PO BOX 267, MT. EDEN. PH 510-677-4488

E-Muslim News

(4) Muslim Leadership Workshop. Symposium3) Islamic Sc. AGENDA: (1) Tabligh/Dawah (2) Muslim Multi-Media (

vided. 1 PM TO 4PM. Al welcome. Snacks and tea will be pro

Weekes Library, Patrick Ave X Tennyson Rd, Hayward

Saturda Feb 5, 2011

Koya is hosting first Open House On Islam:

OPEN HOUSE ON ISLAM AT WEEKES LIBRARY, HAYWARD

(Above with NCIC chair Imam Bilal)

members to be part of his team. Science Committee and welcomes all board He is the current chair of NCIC’s Education and Superior Court of California, Alameda county. AMERICA in the Bay Area and works for the Koya is also the founder-chair of INTERFAITH

organizations. and managing both business and non-profit experiences and leadership skills in operating Academy, Koya brings with a wide range of investigation and an instructor at the Royal Fiji Former law enforcement officer with criminal and THE MUSLIMS NEWS as the vice chair.

Koya editor/publisher of FIJI SUN At its January Board meeting, NCIC appointed Dr. H.

Dr. Kaya appointed NCIC vice-chair

nian blasphemy law. deepening conflict against the removal of the draco

otion embroils itself in week of the governor of Punjab in Pakistan as the n

he brutal killing last It is with enormous pain and deep disdain we note t

Editorial: Painful demise!

Punjab Governor Salman Taseer assassinated in Islamabad

th a sub-machine gun Salman Taseer was repeatedly shot at close range wiContinue reading the main story

Related stories

• In pictures: Taseer assassination

• Your reaction to the killing

• Pakistan's very unhappy new year

an sentenced to death. Many were angered by his defence of a Christian wom

blasphemy law. because of the governor's opposition to Pakistan's old police that he killed Mr Taseer Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the guard had t

his car at a market. Party, was shot when getting into Mr Taseer, a senior member of the Pakistan People's

pital, Islamabad. after being shot by one of his bodyguards in the cance, Salman Taseer, has died The influential governor of Pakistan's Punjab provi

Continue reading the main story

national hero” essman. He was a He was a very good friend, a politician and a busin

Rehman MalikPakistani Interior Minister

an since the It is the most high profile assassination in Pakist

country." ng peace and stability to their Pakistan as they persevere in their campaign to bri

government and people of "The United States remains committed to helping the

uture generations," she said. promote tolerance and the education of Pakistan's fakistan and I admired his work to "I had the opportunity to meet Governor Taseer in P

death was "a great loss". assassination, saying Mr Taseer's US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the

tan. There were also protests in the central city of Mulore, burning tyres and blocking traffic. Dozens took to the streets in Punjab's capital, Lah

bad. ambulance and driven away from a hospital in Islamaernor's coffin was put into an PPP supporters wept and shouted in anger as the gov

Taseer's killing and appealed for calm. an immediate inquiry into Mr ordered flags lowered to half-mast. He also orderedys of national mourning and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared three da

Minister Benazir Bhuttokilling of former Prime

, the PPP's leader, in 2007.

'Voice of courage'

Westerners and wealthy Pakistanis, Mr Malik said. e in Islamabad popular with into his car at the Kohsar Market, a shopping centr

y his Elite Force guard as he got Mr Taseer, 66, was shot repeatedly at close range b

the interior ministry. esidential palace, the Senate and nearby restaurant. He had previously been to the pr

car after meeting a friend for lunch at a It is believed Mr Taseer had been returning to his

other bodyguards opened fire following the attack. e also wounded when Mr Taseer's Unconfirmed reports say up to five other people wer

was carrying a sub-machine gun. was shot 26 times. The suspect One doctor told the Associated Press that Mr Taseer

s agency. both hands," Ali Imran, a witness, told Reuters newm threw down his gun and raised "The governor fell down and the man who fired at hi

istan" e Pakistan we want is a progressive and liberal PakMr Taseer told the BBC in November 2010: "I feel th

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

BBC News, Islamabad M Ilyas Khan

woman,the pardon of a Christian Mr Taseer made headlines recently by appealing for

someone else was also behind it," he added. s his individual act or whether "But we are investigating to find out whether it wa

himself. "This is what he told the police after surrendering

endments to the blasphemy law. because Mr Taseer recently defended the proposed amard who killed him says he did this At a news conference, Mr Malik said: "The police gu

tiations. assassination has the potential to upset these negoe opposition PML-N and the PML-Q parties. The by one of two major political forces of Punjab - thent. Whether it gets this support will be decided political support to maintain a majority in parliam

vernment, which is struggling to shore up But the timing holds deeper implications for the go

Taseer's security detail. an individual act of a police guard in Mr On the face of it, the assassination appears to be

it faces an imminent political crisis. death has left the country in shock at a time when ights Pakistan's unending troubles. His The assassination of Salman Taseer once again highl

Asia Bibi

his life by speaking out. Friends of the governor say he knew he was risking

Muhammad. ulting the Prophet , who had been sentenced to death for allegedly ins

He wrote on Twitter on 31 December

do not care about them," he added. the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. I executed former president], and even the founder oflfikar Ali Bhutto [her father, an "They issued fatwas against Benazir [Bhutto] and Zu

illiterate" clerics responsible. issued against him in Pakistan, he criticised the "out fatwas, or religious decrees, Asked earlier that month by the BBC Urdu Service ab

m the last man standing." rightist pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I': "I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4

ographed being driven from the scene A man identified as the suspected assassin was phot

had done on five or six previous occasions. of Rawalpindi on Tuesday as he who he said had escorted the governor from the city

uspect as Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri, The interior minister later identified the murder s

all now been detained and are being questioned. y screened. However, they have government, and that its members had been thoroughl

il was provided by the Punjab Mr Malik said Mr Taseer's Elite Force security deta

said in comments broadcast on Dunya television. shment for a blasphemer," Mr Qadri "Salman Taseer is a blasphemer and this is the puni

commando training in 2008. transferred to the Elite Force after added. He was recruited as a police constable, and

on the outskirts of Islamabad, he Mr Qadri was 26 years old and from Barakhao, a town

Continue reading the main story

Pakistan assassinations and attempts

top leadership. Govt is here till 2013," was n silenced rumours of split in PPP "Prezdnt Zardaris total support of PM has once agai

survive. Mr Taseer had said it would the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), quit on Sunday.

ted after its junior coalition partner, The PPP-led government is facing a crisis that erup

further add to instability in the country. ant political figures and his death will Asif Ali Zardari, was one of Pakistan's most import

, a close associate of President The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says Mr Taseer

championed women's rights and supported minorities.of a rare voice of courage, who Human rights workers said Pakistan had been robbed

Rehman Malik added. nessman. He was a national hero," "He was a very good friend, a politician and a busi

an election rally in Rawalpindi n a suicide attack when leaving - Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is killed iDecember 2007

travels to Islamabad’s airport er Yousuf Raza Gilani as it – Shots are fired at the motorcade of Prime MinistSeptember 2008

in a gun attack in Islamabad wounded and his driver killed - Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi is September 2009

(AML), in Rawalpindi he Awami Muslim League - Gunmen shoot at Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, leader of tFebruary 2010

bodyguards in Islamabad is shot dead by one of his - The governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, January 2011

the last tweet he wrote on Tuesday

d exacerbate instability. of no confidence in Mr Gilani because to do so would that it would not demand a vote by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had announce

kistan Muslim League (PML-N), led Shortly before Mr Taseer's death, the opposition Pa

.

uran (Editor) There’s no punishment for “ blasphemy” in the Holy Q

d-blooded -killer Governor of Punjab was last week gunned down by col

Blasphemy law likely to rip Pakistan apart

akistan reported that police knew of were burned alive. The Human Rights Commission of Ps, six of whom (including two children) Gojra: They indiscriminately killed seven Christian

a attacked Christians in Korian and a mob connected to the Taliban-linked Sipah-e-Sahabhristian was accused of burning a Koran, attacks by extremists. On August 1, 2009, after a C

t a non-Muslim. They also suffer increasing the testimony of one Muslim is sufficient to convicion, they are half of those accused, and disproportionately: Though 5 percent of the populat

uslim religious minorities suffer Victims of blasphemy in Pakistan are Muslims, non-M

al in determining the country’s future. legislation a “black law” and believed it was pivot why Taseer repeatedly called blasphemy against an ever expanding range of victims. This is

ommunal violence and have been applied would insult Islam, the laws have led to horrific cer of Islam. Vaguely aimed at those who an attempt to gain legitimacy by posing as a defend

r he took power in a coup in 1977, as The laws were introduced by General Zia ul-Haq afte

a blasphemer and killed. criticized those laws, he was himself labeled circle of radical discourse, because he blasphemy laws themselves. In the closed death for blasphemy, and the repeal of the Bibi, a Christian mother of five sentenced to recently publicly supported a pardon for Asia non-Muslims and dissident Muslims. He had for a free society and defended the rights of most powerful one in the nation, who worked voice of Muslim moderation, arguably the President Zardari. Most pertinent, he was a

erous state and a close friend of seer was head of Pakistan’s most populous and prospTa

Newscom

e a defining moment. Taseer by one of his elite security detail may provsination of Punjab governor Salman background, the blasphemy-triggered January 4 assas

extremists. But even against this brutal been tried and imprisoned by the state or killed by unorthodox and reformist Muslims have hundreds of Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Sikhs, and

nalizing blasphemy against Islam, Over the past 30 years, under Pakistan’s laws crimi

legislator, for moving a bill to amend them. laws, as does Sherry Rehman, a liberal receives regular death threats for criticizing the n, has been accused of blasphemy and Bhatti, the minister for minorities, and a Christia

ttack reforming politicians. Shahbaz Now charges of blasphemy are increasingly used to a

, an Islamic punishment of stoning for adultery. Rajamvalidity of ne of Sheikh’s books had denied the Sheikh to life imprisonment. The judge ruled that o

errorism Court sentenced author Younus country to save his life. In 2007, Karachi’s Anti-Ts acquitted on retrial but had to flee the sentenced to death. After two years in prison he wa

n one of his classes. In 2001, he was in Kashmir, he was charged with having blasphemed id questions about Pakistan’s policies member of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission, raise

rofessor Mohammad Younas Shaikh, a Muslim reformers are also targeted. After medical p

non-Muslim, like the Ahmadis. Muslims, followers of the Aga Khan, to be declared There is also now pressure for Ismaili in Pakpattan killed six people and left 15 injured.

. On October 25, bombs at a shrine commemorating the 10th-century Sufi Data Ganj Baksh wounded at the Data Darbar shrine July 1, three bombers killed 45 people and left 175

re are also attacks on Sufi shrines. On extremists castigate the others as blasphemers. Theto violence between Sunni and Shia, as The atmosphere stoked by the laws also contributes

iday prayers. houses of worship and killed 93 people attending Fr, gunmen attacked two Ahmadi Quadiani group, to be NON-MUSLIMS.” On May 28, 2010

belonging to the Lahori or [prophet] and also consider his followers whether Nabiimposter hulam Ahmad Quadiani to be an passport, a Muslim must declare “I consider Mirza G

constitution and, to receive a Pakistani singled out for special vilification in Pakistan’s r meeting places mosques. They are three years if they call themselves Muslims or thei

Muslims, they may be imprisoned for be a prophet. Although Ahmadis consider themselves that, contrary to Islam, he claimed to Muslims reject Ghulam Ahmad’s teachings and believeAhmad in Qadian, now in India. Most community, founded in 1889 by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam

ed at the 3-million-member Ahmadi Two of the five blasphemy laws are specifically aim

al. by fanatics, even when their cases ended in acquittcused people have been assassinated executed those convicted of blasphemy, dozens of ac

And while the government has so far not the intended attack but did nothing to prevent it.