THE MUSLIM WORLD

Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), the Centre for Islamic World Research and the History Department of Al al-Bayt University will be jointly organizing an international congress on the 400th anniversary of the birth of Evliya Çelebi, the Ottoman traveler famous for his book Seyahatname on December 6-7, 2011 at Al-Bayt University here. Evliya Çelebi, who traveled in the Islamic world and other regions for 40 years during the 17th century, wrote his accounts. This very important work drew the attention of academic circles both in the East and in the West and was translated into various languages. During the Ottoman period, the sections that contained important information about the Arab countries were translated into Arabic. In the present day, these sections are important in understanding the various aspects of the history of Arab lands, among other regions.
The themes for the conference papers are Seyahatname as a historical and geographical source, the place of Evliya Çelebi’s work in the Ottoman travel literature,  Seyahatname as an example of cultural communication between Muslims and non-Muslims, ethnicities in the Seyahatname, legends and history in the Seyahatname.
The papers should be either in Arabic or English and should not exceed 25 A4 pages in 1.5 line space. Abstracts of the papers (Arabic or English) should be submitted by the 30 September 2011. The complete text of the paper should be submitted by December 1, 2011. For more information contact: IRCICA, Yıldız Sarayı, Seyir Köşkü, Barbaros Bulvarı, Beşiktaş 34349 , Istanbul/Turkey,   Tel: +90 212 259 17 42, E-mail: congress@ircica.org.

New Edifice coming up
For more than a century, Moscow’s Muslims have found affirmation in their Cathedral Mosque, painted in a minty pastel, evocative of the city’s cherished old buildings, with a golden crescent high above, proclaiming their identity. Last month, the mosque, built by Tatar Muslims, who have lived in Russia for a thousand years, was a pile of splintered wood, shattered brick and billowing plaster. The mosque was demolished, the official reason being that the 1904 building had badly deteriorated and heavy rains had made it so dangerous that it had to be destroyed before it collapsed and killed someone. Ravil Gainutdin, the chief mufti who heads the government-backed Spiritual Board of Muslims of the European Part of Russia had been complaining that the mosque had no historic value. “The mosque was built despite Tsarist disapproval, and it withstood revolution and repression”, said Mukhammyat Minachev, who is Muslim. “And now someone has demolished our memories,” he said. Gayar Iskandyarov, an engineer and leader of the Foundation for the Development of the Muslim People, said the mosque had been a cultural centre for Tatars, keeping their language and traditions alive even though they were a minority in Orthodox Russia. A new mosque is being built next to the destroyed one. The cornerstone was laid in 2005, but it is still far from finished, and no work has been done for the past few years.

A study by a global humanitarian aid organization says, three out of every five widows in Iraq lost their husbands in the years of violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion. The study released last month by Los Angeles-based Relief International concluded that about 10 % of the estimated 15 million women who live in Iraq are widows. It said 59 % of the widows lost their husbands since 2003, citing violence and killings that followed the invasion as one of the reasons behind the deaths. Parliament speaker, Osama Al-Nujaifi said in Baghdad that the widows’ plight could harm society if they are not helped. Lawmakers and activists urged the Iraqi government to offer more aid to the widows, but did not offer concrete plans.

An Iranian lawmaker, Asghar Geranmayehpour says the future Middle East will belong to Muslims and will be free of all forms of oppression and arrogance. “Regional nations were inspired by the Islamic Revolution to rise, and by analyzing the revolution of the Iranian nation and by using its experience of 30 years of attacks and resistance, they must solve their problems and prevent foreign intervention,” he said recently. Referring to the initiative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in organising the Islamic Awakening Conference, Geranmayehpour said the international conference was held at the best possible time.
More than 500 scholars and prominent figures from 80 countries participated in the two-day Islamic Awakening Conference, which was held in Tehran last fortnight. The history and basic tenets of Islamic Awakening as well as figures that have played a role in such movements were discussed and analyzed in the conference.

A study by a global humanitarian aid organization says, three out of every five widows in Iraq lost their husbands in the years of violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion. The study released last month by Los Angeles-based Relief International concluded that about 10 % of the estimated 15 million women who live in Iraq are widows. It said 59 % of the widows lost their husbands since 2003, citing violence and killings that followed the invasion as one of the reasons behind the deaths. Parliament speaker, Osama Al-Nujaifi said in Baghdad that the widows’ plight could harm society if they are not helped. Lawmakers and activists urged the Iraqi government to offer more aid to the widows, but did not offer concrete plans.

In a bid to run correct news reporting about Muslims, two American universities have launched a project to teach journalists how to tackle Islam-related issues. “In our increasingly polarized media landscape, having the facts about any topic is vital to good journalism”, said Howard Finberg, director of interactive learning at the Poynter Institute. Titled ”Covering Islam in America” , the project was co-launched last month by Washington State University and the Poynter Institute’s News University. “We have no axe to grind, other than a desire to see accurate, balanced reporting of this topic, which has such broad impact on American society today,” said Lawrence Pintak, a former CBS News Middle East correspondent who developed the project. Though it is mainly initiated for journalists, bloggers and students, the course is also useful to educators, government officials and anyone involved in the conversation about Islam in America. The online course will be instructed by top-notch journalists and academicians, who have a long experience in reporting about Islam and Muslims. “We turned to the scholars who know this subject inside out and helped them present their knowledge in a way accessible to general assignment reporters on deadline,” Pintak, said.
In addition to Pintak, instructors also include Stephen Franklin, a former Chicago Tribune Middle East correspondent, who spent years covering the Muslim world. Pintak said the online course offers the kind of education about the Muslim community that he wished he had received before he was assigned by CBS to Beirut 30 years ago. “I had been reporting on wars in Africa, so I knew how to dodge bullets. Of Islam, the dominant religion in the region, I knew nothing,” Pintak said.

Customers going into a Saudi restaurant were surprised to see a notice that they would be penalised if they do not finish the food they request. Owners said the move is intended to encourage customers not to leave leftovers and thereby waste the food, something commonly noticed all across the desert kingdom. “We decided to fine customers who do not finish their food and many of them have already welcomed the move,” said Fahd Al Anzi, owner of Marmar Restaurant in the eastern port of Dammam. “We just want to encourage our customers to rationalise their expenses following news of famine in Africa. We took the decision after we noticed that some customers order food that is much more than what they actually need. The fine depends on how much food they leave uneaten,” he said.

BBC poll asks 20,000 people in 19 countries if they support independent Palestine; 49% of responders say yes, 21% say no, 30% not sure.
Jerusalem: More people around the world support an independent Palestinian state than oppose it, according to a BBC poll released in third week of September. The news was reported by jpost.com, a portal run by the Tel Aviv based Jerusalem Post.
BBC surveyed people in 19 countries around the world asking them if they support the establishment of a Palestinian state. Cumulatively, 49 % of those surveyed support the move and 21% oppose it.
As the Palestinians prepared to bring the question of Palestinian statehood before the United Nations in the last week of September, Israel and the United States tried feverishly to avoid the vote and instead entice the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table.
Of the nations surveyed, the strongest objections to the unilateral declaration came from the United States and the Philippines (Israel was not among the nations polled), where 36% of those surveyed said their government should not support the move of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to secure Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in New York this week. Despite their objections, however, 45% of Americans and 56% of Filipinos polled said they do support the move.
Europeans responded simil-arly, with 54% of French responders supporting and 20% not supporting, 53% of Germans supporting and 28% not supporting, and 53% of Brits supporting, with 26% not supporting the creation of a Palestinian state.
Muslim countries showed stronger support for the state. Ninety percent of Egyptians voted in favor, while only 9% opposed, and 60% of Turks voted in favor, while only 19% voted against the move.
Of the more than 20,000 people surveyed during July and August, 30% of responders either abstained from casting a vote or chose the “it depends” option on the ballot.

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh has strongly warned against listening to people who claim to explain dreams on radio and TV programs. His warning came following a growing trend among the people, of getting their dreams interpreted by “experts” on radio or television. “Most of these interpreters (of the dreams) do not have sufficient and correct knowledge of Islam,” he said in his Friday sermon at a mosque in Riyadh. “People listen so intently to the dream interpreters with some believing these explanations wholeheartedly, as if what they are saying is heavenly revelation,” he said. “If people want good explanation for what they see during their sleep, they should go to scholars with deep knowledge of the religion,” he said. The mufti accused the dream interpreters on radio and TV programs of exploiting the opportunity to spy on listeners and viewers, swindle them of money and mislead them.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced on September 25 that women will have the right to vote for the first time beginning in 2015.
King Abdullah made the announcement in the opening term of the Shura Council -- the formal body that advises the king, according to the BBC. The news service noted that women will also soon have the right to serve on the advisory council.
“Because we refuse to marginalize women in society in all roles that comply with Sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior clerics and others ... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting for next term,” the king said.
“Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote,” he continued.
Given the conservative nature of the Islamic country, the decision by the king is considered a major milestone, hailed by several countries.
Despite the new decree, women will still be unable to serve as Cabinet ministers, drive a vehicle or travel internationally without the consent of a male guardian, the Associated Press reports.
Furthermore, the next local elections are due September 29. The fact that women are unable to vote upsets some women, given that they saw the ruling as a long time coming.
“Why not tomorrow?” prominent Saudi feminist Wajeha al-Hawaidar asked, according to the AP. “I think the king doesn’t want to shake the country, but we look around us and we think it is a shame ... when we are still pondering how to meet simple women’s rights.”

Foreign spouses in Saudi Arabia will keep their jobs in Saudisation programmes, intended to gradually dispose off expatriate labour and tackle a festering unemployment problem. The ministry of civil service has approved a request by the ministry of labour to exempt foreign spouses and their children from any measures targeting expatriate workers in the Gulf Kingdom’s ongoing job nationalization programmes. Under the new rules, foreign husbands of Saudi women and their children and foreign wives of Saudi men and their children will not be sacked under any circumstances within the job Saudization programmes. In case, a qualified Saudi is named for a job to replace a foreign spouse of a national, the ministry will find another job for that spouse at the same or other department provided this will not affect the spouse’s salary. The measures are designed to ensure the stability of those spouses’ families. Foreign spouses benefiting from such measures must have children and remain either with their wives or husbands, adding that separated foreign husbands or wives are not covered by the new rules. Government figures showed that more than 500,000 Saudis are unemployed in the Kingdom, nearly 10 per cent of the work force.