Anti-terrorism conferences to spread Islamic teachings: Arshad

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net

New Delhi : The anti-terrorism conferences being organized in the country by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) or other Muslim organizations are not meant to clean the image of the Muslim community or madrasas, said Maulana Arshad Madani, ex-president, JUH on 10th May.

Rather, these conferences are just to spread the Islamic teachings of peace and brotherhood and also to expose hands that are hell-bent to tarnish the image of Islam and the Muslim community, said he who has been instrumental behind these conferences after the 25th February national anti-terrorism conference organized by Darul Uloom Deoband.

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Book review: Unveiling the Hidden History of Women Ulema

Book Review- Banat-e Islam Ki Dini Wa Ilmi Khidmat ('The Religious and Intellectual Contributions of Muslim Women') by Yoginder Sikand

Books in English and Urdu on Muslim history rarely, if ever, mention the role and contribution of numerous remarkable Muslim women scholars. Yet, as the author of this fascinating monograph, the late Qazi Athar Mubarakpuri (1916-1996), points out, early Muslim history records many such women, several of whose names are mentioned in contemporary Arab chronicles. Indeed, he asserts, many of these texts had separate chapters devoted to such women. Some early Arab Muslim writers even penned separate books dealing with women scholars.

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New guidelines for Hajj 1429 announced; children, disabled among others not allowed for Hajj

Submitted by Tarique on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 17:56.

By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,

New Delhi: Haj Committee of India (HCI) announced the programme for Hajj 1429 with some new rules. With improved system and restrictions in place, these new rules promise to make this year's pilgrimage smoother for Hajis.

The announcement made by HCI's head office in Mumbai said the quota for this year will be 110,000, same as last year. Hajj application forms are available at offices of all State Haj Committees or can be downloaded from HCI's website www.hajcommittee.com.

To make life easier for Hajis, HCI has partnered with the State Bank of India and now instead of sending bank drafts, advance payment can be deposited with the SBI and pay-in-slip will be attached to the completed hajj application forms. The advance amount for this year is Rs. 10,700 and last date for deposit of amount and submission of form is 31st May.

According to the new rules, children in the age of 2 to 16 years are not allowed to go for Hajj. Also, people who have performed Hajj in the last 5 years are not eligible for Hajj this year. These restrictions also apply to those who are doing Hajj-e-badal (Hajj on behalf of others).

Also restricted are pregnant women and disabled persons. Females not accompanied by a male mahram (a close relative with whom a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry) will not be allowed. The accompanying mahram, however, should not have performed hajj in the last five years. Hajis should also be free from polio, TB, leprosy, heart and respiratory problems, AIDS or any other communicable diseases.

To make the pilgrims travel to and from Saudi Arabia much smoother, HCI has introduced computerized system that will track flight and seat assignments of each Haji.
Hajj 1428 was affected by flight troubles and mismanagement by Air India. This year there have been pressures from state haj committees in getting rid of Air India but the final authority for this rests only with the government of India.

No new embarkation point has been added to last year's sixteen points. There was a demand to allow flights from Jammu or allow Jammu hajis to board from Delhi. Last year many of them were stuck when bad weather prevented flights from Srinagar. Assurances were made to look into this problem but Jammu has not been added as one of the embarkation port.