Israeli town residents take to streets in hundreds to protest sale of house to Arabs

The only democracy in the Middle East! 

The deputy mayor of the northern Israeli town of Afula has joined a demonstration calling for a house in the community not to be sold to an “undesirable” Arab-Israeli family. 

Approximately 150 people marched through the town’s streets on Wednesday afternoon to protest against the owners of a house in the Yizrael neighbourhood who decided to sell to Arabs.

Flyers circulated before the protest called on Afula’s residents to “put a stop to this phenomenon… the sale of homes to those who are undesirable in the neighbourhood… from the beginning”.

Demonstrators carried flags and placards, one of which read: “Traitors against the Jews will get no rest.”

The protesters were joined by both Afula's deputy mayor, Shlomo Malihi, and its former mayor Avi Elkabetz, who is seeking a return to office.

“The residents of Afula don’t want a mixed city, but rather a Jewish city, and it’s their right. This is not racism,“ Mr Malihi said, according to Haaretz

Although around 20 per cent of Israel’s 8.6 million-strong population is Arab, a “nation state” bill currently being considered by the Knesset contains a clause that would allow the establishment of Jewish-only communities. 

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Why Do BAD Things Happen to GOOD People || #Sister Yasmin Mogahed

Sittu Min Shawwal: Fasting 6 days of Shawwal

Shawwal is the tenth month in the lunar calendar, as mentioned earlier. The first of Shawwal is Eidul Fitr. After the festivity of Eid it is recommended to observe six days of fast. This fast may be observed continuously non-break, or it may be observed one day at a time. If you observe it continuously, you may start on the fourth day and end on the ninth of day Shawwal, or you may select days at random, provided you complete six days before the end of Shawwal. For instance, you may observe the third, fifth, seventh, ninth, 14th and 15th days. Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari (raa) related the Messenger of Allah, (saas), said:

"Whoever observes the Ramadan fast and follows it with six days of fast in Shawwal, it is as if he has fasted Dahr (the whole year)." (Bukhari) It has been mentioned earlier that Dahr means the whole year. Possibly it may also mean forever, or for life.

Analyzing this hadith, our jurists (`Ulama) explained how according to this hadith, a Muslim who fasts during Ramadan every year and follows it with six days fast of Shawwal, will be credited for fasting a whole lifetime. The Jurists correctly said: a good deed (hasanah) is rewarded a minimum of ten times its equivalent. It follows, then, that one Ramadan is equivalent to ten months of fasting, and the clincher, six days, is equal to two months, (6x10=60). That undoubtedly completes the year's twelve months. Thus, we see the wisdom and the reason why the Prophet (saas) mentioned six days after Ramadan in Shawwal, not five or seven.


More details on Islam Awareness homepage here: https://www.islamawareness.net/Calendar/Shawwal/

My revert story and advice for reverts

How an Ottoman Sultan Helped Ireland During the Great Famine

Bites and a broken bed: New details in case of Sudan teen who killed rapist husband

Slashes to her hands, bite marks embedded in her shoulder, and a broken bed.

As the defense team for Sudanese teenager Noura Hussein submitted an appeal to save her life, CNN has learned new details about the struggle that unfolded when she killed her husband, who she says raped her following their forced marriage.

The legal team representing the 19-year-old, who was sentenced to death earlier this month for murder, filed the appeal on Thursday in the capital Khartoum following an international outcry over Hussein's case.

"Noura and indeed the women and girls of Sudan have too often been treated as chattel to be traded and given away as though they are property and as though they have no rights," activists with the Justice for Noura campaign said in a statement on Thursday. "Here today, united and in one voice we wish to say -- enough!"

The teenager's story has shone a spotlight on the issues of forced marriage and marital rape in Sudan, where the legal age of marriage is only 10 and marital rape is legal.

Hussein's family compelled her to marry at 15, but she refused and ran away for three years. Her father forced her to complete the wedding ceremony in April 2017. After refusing to have sex with her husband on their "honeymoon," she says he raped her as his brother and two cousins restrained her. A day later her husband tried to rape her again, and she stabbed him to death. When she went to her parents for support, they turned her in to the police.

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The epic story of a 97-year-old Palestinian freedom fighter

Sur Baher, occupied East Jerusalem - In the village he defended from Zionist militias 70 years ago, Muhammad Mahmoud Jadallah is celebrated as a "blessing".

Born in 1921, the 97-year-old, known as Abu Nihad, witnessed the unfolding of what has been dubbed by some as "the world's most intractable conflict".

He is one of the few Palestinian men who fought against Zionist gangs in 1948 and is alive today to tell the tale.

Sitting on a sofa in his humble home in Sur Baher, a town on the southeastern edges of Jerusalem, Abu Nihad recounts his memories with impressive detail.

He takes pride in his recall, pausing in between sentences to say: "See how well I remember?"

Photographs from his time as a "freedom fighter" - as he describes himself - and of his father who was part of the resistance against British occupation, line his living room walls.

In the corner, a well-organised cabinet is filled with nearly a hundred years of photos, letters and documents bearing witness to his eventful past.

'Palestinians attacked from two fronts'

Abu Nihad was born at a critical time in Palestine's history; three years after Britain occupied the country with a declared goal of creating a Jewish state there.

Zionist immigration from Europe to Palestine, facilitated by the British, was increasing dramatically, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians from their lands.

"There was a lot of injustice against the Palestinians," he says.

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Laylatul Qadr tonight (Monday, 11 June) in most parts of the world

Assalamoalaikum,

While Laylatul Qadr is any odd night in the last 10 days of Ramadan, many scholars believe that it is the night of the 27th. For people who started their fasts on Thursday 17th May, it will be tonight.

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said:

اَللَّهُمَّ اِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ ، تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

Allahumma innaka 'affuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fu 'anni' "

'Say: O Allah, You are Oft-Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.'"
[Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmidhi].

We have collected all the necessary information in one place. Please visit: https://www.islamawareness.net/Ramadhan/Qadr/

Wassalam,

Zafar

An Iftar to heal religious divide in India

Marriage outside one's faith or caste is still frowned upon in many parts of India, at times resulting in violence.

"Honour killings" - when a person is killed by a family member who believes the victim has brought shame on the family, clan or community - are common in India.

According to government data, 288 cases of honour killings were reported between 2014 and 2016 in the country.

For Ankit's father, Yashpal, breaking bread with these men and women meant a rejection of hate.

"This man is celebrating a festival of the same faith as that of his son's killers. This resonates with the India that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to build. In an atmosphere of hate, it's critical that we stand with people like Yashpal," activist Mohammed Amir Khan told Al Jazeera at the event.

Yashpal's reaction immediately after his son was killed and in the months that followed have counteracted the possible politics of division that could have played out around the incident.

"Please do not communalise my son's death," Yashpal had told local media after his son was the target of the violent hate crime.

He also stayed away from a candle-light march in memory of his son organised by local leaders of the right-wing ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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Should Muslims Migrate from Western societies to Islamic ones?

Muslims are supposed to be like the torch that brings light to all dark corners in this world. After Islam was established in Arabia, during and after Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) took the light if Islam to all corners of the world. For some reason the religious Muslims want to migrate to Islamic lands and live in Khilafah. 

While I would understand this if there were countries with proper Islamic shariah and proper Muslim laws and ruler but the truth is far from this.

This Ramadan lecture from Nouman Ali Khan brings this point home.