I am a wide-eyed, sanctified, blood-bought, Spirit-taught, Bible-totin', Scripture-quotin', Satan-blastin', sin-trashin', Christ-followin' Pride-swallowin', hard-praying', truth-conveyin', faith-walking, gospel-talkin', bonafide big-time believer! And proud of it
The Mysuru police arrested a printing press owner for tearing up the Quran and using its pages to print bank deposit challans. The man identified as Naveen Kumar supplied the printed forms to a nationalised bank's branch in Mysuru's K R Mohalla.
Muslim customers at the nationalised bank were in for a shock while filling up deposit challans. On the rear side of the printed forms were phrases from the Quran. While the pages were cut to size and were printed as challans, verses from the Quran did not go unnoticed. Customers raised the issue with the bank officials immediately. On inquiry, bank officials learnt that the printing press chose to tear up many books, among which was a Quran, and use the plain side of the pages to print challans. The move to avoid buying papers to save some money landed this printing press owner in the police station. While the bank, as well as the printing press, maintains that the mistake was inadvertent, Naveen has been arrested for hurting religious sentiments. Irked with the bank officials for failing to realise the error, customers staged a protest demanding action against the bank officials as well. The police who arrived at the spot assured of action against those involved in the case after which the crowd dispersed. OneIndia News
MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has pledged not to bomb mosques occupied by Islamic extremists in Marawi City but has urged Muslim religious leaders to dissuade the gunmen from using mosques in their attacks, a military spokesperson said Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesperson, said AFP Chief of Staff Eduardo Año had promised not to bomb mosques while asking religious leaders to dissuade Maute extremists from using the places of worship as staging grounds for their attacks.
“There’s a commitment on the part of the Armed Forces and the Chief of Staff himself that we will not bomb mosques,” Padilla said in a press briefing.
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“But we call upon all religious leaders to more or less dissuade any of those that they may reach in those mosques from using those areas of worship as agents of war in this armed confrontation,” he added.
In a statement, the AFP said it respected places of worship and other cultural and heritage sites.
“As such the Chief of Staff of AFP gives his assurance that the AFP will do everything possible to protect and preserve these places. We do call on our religious leaders of every faith to call upon all parties to respect these places,” it said.
The military issued the statement after a military spokesman in Mindanao said on Tuesday that they were forced to target mosques in their surgical strikes because terrorists had taken refuge in these areas.
“As you can see, they are making these (mosques) as their logistical hub and snipers’ nest,” said Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesperson of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division.
However, the AFP in a statement categorically said yesterday that it “had not bombed and will not bomb mosques” in Marawi.
“The Armed Forces leadership is firm in its commitment to use other options that would flush out this Maute/Daesh-inspired group from these places of worship that they have converted into machine gun and sniper nest, defensive position, and arsenals for their war activities,” Padilla said, reading the AFP statement.
“The AFP assures our Muslim brothers and Islamic faithfuls that it will not go down to the level of these terrorists who desecrate places of worship to lure government security forces into responding to their violent activities in a similar manner,” he added.
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Padilla said they were confident that “through other options available to the Armed Forces,” government troops will be able to retake the remaining portion of Marawi occupied by thee terrorists.
“Please pass it on to our Muslim brothers and sisters who have since last night been clarifying the issue and so this categorical statements hopefully will put the questions that have been put forward to the Chief of Staff because of this news,” he said. SFM
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A local mosque was paying a physician to perform female genital mutilation on young girls, an attorney serving as a guardian for the doctor's children alleged in court Tuesday.
The disclosure occurred during a hearing in which the state is seeking to terminate the parental rights of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, the lead defendant in Detroit's historic genital cutting case.
Nagarwala's attorney emphatically denied the allegation.
Nagarwala is accused of cutting the genitals of two Minnesota girls as part of a religious procedure, though prosecutors have alleged in court that she may have subjected up to 100 girls to the procedure over the last 12 years. Nagarwala is a member of a small Indian-Muslim sect that has a mosque in Farmington Hills.
According to guardian ad litem Cynthia Nunez, the attorney assigned by the court to look out for the best interests of the children, Nagarwala's husband is the treasurer of the Farmington Hills mosque, and could face criminal charges himself involving allegations that the mosque was paying his wife to perform genital cutting procedures on young girls for years.
Nagarwala's husband buried his face in his hands and sobbed in court Tuesday.
Nagarwala's lawyer, Shannon Smith, adamantly denied the allegation that the mosque was paying her client to perform genital cutting procedures.
"That's absolutely not true," Nagarwala's lawyer, Shannon Smith, said afterward. "The government has grossly overstated and misstated so many facts in this case ... just to make it sound bad."
According to Smith, the mosque never paid her client to perform any genital cutting procedures, but rather only reimbursed her for money that she had spent on food items for the mosque's food bank program. She said that Nagarwala frequently bought items, such as bread, pizza and pop for the food bank, and that the mosque would pay her back.
"This case is not what they claim it is," she said of federal prosecutors and state authorities.
Officials at the mosque could not be reached for comment. The Dawoodi Bohra sect has previously maintained that it does not support any practice that violates U.S. law and has urged its members to refrain from practicing any type of procedure that could be construed as genital cutting.
Since the charges were filed against Nagarwala, the state of Michigan has sought to strip her parental rights while she remains locked up pending trial in U.S. District Court. Most recently, a Wayne County juvenile court referee last week ordered her children be placed into foster care.
But to prevent that from happening, Nagarwala's husband instead agreed to move out of the Northville home where the children are being taken care of by their grandparents.
In Wayne County juvenile court Tuesday, Nunez argued against letting the father visit his children without the supervision of state officials.
An attorney for the father argued the man didn't need state supervision and that he should be allowed to freely visit his children. The lawyer said the father is no threat to the children and that it's in their best interest to see him as often as possible to avoid experiencing more trauma.
Wayne County Judge Frank Szymanski agreed to let the father see the children unsupervised for the time being. The Nagarwala children are among several minors who face the threat of being taken away from their parents as a result of the federal investigation.
On Tuesday, three Bohra children were removed from their homes over allegations that a 14-year-old girl was subjected to a genital cutting procedure. According to attorney Deanna Kelley, who is representing the parents in two such cases, Nagarwala is not the accused doctor in this case. She declined to elaborate, noting only that the state removed three children from their home and suspended all visitation rights.
In recent months, several young Bohra girls have been interviewed and examined for genital cutting as part of the ongoing federal investigation that triggered criminal charges last month against three members of the Dawoodi Bohra sect: Nagarwala, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, 53, of Farmington Hills; and his wife, Farida Attar, 50. Dr. Attar is accused of letting Nagarwala use his Livonia clinic to perform the procedures; his wife is accused of holding the girls' hands during the procedures.
So far, authorities have identified at least eight alleged genital mutilation victims, including two Minnesota girls and four metro Detroit girls ages 7-11. They live in Troy, West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills and Livonia and are at risk of being placed into foster care if the state strips their parents of their parental rights.
Defense lawyers have argued that taking the children away from their parents would only subject them to more trauma. They've also argued that the children at issue have thrived under the care of their parents, and that there's no justifiable reason to take them away.
All three defendants accused of trying to cover up their actions and instructing others in the Bohra community to lie to authorities about the procedure, or say nothing.
The government has argued that all three defendants knew what they were doing was illegal, but did it anyway.
Parents in Egypt who give their newborn children “Western”names such as “Diana”, “Peter” or “Mark” could soon face fines and/or imprisonment under new legislation being considered in the country.
Lawmakers have heard that abandoning traditional Arabic names will lead to an “undesired and radical change” in the Muslim majority nation and should therefore be expunged from society.
The Egpytian Parliament’s Complaints and Suggestions Committee met on Tuesday to discuss the draft law. It was introduced by MP Bedier Abdel Aziz, and seeks to prohibit the usage of “foreign” names for newly born babies in Egypt, according to the Egypt Independent.
“Using such Western names and abandoning Arabic ones will lead to an undesired and radical change in our society and culture,” Aziz was reported as saying.
He added: “Our sons will no longer be connected to their true identity” before claiming that non-Arabic names are difficult for Egyptians to pronounce.
Aziz said the punishment for disobeying the law should be a fine of between about $80 and $400 or a maximum jail sentence of six months. It is most likely to affect the dwindling number of Christians in the country who are more likely to choose traditional, biblical names for their offspring.
The Egyptian legislation is not entirely unique. According toNewsweek, other countries that have laws related to baby names include Saudi Arabia, which has banned 51 names, plus New Zealand and at least five countries in western Europe. Swedes, for example, are not allowed to name their children Ikea.
In 2014, Saudi Arabia banned 51 names that had foreign origins, religious connotations or were not in line with “social traditions”. Among the 51: Emir, Linda, Laureen and Abdul Nasser (the name of an Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was hostile toward Saudi Arabia).
More than 1,100 people have already died of dehydration in Pakistan's scorching temperatures. The risk is made worse because devout Muslims don't eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan.
It's hot in Pakistan. Over the last few days, it's been as hot as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade and thousands of people are being treated in hospitals. Most of the more than 1,100 casualties have been recorded in the port city of Karachi, Pakistani health authorities report. Military and civilian aid organizations have set up dozens of temporary camps to care for victims of dehydration, heatstroke and circulatory collapse.
Faithful Muslims are currently observing Ramadan, which literally means "the hot month." They don't eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset during this time, which puts them especially at risk in the current extreme heat. They are much more likely to suffer from dehydration. If the body's fluid levels sink to dangerous lows, it can dry out. "Vessels contract and blood pressure plummets," Dr. Ulrich Gerth from University Hospital Münster explained. "Blood levels get shaken up because of a lack of electrolytes and important organs don't get enough blood flow anymore. This can lead to a comatose state and cause irreversible damage."
Nausea, drowsiness and cramps are among the symptoms. So are confusion, fever and a strong feeling of thirst. If victims still don't drink, their circulation collapses. The consequences range from fainting to kidney and heart failure and ultimately death.
Three kinds of dehydrationThe body loses water via the gastrointestinal tract, the lungs, the kidneys and the skin. Illness and physical labor increase the fluid loss. There are three different kinds of dehydration in medicine.
Isotonic dehydration is when the body loses water and electrolytes (salts) in equal measures. It can be caused by an insufficient supply of water and sodium, or by vomiting and diarrhea.
Hypertonic dehydration means water loss without an equal loss of electrolytes. This can happen with a high fever or excessive sweating due to physical labor without drinking water and, in extreme cases, can lead a person to die of thirst.
In contrast, hypotonic dehydration occurs when the body loses more electrolytes than water. This can happen when excessive sweating is only compensated by drinking fluids lacking in salt. That's why in extreme heat, it's more helpful to drink mineral water or isotonic drinks with added nutrients than tap water.
Drinking too much at night is bad as wellThe Muslims' time of daylight fasting ends on July 16 this year. Eid al-Fitr, the celebratory breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan, is the second most important Islamic holiday. While the manner of celebration varies from region to region, it almost always involves lots of food and drink.
Until then, devout believers try to right their fluid balance by drinking copious amounts of water after sundown. But that's not healthy either. "It's possible that the body cannot cope with this, depending on its overall condition," Gerth told DW. Dehydration victims can get help in heatstroke centers across Pakistan Drinking too much at once can be damaging. It dilutes the body's electrolytes too much, causing water to be drawn out of cells through their membranes. Gerth says this can lead to cerebral or pulmonary edema in people with existing health conditions. Not every Muslim has to fastBy now, temperatures in Pakistan have gone down at least a little. And a leading religious scholar in Karachi clarified again that Islam allows the elderly, sick or weak to interrupt fasting in extreme situations. "People shouldn't risk their lives for a religious duty," cleric Mufti Naeem said. The reason these groups are especially at risk in extreme heat is that they don't have reserves to draw from. A healthy body has a greater reserve of energy and a more stable circulation, Gerth says. The World Health Organization (WHO) says on its website that a stomach tube could be used to improve the fluid balance of old people or babies who don't drink enough. Severe dehydration has to be treated intravenously. This comes into play with illnesses like cholera, whose symptoms include heavy diarrhea and vomiting. A stable circulation, regular urination and the feeling of having had enough to drink are signs of a good fluid balance, according to the WHO. "The ideal amount of water to drink for a healthy person lies between 1.5 and two liters a day," Gerth said. But in temperatures as high as the ones in Pakistan, the body needs two or three times that, depending on how much a person is sweating.View image on Twitter
Muslims Man Accepts Jesus During Ramadan One More Name Written Down In Heaven!!
*Alyssa & Nathan Carone Go Through the streets of Dearborn, MI daily preaching the Gospel to Muslims that, "Jesus is God, whom died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day so we could be saved."
At least 20 Iranian citizens were lashed in the country's north western province of Qazvin due to breaking of the Ramadan fast.
Prosecutor of Qazvin province, Esmail Sadeghi Niaraki said that the mentioned persons were sentenced to fine and lash due to eating in public during fasting hours in the month of Ramadan, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on June 11.
He further said that so far 90 people have been arrested in Qazvin due to breaking of the Ramadan fast, adding that a special court is reviewing their cases.
Fasting in Ramadan month is considered a religious duty for Muslims.
It is said that according to the law in Iran, people who break their fasts in public are liable to between 10 to 60 days in prison or 74 lashes.
Irfan Masih was clearing a blocked sewer in Pakistan's Sindh Province when he was overcome by toxic fumes. The 30-year-old, who is Christian, died in hospital. His family say that doctors initially refused to treat him and allege he is a victim of growing discrimination from the Muslim majority. The BBC's Riaz Sohail in Umarkot and M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad report.
When Irfan Masih was sent with two colleagues to clear a sewer that had been blocked for four months on Chhor road in Umarkot town, he could not have foreseen that his life was about to end.
His cousin Pervez, a sanitary worker like Irfan, said he was heading to work on 1 June when he heard about the incident.
"I rushed straight to the spot where some people were gathered. They had already pulled out Shaukat Masih, who was unconscious. I helped bring out Yaqoob and Irfan."
Shaukat Masih had been sent down to rescue the two. Irfan was deepest down the sewer well.
"Irfan was breathing, sometimes choking a bit. I lifted him on my shoulder and started running towards the hospital when an auto rickshaw pulled over to help me carry him.
Image copyrightFAMILYImage captionIrfan Masih was alive when he got to hospital, his relatives say
The Taluka Headquarters Hospital in Umarkot is a small one, with only one emergency room where all three were taken. Six doctors deal with 600 outpatient and emergency cases every day.
One doctor came in, looked at Irfan and told the ward boy to clean him, Pervez Masih said. "I pleaded with him that Irfan was seriously ill and he must examine him right away. But he said he was fasting [for Ramadan], and that Irfan was covered in sewage filth. He went away."
After some time, the hospital's chief doctor arrived, he says, followed a while later by another. Neither doctor tended to the injured sanitary worker, although Pervez Masih says the second doctor told the ward boy to put him on oxygen.
"The ward boy did not wash Irfan as he was told. He continued to try to insert a cannula in Irfan's wrist but couldn't find a vein.
"All this while, I was fretting and pleading with one member of staff after another to attend to Irfan. Then I cleaned his face a bit and put my mouth on his mouth and nose and blew in to revive him.
"All this time, Irfan was breathing. Occasionally a shiver would run down his body, like someone having an epileptic fit.
"We must have been there for half an hour before he died. The last time I breathed into his mouth and nose, he pulled in a deep breath and choked a little."
It was only then that the ward boy brought the oxygen and put the mask on his mouth, he said, but there did not appear to be any oxygen in the cylinder. Minutes later a fourth doctor, Hanif Aresar, came in.
"He didn't mind the filth, just went down and embraced him and turned him on his stomach, and back on his back, and tried to resuscitate him manually. Then he said it was no use. Irfan was gone. "
Image copyrightPERVEZ MASIHImage captionProtesters took the empty oxygen cylinder with them after Irfan Masih died
Irfan was Christian, like most sanitary workers in Pakistan. Some low-caste Hindus also do the job, but Muslims avoid this work because they see it as beneath them.
Christians also face discrimination in this Muslim-majority nation. So too do Hindus, but in Umarkot there is a Hindu population of half a million, making them an influential group. There are only a small number of Christians, however, and they have no meaningful representation in the local government.
Who are Pakistan's Christians?
Make up 1.6% of Pakistan's predominantly Muslim population
Majority are descendents of those who converted from Hinduism under the British Raj
Most converted to escape their low-caste status and many are among the poorest in Pakistan
Targeting of Christians fuelled by strong anti-blasphemy laws and anger over US-led war in Afghanistan
Dr Jam Kumbhar, the chief of the hospital, denies allegations that doctors refused to touch the three workers unless they were washed or that one said he was fasting (with the possible implication that he was short-tempered as a result).
He says Irfan Masih "was already dead when they brought him in," despite his cousin Pervez's detailed account of the man's last moments.
"I am a Muslim and a doctor, and part of our training is to understand that all patients are equal and we must not entertain prejudice against anyone," Dr Kumbhar told the BBC.
"I did not utter these words, nor did I hear any other doctor say that he was fasting and that he would touch the patient only after the patient was given a bath."
The BBC asked to see the entry register which lists each patient brought in to the emergency room and their medical condition. Dr Kumbhar said they couldn't find it because it had been taken away by local Christians.
Local journalist Nahid Hussain Khatak, who reached the hospital about 10 minutes after Irfan Masih, corroborates much of Pervez Masih's account.
Image copyrightNAHID HUSSAIN KHATAKImage captionIrfan Masih's death sparked a protest by Christians in Umarkot
"He had been seen by the doctors. If they thought he was dead, why would they put a cannula in his arm or give him oxygen?"
A picture taken by Pervez Masih appears to show his brother with a cannula in his arm.
Dr Kumbhar accused the Christians of turning violent.
"They were armed with sticks and were also carrying acid in bottles. They broke things at the hospital. The lives of the doctors were in danger."
The hospital administration has made a formal request to the authorities to lodge a case of terrorism against 13 members of the Christian community.
Nahid Hussain Khatak says the violence alleged "wasn't even a fraction of what the hospital administration have said".
"Someone opened the fridge in the emergency room and found it stocked with fruit (for doctors and paramedics to eat after their fast) instead of medicine, and pulled it to the ground. They smashed up a couple of tables but it was over in minutes as everybody stormed out to hold a protest."
Far from going after the Christian protesters, police are investigating the three doctors at the hospital who are accused of negligence and involuntary homicide. Dr Kumbhar was arrested and released on bail.
Pressure for a police complaint mounted when the Christian community staged their demonstration, attracting media attention.
Image copyrightPERVEZ MASIHImage captionIrfan Masih's relatives say if it wasn't for the protest, officials would not care about their case
Pervez Masih does admit he and others were angry.
"I lost my mind. Shaukat and Yaqoob were also in a serious state. So there was mayhem in the emergency room. Someone pulled down a refrigerator, a table or two were overturned, some windowpanes were broken."
But he says they left with Irfan Mashi's body when police told them to calm down.
"We took the dead body straight to the town square where we staged a sit-in for seven hours, and left only after the district administration high-ups assured us that justice would be done."
It was this anger, he believes, that convinced police to lodge a complaint against the three doctors, and that convinced the hospital staff to immediately arrange to transfer the two other Christian men to hospitals in Hyderabad and then Karachi.
"Shaukat has revived, but Yaqoob is still in a serious condition," Pervez says.
Locals say at least two other Christian sanitary workers lost their lives cleaning the same sewer three years ago.
Mir Hasan Aresar, a columnist and social worker, says there have been examples of intolerance towards minorities in this area. "Tolerance is diminishing, and it's worrying," he said.
Image copyrightPERVEZ MASIHImage captionIrfan Masih's mother Arshad Bibi says she wants justice, not compensation, for her son
The government has announced compensation of a million rupees ($15,000, £12,200) to the family of Irfan Masih, but his mother, Arshad Bibi, is not content.
"I want justice. I want the doctors to be punished so that this doesn't happen to another poor family."
His father, Nazeer, said the first doctor did discriminate against Irfan and the others.
"He said he was fasting, and the patients were dirty. His clothes would get soiled, he said. He asked us to wash the patients before he could treat them.
"They hate us. They don't allow us to sit next to them because we are sweepers. The politicians came here because the case was highlighted in the media. Otherwise, no-one bothers."
