Pakistan's blasphemy vigilantes kill exonerated man

Talahore, Pakistan (CNN) -- Mohamed Imran had been accused, jailed, tried and cleared: if anything, society owed him a debt as a man wrongfully accused.

But his crime was blasphemy. He was meant to have said something derogatory about the prophet Mohammed, so in Pakistan justice worked a little differently.

Two weeks after he returned to his small patch of farmland on the rustic outskirts of Islamabad, his alleged crime caught up with him.

Two gunmen burst into the shoe shop where he was sat talking to a friend. Imran tried to duck, to seek cover behind the man next to him -- terrified so greatly for his own life that he perhaps forgot about those around him.

But the gunmen found their target and Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws claimed another victim.

When I saw him lying there, I felt the blood leave my body, and that I was now alone.
--Ikram Imran, brother of blasphemy vigilante victim




Now Ikram has only his brother's unmarked grave to visit, next to the plot of land close to what was once the source of Mohamed Imran's livelihood. This farmland no longer feeds his family, who have moved away to live under the charity of a friend. The threats remained.

We found his daughter, four-year old Kazma who knew her father was dead but somehow felt he would come back. His wife was in tears, but remarkably maintained that the blasphemy laws were important as they protect the Muslim faith. It was hard to tell whether she believed that or was speaking out of self-preservation.

Two high-profile politicians have this year been assassinated for their criticism of the blasphemy laws: Punjab governor Salman Taseer and minorities minister (and Christian) Shahbaz Bhatti.

Some observers see their deaths and the climate of rage around the blasphemy laws as symptomatic of a broader rise in fundamentalist tendencies in Pakistan.

Others say that religion is all many people have, given the levels of poverty and state dysfunction, and that they don't like it being insulted. It's reported that more than 30 of the hundreds of people convicted under the blasphemy laws have been killed by vigilantes. The state has yet to execute anyone for this crime.

The curious part about this blasphemy case -- and many other such convictions and allegations under the controversial law -- is that they do not specify what the accused is meant to have said.

The first complaint delivered to the police in 2009 refers to a conversation Imran allegedly had with another man in a cafe, but says the exact blasphemous phrase cannot be repeated as that too would be an act of blasphemy.

By the time we get to the court appearance earlier this year, the charge is clearer (but we won't repeat it here, given the sensitivity of the matter). You are left wondering whether by this stage of the case many had already found reason to damn Imran.

All the same, this level of evidence was not enough for the judge, who released Imran. But it was enough for the gunmen.

We went into the nearby town to talk to clerics at the local mosque. Some accused these holy men of fueling the anger against Imran. Incidentally, Imran was a Shia, and hence a minority often targeted in Pakistan.

As soon as we got out of the car near the mosque and showed our cameras, tempers frayed. They didn't care why we were there, they just saw us as outsiders, perhaps American spies.

We left promptly, ever more aware of the growing rage on Pakistan's ordinary streets, fueled by generations of poverty, decades of what many see as government ineptitude and years of foreign intervention.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/13/pakistan.blasphemy.vigilantes/

Muslims see prejudice in veil ban

VENISSIEUX, France France on Monday formally banned the wearing of veils in public places, becoming the first country in Europe to impose restrictions on a form of attire that some Muslims consider a religious obligation.

The ban, which came after a year of debate and months of preparations, is viewed by supporters as a necessary step to preserve French culture and fight what they see as separatist tendencies among Muslims. But the ban set off protests in Paris and several other cities, and has left many Muslims, including those in this heavily immigrant community near Lyon, worried about their rights as French citizens.

Karima, 31, who was born in France and asked to be referred to only by her first name, has worn the niqab since the age of 15, as a sign of her devotion to God. She says she feels as if France has betrayed her. "It's as if I was married to a man who mistreated me, but I'm still in love with him," she said. "It's as if he had an identity crisis, and I would still stay with him, after 31 years of marriage."

Police do not have the authority under the law to remove full veils, only to fine or require citizenship lessons for those who violate the new law by wearing them in public. Police also showed few signs of moving quickly to enforce the new rules for fear of causing unrest in big cities with Muslim communities.

"The law will be infinitely difficult to enforce and will be infinitely rarely enforced," said Manuel Roux, a union leader for local police chiefs, to France Inter radio.

Patrice Ribeiro, general secretary of Synergie Officiers, a police union, said the law "is a source of trouble more than anything else." In areas with large immigrant populations, he said in an interview, the law cannot be carried out strictly: "We'll create riots." He said the matter would need to be handled with the help of religious authorities.

The issue was set alight in April 2009 by Andre Gerin, then the Communist mayor of Venissieux. Half of the town's 60,000 residents are non-French citizens or their French-born children, and the niqab has been a relatively normal sight here.

Gerin said at the time that the full-facial veil, which is known in France erroneously as the burqa, should be banned in the name of the liberty and equality of women in a secular country. On Monday, in his office, Gerin said the burqa was "just the tip of the iceberg" of the spread of Muslim radicalism and separatism that threatened the French Republic.

The law does not mention Islam or women. It bans the covering of the face in any public place, including shops and the street, as a security measure. A clause says that anyone who forces a woman to cover her face can be imprisoned up to a year and fined up to 30,000 euros, about $43,000.

But the law is a "a point of departure," said Gerin, who retired as mayor but remains a member of the National Assembly. Speaking of young Muslim women who refuse to participate in school sports, or Muslim men who refuse to allow a male doctor to treat their wives or who allegedly compel their wives to veil, Gerin called the law "a wake-up call," a means "to eradicate this minority of fundamentalists, 'the gurus,' who instrumentalize Islam for political reasons."


Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/04/12/2217002/muslims-see-prejudice-in-veil.html#ixzz1JHUtp7WQ

Pak court convicts imam and his son for blasphemy

LAHORE: A Pakistani court has sentenced an imam and his son to life imprisonment after convicting them on controversial blasphemy charges after they removed a poster containing Quranic verses, officials said.

Less than a week after Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was gunned down by a police guard for criticising the blasphemy law, judge Rao Ayub of an anti-terrorism court at Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab handed down the sentences to 45-year -old Mohammad Shafi and his son Mohammad Aslam, 20.

Shafi, who is the imam of a mosque at Muzaffargarh, 400 km from Lahore, and his son were arrested in April last year for removing a poster for a religious gathering that was pasted outside their grocery shop. The poster reportedly featured Quranic verses, officials said.

The organizers of the gathering, which commemorated the anniversary of Prophet Mohammed's birth, filed a complaint that alleged the duo had tore the poster and trampled with their feet.

After convicting the duo for blasphemy, judge Ayub handed down two separate prison terms of five years and 10 years to Shafi and his son Aslam and also ordered them to pay fines totaling Rs 210,000 each.

The defence counsel said that the verdict would be challenged in the Lahore high court. Reports said the duo had been accused of blasphemy due to differences between the Deobandi and Barelvi sects.

Shafi had differences with Haji Phool Mohammad, a man from the Barelvi school of thought who filed the complaint against the imam and his son.

Taseer had earned the ire of religious hardliners after he spoke in the defence of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death under the blasphemy law last year, and called for reforms in the law to prevent its misuse. Rights activists have alleged that the law is often misused to persecute minorities and to settle personal or political scores.

The blasphemy law, which was introduced during the regime of late military ruler Zia-ul-Haq, carries the death penalty for the worst offences. No one convicted under the blasphemy law has been executed in Pakistan though dozens of people accused of blasphemy have been killed by radical elements.

Read more: Pak court convicts imam and his son for blasphemy

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Thousands demonstrate in support of Pakistan's blasphemy law

Thousands of people turned out in Karachi Sunday to show their support for Pakistan's current blasphemy laws and warn the government against changing the laws.

The rally, called by the leaders of several hard-line Islamic groups, closed main roads and markets throughout the city. Demonstrators demanded Pakistan leave its blasphemy laws untouched. They make it a crime punishable by death to insult Islam, the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed.

A number of banners at the rally stated support for Muhammad Mumtaz Qadri, accused of shooting the governor of Punjab province earlier this month. Qadri was a bodyguard for Gov. Salman Taseer, a liberal lawmaker who spoke out against

the blasphemy laws. Qadri told police he assassinated Taseer because "he did blasphemy of the Prophet Mohammed."

A bill is now before the Pakistani parliament that would change the current blasphemy laws. It calls for a tighter definition of the term, to avoid cases like that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death under the law. A court found the 45-year-old woman guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with fellow Muslim field workers.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/09/pakistan.protests

Egypt's top cleric accuses pope of meddling

An Egyptian policeman in a riot vehicle observes as Coptic Christians begin a noisy protest at night near the bombed church, in Alexandria, on Sunday.

Egypt's top Muslim cleric yesterday criticized Pope Benedict XVI's call for world leaders to defend Christians as interference in his country's affairs, the official MENA news agency reported.

The call, following a deadly car-bombing targeting a Coptic church in Alexandria, in northern Egypt, was "unacceptable interference in Egypt's affairs," Ahmed el Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the oldest Islamic seat of learning, told reporters.

"I disagree with the pope's view, and I ask why did the pope not call for the protection of Muslims when they were subjected to killings in Iraq?" Tayeb said at a news conference.

The Vatican rejected the accusation, saying the head of the Roman Catholic Church had shown solidarity with the Coptic community as well as concern for the consequences of the violence for the Christian and Muslim population.

"Therefore we cannot see how the pope's approach to bring everybody to accept non-violence can be considered meddling," ANSA news agency quoted Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi as saying.

"I think there are misunderstandings in communication but I don't think we should play up the imam's statement."

Lombardi said the Vatican referred to "an attack against a Christian church and therefore we are concerned about Christian minorities, but that does not mean that we will justify or minimize violence against the faithful of other religions."

Benedict, at a New Year's Mass at the Vatican, had appealed for the "concrete and constant engagement of leaders of nations" to protect Christians in the Middle East, in what he termed a "difficult mission."

In the wake of rising tension and "especially discrimination, abuse and religious intolerance which are today striking Christians in particular, I once again launch a pressing appeal not to give in to discouragement and resignation," he said.

Tayeb, who renewed his condemnation of the New Year's Eve church bombing that cost 21 lives, said Azhar, the highest institute in Sunni Islam, would form a joint committee with the Coptic Church to resolve disputes between the communities.

The committee, which should begin its work in two weeks, will "discuss reasons for the deterioration (in Muslim-Copt ties) and propose appropriate solutions," he said.

Copts make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million people and have been the targets of sectarian attacks.


Read more:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Egypt+cleric+accuses+pope+meddling/4051186/story.html#ixzz19y0GDp4U

Vatican Adds Nuance to Pope’s Condom Remarks

ROME — The Vatican on Tuesday issued its most authoritative clarification on Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks that condoms could sometimes be used for disease prevention, saying that the pope in no way justified their use to prevent pregnancy.

The statement appeared to be a sign of the lingering confusion — and, perhaps, Vatican infighting — over the remarks. Approved by Benedict himself, it said his words had been “repeatedly manipulated” and did not “signify a change in Catholic moral teaching.”

In a book published last month, Benedict said that although condoms were not “a real or moral solution,” in some cases, they might be used as “a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility.” He cited as an example a male prostitute who might use a condom so as not to spread disease.

AIDS activists, especially in Africa, where H.I.V. is rampant, welcomed the pope’s comments, as did some moral theologians. But some conservative Catholics, especially in the United States, feared that it would be misinterpreted as a move to condone condom use.

Tuesday’s statement did not go beyond or contradict two previous clarifications by the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, on the same issue. But it came directly from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most powerful Vatican office, in what experts said could be a sign of internal Vatican tensions — or a response to criticism.

“I have never seen a communiqué from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that explains the words of the pope after the fact,” said Paolo Rodari, a Vatican expert at Il Foglio, an Italian daily newspaper. “I think it’s unique. And it demonstrates how many complaints and serious criticism the Vatican has received.”

By publishing “Light of the World,” a book of interviews conducted by a German journalist, Peter Seewald, Benedict effectively did an end run around the Vatican’s communications structures — and also around the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees all doctrine.

The Vatican’s new statement said that Benedict’s comments had been misinterpreted and manipulated by those who effectively saw them as permission for more widespread use of condoms, which like all birth control goes against church teaching.

In the book’s German and English editions, the text cites the example of a male prostitute, implying homosexual sex, in which a condom would not be a form of contraception. But the Italian edition uses the feminine form of prostitute.

Last month, Father Lombardi said that the Italian translation was an error, but added that the pope had specifically told him that the issue was not procreation but rather disease prevention — regardless of gender.

In Tuesday’s statement, the Vatican did not touch the gender question. But it said, “The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI that it is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way justified either by his words or in his thought.”

Mr. Rodari said the prefect of the congregation, Cardinal William J. Levada, the highest-ranking American at the Vatican, had most likely not been shown the book before it was published since it consisted of interviews, not official church doctrine.

Father Lombardi said that he could not comment on whether Cardinal Levada had seen the book before publication, but that it “went without saying” that Benedict had approved Tuesday’s statement.

Issued in six languages, Tuesday’s statement, “Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Trivialization of Sexuality Regarding Certain Interpretations of ‘Light of the World,’ ” was a masterpiece of Vatican nuance. It used technical theological language, while the pope had used a conversational tone in his book.

It said that condom use by a prostitute for disease prevention could not be considered a “lesser evil” because prostitution is “gravely immoral,” and that “an action which is objectively evil, even if a lesser evil, can never be licitly willed.”

Yet it added that “those involved in prostitution who are H.I.V. positive and who seek to diminish the risk of contagion by the use of a condom may be taking the first step in respecting the life of another even if the evil of prostitution remains in all its gravity.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/world/europe/22pope.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

WikiLeaks: Pope Helped Win Sailors' Freedom

The latest US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks suggest the Pope helped win the release of 15 British sailors captured by Iran and held for a fortnight in 2007.



Captive British sailors return home

Another cable reveals that the British ambassador to the Vatican said "Anglican-Vatican relations were facing their worst crisis in 150 years" after the Pope encouraged Anglicans to convert to Rome over the issue of women priests.

Evidence of apparent links between the head of the Roman Catholic church and religious fundamentalists in Tehran come from a "scene setter" for President Obama's then forthcoming visit to Rome, compiled in June 2009 by Julieta Noyes, deputy chief of mission to the Vatican.

Her dispatch explains that the Vatican claims "an ability to act as an intermediary" in international crises involving Iran.

Noyes tells Obama: "The Vatican helped secure the release of British sailors detained in Iranian waters in April 2007."

According to The Guardian, which has published the cables, British diplomats in London said he did issue a message but was not necessarily key to the release.

In other cables relating to the Pope, the British ambassador to the Vatican is said to have feared a backlash against Catholics in the UK after the Pope's message to Anglicans to convert over female priests.

Francis Campbell, the British ambassador to the Holy See, said: "Anglican-Vatican relations were facing their worst crisis in 150 years as a result of the Pope's decision."

His comments came after Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams was a guest of honour at a dinner with Vatican officials.

The cable, from US ambassador Miguel Diaz, said Mr Campbell believed Pope Benedict XVI had put the Archbishop in an "impossible position".

It said: "The Vatican decision seems to have been aimed primarily at Anglicans in the US and Australia, with little thought given to how it would affect the centre of Anglicanism, England, or the Archbishop of Canterbury.

"Benedict XVI, Campbell said, had put Williams in an impossible situation. If Williams reacted more forcefully, he would destroy decades of work on ecumenical dialogue; by not reacting more harshly, he has lost support among angry Anglicans.


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Church-goers tend to be happier people

Religious people are more satisfied with their lives than nonbelievers, but a new study finds it's not a relationship with God that makes the devout happy. Instead, the satisfaction boost may come from closer ties to earthly neighbors.

According to a study published today (Dec. 7) in the journal American Sociological Review, religious people gain life satisfaction thanks to social networks they build by attending religious services. The results apply to Catholics and mainline and evangelical Protestants. The number of Jews, Mormons, Muslims and people of other religions interviewed was too small to draw conclusions about those populations, according to study researcher Chaeyoon Lim, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We show that [life satisfaction] is almost entirely about the social aspect of religion, rather than the theological or spiritual aspect of religion," Lim told LiveScience. "We found that people are more satisfied with their lives when they go to church, because they build a social network within their congregation."

Happiness is a crowded pew
Many studies have uncovered a link between religion and life satisfaction, but all of the research faced a "chicken-and-egg problem," Lim said. Does religion make people happy, or do happy people become religious? And if religion is the cause of life satisfaction, what is responsible — spirituality, social contacts, or some other aspect of religion ?

Lim and his colleague, Harvard researcher Robert Putnam, tackled both questions with their study. In 2006, they contacted a nationally representative sample of 3,108 American adults via phone and asked them questions about their religious activities, beliefs and social networks. In 2007, they called the same group back and got 1,915 of them to answer the same batch of questions again.

The surveys showed that across all creeds, religious people were more satisfied than non-religious people. According to the data, about 28 percent of people who attended a religious service weekly were "extremely satisfied" with their lives, compared with 19.6 percent of people who never attended services.

But the satisfaction couldn't be attributed to factors like individual prayer, strength of belief, or subjective feelings of God's love or presence. Instead, satisfaction was tied to the number of close friends people said they had in their religious congregation. People with more than 10 friends in their congregation were almost twice as satisfied with life as people with no friends in their congregation.

Are church friends special?
Importantly, Lim said, the study suggested a causal link between religion and life satisfaction: People who had started attending church more often between the 2006 and 2007 surveys became happier. Again, the happiness was explained entirely by a boost in close church friendships.



"We think it has something to do with the fact that you meet a group of close friends on a regular basis, together as a group, and participate in certain activities that are meaningful to the group," Lim said. "At the same time, they share a certain social identity, a sense of belonging to a moral faith community. The sense of belonging seems to be the key to the relationship between church attendance and life satisfaction."

While a higher number of secular close friendships were also associated with life satisfaction, church friendships seem to involve something that lifts satisfaction even more, Lim said. Additional research by Lim and Putnam, reported in the book "American Grace: How Religion Divides Us and Unites Us" (Simon & Schuster, 2010), has found the religious propensity toward charity and volunteerism to be connected with close church friendship, as well.

Theoretically, Lim said, belonging to a secular friend group that engages in meaningful activities and shares a social identity might also boost life satisfaction. The researchers plan to carry out a third round of surveys with the same group of participants in 2011 in which they hope to gather data on secular friendship groups.

Read More

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40557983/ns/health-behavior/

Benedict heralds possibility of resignation if his health fails

Benedict XVI has said he could become the first Pope to voluntarily resign in more than 700 years should he become physically or mentally incapacitated.

The papacy has traditionally been seen as a job for life, with pontiffs expected to remain at the helm of the Church until death


In a book of interviews, the 83-year Pontiff challenged centuries of Catholic Church tradition by saying that he would not hesitate to relinquish his post if no longer felt "physically, psychologically and spiritually" up to the job.

The papacy has traditionally been seen as a job for life, with pontiffs expected to remain at the helm of the Church until death. The last pontiff to resign willingly was Celestine V in 1294.

But in the book, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Sign of the Times", Benedict said: "Yes, if a Pope clearly realises that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation, to resign."

Pope Benedict is considered overall to be in good health but broke his wrist last year after slipping and falling while on holiday in the Italian Alps.

He admitted, however, that he is often taxed by his papal duties and frequent overseas visits.

"Of course, I am sometimes concerned and I wonder whether I can make it even from a purely physical point of view," he said in the book, which has so far attracted most attention for his remarks on the use of condoms being permissible in exceptional circumstances.

Earlier this year it was revealed that his predecessor, John Paul II, signed a document in 1989 saying that would resign if he became incurably ill, but unlike Benedict he ordered that the possibility remain a secret during his lifetime.

In the end, he remained in office until his death in 2005, saying it was for the good of the Catholic Church.

Benedict made 24 new cardinals at the weekend, 10 of them Italian, leading to speculation among Vatican observers that the next Pope could be from Italy.

The most likely contenders include Dionigi Tettamanzi, the Archbishop of Milan; Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian bishops' conference; and Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the pontifical council for culture.



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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8151968/Benedict-heralds-possibility-of-resignation-if-his-health-fails.html

For the faithful, fear of Aids comes second to fear of God

An Aids educator in a Nairobi slum shows how to remove a condom.

Before evening mass at downtown Johannesburg's Holy Trinity Catholic church, a group of Congolese students were today trying to decode and digest the pope's apparent break from traditional doctrine on the use of condoms.

Africa is the global centre of HIV/Aids infections. It is also home to an estimated 158 million Catholics. By 2025, it is predicted, one-sixth of the world's Catholics – about 230 million – will be African. The church's sphere of influence includes Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Condoms were acceptable "in certain cases" such as male prostitution, Benedict XVI had said. What did the people gathered at the Holy Trinity, which sits above an HIV clinic, make of that?

Djoscky Bindusa Mongenda Tapo, 38, was wrestling with contradictions between religion and science. "The pope, as the leader of the church and as a Christian, is wrong to say this," he said. "But scientifically he is also the leader of many people, and he is right to protect them.

"As a Christian, as a spiritual fact, we cannot accept the use of condoms because to us marriage is between one man and one woman. The church has forbidden the use of condoms even if you are officially married because, if it allowed them, it also allows people to go around with prostitutes. Scientifically, the condoms are helping to protect people from the spread of many sicknesses and prevent premature pregnancies. Sex without condoms is a risk to people's health and their families."

He concluded: "Both sides are good but, as Christians, we are not afraid of sickness or to die, but we are afraid of the law of God. As God said one man is for one woman, we cannot go against God for other reasons. But if you are not Christian, you can use condoms if you have partners outside marriage."

Aids activists have condemned the Vatican's stance for legitimising ignorance about safe sex, resulting in countless needless deaths.

The Pope fanned the flames last year when, on his first visit to Africa, he asserted that condoms were not the solution to HIV and could in fact make the problem worse.

South Africa has the world's biggest HIV caseload and a death toll of nearly 1,000 people a day. But Catholics gathering at the 72-year-old Holy Trinity – a traditional church of pink stone, stained glass, arched doorway and antique bell – had mixed views on the pope's apparent U-turn and its implications for the continent.

Frank Lessaka, a student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where about half the population is Catholic, said the pope had a duty to put doctrine first: "The medical side is right, but he is contradicting the religious side. Legally he must emphasise the religious side. The danger is that people will misunderstand what the pope is saying. He is trying to explain the use of condoms to stop HIV, but in a religious way he's wrong."

Lessaka, 23, added: "Ask first of all why use a condom, who with, which moment? In a marriage, it is advisable if you are sick. But if the pope is urging people to use condoms outside a marriage, the pope is wrong. Abstinence and fidelity are the most advisable. Even a doctor in a hospital will tell you that."

But Alain Mupundu, 30, another Congolese Catholic, strongly disagreed. "In 1998, the prevalence of HIV in my country was 0.8%. Now it is 8% – 10 times greater. We are not all doing abstinence and fidelity. We want to be safe now. It is time to change.

"The pope has talked to the cardinals and I think this was the result of that consultation. After saying we can't use condoms, we lost too many friends, but now we can change and save some of them. The pope has said the right thing at the right time."

Elsewhere at the church, bathed in spring sunshine near the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Braamfontein, a group of gay and lesbians were also meeting. "For the sake of reducing HIV, it's the right thing to use protection, especially in Africa," said Tendai Maposa, 30, who has Catholic friends who are HIV-positive. "The Catholic church's ignorance has been damaging. It must now educate people about HIV so they practise safe sex. I'd like to see the pope go further."

Bongani Mtlhavani, 21, a PR and media consultant, agreed: "This statement has been long overdue – it's about time. The Catholic church has got a huge following in Africa. Its ignorant position has caused followers to be infected with HIV. It contributed to the infections big time."

Another member of the group, Dutchman Peter van den Akker, cautioned that while papal teachings doubtless influenced hearts and minds in Africa, not every Catholic blindly obeyed the Vatican's strictures.

He outlined a more fluid situation: "My experience of working in Africa is that although the Catholic church has been negative about condoms, I meet priests and nurses in Uganda who have a typical Catholic attitude: the pope says this, but I do that because my conscience tells me to.

"On the other hand, the black clergy I know in west Africa, for example in Ghana, are even more Roman than the pope himself. They refused to participate in an educational programme because they did not want to discuss this as even a problem."

Van den Akker, 64, a freelance journalist, expressed frustration that the pope, who cited the example of male prostitution for acceptable condom use, had left his overall position vague. "I would like to see the pope say more," he said. "From a man of his status and influence this statement is quite remarkable, but it's one small step. The longer he waits, the bigger the problem will be."

The sentiment was echoed today by Aids activists in South Africa. Caroline Nenguke, a spokeswoman for the Treatment Action Campaign, said: "Historically the Catholic church has been in denial with regard to condom use. For the pope to say they can be used in certain circumstances is a step in the right direction.

"But we still have thousands of steps before he stands on a proper platform and says condom use is an effective way of preventing HIV."

Read More

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/21/african-catholics-fear-of-aids-second-fear-of-god

Muslims celebrate Bakri-Eid today

MUMBAI: Muslims are looking forward to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha or Bakri-Eid on Wednesday with gaity and in a spirit of sacrifice. After the brief prayers in the morning at mosques, the community will get down to sacrificing goats and sheep.

This meat will then be used to prepare a variety of dishes. But then feasting is just one aspect. The main purpose of Bakri-Eid is reiteration of devotion to the divine rule, Muslim scholars say. Since the festival is a commemoration of prophet Abraham's unflinching faith and devotion to Allah's commandments, Muslims must try to show the same spirit when they celebrate Bakri-Eid.

"The sacrificial meat is divided into three parts. One part goes to the poor, the second to relatives and the third remains with the family. And the animal's skin is given as charity," explains senior cleric Maulana Shoeb Koti.

"This clearly shows that Allah wants Muslims to remember the poor in celebrations. This spirit will help establish justice in society."

This year, the festivities are rather low key as prices of essential commodities as well as goats have skyrocketed.


Read more:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Muslims-celebrate-Bakri-Eid-today/articleshow/6939149.cms#ixzz15VjgwD3i

British Muslims join the pilgrims at a record-breaking hajj

British Muslims join the pilgrims at a record-breaking hajj

Some 25,000 visitors from the UK join the millions pouring into Arafat to spend the day in prayer

Pilgrims arrive before dawn yesterday to pray at Jabal al-Rahman, where Muhammad is said to have given his final sermon.




Tucked away from the intensity of the crowds and traffic today, some of the 25,000 Britons who are performing the hajj this year were taking a welcome respite in Arafat.

In modest canvas tents, strewn with sleeping bags and sleeping bodies, pilgrims settled in for prayer and reflection, ahead of the gruelling physical and mental challenges that lay ahead.

Dr Faatimah Esmail, a surgical trainee from Leicester, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. It was her first time on the pilgrimage. "You can't imagine what it's going to be like. It's overwhelming. You might think it's difficult to have a spiritual experience with so many people around but the concept of the hajj is that you're here to worship your creator. It's between him and you. Nobody else."

The 31-year-old has travelled extensively – North America, east Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent – but said nothing compared to the holy city.

"I've been to several Arab countries and yes, Saudi is another Arab country, but it's completely different. The peace and tranquillity you achieve here can't be found anywhere else."

The tent was home to many first-time pilgrims. Another, Halima Bhayat, said she was preparing a PowerPoint presentation for her students at Maria Fidelis convent school, north London. The 27-year-old teacher said her pupils were interested in what she was doing and why. "I'm taking pictures to show what people are doing. I want to talk to them about what I've learned and what it's like. They think I'm going to be living in a desert in a tent. I've never done camping, maybe I should have done to get some practice."

Millions of pilgrims poured into Arafat today to spend the day in prayer, enduring temperatures of more than 35C (95F) to seek penance for their sins. Many spent the night on its famous mountain in vigil.

Islamic tradition says Jabal al-Rahman, a rocky 70-metre-high hill, is where Muhammad gave his final sermon 1,400 years ago, and for many it is the highlight of the pilgrimage.

The Saudi government estimates that this year there are 2.5m pilgrims, but despite security measures – including 8,000 officials drafted in to crack down on squatters and unauthorised pilgrims – as many as a million extra are thought to be performing the hajj without the necessary paperwork.

Another Briton in Mecca this year is the Conservative peer Lady Warsi, who is undertaking hajj at the invitation of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. A statement from the Cabinet Office said: "Baroness Warsi will conduct Hajj in a private capacity as part of an annual international delegation of Muslim politicians and leaders. Although predominantly a private visit, Baroness Warsi will participate in some official engagements after completing the pilgrimage."

Throughout the day, and into the evening, Arafat was proof that 2010 is a record-breaking hajj. Tonight it was clear serious issues of crowd control remained, as pilgrims spilled out onto the Al Jawhara Road, chaotically and frantically, in a bid to reach the next destination of Muzdalifah.

A government convoy, attempting to leave a compound, threatened to cause injury as it shuddered through the teeming masses, alarming both pilgrims and passengers as they brushed past. Police officers, attempting to clear a way for the official vehicles, tried to hold pilgrims back. But many reacted angrily, breaking their way through, banging on the doors of the vehicles and clambering over them in frustration.

There has not been a stampede for several years, but there is still plenty of potential for chaos. The much-lauded Mecca metro, with a maximum capacity of 72,000 passengers an hour, will go some way to alleviating the pressure on the roads, but with the Saudi authorities striving for bigger hajj numbers, more work will need to be done on managing the millions.

Some Muslims are also still taking risks with their hajj by handing over thousands of pounds to rogue agents, according to one tour operator. Mohammed Patel, a 38-year-old from London, has performed the hajj every year since 1998. He said the single most important thing for would-be pilgrims to do was to check the credentials of the tour operator.

"Use a registered company. If you don't you could be throwing your money away. You hear stories of people who never make it here, they lose all their money. They think that because the tour operator is Muslim and the hajj is a Muslim event, that nothing bad will come of it. There are definitely trust issues.

"The company needs to be licensed with the ministry of hajj – you won't get your visa if they're not – and they should also be Abta and Atol protected."

Horror stories of ripped-off, stranded or duped pilgrims persist, in spite of campaigns from the British government and pilgrim-interest groups, such as non-existent hotels, or sub-standard and overcrowded accommodation.

Patel recommended that aspiring pilgrims use a service such as hajjbuddy.com, a US-based site rating hotels and travel companies. It also has a quick tips section – with information on mobile phone usage and how men can avoid friction and chafing while wearing their hajj clothing.

"It's a bit like TripAdvisor but specific to the hajj and with a bit more stuff on it," said Patel.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/15/hajj-british-pilgrims-muslims