News from Islamic World

France to Host Congress on "Islam and the West"

The subject of main discussions are "Islam, Civilisation of Universality", "Universalism of Islam", "Islam and the West: two interdependent worlds" and "the Dynamics of exchange between Islam and the West."
"Islam and the West" is a non-Government organisation created in Paris in 1981. More information can be had from

"Islam et Occident", 147 Blv Raspail,  

75006 PARIS, France, 

Phones 01 - 46347629,  Fax: 01 - 43547288

First Regional Midwest Islamic-Catholic Dialogue in USA.

London Mosque appoints new director-general

Al-Majid is a graduate of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh and holds an M.A. from California. Currently he is working towards his doctoral degree at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

It was first held in 1993. Participating publishers came from 12 countries. At the start, only the Government of Kuwait appeared as a participating country. This year Kuwait was joined by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Pakistan, Singapore, Qatar, Syria, Lebanon, Malaysia, Iran and the United States.

The fair placed the emphasis on Muslim families by having books, lectures by scholars, Islamic software and activities for children.

The committee, chaired by Professor Jordan Konowaih, the deputy vice-chancellor of Sussex University, will gather information about treatment of Muslims in the country with a special emphasis on school students.

Research Centre, Dawah Academy, 

International Islamic University, 

POB.1485, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Palestine establishes Al-Quds Prize

Conference calls for attention to Islamic arts and literature

Famous Indian scholar Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi, the chairman of the league's office in India, opened the conference with a speech, urging Muslims to give more care and concern to the Islamic literature.

The conference asked for spreading Islamic literature through collaboration with the Arab and Islamic universities and the sections for Eastern languages in Western Universities. It also called for making use of the modern information means to augment Islamic literature and highlight the Islamic cultural activities.

Finland Muslim Cemetery

Zakat for Hospitals and Prisoners

Nasr Fareed Mohamed Wasel, an Al-Azhar University Professor succeeds Sayyed Tantawi, who was recently been appointed as head of Al-Azhar.

ISESCO publishes book on Ibn Battuta

Tunnel Torpedoes West Asia Peace Process

The Israeli government had undertaken the project of archaeological excavations in the area several years ago with the hope of finding remains of Israelis of the pre-Christian era. But to their extreme disappointment they have only found Islamic remains so far. Yet they are trying to establish that historical Jerusalem belonged to the Jews by falsifying documents and by interviewing "American tourists" who went to visit the tunnel (29 September 1996) through pro-Israeli western media. Some of these tourists got the smell of four thousand years of Jewish History through that tunnel. Such interviews were broadcast by the BBC. Will the world community accept this? The issue of the tunnel concerns not only the Palestinians, but also Muslims and Christians elsewhere, and indeed every human being with clear conscience and knowledge of history all over the world. It is this understanding that is reflected in numerous resolutions adopted by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) ever since its inception nearly three decades ago. What can the OIC do under the circumstances?

In our opinion it can do the following with immediate effect:

1. Sever diplomatic ties with Israel and expel all Israeli diplomats from all OIC countries.

2. Create pressure on all world bodies to expel Israel and express clearly that Israel has to learn civilised behaviour in order to be a part of the world community.

3. Disqualify all business companies having ties with Israel from business dealings in all OIC countries. This should include individual business executives visiting Israel. Palestinians and other Arab and Muslim countries have been engaged in political negotiations for some time. This has been proved to be ineffective. Now the policy of diplomatic boycott and economic pressure should be given a chance.

Instead of condemning the Qadiyanis for this venture, we have to blame ourselves because we Muslims have failed to make use of modern information media like satellite television for disseminating the message of Islam and highlighting its great teachings.

Despite the calls for setting up an Islamic satellite television channel for the last several years, we don't see any concrete result on the ground. We are not short of right methods or intelligent opinions to translate those calls into a reality. Also we are not short of people, expertise and resources to take up this challenge. What we need today is strong determination to go ahead with this vital project. We should not make any more delay in this regard, for others will not wait for us. Look at the Qadiyanis who are a negligible minority in the world and have put us far behind in the media field. We are just watching these developments. Do the Muslim governments, official establishments and charitable organisations realise this fact? Do businessmen and philanthropists in the Islamic world have the courage to invest in this important project?