------------------------------------------------------ IN THE NAME OF ALLAH ------------------------------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>> I N N O V A T I V E M I N D S <<<<<<<<<< NEWSLETTER 26 July 99 http://www.inminds.com ------------------------------------------------------ Assalaamu Alaikum Welcome to our newsletter. CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~ 1> New Product Launch : FUN-LEARN Games Series 2> Quiz - Do you know your Quran ? 3> Knowledge is the best gift 4> Huda Kaya trial Update 5> Death Penalty for "Song of Freedom" poet 6> Letter by Huda Kaya 7> Messages to Prisoners of Faith 8> Help Iraqi refugee children - Baqir project 9> Christian missionaries preying on Iraqi refugees 10> Story for the Day NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH - FUN-LEARN Islamic Games Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In response to demands for a sequel to Islamic Fun, we have launched a new Islamic games product - in fact three products! The FUN-LEARN series is a series of three games - each teaching a different subject: (1) The Book of Allah (2) Life of Muhammad (SAW) (3) Lion of Allah * There are two difficulty levels: ages 8-11 and 11-16 * The games can be played in 1 or 2 player modes Each game is available for the bargain price of just £5 (UK). Remember you can now order our software securely with a credit or debit card over the internet. Full details with screen-shots is found at: http://www.inminds.com/fun-learn.html Quiz - Do you know your Quran ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are three questions taken from our new software release "The Book of Allah". Test yourself - and more importantly your childrens knowledge about the Holy Quran. 1) Which prophet was sent to the tribe of Ad [11:50] ? 2) What does 'the parable of a smooth rock with earth upon it then a heavy rain falls upon it, leaving it bear' [2:264] describe ? 3) What is this drink: 'There comes forth from within it a beverage of many colours, in which there is healing for men' [16:69] ? Answers can be found at: http://www.inminds.com/fun-learn.html#quiz Knowledge is the best gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today practically every child in our community has access to a pc - be it at home or at school. What is the pc used for? Ask any kid they will tell you their favourite use is playing games. The market is flooded with mindless games of violence and immorality - all working to erode the Islamic upbringing that we try and provide our children. Our youth deserve better, they deserve an Islamic alternative. We at Innovative Minds are working to provide that alternative. But we need your help. Producing the software is only half of the struggle - getting the software to our children is the other half. We need people who are willing to waqf copies of software to come forward. Our newly released FUN-LEARN series is ideally priced for those wishing to waqf copies in bulk. We want this software in every Madressa and school and in every Muslim house. Help us to make it happen! Waqfed copied of the software will carry a small on-screen message on behalf of the person donating that copy. For large quantities we will try and further discount the price. Email us if you are interested in helping: waqf@inminds.com If you run a Madressa or School and wish to receive waqfed copies of our FUN-LEARN series, please contact us stating the quantity required of each title - we can then hopefully match the request to a received donation. Turkey: Huda Kaya trial update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Those who received our last newsletter will be aware of the case of Huda Kaya and the Malatya 50. Huda and her three daughters aged between 16 and 19 years, and fifty others face the death penalty. They were charged with treason for protesting against the Hijab ban in Ynonu University. Their trial started and adjourned on 22nd June 1999. It is due to begin again at the end of the month. We will keep you posted of any developments. Read the full report of the IHRC legal Observer sent to monitor the trial: http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/huda-kaya3.html Please help save Huda Kaya and the others. We request you to contact the Turkish ambassador in your country asking for the immediate release of all prisoners and the dropping of all charges against them. We have provided sample letters for you: http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/huda-kaya.html Turkey Demands DEATH PENALTY for "Song of Freedom" Poet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gulan Intisaar Saatcioglu (daughter of Huda Kaya) is an 18 year old high school student. She was arrested during a demonstration against the Hijab ban in turkey. The prosecution is demanding the death penalty. The evidence against her is the writing and recitation of the poem "Song of Freedom" outside the Governor's building during the demonstration. Here's a few lines from her poem: "Come join us sisters young and old Our cries increase aloud To ensure Allah's Word prevails And infidelity fails ..." Read her full poem, translated into english: http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/huda-kaya-trial2.html Letter of Huda Kaya ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Read an open letter written by Huda Kaya, translated into english: http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/huda-kaya-letter.html Messages to Prisoners of Faith ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you to those who have left messages to the Prisoners of Faith - your words of support and encouragement are perhaps the most direct form of support that we can provide our imprisoned Sisters and Brothers. Please keep writing. Here are a few: Brother Andy Nunez from USA writes : "if it wasn't for people of your strong faith then Islam would not have spread throughout the world as it has.. I for one 'converted' in January of 1999" Sister Kariymah shares with us: "I went to the market just this morning with my husband and was laughed at by a white woman and her boyfriend just behind the hijab. I felt very sad. Then I came online and just happened to find your website. I WILL wear this HIJAB with immense pride and will continue to pray to Allah to give us the victory! I will never be sad anymore after reading these touching stories. May Allah keep up faithful and couragous, insha Allah." Hamza Coquards thought provoking message from Canada : "Allah (swt) says in surah Mulk: 'The one who has created death and life in order to test you, which of you is best in deeds. He is the All-Mighty, the Most Forgiving.' (67:2) Indeed, little more can a sincere Muslim hope for than to be one of those whom Allah has chosen to spread His Religion with, those who suffer for His sake, on the Day of Judgement, insha' Allah, will have an easy meeting, since the events of this were enough to remove their sins and purify their hearts, and for those for whom the life of this world was easy, then for them on the Day of Judgement, things will be hard. We must remember what Allah has taught us about the story of the king in Surah Burooj, when this king tried to smother the faith of his people, but what Allah has kindled no man can smother, and though this king tried to scare the people by killing the boy who was responsible for spreading the dawa by Allahs leave, the people only came quicker into the fold of Islam, and even when the king dag pits and asked them to jump into them, or leave their faith, they decided to jump, prefering the immediate torture to leaving their deen, and Allah made Islam to inherit the land of the insignificant king, whose little power deluded him, and who now is being tortured while Islam inspite of him, is growing by the grace of Allah. So let not the immediate sitaution decieve us, we have the Lord of All worlds on our side, and I will leave you with what the child in the arms of his mother said, on that day, when she stood before the 'pit abounding in fuel' (Surah Burooj). His mother hesitated before the pit, seeing her child; but her child spoke to her, (miraculously) and said: 'Do not hesitate mother, you are on the truth.' (Rough translation from hadith of Bukhari) Carry on and be patient, surely the victory is with Allah, Worthy of Praise, Most High." The Messageboard is at: http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/messageboard.html A comments area is at: http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/comments.html Help Iraqi refugee children - Baqir project ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly a year ago, Dr Bayan Alaraji showed us a photo of a cute one year old iraqi refugee in need of help. That child was Baqir. He is suffering from a blood disease B-Thalassaemia Major and requires a blood transfusion every 20 days inorder to stay alive. One pint of blood and hospital stay costs £22.20. His family, themselves refugees, cannot pay this. Sometimes Baqir has had to miss his transfusion... We took up the project - our very first. The Baqir Islamic Screensaver was developed, with a suggested donation of £5, inorder to raise money: http://www.inminds.com/baqir/index.html To date, alhamdullah, with your help we have raised over £3,500. But this is not enough - the treatment Baqir needs will be expensive and cannot happen until he is six years old. Please keep your donations coming in - your reward is with Allah. Read the latest progress report to find out how Baqir is doing, new photos of Baqir are included: http://www.inminds.com/baqir/index.html#update Dr Bayan Alaraji, who works directly with the refugees has informed us of the other cases of iraqi refugee children that also need help. We are planning to extend the scope of the Baqir project to help these other children. Inshallah, with your continued support we will succeed. Christian missionaries preying on Iraqi refugees ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This next account shows us what happens when we Muslims do not do our duty in looking after our brothers and sisters in need. It was found on the website of a christian missionary organisation. An extract from their report on how they are "helping" iraqi refugees in jordan: "There are about 100,000 refugees here and most of them do not receive help from other organisations," a spokesman said. He added that most refugees left families behind in search of a better life, but usually ended up barely surviving. Job scarcity and low wages further fuel their disillusionment. Each blanket, along with a New Testament or a cassette of the life of Jesus in the local dialect, was handed out to a household. The gifts were very well received and the teams have been asked to return. "We've developed good relationships during the past two months," he said, adding that two families and a household of Iraqi men have started to study the Bible. Another report also mentioned sending a Pakistani christian woman called Jamila to Turkey on a mission to "save" Muslims for christ. Story for the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lets end this newsletter with a smile : Back in the 1960s a NASA team doing work for the Apollo moon mission took the astronauts near Tuba City where the terrain of the Navajo Reservation looks very much like the Lunar surface. Along with all the trucks and large vehicles, there were two large figures dressed in full Lunar spacesuits. Nearby a Navajo sheep herder and his son were watching the strange creatures walk about, occasionally being tended by personnel. The two Navajo people were noticed and approached by the NASA personnel. Since the man did not understand or speak English, his son asked for him what the strange creatures were and the NASA people told them that they are just men that are getting ready to go to the moon. The man became very excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts. The NASA personnel thought this was a great idea so they rustled up a tape recorder. After the man gave them his message, they asked his son to translate. His son would not. Later, they tried a few more people on the reservation to translate and every person they asked would chuckle and then refuse to translate. Finally, with cash in hand, someone translated the message, "Watch out for these guys, they come to take your land." Wassalam Innovative Minds _________________________________________________ TO UNSUBSCRIBE Visit: http://www.inminds.com/unsubscribe.html and enter your email address. TO SUBSCRIBE Visit: http://www.inminds.com#sub and enter your email address. 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