Bangladesh closing down two more ‘Peace’ colleges tied to Indian televangelist Zakir Naik
12-08-2016
Dhaka education board has cancelled the permission to operate of two ‘Peace’ colleges in Dhaka and ordered their immediate closure after the government decided to shut down all ‘Peace Schools’ in Bangladesh.
The board issued the order on Thursday.
The institutions are Dhaka Peace College at Bhatara and Peaceful College at Dakkhin Banasree.
The board’s Chairman Prof Mahbubur Rahman told bdnews24.com: “The education ministry wrote to the home ministry on Thursday to shut down all Peace colleges along with Peace schools.”
He said one such school and two colleges had been given approval to operate in Dhaka.
The education ministry on Aug 2 had ordered closure of all ‘Peace Schools’ after the government banned Indian televangelist Zakir Naik’s Peace TV in Bangladesh.
Dhaka education board had cancelled the temporary approval of Peace International School at the capital’s Lalmatia right after the ministry order.
The government had started looking into educational institutions with the word ‘Peace’ in their names and their academic activities after banning Peace TV.
The channel was banned on allegations that at least two of the Gulshan cafe attackers were inspired by Zakir Naik.
Born and living in Mumbai, 50-year-old Naik is a qualified doctor who left the medical profession to found the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), which runs the Islamic International School and NGO United Islamic Aid.
The educational institutions, in Dhaka as well as in other regions of the country, are allegedly being operated in line with the controversial Islamic preacher’s ideals by adding ‘Peace’ to their names.
The government is also stopping import of ‘Peace Mobile’ phones.
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US Muslim group behind ‘ISIS YOU SUCK’ viral billboards: more is coming
Thursday, 11 August 2016
An American Muslim group galvanized international attention when they waged their ferocious campaign against ISIS after plastering the message “HEY ISIS, YOU SUCK!!!” on one billboard on US interstate highway.
The non-profit organization Sound Vision’s success also culminated in a viral hashtag #actualmuslims following their campaign, reasserting the Muslim majority stance of what some critics label as silence over ISIS crimes despite the militant group’s crimes against followers of Islam.
“We have received requests from about 10 different communities after this billboard,” Mohammad Siddiqi, Sound Vision’s executive director, told Al Arabiya English. “Muslim communities now want to have similar billboards in their areas.”
The non-profit organization is currently “contacting billboard companies” in Connecticut, Florida and Texas and other states to fulfill these requests.
It is not easy to erect another billboard in terms of legality and money for any Muslim individual in America.
“In order to go for a billboard, you need to be a legal entity,” he said, explaining why these Muslims are contacting Sound Vision to get their billboards.
Each billboard costs between $3,000 to $6,000 for four weeks, he said, requiring fundraising efforts.
Founded in 1988, Sound Vision calls itself the “first” Islamic multimedia company in North America. It has produced and distributed educational material on Islam, reaching what its website says is more than “100,000 children, women and men.” It also formed Radio Islam, an online station for those interested in the religion.
Combating ISIS propaganda, stereotypes
Sound Vision adopted the billboard to educate Muslims and non-Muslims on ISIS, which Siddiqi described as “far removed from Islam,” as well as to combat negative Muslim stereotypes in the United States, particularly amid anti-Muslim rhetoric touted by the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Siddiqi especially warned against ISIS social media campaigns to lure vulnerable Muslim youth to be their potential recruits.
“[ISIS has] a strong presence on social media,” Siddiqi said. “And the youth are the ones who are online.”
The director warned that ISIS “takes Quranic courses and statements of [Islam’s] Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, and put it, out of context, on social media, presenting a totally false narrative is Islam.”
ISIS’s attempt to bring new members to its group continues to be robust to this day.
In one of the latest ISIS bids to recruit new members, a North Carolina man was arrested last week and charged in Ohio for trying to recruit people to join the militant group, with the FBI warning that he was connected to a 2015 terrorism-related shooting in Texas.
Siddiqi also said the challenges faced by American Muslims is made worse by relentless media coverage of the war in Syria and spreading Islamophobia.
In addition to media coverage, Siddiqi also explained a myriad of complexities.
“On one hand, we have to deal with radical or extremist view of Islam. On the other hand, we want to also fight against Islamophobia and the multimillion dollar Islamophobia network. On the third front, we think that there is a connection between what’s going on here and the ongoing war going on the Middle East,” he said.
All of this “gives some strength to the [extremist] groups who want to recruit young people.”
Muslims will get manuals
Facing this “triangle” which includes “war, Islamophobia and radicalism,” Sound Vision has created its own strategy beyond its billboard bid for its fellow Muslims.
“We have developed some manuals that we will soon be launched,” he said.
Siddiqi said these programs will target Muslims, especially the youth, to further incorporate them into “mainstream” Muslim activities; and they will prep up Muslims to further their media relations.
“We are especially targeting the young generation so they may not be under any illusion that what ISIS is doing is in any way near Islam,” he said despite that “the majority of young Muslims don’t think positively of ISIS.”
But “only a very, very small percentage do, particularly young girls,” he said.
“The [girls] have less opportunity to interact with other people in [conservative] households and environments. So they turn to the internet,” he lamented.
Asked how many of the ISIS-sympathizers Siddiqi has encountered throughout his interaction with the Muslim community, he said “less than one percent.”
To further spur its drive against extremism, the organization has also developed “thinking and talking points for Muslim imams” for them to use during their Friday sermons.
“So far we have conducted workshops and PowerPoint presentations in about 20 major US cities and in Canada,” he added.
Besides Muslims, Sound Vision has also “partnered with churches, synagogues and temples,” and occasionally law enforcement.
It gave the FBI 500 copies from its anti-ISIS pamphlets for the US domestic intelligence and security service to distribute to other Muslims in remote areas.
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Hyderabad Muslim bodies to boycott lavish weddings, impose fine
Aug 11, 2016
Muslim organisations in Hyderabad have called for a boycott of ostentatious weddings in the community and even decided to fine its members if they are found spending too much on ceremonies.
They say lavish expenditure, besides the huge burden of dowry, has alarmed some sections of the community as many poor families cannot even perform the marriages of their daughters.
Siasat, a leading Urdu daily known for many social campaigns, has thrown its weight behind the initiative with its editor, Zahid Ali Khan, calling for a boycott of lavish weddings, un-Islamic rituals, music and fireworks.
Khan has also urged the ‘ulema’ or religious scholars to boycott such marriages so that the community receives a clear message.
The Hyderabad chapter of All India Jamiat-ul-Quresh, a body of meat traders and exporters, has even announced that it will impose a fine of Rs 50,000 if any of its members are found arranging extravagant weddings.
The organisation, which has over one lakh members in Hyderabad, said it will constitute a ‘task force’ to monitor the implementation of the rules framed to ensure simple weddings.
The body said it will take action against those who arrange ‘song and dance programme’ or fireworks during weddings. It also asked its members to desist from unnecessary rituals and displaying household items given to the brides.
Quresh’s president Mohammed Saleem, who is also a member of Telangana legislative council, said they took the initiative so that members of the community keep weddings simple and in accordance with the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.
He pointed out that the poor and middle-class families are landing in a debt trap while trying to emulate the rich by taking huge loans to pay for the expenditure.
“Muslims in Hyderabad spend Rs. 3,500 crore to Rs.4,000 crore on marriages every year. If we succeed in our campaign, this will improve the economy of the community,” Mushtaq Malik, president of Tehreek-e-Muslim Shabban, said.
The campaign was initially launched by Shabban, a city-based NGO, with the slogan ‘Ek khana, Ek meetha’ (One dish, One dessert) last year but it did not aggressively follow it through.
Hyderabad has few parallels when it comes to ostentatious weddings in the Muslim community.
Lower middle-class and middle-class families spend anywhere between Rs 5-15 lakh on weddings. The expenses on function halls and food constitute about 50% of the total expenditure. Families often compete with each other in the number of dishes served.
There are at least 25 lakh Muslims in Greater Hyderabad.
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Categories: The Muslim Times