KINDLY BE INFORMED I AM ARRANGING QURBAN TO BE DONE N DISTRIBUTED IN BALING
INCLUSIVE OF DISTRIBUTION TO REMOTE VILLAGES, 1 PORTION WILL COST RM400.00. TO DATE A COW HAS BEEN FULLY SUBSCRIBED. DR. FARIDAH HAS TAKEN A PORTION AND HOPEFULLY SISTERS IN IMAN WILL HELP TO TAKE UP 6 MORE PORTIONS TO ENABLE AW TO BE SLAUGHTERED.
PAYMENT WILL BE MADE TO PRIHATIN BALING AND PLEASE CONFIRM AND PAY BEFORE OR ON THE DAY OF OUR MEETINGTHANK YOU
Press Release - Single mothers business training for free
The Rotary Club Petaling Jaya (RCPJ) stated in 2005 to help single mothers by training them in some useful skills and how to manage a business. At the end of the training the single mums should be able to make a living in their own homes or in any outlet as an owner or employee so that they will be able to take care of themselves and their children.
The process of forming an association called the SuperMum Association has already been set in motion.
There are many women associations in Malaysia. Why another one? This is an association of single mothers with skills to give single mothers dignity by being financially independent.
In the Rotary Year 2008/9, RCPJ will be embarking on several projects to train more single mothers. The skills and the number of candidates are as shown below,
Manicure, Pedicure , Hanna and facial makeup 20 trainees Hair-cutting for men and women ......................10 trainees Bakery .............................................................40 trainees
We intend to get support from RTM and the press to publicise the courses and hope interested single mothers will apply for the courses of their own choice.
For logistical reasons, the candidates will come mainly from the Kelang Valley. Candidates from other states will have to make their own accommodation arrangement.
Applications forms can be obtained on application by ordinary mail, e-mail or sms to the followings:
1. Liew Shou Kong 30 Jalan Desa Permai, Taman Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur. E-mail meisangm@gmail.com
2. Loo Kit Choong E-mail: kitchoong@bluinc.com.my Mobile: 019-357 0189
3. Jack Lim E-mail: twintrees1@gmail.com Mobile: 012/3300711
Additional information
1. The courses will be free of charge. 2. Candidates must be below 50 years of age. 3. Household income below RM1,500/-
Surat dari Pengerusi Wanita Prihatin Baling Kedah ( PRIHATIN )
Prihatin 0.15 / 08 ( 04 ) Tarikh : 22 Zulkaedah 1429 H ( 20 November 2008 )
KEPADA, Yang bahagia Prof Madya Dr. Kamar Oniah INTERACTIVE MUSLIMAH ASSOCIATION ( IMAN ) E3A-3A, Tingkat 4, DATARAN PALMA Off Jalan Ampang, 68000 Ampang, SELANGOR D.E.
السلا م عليكم ورحمة الله وبركات
Puan,
UCAPAN PENGHARGAAN DAN TERIMA KASIH
Di do’akan agar Prof serta semua warga IMANEXCO sentiasa dalam kesejahteraan dan dalam lindungan Allah.
Dengan rasa ukhuwah dan teramat sukacitanya, di nyatakan di sini pada tarikh 19 november 2008 yang lalu; PRIHATIN telah bermesyuarat dan melahirkan rasa jutaan terima kasih seluruh warga da’if Baling kepada IMAN diatas segala usaha dan sumbangan yang telah kami terima dalam berbagai bentuk.
Sumbangan murni itu, sedikit sebanyak telah meringankan bebanan nafkah penduduk disini dan yang terlebih penting ianya telah melahirkan rasa insaf kami bahawa masih ada insan yang sayang dan prihatin membela nasib penduduk miskin ini. Segala kesempatan dan rezki Allah ini akan kami gunakan sebaik mungkin.
Semoga dilimpahkan rezki yang berlipat kali ganda buat semua juga bertambah erat dan berterusan ukhuwah antara kita, juga mendapat perlindungan Allah dan rahmat darinya dunia dan akhirat.
Terima kasih diatas segalanya dan salam ukhuwah buat seluruh komuniti IMAN.
Sekian,terima kasih, wassalam.
“ KEDAH SEJAHTERA, NIKMAT UNTUK SEMUA ”
Yang benar,
USTZ. CHE TAH BT BAKAR Pengerusi Wanita Prihatin Baling Kedah ( PRIHATIN )WANITA PRIHATIN BALING, KEDAH ( PRIHATIN ) V4, Bagunan MDB, Jln. Syed Sheh, Pekan Baru 09100 Baling Kedah Darul Aman Tel / Fax : 04 4706787 __________________________________________________________
Yes, our great scholars of the past were of the same calibre. Al-Biruni came up with the first scientific calender for the Jews and Christians in his studies into their holidays. Through his mathematical and astronomical background, he detected their errors and corrected them because, he said, unless he did so "they will always be in error". He did not even thought that they were kafirs and so why help them - a position that we Muslims in general take today.
We seem to overlook the fact that Allah is the God of everybody and of everything and that we therefore are interconnected with one and all. We also do not seem to appreciate the fact that Rasulullah s.a.w. was a "rahmat li al-'alamin", namely a blessing for all the worlds, inclusive therefore of Muslims and non-Muslims, human and non-human. In fact, this is the very fact that made Rasulullah s.a.w. a universal prophet as compared to other prophets such as Prophet Musa, Isa, Daud (salam alahum) who were prophets only for their own communities.
In keeping the teachings of Islam, the person of Rasulullah, and even ourselves, exclusively to the Ummah, we are actually degrading the status of Rasulullah to that of the other prophets, namely, that of a prophet for their own "kaum" only ("Ummah" in the case of Rasulullah s.a.w.) and Islam to just one more religion rather than the true, universal and the everlasting religion that it is.
I have always had my reservation over the "intoxication" that Muslims have over themselves and their own exclusive affairs. Are we suppossed to be so? Anyway, new Muslims are coming up from the West, and although they have yet to find their western-Muslim identity and are still in the transition stage with lots of confucion and lack of self confidence as yet, but soon enough, they will take over as the torch- bearer of Islam. This in fact, is the history of Islam - aggressors to Islam turned out later to be the the champions of Islam.
Islam issue complicates Turkey's rocky bid to join EU
Turkey's accession talks with the European Union have drawn worldwide attention as an unprecedented attempt at integrating a predominantly Islamic country into the West. Will the fact that Turkey is a nation of Muslims eventually doom its accession prospect?
Hitotsubashi University professor Masanori Naito (center) speaks during a symposium at Keidanren Kaikan in Tokyo on Nov. 1, franked by his co-panelist Michael Reiterer (left) deputy head of the European Commission delegation to Japan, and Yasuhiko Ota, an editorial writer for Nihon Keizai Shimbun. SATAKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
Discussion revolved around this key topic during a symposium organized by Keizai Koho Center in Tokyo on Nov. 1 under the theme, "Future enlargement of the EU and its diversity: Europe and Islam."
A Japanese scholar argued that Turkey's accession talks, which formally began in October 2005, have been affected by what he called a broad-based "Islam-phobia" among the European public, triggered in part by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
A European diplomat disagreed and said Islam should not be construed as an overriding obstacle to EU enlargement, given that there are already 20 million Muslims who call Europe their home. Turkey's population today is 99 percent Islamic.
The talks on giving Turkey entry to the European bloc, which could take at least several years, are at a critical juncture. Early this month, the European Commission threatened to suspend the membership talks unless Ankara did more on domestic reforms and implement a customs pact with EU member Cyprus.
In its progress report on the 1-year-old talks, the commission stopped short of recommending an immediate suspension of the negotiations but urged Turkey to speed up economic and political reforms and open its ports and airports to Cypriot goods before a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Dec. 14-15.
The report also criticized Turkey's records on human rights protection and freedom of expression and ponted to a "slowdown" in the pace of reforms.
Masanori Naito, professor at the Institute for the Study of Global Issues in the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Hitotsubashi University, gave a bleak assessment of the talks, saying that Turkey has become one of the targets of what he described as misguided antipathy toward Islam that is growing among the European public.
Secular foundation
This is ironic, Naito said, because Turkey is a rare country in the Islamic world that has adopted secularism and separated religion and state as early as in the 1920s. Turkey has in fact made it clear for decades that it wants to be part of an integrated Europe, he added.
The problem is not the European Union as an institution, but the countries that comprise the union, whose lawmakers are influenced by populist sentiments at home, the professor said. Naito, who has authored books on the issue of Europe and Islam, said much of the negative image of Islam commonly held in the Western world is based on misunderstandings -- fueled in part by the link between radical Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist attacks since 9/11. One example of such misunderstanding, he said, is the moves by some European countries to ban or restrict Muslim women's veils and head scarves at public places.
While the veils are often seen as symbols of Islamic fundamentalism and repression of women's rights, it eludes many in the European public that the Muslim women wear them based on their religious beliefs and that a ban on the veils can be tantamount to an order to partially undress, the professor said.
Naito also said the controversy over the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad carried on European newspapers, which triggered a wave of violent protests by angry Muslims early this year, illustrates how some European people -- in their belief in freedom of expression -- fail to respect others who live by their religious beliefs.
The professor said that he found it irrational that right after the accession talks formally began last year, some people in Europe began to question whether Turkey is part of Europe.
The question, he said, is irrelevant because part of Turkey geographically belongs to Europe and also because the European Union is not supposed to be a geographical concept, but a union of countries with cultural diversity based on a common set of values.
Naito said Turkey's accession would be a significant development for the EU, given that the essence of the decades-long European integration project has been the attempt to stabilize the region by incorporating former adversaries into its ranks.
Admitting Turkey into the EU will contribute to reducing tensions in today's difficult relations
between the West and Islam, he added.
What is worrying, Naito said, is that public support in Turkey for joining the EU appears to be rapidly waning as the accession talks fail to make progress. Recent opinion polls show that the number of Turkish people favoring the EU accession had declined to 30-40 percent from roughly 70 percent in 2004.
Michael Reiterer, deputy head of the European Commission's delegation to Japan, said he did not think that it is a majority view in Europe to oppose Turkey's accession because of its Muslim population.
"Islam should not be construed as an overriding obstacle for enlargement. About 20 million Muslims call Europe their home," Reiterer told the symposium.
"Islam is part of today's Europe, just as it has been part of European history, thereby contributing to today's European identity," he said.
Not based on religion
Reiterer emphasized that the European project is "not based on religious beliefs, but on the respect and implementation of rights and duties based on common values."
The sheer fact that formal accession talks with Turkey started means that the EU recognizes it as a democratic country, he said.
Reiterer noted that Turkey's important strategic position is "perhaps overestimated in Turkey and underestimated in Europe. "But it remains a fact that it is a country bordering Iran and Iraq . . . and is the only country in that part of the world which has a foreign policy which is in the interest of the West," he said.
The accession talks with Turkey started amid so-called enlargement fatigue among EU members after it admitted 10 new members in 2004 -- including eight former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern and Central Europe.
The European Commission recently gave a conditional go-ahead for Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU on Jan. 1, 2007 as planned.
Reiterer said the two countries will continue to be monitored against EU-set benchmarks on reforms. Failure to deliver on the reforms will deprive the countries of some privileges, including EU financial aid, he added.
"This is a new approach to enlargement. This new cooperation and verification mechanism is meant to ensure that implementing measures are taken to fight corruption and organized crime, and efficient structures are set up (by the new members) to control EU financial assistance.
"At the same time, these measures should reassure a skeptical European public and their leaders that the reform process continues and will be continuously checked after formal accession," he told the audience.
Yasuhiko Ota, an editorial writer for the Nihon Keizai Shimbun who served as moderator of the symposium, said the future of EU enlargement -- particularly the accession talks with Turkey -- will provide clues about where European integration is headed, and offer some lessons for East Asian countries including Japan as they start to contemplate some form of regional economic integration.
posted by Interactive Muslimah Association (IMAN) @ 9:52 PG0 comments
IMAN Voice Out
who we are...
posted by Interactive Muslimah Association (IMAN) @ 9:19 PG0 comments
Sabtu, 22 November 2008
From the President's Desk
Assalamu 'alaikum wm wb to all.
I woke up before fajr this morning with a thought over Faridah's mail. In my previous two mails, I had explained to some details why I strongly believe not to get into a tango with people whose mission is to revise Islam for their own specific purposes, humiliate our 'ulama' and discredit mainstream Muslims. This, I believe, will be a dance till eternity or till you drop dead. Such people do not want the truth; they just want to tango, to engage you in endless squabbling, riding upon the publicity that you open up for them. They breed on negative publicity, and our well-intended reactions feed their missions on.
However, I do believe that the Ummah need to be educated and strengthened in sound knowledge on Islam. It is indeed a very serious short-coming which may even court tragic endings for Muslims if their attachment to Islam is more of sentimental loyalty rather than based on good understanding of Islam, which is generally the case with Malay Muslims, elite and regulars alike. Not only will such Muslims be in danger of getting themselves confused by such mischievous onslaughts, but if they are parents, their children too may become preys to such mischievous efforts.
In fact, it is often the children of elite Muslims who are more prone to such de-islamization onslaughts and conversions since these kids move in wider circles and have such sophisticated means and skills as the internet to challenge their iman, top up by their parents’ so-called "open-mindedness" towards all and sundry, often encouraging their children to be likewise too. Parents are normally in the dark regarding the development of their children’s minds and souls until almost at the point of no return, and then get all wrought up with anxiety, blaming all others except themselves for the situations of their children.
In Islam, the children are the parents' responsibilities. In general, elite parents know so much about so many things, read so much about anything, are skilled in so many ways, but in many cases, know so little about Islam, read even less about Islam and have no skill in iman development of their children. Thus, such parents often cannot engage meaningfully and effectively with their children when queried on matters related to iman and Islam, often giving superficial explanations which do not satisfy the rich minds of their children, leaving these kids in more confusion and disdain about their religion.
Children are Allah's trust or amanah upon the parents, and parents should pay as much attention to their children, in fact even more, than they do to their profession. After all, the matter of iman is a “this world” and “next world” matter whereas their profession is only of this world and even then, only up to their retirement age. It is therefore essential, even urgent in many cases, that such parents seriously start to learn systematically about Islam, not only to understand the religion for their own good but also to understand it well enough to be meaningful to their children. Indeed, if their children take to deviant beliefs or to other religions, it is they who will suffer the most, not other people.
May Allah Almighty guide us on our way.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamar Oniah Kamaruzaman,
President of IMAN (Interactive Muslimah Association) and
Vice President of WCMIR (World Council of Muslim on Inter-Faith Relations),
5 Feb 2010 -
IIUM will be organising a talk on kalimah Allah on Feb 5. Muslimin and muslimat are invited to join the program.
Who's Reading
From the President's Desk
I woke up before fajr this morning with a thought over Faridah's mail. In my previous two mails, I had explained to some details why I strongly believe not to get into a tango with people whose mission is to revise Islam for their own specific purposes, humiliate our 'ulama' and discredit mainstream Muslims....
(Click to read more)
Hitotsubashi University professor Masanori Naito (center) speaks during a symposium at Keidanren Kaikan in Tokyo on Nov. 1, franked by his co-panelist Michael Reiterer (left) deputy head of the European Commission delegation to Japan, and Yasuhiko Ota, an editorial writer for Nihon Keizai Shimbun. SATAKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
