistan. In April 1948 – after Indian occupation forces were pushed out of 30% of the occupied area – India took the matter to the UNSC – resulting the resolution – stating that ‘the only way to settle the Kashmir problem peacefully was to demilitarize the state and hold a plebiscite under the UN supervision’. Subsequent UNSC resolutions of August 30, 1948 and January 5, 1949 established a ceasefire and UN military observer group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to ensure its observance. However, the reality on ground is that throughout the on-again, off-again ‘peace process’ brokered by the US and UN between India and Pakistan – there has no let-up in barbaric treatment of native Muslims at the hands of 700,000 strong Hindu Indian forces. Since 1989 – Kashmiris have suffered some of the worst atrocities in the history of their struggle against occupation – more than 98,000 killed; tens of thousands disappeared; tortured has left thousands paralyzed; thousands of young and old women have been raped; generations of Kashmiris have grown under the shadow of Hindu guns; not a single home is unaffected; property worth hundreds of millions dollars destroyed and the suffering and devastation continue unabated, which sadly drawn no significant attention from the international community.

75. Zoraster, the founder of Mazdianism, pronounced his religion at Balkh in north of Afghanistan. About 500 BC, the country was included in the empire of Darius I, who extended Persian domination to the Indus (Pakistan). In 327 BC Alexander the Great crossed the River Kabul with his 1,30,000 strong army to invade India. The Arabs defeated the Persian Sassanians in the battle of Nahanad and opened the gates for Muslim rule. From 640 CE onwards the Muslim Arab governors were continuously extending their domain in Heart, Zamindawar and Bactria – but the heart of country kept their independence. However, the simple monotheistic faith, Islam, went straight to the heart of the local Buddhist people and they converted to Islam in large numbers. In 871 CE, Arab Muslims occupied Kabul and replaced its ruling Buddhist Kushan dynasty by their Brahmin ministers, who established a powerful kingdom with its capital at Attock (Pakistan). Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi (997-1030) has been the most famous Muslim king of Afghanistan. He pioneered Muslim rule of Al-Hind (India).

76. The 250-year-old savage oppression of Muslim Uighur Turks in East Turkestan (Xinjiang – ‘the conquered land’) continues unabated and shielded from the rest of the world through anti-Islam media around the Globe. Since communists took over China in 1949 – the oppression of this part of Muslim Ummah has risen to greater heights than under the previous regimes. The estimated numbers of Muslims killed are truly staggering. Between 1949- 1965, almost 26 million Muslims have been murdered by communist occupation army. Like Zionists in Palestine – millions of Chinese settlers have been given Muslim lands in occupied East Turkestan to change Muslim majority into a minority. Communists’ hatred of Islam resorts to all possible methods of oppression in order to turn Muslims from Islam – and it went through its most fanatical period during the ‘cultural revolution’ of 1966-76 – when most of the mosques were torn down, assembly prayers and Qur’anic coursed were banned, and the Chinese settlers have been harassing the native population however they could. Schools have been used to spread atheist propaganda. In February 4,1997 – on the ‘Lailat-ul Qadr’ during month of Ramdan – more than 30 women worshippers, who had gone to a mosque to celebrate this important night for Muslims – were burst in on while they were reading Holy Qur’an, beaten by members of Chinese militia and then dragged to security headquarters. When the local people went for the release of the women – bodies of three women, who had been tortured to death were hurled in front of them. This started a riot – which resulted in the death of 200 Muslims and more than 3,500 ended up in various jails.

77. Israel Occupation Force (IOF) has been ‘testing’ Dense Inert ****l Explosive (DIME) – developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratories – on Palestinian civilians in Gazzah.

http://www.exile.ru/2006-October-20/dime_and_dimer.html

78. In 1973 – Zionist entity became the first UN member to use ‘Depleted Uranium (DU)’ against Egypt. Depleted uranium has a half life of four and a half billion years. If we had a pound of depleted uranium now, in four and a half billion years there would only be half a pound left. After America’s first invasion of Iraq in 1991 – performing DU clean-up operations in the desert – 30 members of US Army contractor crew died, and most others including Doug Rokke, head of the team, developed serious health problems. Rokke now has reactive airway disease, neurological damage, cataracts, and kidney problems. UK Atomic Energy Authority came up with estimates for the potential effects of the DU contamination left by the invasion – It calculated that “this could cause “500,000 potential deaths.” Captain Terry Riordon was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces serving in the invasion. He passed away in April 1999 at age 45. Terry left Canada a very fit man who did cross-country skiing and ran in marathons. On his return only two months later he could barely walk.

79. The European powers had been instigating their fellow Christian Serbs in Balkan (a Turkish word, which means ‘unstable’) province to revolt against Muslim Ottoman Empire till 1875 CE. When they could not succeed, Russia invaded Turkey forcing Sultan to withdraw from the region. Under the treaty signed at San Stefano in 1877 CE – the province was taken away from Turkey and split into a number of principalities – Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Kosovo – which were later banded together into a ‘humpty-dumpy’ federation to be called Yugoslavia. The Russian forces ‘liberated’ it from Nazi Germany in 1944. The communist resistance militia leader Broz Tito kept Yugoslavia together under his iron communist-military rule until his death in 1980 CE. In 1991 CE, Roman Catholic Slovenia declared its separation from Yugoslavia, followed by Catholic Croatia. Both were accepted United Nations’ members under EU pressure. Encouraged by this Bosnia and Macedonia followed suit. The even passed without any trouble in Slovenia and Macedonia and the fighting that broke in Croatia – was soon brought under control. However, the western centuries-old Muslim-hatred showed it evil face in case of predominantly Muslim Bosnia. In April 1992 CE, Serbian Army under Gen. Ratko Mladic occupied northern Bosnia while Radovan Karadzic set himself up as the president of Serb republic in Pale. Muslim Serbs were removed from all positions of authority in the administration and military and replaced with Orthodox Christian Serbs. And then began the genocide of the Muslim majority. Between 1992 to 1995 – according to western and UN sources – more than 300,000 Muslim men, women and children were murdered, 60,000 Muslim women were rapped by Serbs and Croats and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes – while the neighboring Christian countries including Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, effectly closed their borders in balant violation of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By the time the Serb forces had occupied 72% of Bosnian territory – the European leaders insisted that since they had ‘won the war’ the Bosnian Muslims should accept whatever they’re offered (similar attitude taken by the EU and the US in case of occupied Palestine by European Jewish thugs) since the victory of Islamic Resistance movement Hamas. In the forefront of this appeasement were mediators like president Jimmy Carter, Britain’s Lord David Owen, foreign secretary Douglas Hurd and prime minister John Major – who reported once said that he will not accept the establishment of a Muslim state in Europe. However, when with the help from Tehran and some Mujahideen from Afghanistan the Bosnian Muslims were able to recapture most their territory lost to Serbs and the demoralized Serb soldiers were on run – The Western powers came to their rescue and forced Bosnian leadership to accept the so-called ‘Dayton Declaration’ – awarding more political power and land to Serbs and Croats.

80. In August 1998 – US embassies in Keny and Tanzania were bombed for which – without any initial investigation – Al-Qaeda (most probably Israeli) was blamed. In retaliation, US president Bill Clinton (under fire for his sex scandal with Mossad agent Monica Lewinsky) – fired 80 missile into the ‘Al-Qaeda training camps’ – hitting schools, mosques and villages instead – both in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan – killing 20 civilians and few dozen goats. One of Clinton’s transcripts of his telephone conversations with Monica Lewinsky produced during his trail – Clinto tells her of his ‘conviction’ that Israelis were ‘bugging’ all the phones in the White House. The other interesting part of the sordid drama is that both principal female characters involved happened to be Jewish.

81. More than £130m worth of British banknotes forged by the Nazis were used by the Jewish underground terrorist groups to help establish the Zionist entity in Palestine. Wads of notes, which the Nazis had forged by concentration camp inmates, ended up being used after the Second World War to pay for the transport of Jews to then British-occupied Palestine, and to buy weapons for the embryonic Israeli armed forces. The Nazis laundered millions of pounds through a series of schemes including using business figures in occupied Europe who had concealed their Jewish origins. One of these businessmen was Yaakov Levy, a successful jeweller and art expert in pre-war Germany. In the weeks following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, Levy got supplies to Jewish refugees in Northern Italy who were fleeing south in hope of travelling to Palestine. He also handed out large wads each containing about £50,000 of fake cash to organizers looking to help Jewish settlers get from Europe to Palestine. (‘Krueger’s Men’, by Lawrence Malkin, former Time magazine journalist)

82. In 1999, as the Soviet Union was crumbling, Chechen, like Ukrainians and Baltics, declared independence. Russian leader Boris Yeltsin sent his army to crush Chechen independence. The elected Chechen president, Jhokar Dudayev, was assassinated, thanks to electronic locating gear supplied Moscow’s secret police by CIA.

Chechen fighters, in one of modern history’s most remarkable and valiant feats, defeated Russian invasion forces. In the process, the Russians killed 100,000 or more Chechen civilians by massive carpet bombing and shelling.

The world turned its back on this massacre. President Bill Clinton hailed its author, Boris Yeltsin, as `the Abraham Lincoln of Russia.’ The world bought Moscow’s claim that Chechen independence fighters were `Islamic terrorists.’

Russia invaded a second time and slowly crushed the Chechen by mass killings, savage reprisals, and torture. All the Chechen leaders were murdered. Journalists and aid workers who sought to report this second genocide were killed or kidnapped.

http://www.bigeye.com/fc101606.htm

83. In July 1405 CE, a Muslim Chinese Admiral, Zheng He (1371-1433) was chosen to lead the biggest naval expedition in history up to that time. Over the next 28 years (1405-1433), he commanded seven fleets that visited 37 countries, through Southeast Asia to faraway Africa and Arabia. In those years, China had by far the biggest ships of the time. In 1420 the Ming navy dwarfed the combined navies of Europe. Ma He, as he was originally known, was born in 1371 to a poor ethnic Hui (Chinese Muslims) family in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The boy’s grandfather and father once made an overland pilgrimage to Makkah. Their travels contributed much to young Ma’s education. He grew up speaking Arabic and Chinese, learning much about the world to the west and its geography and customs. Zheng He’s first fleet included 27,870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, medical men and meteorologists. On board were large quantities of cargo including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silverware, copper utensils, iron implements and cotton goods. The fleet sailed along China’s coast to Champa close to Vietnam and, after crossing the South China Sea, visited Java, Sumatra and reached Sri Lanka by passing through the Strait of Malacca. On the way back it sailed along the west coast of India and returned home in 1407. Envoys from Calicut in India and several countries in Asia and the Middle East also boarded the ships to pay visits to China. Zheng He’s second and third voyages taken shortly after, followed roughly the same route. In the fall of 1413, Zheng He set out with 30,000 men to Arabia on his fourth and most ambitious voyage. From Hormuz he coasted around the Arabian boot to Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea. The arrival of the fleet caused a sensation in the region, and 19 countries sent ambassadors to board Zheng He’s ships with gifts for Emperor Yong Le. In 1417, after two years in Nanjing and touring other cities, the foreign envoys were escorted home by Zheng He. On this trip, he sailed down the east coast of Africa, stopping at Mogadishu, Matindi, Mombassa and Zanzibar and may have reached Mozambique. The sixth voyage in 1421 also went to the African coast. Emperor Yong Le died in 1424 shortly after Zheng He’s return. Yet, in 1430 the admiral was sent on a final seventh voyage. Now 60 years old, Zheng He revisited the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Africa and died on his way back in 1433 in India.

84. Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier, Morocco into a family of Muslim legal scholars in 1304. He studied Muslim law as a young man. Then in 1325, he left Tangier to make a pilgrimage to Makkah – But his traveling went on for about 29 years and he covered about 75,000 miles visiting over 44 modern countries. Fifty years earlier than Marco Polo, he traveled, on horse, camel, foot and boat, through all manner of lands, including West Africa where he visited Timbuktu, Mali and Niger. His interest was not only confined to geography. He vividly described the prevailing political, economic and social conditions, the position of women and religious matters. He was appointed Qadi (Chief judge) of Delhi, and spent the last twenty-three years of his life as Qadi of Fez, Morocco, writing his comprehensive travel document. Near the end of Ibn Battuta’s own life, the Sultan of Morocco insisted that Ibn Battuta dictate the story of his travels to a scholar and today we can read translations of that story called “Rihla – My Travels”. It is a valuable and interesting record of places which add to our understanding of the Middle Ages.

85. On January 15, 1966 – a coup lead by Catholic officers from the Igbo ethnic group killed the first prime minister of Nigeria, Abubaker Balewa, Northern Islamist premier, Ahmadu Bello and all Muslim political, legal, and military leaders – Brigadier Maimalari, Kur Muhammad and others. Only three lawyers well versed in Islamic Shri’ah law survived! In 1967, Emirs courts abolished by Northern military government after a counter coup brought a northern Christian, Major Yakubu Gowon, as head of state. In 1975, General Murtala Mohammad overthrew corrupt General Gowon’s regime and put in motion a plan to set up a Federal Shari’ah Court of Appeal – but was assassinated on February 13, 1976. General Olusegun Obasanjo, who succeeded him dropped the idea. On September 14, 1976 – the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) under Chief Justice F.R.A. Williams submitted report to General Obasanjo – proposing for a Grand Mufti for a Federal Shari’ah Court of Appeal, and three Muftis as Judges. A hostile media controlled by Zionists (Nigeria has the highest number of Israel Jew citizen (15,000-20,000) in Africa) and political compaign opposing this was initiated by Christian groups. In October 1977, the Constitution Assembly – with minority Muslim representation (though Muslims are the majority in Nigeria) – debated the CDC report, and ignoring Muslims’plea and walkout – the Assembly deleted the proposed Federal Shari’ah Court. During the subsequent constitution reviews the vociferous opposition of the anti-Shari’ah lobby crystallized into an extremist right-wing political group – the Christian association of Nigeria (CAN). Its serving military members, who controlled the security organs under military regimes of Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and Abulsalami Abubakar – thwarted the wishes of Muslim majority and prevented the expansion of the Shari’ah. In 1999, Zmfara state declared intention to restore Islamic Shari’ah. Within one year the restoration of Shari’ah movement took Nigeria by storm – ten more state governors were forced by the local people to follow the trend.

86. Palestinians have always rejected proposals denying their rights to Jerusalem. In the context of the UN Partition Plan of 1947, as well as after the 1948 War when Jewish forces occupied and rampaged through Palestinian villages and urban neighborhoods located in what is today known as West Jerusalem (such as Lifta, Khallat al-Tarha, Deir Yassin, Ein Kerem, Al-Malha, Talbiya Quarter, Al-Qatamon Al-Baq’ah Quarter, Mamilla Quarter, Abu Tor, and the Musrara Quarter), the Israeli state was established and West Jerusalem was illegally and unilaterally declared Israel’s “eternal capital.”

At no time in history – not in the course of the 1967 War when East Jerusalem was occupied by Israeli forces and when many of its Arab inhabitants were evicted and their property seized or demolished, and not when East Jerusalem was annexed and subjected to Israeli law – did the Palestinians accept Israeli-claimed sovereignty over the city.

Instead they resisted, by means such as stressing its illegitimacy, not joining the West Jerusalem municipality and preserving the Arab character of the eastern part of the city. The dynamics of Palestinian resistance against Israeli policies and practices in the eastern part of Jerusalem, including their attempts to Judaize its nature, have been continuous ever since.

The chapters of Palestinian resistance in Jerusalem can be traced back to the very beginning of its occupation in June 1967. Sheikh Abdel Hamid Al-Sayeh issued an Islamic fatwa which stated a clear position of refusing to be governed by Jewish/Israeli law. The Islamic Council formed the first National Guidance Committee which included notables and activists like Anwar Khatib, Anwar Nusseibeh, Fuad Abdul Hadi, Aref al-Aref, Ibrahim Tlil, and many others. They succeeded in keeping the Islamic courts and institutions free of Israeli interference. The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Kobei’n, and many other Christian dignitaries stood hand in hand with Muslim sheikhs and leaders while defending Arab Islamic/Christian rights in the city. This resulted in keeping the commercial and other major institutions, including the Arab Electricity Company, Palestinian. And although the Arab municipality in Arab East Jerusalem was dissolved and abolished by Israeli forces, while its infrastructure was annexed to the Israeli municipality in West Jerusalem following the 1967 War, important Palestinian key institutions remained and continued functioning, including medical centers and hospitals, civil courts, societies, tourist offices, intra-city transportation networks, land registration offices, as well as centers and forums providing scientific, cultural and educational research, information and services.

In 1988, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) declared the Independent Palestinian State and proclaimed Arab Jerusalem its capital. Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian people and their future state. It is the center of Palestinian Arab sovereignty, the center of Palestinian activity, and the heart of the Palestinian struggle. Since Jerusalem lies in the north-south crescent of the West Bank, the integrity of the Occupied Territories cannot be maintained without Jerusalem: without its geographic and demographic center, the unity of the whole is divided and lost.

http://www.baselonline.co.uk/Palestine/Jerusalem.htm

87. During one and half century of colonial occupation of Muslim world – the new generations were – history was created in their minds many heroes from murderers, and criminals from saints, one of its greatest crimes was the almost complete omission of the debt the West owes to Islam and the Muslims. W. Montgomery Watt describes the problem – “Because Europe was reacting against Islam it belittled the influence of Saracens and exaggerated its dependence on its Greek and Roman heritage. So today an important task for us is to correct this false emphasis and to acknowledge fully our debt to the Arab and Islamic world”. Students in Western Universities might have heard that Muslims were once leaders in science, but their accomplishments are often belittled, and their scientists are reduced to but borrowers who translated Greek and Persian works then assumedly hid them on a bookshelf so the West can later expand and build on them once it awakes from its sleep during the dark age. While cultural bigotry plays a major role in this distortion of the facts, the achievements of the Muslims have been left out of Western historical records as a result of the hatred of Islam embedded in the Judeo-Christian world, which shall be traced to many factors. Holy Qur’an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad () set the basis for an intellectual tradition in the Muslim world which relied on reason and honesty. The purpose of knowing the natural world in Islam is to reveal the signs that Allah set in his creation. We shall show them Our portents on the horizon and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the Truth- Holy Qur’an, 41:53

88. Islam’s great Caliph Omar Ibn Al Khatab (as) gave Islam’s teachings a practical shape by showing justice and manifesting respect for other faiths. When Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem from Christian Byzantines in 638, he insisted that the three faiths of Abraham coexist. He refused to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher when he was escorted around the city by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch. Had he done so, he explained, the Muslims would have wanted to build a mosque there to commemorate the first Islamic prayer in Jerusalem. The Jews found their new Muslim rulers far more congenial than the Byzantines. The Christians had never allowed the Jews to reside permanently in the city, whereas Omar invited 70 Jewish families back. The Byzantines had left the Temple Mount in ruins and had even begun to use the Temple Mount as a garbage dump. Omar, according to a variety of accounts, was horrified to see this desecration. He helped clear it with his own hands, reconstructed the platform and built a simple wooden mosque on the Southern end, site of the al-Aqsa Mosque today.

89. In December 1991, Algeria has the first (and last) free multi-party elections since the liberation from France in 1962. The two main parties were secularist National Liberation Front (FLN) and the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). The FIS won the first round of elections by a large majority. Under the electoral rules, there was to a second round of voting in areas where one party had secured less than 50%of the vote. From the first round it became obvious that the FIS was on course to win a two-thirds majority. On January 13, 1992 the Algerian military staged a coup and canceled the second round. The ensuing brutal crackdown by the military engulfed Algeria in a violent Civil War – resulting in the death of more than 100,000 people, often in unprovoked massacres of civilians. In 2002 the United States supplied arms to the military junta to fight against the so-called ‘Islamic militants (resistance groups)’. The supply of weaponry to the Algerian security forces caused outrage by human rights groups who have clearly stated that the Algerian government used “arbitrary arrest, disappearances and torture” in its war against armed Islamic militants. Earlier in 2002 even the British Ambassador, Graham Hand Stewart, was quoted by an Algerian newspaper as saying that the Algerian security forces were brutal and acted outside the law. As of 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves, the seventh-largest in the world. Algeria’s recoverable natural gas potential, however, may be as high as 282 Tcf. Algeria is a major natural gas exporter, mostly to Europe and the United States. Algeria accounts for one-fifth of the EU natural gas imports in 2000, second only to Russia. The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the seventh-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the second-largest gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves.

90. On July 26, 1956 – Suez Canal was nationalized by Egyptian ‘civilian dictator’ – Col. Jamal Abdul al-Nasir. The former colonial powers, France and Britain had a plan to take it back for its national corporate vampires (mostly Jewish). Therefore, the thugs in Tel Aviv were than willing to lead the ‘bunch of wolves’. The plan hatched by Zionists involved Zionist entity launching a war against Egypt, and once Egypt began defending itself – England and France would go in as ‘peacekeepers’. As part of the ‘peace’, the canal would be taken from Egypt and kept by Britain and France. Zionist entity will capture the Sinai from Egypt. The ‘plan’ was agreed to by Zionist chief thug, David Ben Gurion, Shimon Peres, director general of the military of defence, and armed forces chief Gen. Moshe Dayan, and Britain’s prime minister Anthony Eden.

91. Three days after the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) launched the June 5, 1967 ‘undeclared’ war on Egypt – it carried out a deliberate and sustained attack on the USS Liberty, with the objective of leaving no survivors. Within first few hours IOF jets pounded 25 Arab air bases ranging from Damascus to an Egyptian field loaded with bombers, far up the Nile at Luxor. Then using machine guns mortar fire, tanks and air power, IOF overtook the Jordanian occupied section of Jerusalem as well as the West Bankof the Jordan River and torpedo boats captured the key Red Sea cape of Sharm al-Sheikh. On the morning of June 8, IOF military command received a report that a large American eavesdropping ship was secretly listening only a few miles off El Arish – while a few miles away, IOF vultures were butchering civilians and bound prisoners by hundreds, a fact that the entire IOF leadership knew about and condoned – according to army’s own historians.

92. ‘Saddam Hussain’s 8-year war against Islamic Revolution in Iran may cost as much as $500 billion,’ wrote Alan Geyer in ‘Line in the Sand’. Postwar economic problems and reconstruction costs were more than $280 billion. Saddam Hussain was in a position to be manipulated by Zionist thugs in the US government. On July 25, 1990 – US ambassador Avril Glaspie (a Zionist) informed Saddam Hussain – “We have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border agreement with Kuwait”. While the US encourage Kuwaiti ‘royals’ to continue slant drilling into Iraqi oil fields. On August 2, 1990 – Saddam invaded Kuwait. Ever since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s – The US and its Zionist dogs occupying Palestine – have been seeking an opportunity to establish their military garrisons in the Muslim heartland – and therefore, they could not afford to lose this opportunity created through Zionists’ deception.

93. In March 1492 CE, Columbus met with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel in the Alhamra, only two months after they had taken Granada. He came to solicit funds so he could sail to ‘Spice Land’, Al-Hind (India) – but ‘accidentally’ discovered Americana – already home to over 100 million people – many of them Muslims.

94. In 1499 CE, seven years after the tragic fall of Granada into Castilian hands, Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros came to that city to break the 1491 treaty that the Catholic monarch had signed with Boabdil, the last king of Granada, which among other matters, guaranteed Muslims’ religious rights. As Cisneros began to persecute the Granadine Muslims, this initiated a reaction, which turned him into a mass murderer as well as a cultural vandal. By 1502, three years later, valuable books, many of them bound in leather and trimmed with gold leaf, were seized from private libraries in Granada, and burned publicly, while 2000 respectable matrons and maidens were sold at auction.

95. In 1521 CE, a vicious Pragmatica or official decree was issued by the Castilian crown to regulate Muslim conduct under which among other things, Muslims were to leave their windows and doors open on Fridays and Islamic holidays, in a vulgar invasion of privacy, lest they be caught saying their prayers or celebrating a marriage or a funeral in their traditional manner. If they avoided pork and wine at meals, ‘familiars’ or busybody neighbors posted by the Inquisition were encouraged to denounce them, so they might be carried off to jail. Their property was sold over their heads to pay for their keep in prison, with no concern for their wives or children, who were thrown out onto the streets. The Pragmatica, was revived in 1568, to harass the Muslims around Granada, who still believed in God Alone and prayed to Him, rather than to the trinity. This forced conformity led to the so-called Alpujarras War that ruined that region in the mountains Southeast of Granada, which was devastated by Philip II’s half brother Don Juan de Austria.

96. The Spanish Muslims produced great philosophers during their rule in the peninsula, especially during the 12th century with thinkers who have not been matched until this present century such as Miguel de Unamuno and Ortega Gasset. They comprised men like Ibn-Tufayl, who inspired Robinson Crusoe six centuries later in England; Ibn-Rushd or ‘Averroes’ in foreign dress, who revived the study of Aristotle for the new universities that were arising in western Europe like Paris and Oxford; and Ibn-Khaldun from an exiled Sevillian family who founded the discipline of sociology and the philosophy of history two centuries later. The concept of the Zero was brought by Masiamah of Madrid from the graduate schools of the Arab Near East which he attended, to free western Europe from the abacus which the Romans as well as the Chinese used for their accounting. Al-Majriti or ‘the man from Madrid (or MajrIt)’ offers us our first glimpse of the present Spanish capital, which was then a hill town in central Spain. MajrIti thus brought easier calculation to western Europe, as well as the astronomical Tables of Khwarizmi, a Persian scientist. Nonetheless although Toledo might have served as the basis for longitude, we now have Greenwich because the Reconquista that was coming did not know how to assimilate this broad aspect of science.

97. In Sicily, a scientist of Spanish family, ash-Sharif al-Idrisi, made splendid world maps which are worth study today. Idrisi reported that several young men from Lisbon in what is now Portugal, discovered the island of ‘Antilla’ in the 11th century when they ventured out on the Atlantic from their city on the Portuguese coast. They returned, as did the Vikings from Norway and Iceland, and other sailors may have also come from Mali in West Africa – facts that are not included in our generally accepted histories, neither among Westerners nor among Muslims. Instead, we are told that Spanish Muslims were ‘Moors’, as if they belonged to Africa, and should go back there, or be massacred as Cardinal Cisneros and his cohorts wanted them to be. Thus today the Mexican city of Matamoros opposite Brownsville in Texas, still means ‘Moor slayer’, and its name has not been changed.

98. In 1528 Bishop Juan Zumarraga ordered the codices and books of the Aztecs to be destroyed, in the same fashion and under the same laws as Cardinal Cisneros had used in Granada when he terrorized that city. Then in 1562 Bishop Diego de Landa did the same with Mayan writings in Yucatan. The Mayas had discovered the Zero just as the Brahmans had in India, and Maslamah of Madrid had taken this concept to Spain about the year 1002. Mayan astronomy was as good as anything in Europe before the invention of the telescope, so that their calendar was more accurate than ours is today. Their observatory still exists in Chichen Itza while another temple in that city displays murals of a battle with seafarers, who have been our boys from Lisbon, or Norsemen who traveled from Vinland.

99. Abu al-Jafar chose a village named ‘Baghdad’ for a new capital for himself and founded the present-day city of Baghdad in 762 CE – naming it ‘Madinatul Islam’ or the City of Peace. The city became the center of the most civilized society in its time – until February 10, 1258 CE – when it was surrendered to the invading Pagan Mongol barbarians under the command of Hulagu Khan (1217-65). The surrender witnessed the execution of the Abbasid Khalifah al-Musta’sim and killing of over 80,000 residents as well as nearly complete destruction of the famed city. However, within a century of the fall of Baghdad – the large but weak Abbasid dynasty was replaced by three powerful Muslim empires – the Safvid (Persia), Ottoman (Turkey), and Mughals (Indian sub-continent). This transformation was achieved through a tremendous effort by all sectors of Muslim society – Ulema, military generals, artisans, poets, scholars and scientists all contributed to achieve this unthinkable. This renewal produced the golden age of Islamic astronomy, fiercely independent ‘fuqaha’ like Ibn Taimiyah, scientists like Ibn al-Shatir and ‘mafassirun’ like Inb Khatir. Since, 2003 – Baghdad is once again occupied by Mongol barbarian – Khazar Jews and their Western Allied slave armies.

100. Zionist Israel awarded it ‘2003 Tourism Award’ to US televangelist Pat Robertson – for demonstrating stronger support for the entity. The ‘priest’ who is also very close to present ZOG in Washington – is a rather noxious Islampohobe given to inciting religious hatred towards Muslims. In February 2002, for example, Robertson called Islam a violent religion that wants to ‘dominate and the, if need be, destroy’. Zionist entity’s Tourism Minister, Benny Elon, who presented the award – had called on American Christians to ‘go from mosque to mosque and bring Muslims into the light’.

101. In 1986 – Field Marshal Muhammad HussainAbdul Rahman Siwar al-Dahab became the first Muslim military dictator, who stepped-down voluntarily and handed-over power to a civilian administration. The Sudanese Army chief took power following the April 1985 uprising against Jaafar Nimeiri. Since then he has devoted himself single-mindedly to relief and ‘D’awah’ work. He heads the Khartoum-based Islamic D’awah Organization. In 2003, he was awarded King Faisal Prize for ‘Service to Islam’.

102. The ‘Druze’ in Lebanon grew out of the Isma’illi theology that prevailed in early Fatimid Cairo and they take their name from Muhammad al-Darazi (d. 1019), the tailor. Druzism was new religion that aimed to establish a millennial world order. The Druze believe in transmigration of souls, prohibit polygamy and do not observe or acknowledge the five pillars of Islam. Druz cannons are contained in six books – ‘al-Hikmah al-Sharifa (The Noble Wisdom)’. Druz formally ended propagating their teachings in 1043 CE and after this no new converts were admitted to the faith. There are estimated to be one million Druz in the world.

103. Almost all the east European countries which now have indigenous Muslim population once formed the Balkan province under Ottoman Turks or were conquered, ruled and lost again to Christendom by them wholly or partially – at various points of time. The Muslim communities in these countries for this reason are viewed as the remnants of an unpleasant past and ruthlessly persecuted as abominable Turks. The Muslim bashing as such is not an ‘Iron Curtain phenomenon’ but an ongoing crusade involving two traditional rivals – Islam and the Church, the Greek Orthodox Church in particular. The Soviet Union seems to be playing the role of the Tzarist Russia which was constantly at war with Turkey to claim revenge for the loss of Constantinople. This thinking was reflected in the Kremlin’s crimes in central Asian ‘Republics’ and the occupied Crimea. In Crimea the entire population was condemned as spies and forced out of its homeland by Stalin in the aftermath of the war. This punishment was meted out despite the fact that the native Tatars of Crimea had sided with the alliance against Nazi Germany. Other eastern and central European countries with Sizable indigenous Muslim populations include Bulgaria (1,300,000), Yugoslavia (3,537,000), Greece (110,000), Austria (50,000), Romania (25,000), Poland (5,000), Czechoslovakia (2,000) and East Germany (2,000). The figures listed here are almost twenty years old and supplied by the respective governments themselves, most of whom have a reputation for suppressing the vital statistics about their minorities. The actual number of the Muslims is therefore believed to be far greater than this. Some independent estimates put it to be 20 to 25 millions.

104. The famous Taj Mahal (or Crown Palace), in Agra (India) was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (d.1666 CE) as a mausoleum for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bano). Later, the king himself was buried there too. The mausoleum was the result of over 20,000 artisans, who worked for two decades. It was completed in 1648 CE at the cost of 32 million gold dinaar. It was designed by Ustad ‘Isa, the renowned Muslim architect of that time. The structure stands on a raised platform (186 ft x 186 ft) with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal octagon. The mausoleum is part of a vast complex comprising of main gateway, an elaborate garden, a mosque, a guesthouse, and several other buildings – with Hindus’ sacred river Jamuna flowing in the background.

105. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (born 1618, reigned 1658-1707) is the most reviled of all Muslim rulers in Hindu history. He was supposed to be a great destroyer of temples and oppressor of Hindus, and a ‘fundamentalist’ too. However, Dr. B.N. Pande, former Indian Congress MP’s research found that – ‘Emperor Aurangzeb was as solicitous of the rights and welfare of his non-Muslim subjects as he was of his Muslim subjects. Hindu plaintiffs received full justice against their Muslims respondents and, if guilty, Muslims were given punishment as necessary. One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is of the demolition of Vishwanath temple in Banaras (Varanasi). That was a fact, but then there was a good reason for it. While Aurangzeb was passing near Varanasi on his way to Bengal, the Hindu Rajas companying him requested that if the halt was made for a day, their Ranis may go to Varanasi, have a dip in the Ganges and pay their homage to Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb readily agreed. Army pickets were posted on the five mile route to Varanasi. The Ranis made journey on the palkis (palanquins). They took their dip in the Ganges and went to the Vishwanath temple to pay their homage. After offering puja (worship) all the Ranis returned except one, the Maharani of Kutch. A thorough search was made of the temple precincts but the Rani was to be found nowhere. When Aurangzeb came to know of this, he was very much enraged. He sent his senior officers to search for the Rani. Ultimately they found that statue of Ganesh (the elephant-headed god) which was fixed in the wall was a moveable one. When the statue was moved, they saw a flight of stairs that led to the basement. To their horror they found the missing Rani dishonoured and crying deprived of all her ornaments. The basement was just beneath Lord Vishwanath’s seat.’ The Hindu Rajas demanded salutary action, and Aurangzeb ordered that as the sacred precincts have been despoiled, Lord Vishwanath may be moved to some other place, the temple be razed to the ground and the Mahant (head priest) be arrested and punished”.

106. General Charles de Gaulle (d.1970) was an enthusiastic friend of Zionist entity in the beginning – but later the relationship soared after he told David Ben-Gurion – “Israel should exercise great caution in dealing with the Arabs. They were her neighbors, and would always remain so. It was at their expense and their lands that Israel had set herself up as a sovereign state. In doing so, she had wounded them in their religion and their pride”. But when Ben-Gurion informed him that he planned ‘to settle four or five million Jews in Israel’ and that he intended to extend Israeli ‘frontiers at the earliest opportunity, de Gaulle urged him not to do so – and warned the terrorist that – “France will help Israel to survive in the future, but France would not provide Israel the means of conquering new territory”. With this warning – de Gaulle put a stop to irregular dealings between Tel Aviv and Paris, including the co-operation to build a plutonium plant in Beersheba. The arrogant Zionist offended de Gaulle further when, in December 1968 – they raided and destroyed 13 civilian aircrafts at Beirut airport and de Gaulle banned all arms sales to Zionist entity.

107. In 1986 – the voodoo priestess Alice Lakwena established a terrorist group ‘Holy Spirit Movement’ – a group of Christians and animists to topple the new regime of president Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. After her militias’ defeat by the end of 1987 – Kakwena was succeeded in 1988 by an acolyte and relative, Joseph Kony, who headed first the United Christian Democrat Army of Uganda and then the Lord’s Resistance Army, composed of remnants of the Holy Spirit Movement. The army’s principal means of recruitment is the abduction of village children. The adolescent males are forced to fight, while the girls are forced to become sex slaves for the army commanders. In nearly 16 years of fighting, more than 20,000 children have been used as soldiers. The LRA and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) – both supported financially by US Evangelists and trained by Israeli military thugs – have long been at the root of discord between Uganda (with large Muslim minority) and Muslim majority Sudan, which broke diplomatic relations in 1995.

108. Despite its receipt of USAID $1.7 trillion since 1975 – the alien European settlers in the Zionist remain dependent on foreign assistance, albeit to maintain a lifestyle, which they can hardly afford, It’s no surprise that one out of three children in that entity live below the poverty line – while it maintains the fourth largest army in the world and an arsenal of 200-400 nuclear warheads. Although their poverty is nothing like what they have inflicted on the natives living in the occupied Gazzah and West Bank. Zionist entity’s defence expenditure at 18% its annual budget – is more than 30% larger than the combined defence spending of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Beside being a major source of threat to world peace and human misery – Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) has proved to be utterly worthless even insiders after its humiliation during the recent 34-day fighting with Hizb’Allah. IOF has not been able to prevent Zionism’s superstructure from collapsing like a – ‘cheap Jerusalem wedding hall,’ according to former Israeli speaker, Avraham Burg (The Guardian, September 15, 2003). The looming collapse of the Zionist project to colonize Palestine is not for want of economic, military or political support. The truth is “a State lacking justice cannot survive – and a structure built on human callousness will inevitably collapse in on itself”, as Burg conceded. The construction of ‘security wall’ around Zionist entity is tangible proof of how much Herzl’s dream of a greater Israel has dwindled.

109. A native of Cordoba, Spain, Rabbi Samuel (993-1056) was forced to flee to Granada when inter-factional fighting among the local Muslim groups brought about the destruction of his birthplace. After a brief spell in business, the young refugee rose rapidly in the Granadan civil service. He attributed this success in large measure to his elegant Arabic literary style and calligraphy, which were considered the keys to advancement in the governmental hierarchy. Samuel’s political prominence also caused him to be recognized as the official head of Granada’s large and established Jewish community, conferring upon him the Hebrew title of Nagid. Throughout his life, Samuel felt a special identification with the Biblical Joseph, whose personal ambition and self-assurance had been fuelled by youthful dreams. Samuel related that he too had been reassured by a prophetic dream that appeared to him in his youth, promising that he would forever be delivered from the perils of fire and water. He would have many occasions to recall that pledge in the course of the intrigues, travels and battles that would fill his life. Samuel’s writings express his constant awareness that his personal success was being guided by a divine hand.

110. In 1932 – with the blessings of British Foreign Office – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was declared to control the two most sacred places of Muslim Ummah – Ka’aba in Makkah and the Prophet Muhammad’s () mausoleum in Medinnah. The Al-e Saud’s (married into Imam Wahab family) rise to power did not begin until their alliance with the British in the First World War against Khilafat in Turkey. Until then, they were just another band of desert brigands, albeit a large and powerful one. In 1851 – the British Consul in Jeddah spelt it out: “The point of real importance to England politically, I believe, is the Hejaz as the focus of Muslim thought and the nucleus from which radiate ideas, advice, instructions, and dogmatical implications… Certain persons proceed to Hajj for political reasons. Mecca, being free from European intrusion, is safe ground on which meetings can be held, ideas exchanged… Up to the present time we have kept no watch on those who come and go… thus meetings may be convened at Mecca at which combinations hostile to us may form without our knowing anything until the shell bursts in our midst… If this consulate could have a trusty Mussalman agent at Mecca, I believe a great deal of valuable information could be obtained.” Early this century, the British started cultivating Sharif Hussain ibn Ali of Makkah. The Hijaz had been a wilayet (province) of the declining Uthmaniyyah State since 1840, and Sharif Hussain was appointed Amir of Makkah by Istanbul in November 1908. Sharif Hussain dreamt of ruling the whole of Arabia, free of Turkish control, and was encouraged and supported with money and arms by the British. The treachery of the Sharif Hussain and other Arab leaders, among them one Abdul Aziz ibn Saud of Najd, was crucial to the Uthmaniyyahs’ defeat in the First World War. After the war, however, Sharif Hussain’s ambitions clashed with British plans, and he found that the British could be as treacherous as he himself was. Determined to have pliable, weak and co-operative rulers of Islam’s holiest places, the British transferred their support to Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, a relatively obscure Najdi tribal leader who had nonetheless proved useful during the war. The Saudis had already made their mark on the history of the Haramain. In 1802, newly charged with Wahhabi religious zeal, they had sacked the holy cities and plundered the caravans of hujjaj. They had been evicted from the Hijaz by forces sent by the khalifah in Istanbul some 10 years later, and returned to the relative backwaters of Najd. But their traditions of attacking and plundering the hujjaj had not changed; as recently as 1923, Abdul Aziz’s forces had massacred nearly 5,000 pilgrims from the Yemen. Now, in 1924, supported by the British, they marched on the Haramain again. As in 1802, they started by massacring the inhabitants of Taif, killing up to 1,000 people, including many who had sought refuge in mosques. News of the Taif slaughter terrified the residents of Makkah and shocked the 70,000 pilgrims gathered for Hajj. When the Saudis arrived there, they inflicted massive cruelty on innocent people and pillaged the city, destroying many more tombs, shrines, mosques and historic sites. In December 1925, Madinah was occupied, and the next month Abdul Aziz ibn Saud declared himself king of the Hijaz. Thus did the British realize their dream of a ‘Mussalman agent’ through which to control the holy cities. Abdul Aziz had repeatedly met with British political agents and had received large annual ‘subsidies’ since 1916 (originally 20,000 pounds, later raised to 60,000 – then over US$300,000). In the event, the British have received a massive and on-going return on this relatively modest initial investment. Abdul Aziz ibn Saud had been carried to power by Ikhwan troops motivated by genuine (if misguided) Islamic fervour, who were unaware of his British links. But they quickly became disillusioned by his actions, and first withdrew to their own areas of Najd, then rose in rebellion against him. In a series of battles in 1928-29, they were defeated by Abdul Aziz’s troops supplied with vehicles and heavy weapons by the British. In 1932, Abdul Aziz, previously ruler of Hijaz and Najd separately, declared himself King of the newly united ‘Saudi Arabia’. The 1930s saw the arrival, together, of two new factors which have dominated local affairs ever since: oil and Americans. Oil wealth was slow to arrive, delayed by economic depression and the second world war. Nonetheless, the limited benefits of oil exploration and the support of the British were sufficient to keep the Saudis in place and serving western interests. It is a measure of the importance the British placed in their Saudi agents that they sent money, food and supplies to Abdul Aziz even in 1940, when Britain’s own population was going hungry. In 1943, the Americans took over looking after the Saudis, supplying some $33 million in just two years, and the basis of the present relationship was laid. By this time, the political power of Islam having apparently been defeated, the Saudis’ importance to the west changed. Through the 1960s to 1970s, it was mainly as a way of controlling the supplies of oil to western countries. However, the Saudis also served to monitor and control the development of Islamic thought and work through such institutions as Rabitah al-Alam al-Islami (the Muslim World League) and the Islamic Secretariat. Seen against this background, there can be no doubting the malevolence of the Saudis’ role since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, when the west realized that the political power of Islam was again a threat. Again, the Saudis became a major tool in the west’s anti-Islam campaign. Now their role included subverting Islamic activists in other countries through financial help, to ensure they did not support the Revolution; promoting anti-Iran and anti-Shi’a propaganda throughout the world; promoting a non-political and pro-western version of Islam to counter the Islamic movement; supporting and financing western efforts to re-define Islam through the works of orientalists and orientalist ‘centres for Islamic studies’; crashing the price of oil (from US$36 per barrel in 1980 to $10 in 1987) to try to destroy Iran’s foreign exchange income; giving Iraq over $100 billion to finance its war on Iran; and allowing the US military to use Saudi bases to support Iraq in the war

111. In 1987 – an operation planned and overseen by western intelligence agencies – the Saudi Mafia carried out massacre of over 500 Iranian pilgrims right inside the sacred compound of Ka’aba – for denouncing the US and Zionist Israel – following Qur’anic injunction (9:03) of ‘Bara’at min al-Mushrikeen (disassociation from the mushrikeen)’. This massacre, designed to prevent the Iranians’ Islamic message spreading to other hujjaj and to give the Iranians a bad name as a result of a massive subsequent Wahabi propaganda campaign, was the greatest possible desecration of the holy places, and yet its true circumstances were quickly buried by the Saudis’ subsequent re-writing of history. The blame for these events was quickly turned on the Iranians by the Saudis and their allies, who accused the Iranians of trying to politicise the Hajj. The hypocrisy of this is self-evident. While all public discussion of the affairs of the global Islamic movement is strictly controlled, Yasser Arafat was invited to speak before the khutbah at Mina during the Hajj of 1994, after he had surrendered to the Zionists. The same year, hujjaj from Kashmir requested that the Imam at Mina make Du’a for the shuhadah of Kashmir and the liberation of Kashmir from India, only to be told that this would require official permission. The Saudis’ control of the Haramain and the Hajj on behalf of their western sponsors and overlords prevents the Hajj from serving a crucial function for the global Ummah. Seen in the context of the west’s long recognition of the political importance of the Haramain and Hajj, and the Saudis’ history and record, this can only be a deliberate policy of the west. The Haramain are not only in the hands of inefficient and illegitimate Muslim rulers; Islam’s holiest places and most sacred rituals are now in the hands of rulers deliberately established in power by, and working for, the greatest enemies Islam has ever known. In effect, today the Haramain are occupied, and the Hajj controlled, by the British, the Americans and the Zionist Jews.

112. For nearly a thousand years after the crossing of the Straits of Gibralter by the Arabs in 711 A. D., Islam had held a special and significant place in the lands of Spain, but its position was never as secure as it was in North Africa or Mesopotamia. In Spain, Christian peoples never quite gave up their desire for control, and opposition to Muslim authority soon turned into movements of re-conquest. Reconquest did not inevitably lead to the expulsion of the Muslims, however: in 1119 Alfonso 1 of Aragon had permitted the Muslims, known as Mudejars because of their decision to live in Christian lands, to be governed by an official of their choice, in accordance with Islamic law. But religious tensions soon turned the subordinate peoples into a beleagered minority and their numbers further decreased as they began to escape for North Africa. In 1499 even Granada was taken, and it seemed that the region, which had once seen the co-existance of Jews, Christians and Muslims, was slowly turning exclusively Catholic. In 1525, Charles V, who had promised that he would not forcibly convert the Aragonese Muslims, now offered them a choice between baptism and expulsion. Opting to remain in their homeland the new converts in fact maintained their original faith in Islam in secrecy. These pseudo-Christian-Muslims were known as Moriscos.

113. In 1999 – A Kemalist military court awarded Turkey’s current prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a ten month sentence for reciting Ziya Gokalp’s famous Turkish poem:

Minarets are our bayonets
Domes are our helmets
Mosques are our barracks
Believers are our soldiers

114. In 2002 – Rudolph Guilliani, the Mayor of Jewish City, New York – rudely returned a US$10 million cheque to Saudi prince al-Waleed bin Tala, who donated that amount for the victims of September 11, 2001 – because al-Waleed made the ‘politically wrong statement’ – US should adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause.

115. On January 8, 2003 – Yahette El-Amin and Rodney Hubbard became the first ever Muslims to hold a seat in the Missouri General Assembly. Yahette owes her political activism as well as Islam to her father Eddie Hassan, who in turn owed his inspiration to Malcolm X.

116. In 1979 – Now disgraced former president of Iraq – Saddam Hussain donated US$250,000 to Rev. Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart of Detroit (USA). Chaldeans are a Catholic group in predominantly Muslim Iraq. Among prominent Chaldeans was Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz. In 1980, Yasso and a group of American Christians visited Baghdad as Saddam’s guest and presented Saddam with the key to the city of Detroit, courtesy of then-Mayor Coleman Young. In return Saddam donated another $200,000. In the 1980s, Iraq and the United States were allied in their 8-year war on Iran under Islamic revolutionaries. In 2001, Saddam Hussain donated million of dollars for the construction of the Baptist Church in Baghdad. There are 80,000 Baptists (out of 100,000 world-wide population) in Iraq. These people follow prophet John the Baptist (Yahya) and have nothing to do with the Baptists in the US. They have their own Holy ******ure (not Bible) and are proud of their pure Israe’lite heritage.

117. On October 29, 2006 – The visiting Muslim-majority Kazakhistan Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov promised Zionist entity’s deputy prime minister Shimon Peres that his government will invest US$1 billion oil funds in Zionist entity – to build a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, The Red-Dead project, also called the Peace Conduit, is slated to help refill the shrinking Dead Sea while providing much-needed water to Jordan and a large hydroelectric power plant to the whole region. Zionist entity enjoys a good relationship with the Muslim countries of the Caspian Sea region, and imports much of its oil from there. In June, its minister of national infrastructures Binyamin Ben-Eliezer headed an official delegation trip to Baku, Azerbaijan. Tel Aviv is especially interested in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which Kazakhstan will use to transport oil to the Mediterranean region. Some ministry of national infrastructures officials would even like to see the pipeline extended to occupied Palestine, to link up to Zionists’ Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline to the Red Sea.

118. In 1979 – Now disgraced former president of Iraq – Saddam Hussain donated US$250,000 to Rev. Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart of Detroit (USA). Chaldeans are a Catholic group in predominantly Muslim Iraq. Among prominent Chaldeans was Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz. In 1980, Yasso and a group of American Christians visited Baghdad as Saddam’s guest and presented Saddam with the key to the city of Detroit, courtesy of then-Mayor Coleman Young. In return Saddam donated another $200,000. In the 1980s, Iraq and the United States were allied in their 8-year war on Iran under Islamic revolutionaries. In 2001, Saddam Hussain donated million of dollars for the construction of the Baptist Church in Baghdad. There are 80,000 Baptists (out of 100,000 world-wide population) in Iraq. These people follow prophet John the Baptist (Yahya) and have nothing to do with the Baptists in the US. They have their own Holy Scripture (not Bible) and are proud of their pure Israe’lite heritage.

119. On October 29, 2006 – The visiting Muslim-majority Kazakhistan Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov promised Zionist entity’s deputy prime minister Shimon Peres that his government will invest US$1 billion oil funds in Zionist entity – to build a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, The Red-Dead project, also called the Peace Conduit, is slated to help refill the shrinking Dead Sea while providing much-needed water to Jordan and a large hydroelectric power plant to the whole region. Zionist entity enjoys a good relationship with the Muslim countries of the Caspian Sea region, and imports much of its oil from there. In June, its minister of national infrastructures Binyamin Ben-Eliezer headed an official delegation trip to Baku, Azerbaijan. Tel Aviv is especially interested in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which Kazakhstan will use to transport oil to the Mediterranean region. Some ministry of national infrastructures officials would even like to see the pipeline extended to occupied Palestine, to link up to Zionists’ Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline to the Red Sea.

120. During 1992 IOC meeting in Saudi Arabia – Bosnian delegate appealed to the leaders of 57 Muslim nation-states attending the meeting for an aid of US$257 million for the ‘reconstruction’ of Bosnia – destroyed by Christian Serb and Croat occupation forces. What the so-called ‘Muslim leaders’ come up with was US$174 million – with America’s Wahabi entity Saudi Arabia pledging for US$5 million and UAE with US$6 million – While a poor country like Pakistan pledged US$!0 million, and Islamic Iran’s contribution was US$100 million. The alleged reason for lack of Arab contribution was reported to be Bosnia’s president, Alija Izetbegovic’s acceptance of military aid from Tehran to defend the on-going slaughter of its civilians at the hands of Christian armies.

However, when it comes to helping anti-Islam countries – for example during last year’s Hurricane Katrina distar – these ‘munafiqoon’puppets more than one billion dollars:

Saudi Arabia $1 500 000 000 plus other aid
Kuwait $500 000 000 plus other aid
Qatar $100 000 000 plus other aid
UAE $100 000 000 plus other aid
Oman $150 000 000 plus other aid
Egypt $30 000 000 plus other aid
Jordan $5 000 000 plus other aid
Syria $5 000 000
Lebanon $2 000 000
Libya $100 000 000
Tunisia $10 000 000
Algeria $30 000 000
Morocco $5 000 000

121. In 1765 CE – Abdul Aziz (grandson of Abdul Wahab) became the chief of Wahabi sect in Deraiah. He was put to death by a Persian in 1803 CE. His eldest son, Saud took-over the leadership of Wahabi sect. He assembled an army of 20,000 and attacked Shia’s sacred city of Kar’bala. The soldiers entered the city with the ‘Wahabi cry – Kill and strangle all infidels (Shias), which give companion to Allah. The Wahabi bandits brought down the golden dome of Imam Hussain’s (grandson of the Prophet) mausoleum and looted offerings of the numerous devotees and everything else they could put their hands on. The next year the fanatic army marched towards Makkah and on April 27, 1803 – Saud made his formal entry into the sacred city of Ka’aba. Luckily, most of the inhabitants were spared from being put to death as long as they paid offerings to replenish the impoverished exchequer of the Wahabi chief. For next nine years – Makkah city remained occupied by Wahabi fanatics – when Sultan of Turkey ordered Ali Pasha to suppress the Wahabi fitna – who eventually liberated Makkah and Medinah from the fanatics. Upon the death of Saud (1814) – his son Abdul ‘Iiah, became the leader of Wahabism. He was taken prisoner by Ibrahim Pasha and sent to Constantinople, where he was executed in public square of famous St. Sophia on December 19, 1818. His son Turki abandoned hope of regaining the position and fled to Riyaz where he was later murdered (1830). Faisal succeeded his father and established the Wahabi rule in Eastern Arabia, making Riyaz the capital of his kingdom. It was him, who first sought the protection of British colonialists by signing ’friendship pact’ with Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly – which continues to this day.

122. In the first weak of October 2001 – US Zionist-regime attacked a defenseless Muslim nation of Afghanistan. The main reason for the Taliban regime-change in Afghanistan was the spoils of Caspian oil and gas. On its shores, and at the bottom of the Caspian Sea, lie the world’s biggest untapped fossil fuel resources. Estimates range from 110 to 243bn barrels of crude, worth up to $4 trillion. According to the US department of energy, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan alone could sit on more than 130bn barrels, more than three times the US’s reserves. Oil giants such as ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and BP have already invested more than $30bn in new production facilities. “I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian,” said oil-executive Dick Cheney in a speech to oil industrialists in 1998. In May 2001, the US vice-president recommended in the national energy policy report that “the president makes energy security a priority of our trade and foreign policy”, singling out the Caspian basin as a “rapidly growing new area of supply”. With a potential oil production of up to 6m barrels per day by 2015, the Caspian region has become crucial to the US policy of “diversifying energy supply”. It is designed to wean the US off its dependence on the Arab-dominated OPEC cartel, which is using its near-monopoly position as pawn and leverage against industrialized countries. As global oil consumption keeps surging and many oil wells outside the Middle East are nearing depletion, OPEC is expanding its share of the world market. At the same time, the US will have to import more than two-thirds of its total energy demand by 2020, mostly from the Middle East. Many people in Washington are particularly uncomfortable with the growing power of Saudi Arabia. There is a fear that radical Islamist groups could topple the corrupt western-puppet al-Saud Wahabi dynasty and stop the flow of oil to pro-Zionist America. In a desperate effort to decrease its dependence on Saudi oil sheiks, the US seeks to control the Caspian oil resources. However, fierce conflicts have broken out over pipeline routes. Russia, still regarding itself as imperial overlord of its former colonies, promotes pipeline routes across its territory, including Chechnya, in the north Caucasus. China, the increasingly oil-dependent waking giant in the region, wants to build eastbound pipelines from Kazakhstan. No.2 oil-rich Islamic Iran is offering its pipeline network via the Persian Gulf. By contrast, Washington champions two pipelines that would circumvent both Russia and Islamic Iran. One would run from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Gwadar port at the Indian Ocean. Construction has already begun for a $3.8bn pipeline from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, via neighboring Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. BP, its main operator, has invested billions in oil-rich Azerbaijan, and can count on support from the Bush administration, which recently stationed about 500 elite troops in war-torn Georgia.

123. In September of 1918 – the so-called ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ – implemented a plan by which he fooled both his Arab allies and the ruling Turks into thinking that he was going to attack Amman. They feigned the impression that they were advancing along a northeastern route, forced German commander Liman von Sanders to commit his troops to a British inland advance. Meanwhile the British army moved north along the Levantine coast, then wheeled inland and destroyed the Turkish army in Palestine and later occupied Damascus without any resistance – bringing the entire Ottoman province of ‘al-Sham’ under British and its allies occupation. Lawrence immediately set about piecing together a puppet Arab Government to control the city, and by extension, a new Arab nation, with Prince Feisal at its head. However, in the end, the Arab world was divided into mandates, with the British taking the territory comprising Zionist Israel, the occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Irag, while the French took control of Syria and Lebanon. The British and French insisted on these mandates to protect their economic interests, but also pushed the Arabs into the arms of a small minority controlling elite (divide and rule). When a half-century later these tribal/nation states did gain their independence from European colonists – they were released to the control of kings. These kingdoms, or the successive strongmen that overthrew them, remain in place today but so have the Wahabis.

124. Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia were kingdoms ruled by monarchies installed by London. The first contact was made in 1865, and British subsidies started to flow into the coffers of the Saudi family, in ever growing quantity. The Wahabi movement that Ibn Saud rode to power was essential to the origin of Saudi Arabia. He utilized Islam to break down tribal loyalties and replace those loyalties with adherence to the Wahabi cult. The emergence of Saudi-Arabia, gave the British colonialists a foothold in the center of Islamic world, Makkah and Medinah. For Britain, and then the United States, Saudi Arabia served as an anchor for its ambitions throughout the 20th century. Also any possibility of a true Islamic resistance was watered and carefully tended by Saudi Arabia’s Wahabis and the British intelligence service. From the 1920’s on, the new Saudi state merged its Wahabi orthodoxy with the Salafiyya.

125. October 2005 – Muhammad Ali was honored at the World Economic Forum for his efforts to promote dialogue and understanding between the Muslim and Western worlds. Accompanied by his wife, Yolanda, Ali received the first-ever prize from the Council of 100 Leaders, a group formed at the forum’s annual meeting two years ago to promote understanding between the West and Muslims. Britain’s former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, who is on the Council of 100, recalled Ali’s boxing career and his public acknowledgment of having Parkinson’s disease. “Who among us was not stirred and moved … as he lit the flame at the start of the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta?” he asked. And as he repeated the boxer’s famous mantra “I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!” Ali lashed out with a quick left jab. Only a few months ago – Abraham Foxman, national director of Israel Lobby ADL criticized George Bush for awarding Muhammad Ali America’s highest civil award – calling Ali a ‘traitor’.

Biography of Muhammad Ali:

http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemo…index.php?l=15

126. In 2005 – A new uprising against the brutal communist-turned-national regime of Karimov was sparked by the imprisonment and show trials of 23 local businessmen accused of adhering to a nonexistent ‘terrorist’ Islamic movement, Akramiya, but who were simply putting into practice the social justice inherent in Islam – giving to the poor, living modestly, praying. A math teacher, Akramjon Yuldashev, the eponymous inspiration of the nonexistent terrorist group (his friends call themselves Birodar (Brotherhood), was imprisoned 7 years ago for doing this and writing a 1992 pamphlet, Yimonga Yul (Path of Faith), which is not political, but moral, arguing for Islamic practices of charity and brotherhood. Yuldashev’s brochure contains no call to seize power violently. While they are accused of being a terrorist cell, their real crime is acting outside of President Karimov’s authority and showing people that there is an alternative to the cutthroat robber baron ‘capitalism’ of post-Soviet Uzbekistan. Local rivals resented their success and authorities decided to confiscate their businesses and property for themselves. Possibly 600 Muslims were murdered by their secular US puppet dictator, who stashes his gold in the Bank of England, whose daughter was caught with a plane full of gold in Moscow, our man who approves of boiling people alive. The writing is on the wall, Mr Karimov. But this tragedy is much more than this: it is also a call to Uzbek’s Muslims to honor their religion and embrace the social justice of Islam. In the face of devastating poverty and abandoned by the US and Russia, its supposed ‘friends’, there is nowhere else to turn. But it is not such a bad place to find strength.

127. The Arab world under Ottomans was not divided. It was a world dominated by cities – Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad, and Jerusalem. These were big Ottoman cities and people traveled freely between them – without a passport or visa. The Ottoman governance system had provinces, vilayets. The three that divided Iraq were Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. After the WW I (1914-18) – the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East was divided between the French and the British – and British being the dominant colonial empire, got the lion’s share; the French got al-Sham, which they divided into Syria and Lebanon. British colonialists always imposed monarchies because that was their system at home. The British Home Office looked for monarchs to work as their agents in the occupied Arab world – and they found them in plenty – Hashmite family in Najad (later replaced by Wahabi Saud family) – to whom they had promised al-Sham. They had promised Emir Faisal he could be king of Greater Arabia, but the other partner in crime, the French, did not agree. So they had to find a throne for this traitor and his brother Emir Abdulla. Faisal was given Iraq and Abdulla was awarded with a part of al-Sham, named Trans-Jordan. It was not long before the Arab majority found out the treachery of these ‘royals’ – which resulted in resistance of one sort or another. In fact, the first time chemical weapons were used in the Arab world was during the bombing of Kurdish villages in Iraq by British Royal Air Force in the late 1920s.

128. September 1970 – on the advice from Washington and Tel Aviv – late King Hussein of Jordan decided to crush the Palestinians. The military strategic chosen to help him carry-out the massacre – was no other than Pakistani Brigadier Zia ul-Haq (later to become military dictator of Pakistan). Zia called on Bedouin regiment and organized the massacre of Palestinians, for which the Palestinian never forgave him. The King was very close to the CIA, and the fact of Hashmite royal family’s collaboration with Zionist (like Wahabi al-Saud royal family) is beyond dispute. Hussein’s father King Abdullah, who was assassinated as the result, sold part of Palestine to Zionist settlers. King Hussein decided that the only way he could survive as a king of Jordan, with Palestinian majority – not the only way Jordan could survive – was making Jordan into an US-Israeli protectorate, which he did and which it remains to this day.

129. 1866 CE – The last Cherokee (American Indian) chief was Ramadhan Ibn Wati, a Muslim. The ‘Moors Sundry Act of 1790’ in the state of South Carolina mentions various American Indian tribes, whose languages were influenced by Arabic, Persian, and Hebrew words – and almost all of the tribes vocabulary include the word Allah. The traditional dress code for Indian women includes the kimah and long dresses. For men, standard fare is turbans and long tops that come down to the knees. If you were to look at any of the old books on Cherokee clothing up until the time of 1832, you will see the men wearing turbans and the women wearing long head coverings. There are many documents, treaties, legislation and resolutions that were passed between 1600s and 1800s that show that Muslims were in Americana and were very active in the communities in which they lived. Treaties such as Peace and Friendship that was signed on the Delaware River in the year 1787 bear the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. This treaty details Muslims’ continued right to exist as a community in the areas of commerce, maritime shipping, current form of government at that time which was in accordance with Islam. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress, Muslims helped put the breath of life in to the newly framed constitution. All of those documents are presently in the National Archives as well as the Library of Congress. Cities across the United States and Canada bear names that are of Indian and Islamic derivation. For example, the name ‘Tallahassee’ – It means that ‘He Allah will deliver you sometime in the future’.

130. Bosnian Muslims are descendents of the Bogumils, who, all of them, voluntarily accepted Islam. The Bogumils’ old faith was closer to the Islamic faith than to either the Catholic or the Orthodox faith. Their faith found its source primarily in the Christian sect of Paulians (“those of Paul”), which was founded by the episcope from Antioch, Paul of Samostat, who was excluded from the Church in the year 265 CE. His followers later moved to Bulgaria, near Plovdiv, where they obtained the Slavic name, the “Bogomils” or “Bogumils”. A Christian scholar Said ibn Bitrik (d. 940)), wrote – “His (Paul of Samostat) faith was: that our master Messiah is created as a man by God, just like us, because the son was conceived in Mary’s womb; that he was chosen and came to save the humanity. He was followed by God’s blessings, which he obtained through love and will. He was therefore called God’s son. God is a Single and One being. We do not believe in “the word” or “the holy spirit”. After the death of Paul, thirteen bishops gathered in Antioch to study his faith. They then decided that this Samostatian was to be cursed; they cursed him and cursed everyone who would follow his faith and they left.” Furthermore, the Bogumils were against the cult of icons (church imagery), against the church glitter, that they did not believe in making the sign of cross over one’s body, that they did not recognize a particular ceremony (found in the Orthodox practice, done in the presence of priest on special occasions) that they did not accept sacraments, that they did not respect the cross – rather they deemed it sinful, that they celebrated the Friday, that marriage was a civil institution amongst them, etc.,

131. October 1915 – British high commissioner in Cairo, Sir Henry McMahon (d. 1949) promised Shrif Hussain Ibn Ali of Makkah that they will support his bid for caliphate if he supported the British against the Ottoman caliphate. Sharif agreed. He understood that his caliphate will include Palestine. McMahon refused to make any such promise.

132. January 1919 – Faisal Bin Sharif Hussain (d. 1933) signed an agreement with the Zionist leader, Dr. Chaim Weizmann (later first president of Zionist entity – d. 1952) to encourage and stimulate a large scale Jewish immigration into Palestine and ‘afford the fullest guarantees for carrying into’ the notorious Balfour Declaration of November 1917.

133. August 1947 – The United Nations special committee on Palestine recommended that following a short transitional UN administration, the British Mandate (April 1920) be terminated and Palestine granted independence. A majority of committee (Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay), however, proposed that Palestine be constituted as an Arab State, a Jewish state and the City of Jerusalem – but within an economic union. On the other hand, minority report (India, Iran and Yugoslavia) recommended a federation comprising an Arab State and a Jewish State with Jerusalem as capital.

134. November 1947 – The UN General Assembly recommended the creation of Independent Arab and Jewish States Special International Regimes for the City of Jerusalem – the termination of Mandate and withdrawal of the mandatory forces as soon as possible – but not later than August 1, 1948.

135. May 1948 – Claiming to be despaired of any hope of reconciling Arab-Jewish polarization and ‘drain on our limited resources’ – instead of returning the mandate on May 14, 1948 – the British quit, post haste and in disorder, virtually handing-over Palestine to armed Jewish terrorist groups. A Zionist state, with undefined borders left open for future conquests, was declared on May 15. The partition plan had allocated 56% of Palestine to a 40% Jewish settlers’ population; in the event the Jews from ‘European ghettos’ came to occupy and declared a state over 75% of the Palestinian land.

136. Elkader (Iowa) is the only American town named after a Muslim hero – The legendary hero of Algeria’s resistance against France, Abd-el-Kader led a jihad against the Western power in the 1830s. He managed to unite the various Arab and Berber clans in a devastating war until 1847. Several months before El-Kader’s surrender to Louis Napoleon’s France, the Iowa town founders chose the world newspaper darling of the moment as their municipality’s namesake. After a period of exile, El-Kader settled in Damascus, wrote poetry and philosophy, and became known as a worldwide humanitarian figure for saving thousands of Christians during the 1860 civil war in the region. Napoleon III granted him the “Grand Cordon de la Legion d’Honneur”; President Abraham Lincoln sent a pair of dueling pistols. Elkader has since hosted four Algerian ambassadors. A “World Food Day” in 1990 featured El-Kader’s great-great-grandson, Idriss Jazairy, Algerian ambassador in Washington, D.C (2001). In 1996, over 400 Algerian-Americans converged on the town for the ‘Sweet Corn Parade’. The town also enjoys a relationship with Muslims in nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home of the longest-standing mosque in the country.

137. In 1610 CE, King Phillip III expelled Muslim Moors – an event that was perhaps the greatest act of racial brutality seen in Europe prior to the Nazi Holocaust. Most Moors knew little of the infernal arts of gunpowder; but they welcomed Muslims from the Mediterranean lands, who were willing to accept Islam in exchange for military service with the Spanish exiles. By the middle of the sixteenth century, English Muslims were at the forefront of this movement. One Inquisition court, in the year 1610, investigated no fewer than thirty-nine Britons. Twelve of them were from the ports of the West Country. Ten were Londoners; six were from Plymouth, and others originated in Middlesbrough, Lyme, and the Channel Islands. In 1631, the Inquisition in the Spanish city of Murcia tried one Alexander Harris, who as Reis Murad had become a prominent Muslim seafarer. He was convicted, forced to convert to Catholicism, and sentenced to seven years as a galley-slave. Another unfortunate Englishman was Francis Barnes, who admitted to the inquisitors that he had faithfully prayed and fasted ‘in the Maho****n manner’ while working as a ship’s pilot at Tunis, where he was captured by Spanish raiders. In 1626, Robin Locar of Plymouth, also known as Ibrahim, was captured by Tuscan galleys and convicted of practising Islam. Captain Jonas of Dartmouth, known as Mami al-Inglizi, was yet another victim of these dreaded Spanish raiders.

138. In 889 CE – A Muslim navigator, Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, from Cordoba (Muslim Spain), sailed from Delba (Palos), crossed the Atlantic, reached an unknown territory and returned with fabulous treasures. In Al-Masudi’s map of the world there is a large area in the ocean of darkness and fog, which he referred to as the unknown territory (Americas). In February 999 CE – another Muslim navigator, Ibn Farrukh, from Granada, sailed from Kadesh into the Atlantic, landed in Gando (Great Canary islands) visiting King Guanariga, and continued westward where he saw and named two islands, Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in May 999 CE.

139. In early 1990s – When former military dictator of Indonesia, Suharto decided to perform Hajj along with his devout Catholic wife Tien – the Saudi ‘royals’ obliged the couple by creating ‘Shari’ah loophole’ – by declaring Mrs. Suharto an ‘honorary Muslim’!

140. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) was born to a Doenme family (Ali Riza and Zubeyde) of a minor customs clerk in Salonika. As a boy he rebelled against his mother’s desire to give him a traditional religious education, and at the age of 12 he was sent at his demand to study in a military academy.

The Doenme were an underground sect of Sabbetaians, Turkish Jews who took Muslim names and outwardly behaved like Muslims but secretly believed in Sabbetai Zevi, the 17th-century Jewish Messiah, and conducted carefully guarded prayers and rituals in his name.

It was undoubtedly from the Jewish Bible, that Ataturk remembered the words of the Shema, which to the best of my knowledge he confessed knowing to a young Hebrew journalist in Jerusalem nearly a decade before he took control of the Turkish army after its disastrous defeat in World War I, beat back the invading Greeks and founded a secular Turkish republic in which Islam was banished – once and for all, so he thought – to the mosques.

Ataturk would have had good reasons for concealing his Doenme origins. Not only were the Doenmes (who married only among themselves and numbered close to 15,000, largely concentrated in Salonika, on the eve of World War I) looked down on as heretics by both Muslims and Jews, they had a reputation for sexual profligacy that could hardly have been flattering to their offspring. This license, which was theologically justified by the claim that it reflected the faithful’s freedom from the biblical commandments under the new dispensation of Sabbetai Zevi, is described by Israel’s second president, Yitzchak Ben-Zvi, in his book on lost Jewish communities – The Exiled and the Redeemed: Saintly Offspring (1950s):

“Once a year (during the Doenmes’ annual ‘Sheep holiday’) the candles are put out in the course of a dinner which is attended by orgies and the ceremony of the exchange of wives. … The rite is practiced on the night of Sabbetai Zevi’s traditional birthday. It is believed that children born of such unions are regarded as saintly.”

The Doenme community abandoned Salonika along with the city’s other Turkish residents during the Greco-Turkish war of 1920-21, and its descendants, many of whom are said to be wealthy businessmen and merchants in Istanbul, are generally thought to have assimilated totally into Turkish life.

The Turkish Kemalist government, which for years has been fending off Muslims assaults on its legitimacy and on the secular reforms of Ataturk, has little reason to welcome the news that the father of the ‘Father of the Turks’ was a crypto-Jew who passed on his anti-Muslim sentiments to his son. Mustafa Kemal’s secret is no doubt one that it would prefer to continue to be kept. – (Extracts from FORWARD, January 28, 1994)

141. In 1650 the Balkan city of Filibe (Plovdiv) had fifty-three mosques, seventy Qur’anic schools, nine madrasas, seven colleges for advanced Qur’anic recitation, eight public baths, and eleven Sufi lodges. Of the city’s neighbourhoods, thirty-three were Muslim, five were Christian, and one was Jewish. Nine caravansarays serviced the abundant trade, which Muslim rule had brought to the city. Attacked by Russia in 1878, amputated from Turkey and awarded to the new state of Bulgaria, most of its Muslim and Jewish population fled to what remained of the Ottoman lands. Horrific massacres claimed the lives of thousands, while many refugees who arrived in Istanbul bore signs of torture and mutilation, or carried harrowing tales of the slaughter of their families. The population dropped from 125,000 to less than 30,000. While monasteries and churches survived six centuries of Ottoman rule, and both Jews and Christians lived as an often wealthy elite under the sultans, life has been less kind to Muslims in cities like Plovdiv following the carving-out of a Bulgarian national state from a former ethnic mosaic in 1878.

142. In occupied Palestine – the British mandate authority used to consult the ‘Grand Mufti’ and ‘Arch-Bishop’ on Muslim and Christian affairs – but there was no ‘Chief Rabbi’ to represent the Jewish population – which they needed to convince the Orthodox Jews to support World Zionist Federation for their so-called ‘Jewish state’ in Palestine. So, the Home Secretary created the post of ‘Chief Rabbi’ and appointed a British Rabbi to the new post. However, the poor chap could not convince the Torah & other Orthodox Jews to support the Zionists, whom they considered atheists. Finally, the ‘Willy Rabbi’ thought of a novel plan. He told the delegation of religious Jews – “Consider the Zionists as the ‘vehicle (donkey)’ on which the promised Messiah will rode into Jerusalem (according to Jewish Bible).” This ‘similarity’ convinced those Rabbis and when the Zionist cancer was fully planted in 1948 – its first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, gave religious ministry to Orthodox Jews – which they still hold.

143. Ghazan, a son of Arghun captured power in 1296 CE. He wa originally a Budhhist, but a few years before his succession, he converted to Islam. Nauroz, the commander of Mongol forces in Khurasan, was also a Muslim. After conversion to Islam, Ghazan assumed the name of Ghazan Mahmud. Ghazan was the second Mongol Khan to become Muslim. He broke off relation with the Great Khan of Mongolia. He set aside the title of II-Khan, and took over the title of “Khan”, in his own right and styled himself as the ‘Ruler by the Grace of Allah’. He took active steps to promote Islam. Under his influence, most of the Mongol Emirs accepted Islam. He discarded Mongol ‘Yasa’, and adopted Islamic Shari’ah, as the law of his kingdom. In spite of his conversion to Islam, he could not reconcile with Egyptian Muslim Mamluks and both fought several battles. In the battle of ‘Hims’ (1299), he defeated Mamluks, which allowed Ghazan to attack Damascus, but the city surrendered without a fight in 1300 CE. Ghazan promoted learning and founded numerous Madrasas. In Tabriz, he constructed mosques, madrasas, hospitals and libraries. He also constructed his own mausoleum. He was a good Muslim ruler and he enforced Shari’ah. Ghazan died at young age of thirty six in 1304 CE.

144 – Al-Aqsa Mosque Vs Temple of Mount

In 638 CE – Muslim army entered Jerusalem under the command of their second Khalifah, Hazrat Omar bin Khattab (as) without any fight. After signing the ‘sovereign protocols’, the Greek Orthodox Patriach took the Khalifah on city tour, who desired to offer his homage (prayer) to Allah. The Patriach offered him to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which he refused – pointing that had he done so, the Muslims would have wanted to build a mosque there to commemorate the first Islamic prayer in Jerusalem. At that time, under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, Jews were not allowed to get in the ruins of Temple of Mount and there was no Jewish temple in the place. The Byzantines had been using the site as a garbage dump. The Khalifah, according to a variety of accounts, was horrified to see this desecration. He helped clear it with his own hands, reconstructed the platform and built a simple wooden mosque on the Southern end, site of the al-Aqsa Mosque today.

The archaeological excavations by Kathryn Kenyon in the 1960s onwards prove that there is no trace of the Temple of Solomon. However, there are traces or foundations of Zerubbabel and Herod’s temples. Zerubbabel is a character from the people of Israel who had a significant role in the era of the Babylonian captivity; he was one of those who were allowed to go to Palestine in which he founded a temple, and this is according to the most valid of the Western accounts. On the other hand, Herod was a king of the Arab Anbat; Herod is the Hellenic word that was originally taken from the Arabic word “Harab.”

The Babylon Jews were finally allowed to settle by the Persian Achaemenid dynasty into the southern part of Palestine in Al-Quds and Al-Khalil, which was called later Al-Yahoudeyya (or the Jewish) – to guard the strategic trade routes in the area as well as to have control over the old Syrian lands. Later, the Arab Anbat tribes settling in east Jordan and the southern part of Palestine converted to Judaism through the efforts of those coming from Babylon. And thus the ruling Herod’s family became Jewish. Also, king Herod constructed bases for a temple on the old bases that existed according to the archaeological excavations. However, there is not any traces or remnants from the Temple of Solomon in the area.

145. Late professor Israel Shahak, a Jewish-Israeli writer and scholar reveals in his book, Open Secrets – says that since only a few people can read Hebrew outside Israel – the Hebrew media is more frank about the true agenda of the Zionist-regime – than English one which is censored if it doesn’t abide by ‘the rules’. By focusing on the Hebrew press, Shahak exposes the duplicitous nature of the Zionist State. It brings out Zionist-regime’s real aims as a regional bully, as opposed to the myths peddled in the English press, of a beleaguered State anxious for peace. He says Israel has regional ambitions but these are projected globally. The Israelis consider the entire region from Morocco to Pakistan as their domain. They have turned the saying, ‘think globally, act locally,’ on its head into ‘think locally, act globally.’ It is this mentality that takes Israel to such places as Estonia, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Kenya and Nigeria, countries far away from the Middle East. Of course, exercising virtual control over the US Congress and the White House are other important dimensions of the same policy. Quoting an important Hebrew commentator who described US president Bill Clinton as ‘the real Israeli ambassador in Washington,’ Shahak reveals the mind-set of the Zionists. The author gives other examples: the English press projects Arab regimes and the PLO as being hostile to Israel; the Hebrew press talks about ensuring the survival of these regimes – in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and as far away as Morocco, as well as the PLO chairman Yasir Arafat. As early as 1983, Ariel Sharon, who had gained notoriety as the butcher of Beirut for Israel’s June 1982 invasion of Lebanon, had proposed to India an alliance for a joint attack on Pakistan (p.32). Shahak categorises Israel’s policy as a ‘cosmic struggle against all Muslims.’ This explains its unremitting hostility to any manifestations of Islam anywhere in the world, whether by Palestinians or in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Shahak says that Israel is also extending its foreign policy reach through its nuclear doctrine. For instance, the Hebrew press has discussed Tel Aviv providing a ‘nuclear umbrella’ to Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, etc (p.4). One wonders how this is possible for a country that officially denies having nuclear weapons? Further, who poses a nuclear threat to these Persian Gulf countries? Zionist commentators have also discussed in the Hebrew press the ‘actual use of Israeli nuclear weapons in war.’ This would never be printed in the English press nor publicly admitted to by any Israeli official.

146. Muslim Sicilia (Sicily)

The conquest of Sicily by Muslim armies in 878 CE – has a very romantic western version. According to Byzantine historians – A noble Sicilian, Euphemius (Fimi in Arabic) fell in love with a beautiful nun whom he abducted from her convent. The reigning emperor Michael II ordered his nose to be cut off as punishment for his offence. Euphemius escaped to his native city Syracuse – and with a band of followers revolted against the Byzantine governor, and occupied Syracuse and declared himself the ruler of the city. Civil war broke out in the island and Fimi was defeated and he fled to Africa (Tunis), and sought help from its ruler, Emir Ziadat Allah al-Aghlab – whom he invited to conquer Sicily and promised to make him its king. The Emir accepted Fimi’s requested and dispatched his fleet under the command of Qadi (Judge) of Kairowan, a scholar and a great warrior – Admiral Asad ibn al-Forat – who sailed to Sicily in 827 CE. The Muslim ships anchored in the port of Mazorra, which is nearest to Africa. Muslim troops captured several forts and besieged Syracuse and Palermo. After several set-backs, Muslim troops were finally able to capture the last Christian stronghold, Syracuse in 878 CE (264 AH).

There rose in Sicily a Muslim State, which lasted about two centuries in the course of which the island flourished and the island became the envy of the neighboring Rome in architecture, gardens, human-rights, trade and industry. When decay overcame that little Muslim State, the Franks made consecutive raids on the island till Duke Roger, the Norman, recaptured it in 1072 CE (464 AH).

147. Turk ‘Tiara’ is better than the ‘Cross’!

The Calvinists of Hungary and Transylvania, and the Unitarians of the later country, long preferred to submit to Muslim Turkey rather than fall into the hands of the fanatical house of Hapsburgs; and the Protestants of Silesia looked with longing eyes towards Turkey, and would gladly have purchased religious freedom at the price of submission to the Muslim rule. It was to Turkey that the persecuted Spanish Jews fled for refuge in enormous numbers at the end of the 15th century, and the Cossacks, who belonged to the sect of the Old Believers and were persecuted by the Russian State Church, found in the dominion of the Sultan the tolerance, which their Christian brethren denied them. Well might Macarius Patriarch of Antioch in 17th century, congratulated himself when he saw the fearful atrocities that the Catholic Poles inflicted on the Russian Orthodox Eastern Church:

We all wept much over the thousands of martyrs who were killed by those impious wretches, the enemies of faith, in these forty or fifty years. The numbers probably amounted to seventy or eighty thousand souls. O’ you infidels! O’ you monsters of impurity! O’ you heart of stone! What had the nuns and women done? What the girls and boys and infant children, that you should murder them? And why do I pronounce them (the Poles) accursed? Because they have shown themselves more debased and wicked than the corrupt worshippers of idols, by their cruel treatment of Christians, thinking to abolish the very name of Orthodox. God perpetuate the empire of the Turks for ever and ever! For they take their impost, and enter into no account of religion, be their subjects Christians, Nazarenes, Jews or Samarians; whereas these accursed Poles were not content with taxes and tithes from the brethren of Christ, though willing to serve them; but they subjected them to the authority of the enemies of Christ, the tyrannical Jews, who did not even permit them to build churches, nor leave them any priests that knew the mysteries of their faith. Even in Italy there were men who turned longing eyes towards the Muslim Turks in the hope that as their subjects they might enjoy the freedom and tolerance they despaired of enjoying under a Christian government – (‘The Preaching of Islam’, by Rev. T.W. Arnold)

148. Muslim Dynasties

Abbasids Early Islamic dynasty, 750–1258.

Almohads Berber dynasty that ruled North Africa and Spain, 1130–1269.

Almoravids Dynasty of Berber origin that ruled North Africa and later Spain, 1050–1147.

Ayyubids Dynasty of Kurdish origin that ruled Egypt and Syria, 1169–1250.

Fatimids Dynasty that ruled North Africa and then Egypt and Syria, 909–1171.

Ghaznavids Dynasty of Turkish origin that ruled eastern Iran and northern India, 977–1186.

Ilkhanids Dynasty of Mongol origin that ruled Greater Iran, 1256–1335.

Mamluks Dynasty of former slaves that ruled Egypt and Syria, 1250–1517.

Mughals Dynasty of Timurid descent that ruled India, 1526-1858.

Nasrids Rulers of the Spanish kingdom of Granada, 1230–1492.

Ottomans Turkish dynasty that ruled Anatolia and then much of eastern Europe and the Middle East, 1281–1924

Safavids Rulers of Iran, 1501–1732.

Saljuqs General name for several dynasties of Turkish origin that ruled Greater Iran, as well as eastern Anatolia and Syria, in the eleventh to twelfth centuries.

Samanids Dynasty that ruled eastern Iran and Central Asia, 819–1005.

Timurids Central Asian dynasty that ruled Greater Iran, 1370–1507.

Umayyads Early Islamic dynasty, 661–750; Spanish branch, 756–1031.

149. First Crusade

The cause of beginning of Crusade was a struggle for Authority in Europe. The Church was divided; there were two Popes, and Pope Urban II was the weaker (he called the Holy War against Saracens at the Council of Cleremount in 1095 CE). His aims were as follows:

1. The Crusades enabled him to oust the other Pope; they diminished the killing in Europe, and during the absence of these warlords, the Church became ‘The Authority’.

2. The Pope got rid of the warlords (Barons), whose ceaseless wars were killing too many people by starvation and had become a serious threat to the very survival of Europe.

3. For more than a century, the Church had been decreeing peace in Europe. First, the Pope declared the ‘Peace of God’; no one paid any attention. Then he decreed the ‘Truce of God’, a long weekend from Wednesday night to Monday morning. ……But the Church was not yey strong enough enforce this ‘Truce of God’.

Nearly half a million Christians Crusaders crossed the Bosporus in first Crusade. The symapathy of the Christian Emperor Alexius in Byzantium Consantinople was with the Saracens (Muslim Arabs). He did all he could to hinder, harass and divide Crusaders, while at the same time getting rid of them himself. They defeated the Saracens in one battle, and besieged Nicaea. The emperor made alliance with its Saracen defenders, and moved his own troops into the city.

The Crusaders went on to Antioch, and besieged it. They devastated the surrounding country (as they have done to Baghdad and its surrounding cities since US occupation), so thoroughly that they almost starved to death. Under the eyes of the guards on Antioch’s walls, they cooked and ate the Saracens they killed.

They could not take Antioch. A Christian commander of Muslim troops in besieged Muslim city, betrayed it to them. He let Crusaders in secretly at night; they massacred the whole population. The bodies rotting in the streets and the wells caused a mysterious sickness that killed thousands of Crusaders – (Source: ‘ISLAM and the Discovery of Freedom’, by Rose Wilder Lane)

150. The Messiah and the donkey

Orthodox Jews had always been against the establishment of a separate Jewish State – based on their belief that until the promised Jewish Messiah appears – Jews are required to live in Diaspora (wilderness) – as their punishment for their disobedience to G-d. Therefore, the leaders of World Zionist Federation (WZF) were unable to receive their support for establishing a ‘Jewish homeland’ – Uganda, Madagascar, even in Holy Land (Palestine).

During British Mandate on occupied Palestine – Both Muslims (Grand Mufti) and Christians (Archbishop) had a ‘central figure’ with whom British authorities used to consult – but there was no ‘Chief Rabbi’ to provide similar advice on matters concerning the Arab Jews. In order to solve this ‘handicap’ – the British Foreign Office designated a senior Rabbi to act as ‘Chief Rabbi of Palestine’ in Jerusalem. He tried to gather the support of local Orthodox Jewry to throw their support behind WZF for a ‘Jewish homeland’ in Palestine – but failed. So he came up with a novel idea. He told the Orthodox Rabbis that they should consider Zionism as a ‘vehicle (donkey)’ to carry the Messiah into Jerusalem – as prophesized in Jewish Bible. The Rabbis accepted this interpretation of the Biblical prophecy and agreed to support Atheist Zionist leaders.

When Israel was established in 1984 – its first prime minister, David Ben Gurion gave the Ministry of Religious Affairs to Orthodox Rabbis – which they hold till today.

151. Tijaniyyah Dynasty

It was founded by al-Hajj ‘Umar (1797-1865), who was born near Podor on the Lower Senegal. He was son of a marabout merchant family and received a careful religious education. When he went for Hajj in 1827 – he learned about the Tiijaniyyah order (founded in Algiers in the late 18th century) and became a follower of it. He did not return to his native country until 1833, when he commenced an active preaching of the teachings of his new found order – fiercely attacking his fellow Muslims for their ignorance and their lukewarmness, especially the adepts of the Qadiriyyah order (founded by Khawaja Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, in Baghdad). He traveled through Central Sudan, winning many adherents until he reached Futah-Jallon in 1841 – where he armed his followers and commenced a series of expeditions against pagan tribes in Upper Niger and Senegal. It was one of these expeditions that he met his death. His son, Ahmadu Shaykhu, succeeded in holding together the various provinces of his father’s sultanate for a few years only. The internal conflicts and the advancing French colonial army broke up the short-lived Tijaniyyah empire and its territories were occupied by French colonialists.

152. Islam in Southern India

The history of peaceful spread of Islam in Southern India amongst the Hindus, especially the lower caste has been recorded both by Muslim and Hindu historians. Although Muslims became the ruling class under Hayder Ali (1767-1782) and his son Tipu Sulatn Shaheed (1782-1799) – but the upper-class Hindus always occupied most of highest posts in the royal court. Islam spread among the Tiyans, the Mukkuvans (fisherman caste), as well as the Cherumans (agricultural laborers), and the serf castes – to whom Islam brings deliverance from the disabilities attaching to the outcastes of the Hindu social system. Occasionally, also, converts are drawn from among the Nayars and the native Christians. It was from here that Islam crossed over to Laccadive and Maldive Islands, the population of which is entirely Muslim. The inhabitants of these islands owed their conversion to the Arab and Persian Muslim merchants, who established themselves in the country. The first Hindu Raja Maldive Islands to convert to Islam – took the name Ahmad Shanurazah in 1200 CE.

153. Muslim Kingdom of Shoa

The kingdom of Shoa, founded in 896 with Walalah as its capital – was straddled key trade routes between the Christian highlands and Muslim ports on the Red Sea between the 10th and 16th centuries.The kingdom was absorbed by the Sultanate of Ifat around the end of the 13th century. In 1528, Shoa was overrun by the Muslim state of Adal to the east and its ancient cities were destroyed. For over a century afterward, Shoa was penetrated by the Oromo people from the south, who established themselves in farming communities as far north as the Blue Nile valley. In 1856, Shoa was incorporated into the Ethiopian empire but Menilek II regained his kingdom of Shoa and in 1886 he chose the site for Addis Ababa as his future capital. When Menilek became emperor of the whole country in 1889 Addis Ababa became the capital of Ethiopia.

In 2007 – A team of French archaeologists have unearthed the remains of the three towns of Asbari, Masal and Nora on the a high escarpment of the Rift Valley, believed to have been the heart of the ancient Muslim Kingdom of Shoa in Ethiopia. In Asbari, they found a remarkably well-preserved remains of a mosque that is believed to be one of the biggest in Ethiopia, whose walls are adorned with in writings in Arabic. A cemetery covering several hectares that contained hundreds of graves was also found in the area. In Masal, the archaeologists uncovered a necropolis with a tomb emblazoned with stars and Arabic morals that may have been a royal sepulture.

154. Christians within Muslim States

Caliph Mu’awiyah (661-680) employed Christians very largely in his service, and other members of his dynasty followed his example. Christian Arab, al-Akhtal, was court poet, and the father of St. John of Damascus, counseller to Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik (685-705). In the service of Caliph al-Mu’tasim (833-842), there were two Christian brothers – Salmuyah, was Secretary of State, and his brother, Ibrahim, was incharge of ‘Bayt al-Mal (public treasury)’. The Caliph was so attached to Ibrahim that he was overwhelmed with grief at his death, and on the day of funeral – ordered the body to be brought to the palace and the Christian rites be performed there with great solemnity.

Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik appointed Athanasius Christian scholar of Edessa – tutor to his brother, ‘Abd al-Aziz. The tutor accompanied ‘Abd al-Aziz, when he was appointed governor of Egypt and there amassed great wealth; he is said to have 4,000 slaves, villages, houses, gardens, and gold and silver like stones; his sons used to take a dinar from each of the soldiers when they received their salaries, and there were 30,000 troops then in Egypt.

A Christian Abu Nuh al-Anbar was secretary to Abu Musa, governor of Mosul (by end of 8th century), and used his powerful influence for the benefit of his Christian co-relionists.

Caliph al-Mu’tadid (892-902), the governor of Anbar was a Christian by the name, Umar bin Yusuf.

Al-Muwaffaq, who was the real ruler during his brother al-Mu’tamid (870-892) reign – entrusted the administration of Muslim forces to a Christian, Israel, and his son. One of his secretaries, Malik bin al-Walid, was also a Christian.

Caliph al-Muqtadir (908-932) also appointed a Christian as head of the war office.

The prime minister, Nasr bin Harun, of ‘Adud al-Dawlah (949-982), of Persian dynasty of Buwayhid, who ruled over southern Persia and Iraq – was a Christian.

The personal physician of Caliph Harun al-Rashid was a Nestorian Christian, Gabriel, who received an annual income of 800,000 dirhams from his private property, in addition to an emolument of 280,000 dirhams a year in return for his attendance on the Caliph.

Khalid al-Qasri, governor of Iraq (724-738) built a church for his Christian mother to worship in.

Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785), built a church in Baghdad for the use of Christian prisoners that had been taken captive during the numerous campaigns against the Byzantine empire.

In the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid – a magnificent church was erected in Babylon in which were enshrined the bodies of the biblical prophets Daniel and Ezekiel.

Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, al-Zahir (1020-1035) built a new church at Jiddah.

155. Hajjaj bin Yusuf

Hajjaj is a calamity sent by Allah, do not try to remove him by force but ask Allah Taa’la – Hasan Basri

Hajjaj bin Yusuf (661-714) served as the governor of Iraq during the reigns of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and al-Walid I of the Umayyad Caliphat. He was allegedly responsible for the execution of 125,000 Muslims, including Muslim leaders and scholars like Abdullah bin Zubair, Sa’id bin Zubair, Abdullah bin Umar and Abdullah bin Zubair. However, no other Muslim official can challenge him when it comes to the expansion of Muslim Empire. He had a great instinct for picking military generals – such as the teenaged Muhammad ibn-Qasīm, who in 712 was sent to Sindh (al-Hind);. Qutayba ibn Muslim was sent to conquer Turkestan, which he did, even penetrating the borders of China and obtaining Jizya (tribute payment) from the Chinese emperor, and his most successful general, Mūsā ibn Nusayr, who consolidated control over North Africa and who sent Tariq ibn Ziyād to invade Spain.

The year after al-Hajjāj died, al-Walid died as well, and his brother, Sulayman came to power. Sulayman was indebted to many opponents of Hajjāj ibn-Yūsuf for their political support in getting him elected caliph, so he recalled all Hajjāj’s generals and had them tortured to death in prison, pretending to have forgotten their great victories.

156. Islam in China

In 650 CE – The third Khalifa of the first Islamic State – Hazrat ‘Uthman ibn Affan (as), dispatched a deputation to China under the leadership by Sa’ad ibn Abi Waqqaas (as), inviting the Chinese emperor to embrace Islam. The Muslim deputation was allowed to build China’s first mosque, the magnificent Canton city mosque known to this day as the ‘Memorial Mosque’. One of the first Muslim settlements in China was established in port city of Cheng Aan during the era of the Tang dynasty.

The pagan Chinese resented Muslim presence, but was replaced by respect when their provocation met with their resounding defeat at the hand of a small Muslim force in 751 CE. Such victories opened the doors of China for the Muslims to spread and propagate the faith. Over the years, many Muslims settled in China and they married Chinese women. They established mosques, schools and madrasas. Students from as far as Russia and India would attend these madrasas. It is reported that in the 1790′s, there was as many as 30,000 Muslim students, and the city of Bukhara alone.

The early Muslims in China faced oppression, and the tyrannical Manchu dynasty (1644-191l) was the harshest era. During this period, five wars were waged against the Muslims: Lanchu (1820-28), Che Kanio (1830), Sinkiang (l847), Yunan (1857) and Shansi (1861). The Manchus slaughtered Muslims and razed mosques. Led by determined leaders like Yaqoob Beg (l820-77), Muslims liberated the whole of Turkestan and set up an Islamic state that lasted from 1867 to 1877. The new Turkic-Chinese Muslim power in Central Asia, comprising of the provinces of Yunan, Szechawan, Shensi and Kansum, was seen with anxiety by the Russians and the British who had colonial designs of their own. The Muslims, inspired by examples of leaders like Ma Mua-Ming-Hsin, scored many victories. In Yunan, the Muslims, under Tu Wenhsin, routed the emperor’s troops. He assumed the name of Sultan Sulayman and rallied the Muslims of Tibet to rise up against the Chinese.

After the Communist takeover in 1949, Mao Zedung set about dividing the Muslims into nationalities so they would identify with their ‘ethnic’ origin and not their ‘Muslim’ identity. According to population statistics of 1936, the then Kuomingtang Republic of China had an estimated 48 million Muslims. After the introduction of Mao’s policies, this number was reduced to ten million. No official Chinese explanation has ever been given for this apparent disappearance of around 38 million Muslims. The mass extermination and destruction of the Muslims of China pales before the much-publicized plight of a handful of Tibetan monks or the democrats of Tiannaman Square. Aside from the physical annihilation, Muslims have been subjected to a constant attack on their Islamic identity especially during the so-called Cultural Revolution (1966-76). For instance, posters, which appeared in Peking (later to be called Beijing) in 1966, openly called for the abolition of Islamic practices. Muslims were also barred from learning their written language, which incorporated the Arabic script and was influenced by Arabic, Turkish and Farsi. This change was critical as it distanced Muslims from the Arabic language, the language of the Qur’an and their Islamic aspirations. During this era many Mosques were closed down and waqf properties were confiscated.

157. The Hejaz Railway

The Hejaz Railway was originally built to transport pilgrims from Damascus to Madinah, where they would travel on to Mecca for the Hajj. The idea was first put forward in 1864 during the height of the age of great railways around the world, but it was not until 40 years later (1908) that the Hejaz Railway came into being. Before the Hejaz Railway, pilgrims traveled to Madinah by camel caravan. The journey between Damascus and Medinah usually took two months and was full of hardships.

The building of the Hejaz Railway presented a financial and engineering challenge. It required a budget of some $16 million dollars. Contributions came from the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hammed, the Khedive of Egypt, and the Shah of Iran. Other contributions came from the Turkish Civil Service, Armed Forces, and other various fund-raising efforts.

The railway journey was quicker and cheaper, and noone in his right mind would contemplate spending £40 on an arduous, two-month camel journey when he could travel in comfort in only four days for just £3.50. Frequent attacks on the trains by the tribes and furious caravan operators, made the journey to Madinah a perilous undertaking for pilgrims, whether by camel or by rail.

On 1 September 1908 the railway officially opened, and by the year 1912 it was transporting 30,000 pilgrims a year. As word spread that the pilgrimage had just become easier, business boomed, and by 1914 the annual load had soared to 300,000 passengers. Not only were pilgrims transported to Madinah – the Turkish army began to use the railway as its chief mode of transport for troops and supplies. This was to be the railway’s undoing, as it was severely damaged during the First World War (1914-1918), by Lawrence of Arabia and his supporting Arab traitors. After the First World War, and until as recently as 1971, several attempts were made to revive the railway, but the scheme proved too difficult and too expensive. Road transport was soon established and, by the 1970′s aviation had made rapid progress. The railway was soon abandoned. In actuality, parts of the Hejaz Railway still exist, and some of the sections are still functioning. It is possible to travel from Damascus to Amman Jordan, on the old original rail line.

Recently a Nabataea.net reader took the trip and documented it with pictures. Click here to take the virtual trip! Today, in 2003, the train still runs twice a week, taking all day to travel the same distance that it takes a car to travel 4 hours. The route south from Amman has been destroyed, but the train still runs from Wadi Hissa to Aqaba, transporting phosphates from the mines to the port. The line south into Saudi Arabia is no longer functioning, but railway enthusiasts still visit sites in Saudi, where there are a number of abandoned stations, round houses and rusting locomotives and cars.

Some pictures of the old railway can be seen here:

http://www.nabataea.net/hejaz5.html

158. The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)

The bank was founded by Pakistani banking expert, Agha Hasan Abedi in 1972 with the support of Sheikh Zayed, the ruler of Abu Dhabi with initial investment of $2 million. BCCI was known to have assets worth $25 billion US dollars by 1980. The bank, with its Head Office nominally in Luxembourg but effectively run from London, had 400 branches in 72 countries and was the fourth largest private bank and the only Muslim international bank in the world at the time of its glory.

In its early days – the bank operated on a sort of Islamic financial system (Halal) – by making all depositors as its shareholders, who were subject to ‘profit & loss’. On an average basis – BCCI gave its shareholders 7-11% profit, while the other international banks were paying less than 5%. Bank’s quick rise created problems within western banking institutions, which could not accept a Muslim and Asian bank within the ‘Western Banking Club’.

Finally, in 1989 – the US alleged that BCCI was involved to in “drug money laundering” and “handling” accounts of the Palestinian “terrorists” and was closed down in 1991.

The US government’s appointed liquidators filed a lawsuit against the bank’s auditors, which was settled for $175 million in 1998. A further lawsuit against the emir of Abu Dhabi, a major shareholder, was launched in 1999 for around $400 million. BCCI creditors also instituted a $1 billion suit against the Bank of England as a regulatory body. After a nine-year struggle due to the Bank’s statutory immunity, the case went to trial in January 2004. However in November 2005 liquidators Deloitte dropped any action against the Bank of England as it was no longer considered in the best interests of the creditors after a High Court ruling.

159. Oil in Azerbaijan

In 957 CE – Arabian historian Masudi-Abdul-Hussein identified two main sources of black oil and white oil (kerosene) on Absheron. Arab historian Istahri-Abu Iskhak described how the people of Baku used soil soaked in oil as fuel.
Marco Polo (1254-1324), recorded in ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’ that oil from Baku was being exported to Near Eastern countries. He also described the use of oil as an unguent used in therapeutic healing.

An inscription inside a well 35m deep in Balakhani indicates year 1594 CE as of construction and the name of the builder – Allah Yar Mammad Nuroghlu.
In 1636 CE – German diplomat and traveler Adam Oleari (1603-1671) described Baku’s 30 oil wells and said that oil gushed out of them with a mighty force. He identified both brown and white oil and wrote that there was a greater quantity of the brown.

In 1846 – more than a decade before the Americans made their famous discovery of oil in Pennsylvania – Azerbaijan drilled its first oil well in Bibi-Heybat. By the beginning of the 20th century, Azerbaijan was producing more than half of the world’s supply of oil.

In 1898 – The Zionist-Jew Rothschild brothers entered this trade. They founded the Mazut Transportation Society. By 1912, it already had 13 large tankers in the Caspian Sea, plus other auxiliary ships

In 1920, when the Bolsheviks captured Azerbaijan, all private property – including oil wells and factories – was confiscated. After that, the Republic’s entire oil industry was directed toward the purposes of the Soviet Union, including a tremendous output of oil for the World War II effort.

http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magaz…chronology.html

160. Islamic Budapest

In 1541 – Ottoman Sultan Sulayman the Great, liberated Budin. With a population of barely 5000, pre-Ottoman Budin was an unremarkable town inhabited by a mixture of Christian, Jewish and gypsy families. Under Ottoman rule, however, it flourished. Muslim functionaries alone soon came to outnumber the original inhabitants by a ratio of five to one. But Budin was primarily a strategic military town Budin (the modern Budapest was only formed in 1872 by a union of Budin on the Danubéis western bank and Pest in the east).

The needs of the Turkish garrison spawned new local industries. Artisans from the Balkans (tailors, shoemakers, barbers, tinsmiths, gunsmiths) manufactured clothes, boots, vessels and arms that suited Balkan and Turkish tastes as did the market of Budin. The Turks also brought superior methods of skin dressing to those employed by Hungarian tanners. These were adopted not only in the towns inhabited by the Turks but also in the country.

The Ottomans built bathhouses (some of which exist to this day) fed by the therapeutic thermal springs, which gush from the area. They converted the church steeples into minarets to signal the supremacy of Islam. These features gave Budin the look and feel of an Islamic city. Poets extolled its beauty in songs that were in turn intoned by folk singers.

At its height, Budin had 61 beautiful and impressive mosques, 22 prayer houses, 10 madrasas, a number of libraries, some dervish cloisters (tekkes), numerous wells valuable for their architecture, five massive hostels, several public kitchens for the poor and an antique bazaar.

But Budapest’s Golden Age was short-lived. In 1686, three years after the Ottoman defeat at Vienna, the Hapsburgs overran the town consigning Budin to a fate that befell most Muslim towns hapless enough to pass into the hands of medieval Christendom.

Most of the town’s Muslims had already fled but for the 3,000 who chose to remain the story was a typical one of extermination, enslavement or conversion (for the latter, the Hungarian lexicon has retained the title ujkeresztan or new Christians). Apart from the legend that the Duke Charles De Lorraine, head of the army that took Budin, adopted a little girl called Fatima, there is no evidence that a single Muslim survived with his faith in tact.

161. The Traitors within Ummah

In 1902 when Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, still a teenager, erupted from his tent outside Kuwait city. His favourite sport was raiding pilgrim as well as trade caravans.

The Ibn Sauds had taken refuge in Kuwait following their defeat in Riyadh at the hands of the Ibn Rasheeds in 1891. While Abdul Aziz’s father, Abdul Rahman, sulked in his desert tent, his young son was busy in plunder. Robbery runs in the family blood.

The year 1902 is important in the history of contemporary Arabian Peninsula for two reasons. It was in this year that the Ibn Sauds launched their second, and successful, attempt to grab power, and the British, realizing its importance, turned their attention to controlling the Hijaz. The Ibn Sauds’ first attempt in 1802 when they erupted from Dari’yyah, had ended in disaster 17 years later when Ibrahim Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman-appointed governor of Egypt, crushed them. Dari’yyah was completely destroyed and the Sauds sought refuge with the Ibn Rasheeds in Riyadh.

In January 1902, the young Abdul Aziz led an assault on the Mismak fortress in Riyadh. In the early morning raid, the Ibn Rasheeds’ governor, Shaikh Ajlan, was killed. The rest of the garrison surrendered. The Ibn Sauds showed a fine sense of gratitude to their former benefactors. Abdul Aziz ibn Rasheed, head of the clan, was himself killed in battle at Rawdhat al-Muhanna in April 1906. Other tribes allied with the Ibn Rasheeds were either defeated or bribed by the Ibn Sauds.

The defeat of the Ibn Rasheeds was also a setback to Ottoman power since they had backed them in opposition to the Ibn Sauds. Abdul Aziz, however, showing characteristic cunningness, pledged loyalty to the khalifah in Istanbul. This was inspired more by convenience than sincerity as subsequent events revealed.

Also in 1902, the British consul in Jeddah, one Zohrab, sent a message to the foreign office in London highlighting the significance of the gatherings at Makkah and Medina. He said: ‘The point of real importance to England, politically, I believe, the Hedjaz, as the focus of Moslem thought and the nuclear (sic) from which radiate ideas, advice, instructions, and dogmatical implications… (Certain persons) I am persuaded, proceed on the Hadj (sic) for political reasons. Mecca being free for (sic) European intrusion is safe ground on which meetings can be held, ideas exchanged… Up to the present time we have kept no watch on those who come and go…’

Zohrab argued that Britain, with 60 million Muslims as its subjects, had far greater right to administer the Haramain and to appoint the sheriff than Turkey which only had 16 million. He then suggested that Britain either appoint its own man, and if that was not possible, to have a ‘trusted Mussalman as agent in Mecca’. This, he wrote, would yield valuable intelligence information!

The Turks soon got wind of this. As a great power, the Ottoman khilafah obviously had its ear close to the ground. The Makkan newspaper, Hijaz, published a perceptive commentary exposing the British plan. ‘Those who watch the English government can see that her designs are directed towards the holy places of Islam. She wishes to occupy them but she knows that achieving such a purpose would not be an easy matter, and she therefore tries by the most devilish means to achieve this end’ (Hijaz, No. 1896, 25 Safar 1433 [1914]).

Even they did not realize the true magnitude of British devilishness. Not only Makkah and Medina but even Palestine was the target of Britain’s vicious plans. In this scheme, they used the Arabs and then double-crossed them. The appointment of the sheriff of Makkah had devolved on the khalifah in Istanbul when the Hijaz became a velayat of Turkey in 1840.

Husain ibn Ali was the sheriff when the British launched their intrigue to turn the Middle East into their imperial possession. This could not be achieved without breaking up the khilafah.

Sheriff Husain (great grandfather of king Husain of Jordan) was promised the leadership of all the Arabs in return for his help in overthrowing the Turks. Between July 1915 and January 1916, Sir Henry McMahon, British high commissioner in Egypt, worked on Husain in order to pave the way for the ‘Arab revolt’.

This was fanned by injecting the poison of nationalism to pit Arab Muslims against Turkish Muslims. That the Arabs willingly swallowed this poison shows the depth of their depravity. They were prepared to accept the promises of the kuffar against their fellow Muslims. Besides, they were rejecting Islamic authority (albeit weak and corrupted ) on the spurious appeal of nationalism, one, moreover, bequeathed by the Europeans.

The consequences of this British-Arab alliance were devastating for the Ummah. The British, however, were not faithful even to their Arab proteges. In fact, Britain has no permanent friends, as Winston Chruchill once said, only permanent interests. For the short-sighted, greedy Arab tribal chiefs this, however, was much too complicated to grasp.

Even while the British promised to make Husain the king of all the Arabs, they were promising Palestine to the Jews through the infamous Balfour declaration (November 1917). Abdul Aziz ibn Saud and a number of other Arab tribal chiefs had also been put on British payroll. Sheriff Husain and Abdul Aziz each received a monthly stipend of 5,000 to serve British interests. This was admitted by Churchill, then secretary for the colonies, in the British house of commons on March 2, 1922.

During the war years (1914-1918) British designs centred round defeating the Turks, hence their emphasis on the Hijaz while Abdul Aziz’s power resided in Najd. He was shrewd enough to realise the importance of striking alliances. Taking a leaf from family history, he coopted the Ikhwan and settled them in Ghot Ghot in 1912. Exactly a century ago, it was the zeal of the Ikhwan that had swept through the Hijaz, even if they had caused much mayhem and destruction. Could they not be used again for a similar feat?

Abdul Aziz’s fortune took another turn for the better in December 1915, when he met Sir Percy Cox, the British political resident in the Persian Gulf. Cox offered British military protection to Abdul Aziz in return for ceding superintendence of his foreign policy. This was incorporated in the Anglo-Saudi friendship treaty, unknown to his Ikhwani allies.

Some friendship, some treaty. The British have not looked back since even though they lost their premier place to the Americans after the second world war. In the Arabian Peninsula, the British still hold enormous sway, especially in securing lucrative military and commerical contracts. The 40 billion Yamama project is but one facet of this.

162. Albania

In the early 14th century, the Ottomans began to make inroads into Albanian (ancient Indo-European Illyrians, who were pushed by massive Slav migration during 700 CE) territory, which was nothing more than a patchwork of tribes and feudal lords in constant quarrel with each other. The Ottomans were able to overtake the entire territory by exploiting the internal discord. It was during the nearly 500 years of Ottoman rule that the bulk of the Albanian people entered into Islam, which offered the Christian population a way out of the spiritual misery and exploitation that Christian churches had inflicted Albanians with. Albania’s 3.8 million (2000) population consists of 70% Muslims (80% Hanafi, 20% Bektashi Shias), 20% Orthodox and 10% Roman Catholics.

After the defeat of Ottoman empire in WW I – the Allied Western Powers wanted to dismember Albania and divide it between the Serbs and Greeks. However, the Paris Peace Conference established Albania as an independent country under pressure from US president Woodrow Wilson. In 1939, Italy occupied Albania, followed by Germany in 1943. On the retreat of German forces, the Communist National Liberation Front took over the control of Albania on November 24, 1944, with Enver Hoxha (Hoja), an atheist as dictator, who stayed as Russian stooge from 1946-1962, after which he flipped his loyalties to Communist China, till October 1976, when he embraced America.

Since the death of Enver Hoxah in 1985 – Albania has been trying to establish itself politically and economically. During Hoxah period, all open religious activities were punishable by imprisonment or execution. Many prominent Ulema and Babas were murdered or made to suffer in prison camps. In 1990 the government proclaimed an end to this barbaric religious persecution.

163. Santiago de Compostela

During the period of 711-718 CE, Muslim Arabs had taken control of most part of Spain. However, nearly eight centuries of Muslim rule – Muslims were very tolerant towards their non-Muslim subjects. For example, the Great Mosque of Cordoba was built on the site of a Visigothic church, but at first the Muslims shared the church, then bought it at a good price so that they could build a proper mosque. And whenever that occurred the Christians were allowed to build new places of worship.

In 976 – Sultan Al-Mansur (the Conqueror) of Muslim Spain, established military rule, introduced secret police, employed large numbers of mercenary troops and, although warring constantly with Christian kings, married two of their daughters.

Al-Mansur’s most spectacular campaign took place in 997 when he led a great force to the holy of holies of Christian Spain, Santiago de Compostela. This was the site of the tomb of St. James the Apostle (Santiago), whom Spanish Christians believed to be the twin brother of Jesus. Since 830, when relics of St. James had been found there, Santiago de Compostela had been a center of pilgrimage for Catholic Europe.

During the battle the city was sacked and the church of Santiago de Compostela was destroyed. Out of respect for Christian beliefs, however, al-Mansur left the tomb of Santiago itself alone and placed a guard around it. He also spared the life of an old monk found sitting next to the tomb. Al-Mansur asked what he was doing there and the monk replied simply: “Praying to St. James (Santiago).”
“Then pray on,” said al-Mansur, and gave orders to leave him in peace.

Santiago de Compostela having been a rallying point, its fall was considered a disastrous defeat for the Christians. But St. James was also the symbol that helped maintain Christian faith in the ultimate re-conquest of Spain; when al-Mansur died five years later, the Christians credited St. James with having punished the Moors for the rape of his city and cathedral.

Santiago de Compostela having been a rallying point, its fall was considered a disastrous defeat for the Christians. But St. James was also the symbol that helped maintain Christian faith in the ultimate reconquest of Spain; when al-Mansur died five years later, the Christians credited St. James with having punished the Moors for the rape of his city and cathedral.

As no strong ruler succeeded al-Mansur in Cordoba, and as his military rule had made his reign unpopular, Cordoba itself rebelled and civil war engulfed al-Andalus. Within 20 years the caliphate – previously the emirate – which had lasted nearly 300 years, collapsed. By 1031 it was over, the occasion marked by a riot in the capital.

164. First Canadian Mosque

Salim Sha’aban (b.1880), a Lebanese Muslim landed in New York as a 20-year-old and made his way to Iowa in 1908. He peddled goods from his back until he had earned enough to buy a horse, and in 1910 returned to Lebanon to find a bride. Two years later, deciding that opportunities might be greater in Canada, he left his wife and their first child behind and set out for Alberta. Near Endiang, a trading post about 290 kilometers southeast of Edmonton, he built his family a homestead, and then sent for his wife and son.

By the late 1920′s, a handful of Muslim families were scattered throughout Alberta, earning their livings as fur traders, mink ranchers and shopkeepers. In 1931, the Census of Canada registered 645 Muslims among 10,070 Canadians of Arab origin, most of them living in the eastern provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Yet the few scattered about the vast Canadian West became close-knit despite distances. Gradually, and often out of concern for maintaining their faith among their children, families began to migrate in toward Edmonton, and soon there were about 20 Muslim families in town.

In 1937, Hilwi Hamdon and her friends approached the city’s mayor, John Fry, for a plot of land. “You don’t have any money to build a mosque,” he pointed out. “We’ll get the money,” they replied. Fry agreed to give them the land if they could come up with construction money. They needed $5000, a hefty sum to raise in the depths of the Depression. They went from shop to shop along Jasper Avenue, Edmonton’s main street. Whether the shop owners were Jewish, Christian or Muslim, the women asked for support from them all. It was a very cooperative community then, and so Canada’s first mosque came to be built with contributions from members of all three monotheistic faiths.

No builder in the area had ever seen a mosque, let alone built one. Nonetheless, the women chose a Ukrainian-Canadian builder named Mike Drewoth and told him, “We want a place to pray.” After some discussion Drewoth set about building the best mosque he could: one main room, lofty arched windows, two little rooms for ablutions, an insulated basement for social gatherings and two hexagonal minarets, each with an onion-shaped silver dome topped with a crescent moon. Although it clearly resembled a Russian Orthodox church, the community was elated with its new mosque and members enthusiastically donated carpets and lamps.

On December 12, 1938, the Al-Rashid mosque was officially opened by Mayor Fry and I. F. Shaker, a Christian Arab, who was mayor of Hanna, Alberta. Guests included the renowned Pakistani interpreter of Holy Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali. “It is significant that people of many faiths are sitting friendly together,” said Fry.

Over the next three decades, the little mosque became a center of community activity for Arabs of all faiths. Weddings, funerals and Eid ceremonies were performed in the main hall. The basement was the scene of teas and covered-dish suppers. Mothers and fathers would keep an eye out for possible marriage partners for their own children, and the young people who had known only the prairies of Canada would catch a glimpse of how life had tasted and sounded in their parents’ Middle Eastern villages.

After World War II, Arab immigrants flocked to Canada – nearly 50,000 between 1946 and 1975. A much larger percentage than before was Muslim. By 1980, Edmonton’s Muslim community numbered nearly 16,000, overflowing the Al-Rashid Mosque. It was time to build something larger, and in 1982, the doors of the old mosque were closed. For the next 10 years it stood empty and unused on its lot next to the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

With the 1980′s oil boom, Edmonton’s population soared and, in 1988, the hospital moved to expand its parking lot. The mosque faced imminent demolition. But in 1991, after three years of raising $75,000 and petitions, the day finally came when the roof of the Al-Rashid Mosque was removed and the building lifted gently off its foundations to its new home in the Fort Edmonton Park.

For almost a year it sat open to the Alberta sky, pigeons nesting among its roof beams, while the Muslims raised yet more money for its restoration. They needed to get the roof in place before another winter set in.

On May 28, 1992, the newly restored Al-Rashid Mosque was officially opened in an emotional ceremony. City leaders paid tribute to the determination of the women who built it and to their descendants who saved it. Today, the mosque stands proudly beside Alberta’s historic churches as a symbol of the Muslim strand in Canada’s pioneer heritage.

165. Amir Cighala aka Giorgio Zapata

In 1561, a certain Captain Giorgio Zapata, who claimed to have been in the service of the Duke of Medinaceli and the viceroy of Sicily, arrived in Potosí. He apprenticed himself to a German miner – who had presumably been allowed into Peru because of his specialized knowledge – discovered a very rich silver vein, and for 10 years developed it in partnership with a man named Rodrigo Pelaez. Zapata became one of the richest men in Potosí, and one of the most respected as well.

After 15 years in Potosí – it must have seemed a lifetime in that cold, inhospitable place – Giorgio Zapata decided to return to his country. He gave gifts to all his friends and bid them good-bye, taking with him 2,000,000 pieces of eight and 138 kilos (304 pounds) of pure gold. But instead of sailing to Spain, Zapata went to Istanbul and presented himself to the Sultan Murad II. Istanbul, it turned out, was really his native city, and his real name was Amir Çighala. He gave the sultan part of the gold he had brought from Potosí and became admiral of the fleet. He subsequently had a very successful naval career and was later named governor of Algiers.

Meanwhile, his old partner, Rodrigo Pelaez, had retired to Spain. In 1596, while he was at Cádiz waiting for a ship to Peru, the English, led by the Earl of Essex, sacked the city and captured Pelaez. Sold first to a Frenchman, and then, after a number of re-sales, to a North African, Pelaez eventually found himself in Algiers, where he was purchased by Kara Çighala, the older brother of his old partner from Potosí. The two friends were re-united, and Amir Çighala told Pelaez how he had secretly practiced Islam for 15 years in Potosí. Two months later, he sent his old friend back to Spain a free man, laden with gold and other gifts and a letter written in good Spanish “with some phrases in Arabic,” telling the whole tale.

Amir Çighala must have been related to the famous Yusuf Çighala-Zade, known as Sinan Pasha. The son of the Viscount of Cicala, a Sicilian noble in the service of Spain who had married a Turkish woman, he entered Ottoman service and rose to high office, marrying two granddaughters of Sultan Süleyman in succession. He was high admiral of the Ottoman fleet in 1591 and took part in the successful siege of Eğri in the Balkans in 1596, whose main purpose was to ensure Ottoman control of the extensive mines in the region. Perhaps Amir Çighala was his younger brother.

In addition to Amir Çighala, 20 Turks who were “redeemed out of captivitie by Sir Francis Drake in the West Indies” and repatriated by order of Queen Elizabeth I. – had gone to America before 1586.

166. Tripoli (Lebanon)

The Greeks named the union of their three coastal settlements Tripoli (Tri-Polis).

In 1289 CE, the Mamluk Sultan Al-Mansur Sayf al-Din Qala’un attacked 2000-year-old city and Capital of Frankish state since 1109 CE, Tripoli – with a force of over 40,000. The siege lasted five weeks, and when Qala’un was finished, the only remaining seat of Crusader power was Acre. Two hundred and twenty-seven years of Mamluk rule in Tripoli had begun.

Sayfedeen Balaban Tabbakhi was appointed the first governor of the ‘mamlaka (state)’, of Tripoli, which was one of the six political units that made up what the Arabs called ‘Bilad al Sham (the north country)’. Its territory included roughly what is the today’s nation-state of Syria along with today’s Lebanon and parts of Palestine.

The first major project undertaken by Mamluk was the construction of a central congregational mosque. Commissioned five years after the city’s capture and dedicated to Al-Mansur Qala’un during the brief reign of his son Al-Ashraf Salah al-Din Khalil, it was this Great Mosque that first stamped the city with its new Islamic identity and offered a new hub for the religious and commercial life of the city. It rose on the site of the Crusader church of St. Mary, and it incorporated a relic gate and, for a minaret, the church’s square-plan bell tower, both of which survive to the present day.

In 1517 CE, Tripoli was folded into the Ottoman realm and its administrative status was downgraded. It remained a leading academic city of the Eastern Mediterranean until the mid-19th century, when it was eclipsed by the rise of Beirut. Today, its role is largely commercial, as the second largest city in Lebanon with a population of 500,000 – mostly Muslims with Christian and Alawite minorities.

167. Islam in Russia

Muslim merchants introduced Islam to European Russia in the 10th century. In 921 CE, Kazan ruler Ajmas Khan bin Silki sent his emissary to the Abbaside Caliph Muqtadir Billah requesting the teams of Ulema and Fiqh scholars for paving the way for the dissemination of the Islamic Shariah in his Khanate. He also invited Muslim engineers to set the direction of Qiblah (Kaaba) and for the construction of mosques. Several eminent ulema and reformers were born among local Muslims, including the renowned writer and historian Qazi Yaqub Nauman.

The Russians invaded these Muslim-populated areas in 962 CE, and Kazan became a part of the Russian empire in 1552 CE, and Muslims here were subjected to untold hardships. At a later stage, hundreds of thousands of Muslims were forced to declare themselves Christian.

After the Communist Revolution, these areas became free and the Muslims started constructing new mosques. But in 1918 CE the Communist army invaded and occupied Kazan. Subsequently thousands of ulema took refuge in Manchuria and Japan. In 1919 CE, a socialist republic of the Tatar and Bashkar nation were established. Thereafter, the Arabic script was discarded, mosques were converted into clubs and brothels. Those who tried to resist, were deprived of their land. In 1931 CE, there was an uprising in Tatar and Bashkar which was ruthlessly crushed by the Red Army.

Over 70 years of Russian domination did not stifle the Muslim passion for independence. This passion was aroused anew in the 1990′s with the failure of Communism as result of Russian forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. Muslims Chechen are in the forefront of Jihad against Russian occupation.

Currently there are over 15 million Muslims in the Tatar, Bashkar, Kazan, the Ural and in the Volga river valley. The Muslims are in majority in Tatar and Bashkar but instead of establishing a separate republic, these areas were merged with the Soviet Union.

168. The Mamluk

The word Mamluk means “one who is owned.” The term was originally applied to boys from Central Asian tribes who were bought by the Abbasid caliphs and raised to be soldiers. The same practice was adopted by the Fatimids, an Ismaili dynasty based in Tunisia that conquered Egypt in 969 and founded Cairo as its new capital.

When Salah ad-Din, the son of a Kurdish general, supplanted the Fatimids and founded the Ayyubid dynasty in 1174, he formed the Mamluks into a distinct military body. Since the Ayyubids were strangers in Egypt, they likely felt more comfortable with the support of their fellow foreigners.

Jew slave traders bought the children of conquered tribes in Central Asia, promising them security, discipline and the possibility of great fortunes. Mamluk boys then endured several years of rigorous training in horsemanship and archery. They were used both as royal bodyguards and to offset the dominating influence of the Arab military in the state. Not to be confused with ordinary slaves, the Mamluks were members of an elite military corps – a kind of proto-Foreign Legion or a knighthood of Islam. In 1254, the Mamluks revolted against the Ayyubid ruler and one of their own – a Turk named Aybak – married Shagar al-Durr, the wife of the murdered sultan: The Mamluks had accomplished the rare feat of transforming themselves from slaves to masters.

Power in the Mamluk realm was not based on heredity. Every Mamluk arrived in Egypt or Syria as a slave-soldier. The young men were converted to Islam and worked their way up the ranks on merit alone. Every commander of the army and nearly all of the Mamuk sultans started life in this way. After the Mamluks made themselves masters of Egypt and Syria, they continued the tradition of recruiting foreigners for their military.

The Mamluks ruled Egypt until 1517, when Cairo fell to the Ottoman Turks whose artillery and firearm skills far surpassed that of the Mamluks who, as consummate horsemen, disdained such novelties. The Ottoman ruler, Selim i, ended the Mamluk sultanate but did not destroy the Mamluks as a class; they kept their lands, and Mamluk governors retained control of the provinces and were even allowed to keep private armies.

In the 18th century, when Ottoman power began to decline, the Mamluks were able to win back an increasing amount of self-rule. In 1769 a Mamluk leader, Ali Bey, proclaimed himself sultan and declared independence from the Ottomans. Although his reign collapsed in 1772, the Ottoman Turks still felt compelled to concede increasing measures of autonomy to the Mamluks and appointed a series of them as governors of Egypt. The last great charge of the fabled Mamluk horsemen took place on July 17, 1798, when Napoleon Bonaparte’s modern army shattered the Egyptian cavalry at the Battle of the Pyramids. Their power as an elite class ended in 1811 when Muhammad Ali, an Albanian Turk who had wrested control of Egypt from the Ottomans in 1805, invited several hundred prominent Mamluks to dinner in the Cairo Citadel. After diner, as the Mamluk notables and their entourages made their way to one of the fortress’s lower gates, Muhammad Ali’s troops massacred them all, a violent final chapter for a dynasty whose rulers rose from slavery to control much of the Middle East.

169. Islam in Burma

The message of Islam was brought to Burma (Myanmar) by Muslim traders in ninth century. The current population of Myanmar Muslims are the descendants of Arabs, Persians, Turks, Moors, Indian-Muslims, sheikhs, Pakistanis, Pathans, Bengalis, Chinese Muslims and Malays who settled and intermarried with local Burmese.

Muslims, known as Rohingyas – form four percent of Burma’s population. They are an indigenous people of Arakan, the western province of Burma bordering Bangladesh. They are one of the many ethnic groups of Burma. An estimated three million Rohingyas are at home and abroad. Due to continued persecution and ethnic cleansing, about 1.5 million Rohingyas have either been expelled or have had to leave their historical homeland to save their lives since 1948.

Burma’s Buddhist military regime has declared the Rohingya Muslims as non-nationals under Burma Citizenship Law of 1982, reducing them to a position of ‘de facto’ statelessness. The military regime has been establishing more and more new Buddhist settlements, which has caused serious demographic changes resulting in a systematic extermination of the Rohingya population. Large tracts of Muslims’ farmlands including Waqf (religious) properties have been confiscated.

Estimated one million Rohingya Muslims have fled Arakan to escape persecution by the military government. They are living as refugees in Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the UAE, Malaysia, Thailand, India and China.

Burma’s Mosque Gallery:

http://www.bmnetwork.org/bmc/index.php?opt…emid=89&catid=1

170. Muslim Bosnians

Predecessors of the Muslim Bosnian were the Bogumils, who, all of them, voluntarily accepted Islam. The strongest reason lies in the very faith of the Bogumils, which was closer to the Islamic faith than to either the Catholic or the Orthodox faith. The Bogumil faith, as is known, appeared in the east. Their faith finds its source primarily in the Christian sect of Paulian, which was founded by the episcope from Antioch, Paul of Samostat, who was excluded from the Church in the year 265 CE. His followers later moved to Bulgaria, near Plovdiv, where they obtained the Slavic name, the “Bogomils” or “Bogumils”.

The Church deem Paulians heretics. Arab scholars who wrote about faiths and sects also mention the Paulians. One of them is Ibn Hazm (d.1064)). In his work, al-Milal wan-Nihal (Faiths and Sects), he mentions the following: “From among the Christian sects there are also the followers of Paul from Samostat (ash-Shimshaati). He was a patriarch in Antioch before Christianity spread. His faith was: pure and real monotheism and that Jesus was God’s slave and messenger as one from among the prophets (as). Allah created him in Mary’s womb without a man. He was a man, without divinity. Paul would say: “I do not know what either ‘the word’ or ‘holy spirit’ is”.

From among such scholars is also Abul-Fath ash-Shabristani (Muhammad ibn Abdil Kareem (d.1153)). In his work, which is also named al-Milal wan-Nihal (Faiths and Sects), he says:

“Botinus and Paul from Samostat say that God is one. The Messiah (Jesus) was created in Mary’s womb. He was a good slave of God and was created, except that God awarded him and honored him because of his obedience and therefore called him son, but not because of his birth or unification (with God), but by giving him a status of son without him being his true son.

Arab historian, Said ibn Bitrik (d.940), although Christian, does not mention about the faith of Paulians anything that is in conflict with the Islamic faith. In his writings, there is no mention of dualism, which is ascribed to them and because of which they slander them. He says the following, speaking of Paul of Samostat, who appeared with a new faith: “His faith was: that our master Messiah is created as a man by God, just like us, because the son was conceived in Mary’s womb; that he was chosen and came to save the humanity. He was followed by God’s blessings, which he obtained through love and will. He was therefore called God’s son. God is a Single and One being. We do not believe in “the word” or “the holy spirit”. After the death of Paul, thirteen bishops gathered in Antioch to study his faith. They then decided that this Samostatian was to be cursed; they cursed him and cursed everyone who would follow his faith.

In many issues of faith there is a great similarity between the Islamic and Paulian, and, therefore, Bogumil faith. However, the Bogumil faith was not the same as the Paulian, but surely it contained plenty of the main characteristics of the Paulian faith. If we also take into account that the Bogumils were against the cult of icons (church imagery), against the church glitter, that they did not believe in making the sign of cross over one’s body, that they did not recognize a particular ceremony (found in the Orthodox practice, done in the presence of priest on special occasions) that they did not accept sacraments, that they did not respect the cross – rather they deemed it sinful, that they celebrated the Friday, that marriage was a civil institution amongst them, etc., and we genuinely analyze all that, we would realize the primary and the strongest reason why our grandfathers, the Bogumils, voluntarily accepted Islam. (English translation of an article by Shaykh Mehmed Handzic al-Bosnawi)

171. Lost City of Ubar (Iram)

In November 1992, archeological surveys found the old city of Ubar, which existed over 2,000 year before Christian Era. The ruins are on the edge of the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula in the Dhofar region of Southern Oman. They surround the water well now known as Ash Shisar. That is near the Qara Mountains, where grew – and still grow – the trees that were a major source of the aromatic resin for the frankincense so prized in ancient times as a symbol of wealth and holiness and a substance used in embalming and fumigation. Myrrh is also a gum resin used in making incense.

In Holy Qur’an, Iram, possibly Ubar, is described as the “many columned city, whose like has not been built in the entire land”. But it came to have a reputation and fate not unlike that of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. Condemned for their sinful and unrepentant lives, Holy Qur’an says that the people in Iram were destroyed by Allah (swt).

http://www.angelfire.com/on/ummiby1/hud.html

To know more on this brilliant piece of discovery – read the link below:

http://www.angelfire.com/on/ummiby1/hud.html

172. Jewish Roots of Al-Saud

The Saudi royal family’s ancestors were from Anza tribe, a branch of Yahudi clan of al-Masaleekh – who migrated from al-Qaseem to al-Ihsa, but finally settled in Dir’iya – adopting ‘Mordakhai’ as the family name. That Jewish Ancestors of the Saudi royal family sought shelter in a farm called at that time al-Malibeed-Ghusaiba, near al-Arid, which is called al-Riyadh now.

“Our Message (King Abdul Aziz al-Saud) encountered the opposition of all Arab Tribes; my grandfather, Saud Awal, once imprisoned a number of the sheikhs of Matheer tribe; and when another group of the same tribe came to intercede for the release of the prisoners, Saud Awal gave orders to his men to cut off the heads of all the prisoners, then, he wanted to humiliate and derogate the interceders by inviting them to eat from a banquet he prepared from the cooked flesh of his victims whose cut off heads he placed on the top of the food platters!! The interceders became so alarmed and declined to eat the flesh of their relatives; and, because of their refusal to eat, he ordered his men to cut off their heads too. That hideous crime was committed by that self imposed king to innocent people whose guilt was their opposition to his most cruel and extremely despotic rules” – ‘The Peninsula of Arabia’, by Hafez Wahbi, legal adviser to the royal family.

In the following research paper, Mohammad Sakher give further linformation on this subject:

http://www.fortunecity.com/boozers/bridge/632/history.html

http://ethnikoi.org/saudi.htm

173. Emperor Heraclius’s dialogues with an Arab Chief

In 628 CE, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) sent many letters to neighboring chiefs and rulers inviting them to Islam.

He sent Dihyah Al-Kalbi with a letter addressed to the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius, who ruled a vast territory of the Middle East at that time. Heraclius was in Jerusalem at that time celebrating his victory over the Persians. The letter was given to the governor of Busra, located South of Damascus, who delivered it to the emperor.

The emperor was intrigued by the letter and wanted to know more about the one who sent him this letter and whether he was truly, as the letter claimed, God’s Messenger.

There was a caravan of Arab traders in the city. Heraclius ordered its people to be brought to his court. Abu Sufian ibn Harb (a non-Muslim an an enemy of the Prophet at that time) the chief of this caravan. Abu Sufian and his companions went to Heraclius at Jerusalem. Heraclius called them to his court, and he had all the senior Roman dignitaries around him.

He called for his translator who, translating Heraclius’s question, said to them, “Who among you is closely related to the man who claims to be a prophet?”

Abu Sufian replied, “I am the nearest relative to him (among the group).”

Heraclius said, “Bring him close to me, and make his companions stand behind him.”

Heraclius told his translator to tell Abu Sufian’s companions that he wanted to ask him some questions regarding Muhammad and that if he told a lie they should contradict him. Relating the story to his friend, Abu Sufian commented saying, “By God, had I not been afraid of my companions labeling me a liar, I would have lied against him Muhammad.”

The dialogue then continued like this:

Heraclius: What is his family status among you?

Abu Sufian: He belongs to a noble family among us.

Heraclius: Has anyone else among you before him ever claimed to be a
prophet?

Abu Sufian: No.

Heraclius: Was anyone among his ancestors a king?

Abu Sufian: No.

Heraclius: Are the strong and powerful following him or the weak and poor?

Abu Sufian: It is the weak and poor who are following him.

Heraclius: Are his followers increasing or decreasing day by day?

Abu Sufian: They are increasing.

Heraclius: Does anyone among those who embrace his religion become displeased and leave the religion afterwards?

Abu Sufian: No.

Heraclius: Have you ever accused him of telling lies before his claim to be a prophet?

Abu Sufian: No.

Heraclius: Does he ever betray or is he treacherous in his agreements?

Abu Sufian: No, we are at truce with him, but we do not know what he will do in it.

Heraclius: Have you ever had a fight with him?

Abu Sufian: Yes.

Heraclius: What was the outcome of your battles with him?

Abu Sufian: The fighting between him and us was undecided, and victory was shared between him and us by turns.

Heraclius: What does he order you to do?

Abu Sufian: He tells us to worship God alone and not to worship anything along with Him, and to renounce all that our ancestors had said. He orders us to pray, to speak the truth, to be chaste, and to keep good relations with our kith and kin.

Heraclius said to his translator to convey Abu Sufian the following:

1. I asked you about his family and your reply was that he belongs to a noble family among you. In fact, all the messengers come from noble families among their respective peoples.

2. I asked you whether anyone else among you claimed such a thing, and your reply was no. If you had said yes, I would have thought that this person is copying the previous person’s saying.
3. I asked you whether anyone of his ancestors was a king. Your reply was no. If you had said yes, I would have thought that the man wants to take back his ancestral kingdom.
4. I further asked you whether he was ever accused of telling lies before he said what he said, and your reply was no. So I wonder how a person who does not tell a lie about others could ever tell a lie about God.
5. I then asked you whether the rich or the poor follow him. You replied that it was the poor who followed him. In fact, the poor are always the followers of the messengers.
6. I asked you whether his followers are increasing or decreasing. You replied that they were increasing. In fact, this is the way of true faith, till it is complete in all respects.
7. I asked you whether there was anyone who, after accepting his religion, became displeased with and abandoned his religion. Your reply was no. In fact, this is the sign of true faith, when its delight penetrates the depths of the hearts.
8. I asked you whether he had ever betrayed and your reply was no. Likewise, the messengers never betray.
9. I asked you what he ordered you to do, and your reply was he ordered you to worship God, and not to worship anything along with Him and forbade you to worship idols and ordered you to pray, to speak the truth, and to be chaste. If what you say is true, he will very soon occupy this place underneath my feet. I knew from the scriptures that he was going to come, but I did not know that he would be from you. If I could reach him, I would go immediately to meet him; if I were with him, I would certainly wash his feet.

Heraclius then asked for the letter addressed by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to him. The letter was delivered by Dihyah Al-Kalbi to the governor of Busra, who forwarded it to Heraclius. The letter read:

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. This letter is from Muhammad, the Servant of God and His Messenger to Heraclius, the ruler of Byzantines. Peace be upon who follows the right path. I invite you with the call of Islam. Accept Islam and you will find peace. God will double your reward. But if you turn away, then you will have upon you the sin of Arisiyyin (your subjects).

O’ People of the Book, come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than God.” If then they turn back, say: “Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (submitting to God’s will.) – (Aal `Imran 3:64)

Abu Sufian said to Ibn Abbas as he related the story, “When Heraclius finished his speech and read the letter, there arose commotion and many voices in the court, so we were asked to leave.”

It is possible that Heraclius accepted Islam secretly, but was unable to declare it because he feared rebellion of his people. Considering all these aspects of the Prophet’s life, he became convinced that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was indeed a great man, if not the Messenger of God.