------------------------------------------------------ IN THE NAME OF ALLAH ------------------------------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>> I N N O V A T I V E M I N D S <<<<<<<<<< NEWSLETTER 4 January 2000 http://www.inminds.com ------------------------------------------------------ Assalaamu Alaikum Welcome to our newsletter. Ramadhan Mubarak, and Eid Mubarak! In this sacred month we are pleased to announce that Sister Huda Kaya and her three daughters have been released from prison in Turkey. All praise is due to Allah the Most Merciful. We wish to thank all of you who wrote letters of protest, and helped the campaign for their release in other ways. The campaign to free the other prisoners continues - we need your continued support. CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~ 1> Sister Huda Kaya Free! 2> Banned essay of 14 year old Layla 3> Quds Day 4> Quds Day Letters 5> Final Advise of Imam Ali (a) 6> Children's Competition Results 7> Islamic Art Gallery Launched 8> New Children's Competition 9> Ideal Eid Presents 10> Eid Cards 11> Thought for the Day Sister Huda Kaya Free ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alhamdullah, Sister Huda Kaya and her three daughters have been released from prison in turkey. Readers will recall that Huda Kaya, her daughters and 50 other muslims were arrested earlier this year for participating in a peaceful demonstration against the hijab ban in turkey and faced a possible death sentence if found guilty of charges against them. A protest letter writing campaign (to the UNHC for Human Rights and others) was launched, and with the money raised from sale of "Gems from the Holy Quran" software the Islamic Human Rights Commission sent a legal observer to their trial in the summer. His report was then taken up by the UN who filed their own report subsequently. Huda Kaya and the others were released on 30th November 1999. For the full update see: http://www.inminds.com/kaya-release.html Banned essay of 14 year old Layla ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the bleak days of apartheid, the close connection between the South African regime and israel was well know and of no surprise - after all apartheid and zionism are two names of the same racism. Muslims were among the front line in the struggle against apartheid, the first act of the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran was to cut off oil supplies to both israel and South Africa. The new South Africa promised a land free from the racism of apartheid and zionism. It was then with surprise and sadness when IHRC brought to our attention the case of Layla Cassiem. Layla Cassiem, a 14 year old student of Crawford College in south africa, wrote an essay offering a counter argument to an article on political zionist views on palestine displayed on a school noticeboard. Cassiem was threatened by fellow students and the Jewish Defence League. Instead of action being taken to protect her rights and safety, her essay was taken out of public view, and she was suspended from school. This was despite the findings of the South African Board of Deputies that her essay was not anti-semitic. During Cassiems suspension, senior members of the school made statements to the media, calling her 'pathological', 'anti-white', 'racist' and 'anti-semitic.' One even stated that Cassiem would 'make a good terrorist one day'. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHR) found that Layla's rights had been violated on several counts by her school, Crawford College. These violations included her rights both as child and citizen to respect, dignity, freedom of expression, education and protection from abuse. It found that the school had emotionally abused Cassiem. In an unprecedented move, Crawford college obtained an injunction preventing the SAHRC from going public with their findings. Layla is now 15 and attending a different school. Read Layla's banned essay entitled "From the heart of Palestine..." : http://www.inminds.com/cassiem-essay.html The above link also contains information of how you can help. If you have suffered any type of Islamophobia and would like to share your experience with other muslims please email us at islamophobia@inminds.com We may set up an Islamophobia message board. We will respect your privacy and will not reveal any names. By sharing your experience of how you coped you might be helping someone else who is also suffering Islamophobia. Quds Day ~~~~~~~~ "I invite Muslims all over the globe to consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadhan as 'Quds Day' and to proclaim the international solidarity of Muslims in support of the legitimate rights of the Muslim people of Palestine." Imam Khomeini, Ramadhan 1399AH ( August 1979) Quds Day is a day muslims from all around the world show their support for the oppressed muslims of Palestine. Rallies in support of palestine are held in every capital of the world. For London the Quds Day Rally details are as follows: Date: 15th January Time: 12 noon Meeting point: Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner. Closest Underground station: Marble Arch March commences at 1pm and culminates at Trafalgar Square. For Canada the Quds Day Rally details are as follows: Date: 7th January Time: 2.30pm Meeting point: Toronto City Hall, Nathan Philip Square info: Br. Shabir (905) 884 2237 Please show your support by attending. It is through lack of Unity and a sense of apathy that we muslims have lost everything. The collective strength Islamic Unity can bring is summed up in a famous quote of Imam Khomeini's: "If each Muslim were to pour out (just) one bucket of water, there would be a flood to wash away zionism." Please come to the rally - your presence DOES make a difference! We should be inspired to attend by remembering Br. Nurettin Sirin(*). He is currently imprisoned in Turkey for 17 and a half years for helping the Quds Day Rally in Sincan in 1997. Seventeen and a half years and yet he has no regrets - how much are we prepared to sacrifice? Surely we can all spare just one afternoon? (*) see http://www.inminds.com/hijab-ban/prisoners.html Quds Day Letters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whilst cleaning out some old college papers I came across a set of letters dating back to over 11 years ago. The letters formed a correspondence between me and the manager of the students residence where I lived whilst studying at Leeds University. I had put up a poster on my door about the Quds Day demonstration, the manager demanded I take it down. I refused, and 10 letters were exchanged over a period of two months. The letters, whilst written by a young inexperienced perhaps over zealous student, still makes worthy reading. They illustrate the correct response to accusations that anti-zionism equals anti-semitism, ie if you oppose israel then you are anti-semitic. The letters and the poster are located at: http://www.inminds.com/quds-letters.html A large scan of the poster is also provided for use as a windows wallpaper. It is interesting to note that one of the letters makes a reference to the ban on hijab in turkey. That was 11 years ago, today hijab is still banned - nothing has changed! In fact the situation in turkey if anything has got worse. And yet in the Turkey Prisoners of Faith Campaign, the most common reaction we get from fellow muslims about the situation in turkey is of disbelieve and surprise - "we didn't know this is happening, are you sure its happening, but I thought turkey was a muslim country ... " How can anything change, if we muslims are ourselves in a state of ignorance? Our first step in this struggle has to be to educate our fellow muslims as to the situation in turkey. Please let us all make an effort TODAY to talk to at least five muslims each, tell them about the plight of our sisters in Turkey - direct them to the web site, read or email them one of the letters of Huda Kaya and her daughters... do something so that 11 years from now we are not still in the same rut. Final Advise of Imam Ali (AS) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the morning prayer of 19th Ramadhan 40AH (661 AD) Imam Ali was fatally wounded by a blow of a poisoned sword. Shortly before his death on 21st Ramadhan, Imam Ali gave the following advise to his family: "My advice to you is that you should not consider anyone as a co-worker of the Lord, be firm in your belief that there is One and only One Allah. Do not waste the knowledge given to you by the Holy Prophet (s) and do not give up and destroy his Sunnah (traditions). Keep these two pillars of Islam (monotheism and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (s)) aloft. If you act according to my advice then you cannot be blamed for damaging or destroying the religion." "Until yesterday I was your Amir, today I am only an object from whom you can take lesson and warnings, and tomorrow I shall part company with you. If I survive this fatal wound I shall be at liberty to decide how to treat the man who attempted to kill me. If I die then my worldly life comes to an end. If I forgive my assassin then it will be to gain the Blessings of Allah for forgiving a person who has harmed you, and it will be a good deed if you also forgive him. Do you not desire to be forgiven by the Lord? I swear by Allah that death is not coming to me suddenly and unexpectedly that I may hate or abhor, neither is it such a visitor whom I may refuse to meet. So far as death by martyrdom is concerned I always expected and desired it and I now welcome it like a thirsty person who finds water when he is extremely thirsty. I am a seeker whom martyrdom finds what he was seeking for. To the pious people the best is that which they find with Allah." Source: Nahj al Balaghah (letter 23) Children's Competition Results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We wish to thank all those who entered our first competition. Although the quantity of entries was less than expected, the quality was high - making it very difficult for us to pick a winner. The winner of the under 13 age group is 12 year old Fereshteh Amersy from Canada. Her colourful drawing wonderfully illustrates Surah Fil (105). The winner of the 13 to 18 age group is 15 year old Zehra Fazal also from Canada. A truly gifted artist, her drawing showing Repentance illustrates ayat 2:58. We congratulate the winners and thank all those that entered the competition. Islamic Art Gallery Launched ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can see all the competition entries including the winning ones at our new Islamic Art Gallery: http://www.inminds.com/gallery.html The purpose of the Islamic Art Gallery is for it to become a place where muslim artists of all ages can display their Islamic artwork - a repository of muslim talent. If you would like to submit your artwork for display in the gallery read the guidelines at: http://www.inminds.com/gallery-submit.html All artwork remains the property of the artist and is displayed with full credits - the above link gives full details. New Children's Competition - Illustrate an Ayat (again!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We want more pictures for our new Islamic Gallery, so we are running the same competition again - Illustrate an Ayat with more prizes for you to win. So here is the information again: Children of all ages are encouraged to enter our exciting "Illustrate an Ayat" competition. The Challenge: Select any(*) ayat from the Holy Qur'an and then create a picture to illustrate it. The picture can be drawn, painted, or created on the computer... its up to you. You must however scan it into your computer for emailing to us. (*Please try and choose ayats which haven't already been illustrated by the entries from out first competition.) Who can enter? There will be 2 age groups: up to 12 years and 13-18 years. People who entered our first competition are welcome to enter again (with new artwork). Multiple entries from the same person are also welcome. Whats the prize? Thats up to the winners - they can choose any of our products as their prize. The whole fun-learn series (3 titles) counts as one prize. There will be a prize winner in both age groups. What will happen to the pictures? All the pictures, with credits, will be displayed in a virtual gallery on our web-site. You can visit the gallery at http://www.inminds.com/gallery.html If we get a good response, we will create a screensaver from the best pictures. All money raised from the sale of the screensaver will go to support IHRC Campaign to Free all Prisoners of Faith in Turkey. All entries must be received by 1st. March 1999. Please encourage your children to enter the competition - they will be helping a very worthy cause. May Allah reward them. For full details and entry form : http://www.inminds.com/draw-contest.html Ideal Eid Presents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eid is traditionally a time for giving children gifts. But what to get them ? Since we are Europe's largest developers of Islamic software - you can guess what our suggestion is! Our range of Islamic multimedia software has something for everyone in it. Best Value Gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are on a tight budget - no problem, our popular FUN-LEARN series of Islamic games is ideal for you. With each title priced at a bargain UKP £5 they make an ideal gift to give all your nephews and nieces, etc. Each game has two difficulty levels, making it suitable for ages 8-11 and 11-adult. The games are very graphical and include sound effects. The gamesplay is highly addictive and a two player mode is included so that you can also join in the fun! Three titles to choose from, each teaching a unique Islamic subject: (1) The Book of Allah (2) Life of Muhammad (3) Lion of Allah Each game comes in an attractive presentation jewel case and if you request, we can gift wrap it for you with an Islamic card containing your personal eid message and to save time we can send it directly to whoever the gift is for (on-line orders only). For more information on our Fun-Learn games titles: http://www.inminds.com/fun-learn.html Gift to give a non-Muslim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eid is an excellent time for dawah, and with it falling so close to Christmas, why not give your work mate or college friend an Eid present? Eternal Signs in Fractals CDROM makes an ideal gift to give a non-muslim. The beauty of the enchanting fractal images has a universal appeal, and the well chosen ayats (all in english) which accompany each image are designed to liberate the viewers mind. Its priced at only £12, for more information see: http://www.inminds.com/signs-in-fractals.html To go to our on-line order form: http://www.inminds.com/orderform.html (all credit/debit card orders are encrypted for your security) Hurry though, there is very little time left for us to ship your order for it to reach in time for Eid. Eid Cards ~~~~~~~~~ With Eid just a few days away, its an ideal time to make use of our Islamic Card Centre. Send your free Eid ecards to your family and friends electronically with a personalised message from our Islamic Card Centre: http://www.inminds.com/cardcentre.html If you want to send paper based Eid cards, we can highly recommend that you buy them from the Islamic Human Rights Commission. They do a great range for a bargain price (6 cards for UKP £1 !) - see them at their web site: http://www.ihrc.org Best of all, the money raised from the sale of the cards is used to help muslims around the world. Thought for the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ibn Abbas said that once Imam Ali (a) advised him in the following words, and except for the advice of the Holy Prophet (s) no advice was so beneficial to him as this. "After glorifying Allah and praising the Holy Prophet (s) let it be known to you, Ibn Abbas, that a man feels very happy if he achieves a thing without understanding that it would have ultimately come to him and he would not have missed it, and sometimes he feels sorry at not acquiring a thing which was not destined for him and which he could never have acquired." "Only such things as will earn for you a reward in the next world should please you and you should only feel sorry for losing rewards of the next world." "If you attain worldly pomp and pleasures then let not your happiness increase along with every enhancement of such pleasure and if you lose any of these pleasures then do not feel sorry at the loss because you must only feel sorry at the loss of such things as will be of use to you in the next world." Source: Nahj al Balaghah (letter 22) Wassalam Innovative Minds _________________________________________________ TO UNSUBSCRIBE Visit: http://www.inminds.com/unsubscribe.html and enter your email address. TO SUBSCRIBE Visit: http://www.inminds.com/index.html#sub and enter your email address. TO SUBMIT ARTICLES Email them to editor@inminds.com, please ensure that they are original and short. (c) Innovative Minds 1999. All rights reserved. http://www.inminds.com