JOIN A NOBLE CAUSE: 'US MUST PUNISH QUR'AN BURNERS'

Dear All, As-Salaam Alaykum   I am appealing to all lovers of peace, justice and fairness to join me in condeming the type of explosive extremism displayed by the two US pastors who burned the Qur'an recently. This appeal is to all men and women of conscience. We are calling on the United States to punish these two fanatical pastors who have publicly demonstrated their lack of tolerance for another faith. The US would have lost every moral right to wage war on terrorism or extremism outside its own shores if it could not do same within.   You can join me in doing this by visiting Facebook's 'causes'  at 'www.causes.com'.   Click on 'Find a Cause' when the site opens. Type the words 'US Must Punish Qur'an Burners' in the space marked 'Search Causes'. This should open the 'cause'.   Click on the word 'Join' at the extreme right of the page. But dont stop there. Invite others in your address book as well.   Allah bless you for supporting a noble cause.   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

QUR'AN BURNING: WE REJECT OBAMA'S KID-GLOVE STANCE

QUR'AN BURNING: WE REJECT OBAMA'S KID-GLOVE STANCE   We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) reject American President Barrack Obama's soft handling of the burning of the Qur'an. He merely condemned the incident. This is not enough. Muslims want those two American fanatics brought to book. Does American law stomach incitement? Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp must be stopped by their own government. No responsible government anywhere in the world will allow its citizens to take actions capable of disturbing world peace. Crisis management requires an iron will. Obama must act now or be held responsible for the reactions of the Muslim world.   Defacing a holy book is an act of aggression against the Creator. Aggression against the Creator is an violent affront against humanity. MURIC has said it before: terrorism is mere smoke; provocation is the fire and cause of the smoke. Any good fire-fighter will direct the hose not at the smoke but at the fire. If you extinguish the fire, the smoke vanishes without lifting a finger at it. But if, in your own wisdom, you choose to fight the smoke, then you may have to keep fighting at very huge cost till Kingdom comes. Justice is the soul of peace.   Both Wayne Sapp and Terry Jones who were responsible for the burning of the Qur'an are planning a protest against the Qur'an for April 22, 2011. The proposed venue is the largest central mosque in America. Only Allah knows what they will do next. We believe that these two American terrorists have been emboldened by the tacit approval so far received for their criminal acts against humanity. As part of the moderate elements in the Muslim world, we are being embarrassed by acts of injustice coming from the United States, the West in general and the United Nations. It is not helping the cause of dialogue, rather it is being used by extremists to justify their acts of terror and to recruit more sympathisers.   We repeat again: JUSTICE is the SOUL of PEACE   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

POSTPONEMENT OF NIGERIA'S ELECTION

2nd April, 2011 PRESS RELEASE: CANCELLATION OF TODAY'S ELECTION: JEGA NOT TO BLAME     The hopes of Nigerians were dashed today Saturday 2nd April, 2011 when the parliamentary elections were suddenly postponed hours after the exercise began. The postponement was attributed to the non-delivery of vital electoral materials as at this morning.      We are not surprised by this development because the few reports reaching the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) from our monitoring team have not been encouraging. In Eti-Osa, Surulere and Ojo Local Governments of Lagos State, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were yet to arrive as the polling stations as at 12 noon. The story is the same at Gatakonwa area, Oja Oba Bus Stop, Abule Egba.   MURIC laments over this national tragedy but we salute the courage of INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, for having the courage to face the truth early in the exercise. The non-arrival of materials can hardly be blamed on him personally. We appeal to Nigerians to exercise patience at this critical moment in the history of our nationhood.   Apart from logistic issues, the printing and delivery of electoral materials are very sensitive matters which involve security and the state of our infrastructure. The fact that many of INEC's materials had to be produced outside the country is pregnant with meanings. The level of corruption and the reputation of our politicians for rigging had kept INEC on the tip-toes of alertness and anxiety. These and other factors must be held responsible for what happened today.   We have seen that so far so good, INEC chairman has maintained his independent status. Unlike his predecessors, he has refused to dance to the gallery. Neither has he dined and wined with the high and mighty. MURIC calls on Nigerians not to slay the goose that lays the golden eggs.   The Federal Government must also leave Jega alone. President Jonathan in particular must avoid the temptation to seize the opportunity of today's postponement and the national embarrassment to get rid of a 'non-compliant' Jega and to replace him with a stooge. That will be an unmitigated disaster. Jega must be given the chance to prove his worth.       Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

QUR'AN BURNING:WESTERN FANATICS RESPONSIBLE FOR WORLD TENSION

QUR'AN BURNING:WESTERN FANATICS RESPONSIBLE FOR WORLD TENSION   The world remains under great tension and serious threat today in spite of talks about religious tolerance, lessons on peaceful coexistence and trainings in conflict resolution. The crux of all these is the determination of certain elements to compel the Muslims to do their own bidding. It is the belief of this group to ensure that Muslims around the globe are robbed of their identity, their culture and their religious freedom.   This manifests in widespread Islamophobia: the hatred for Shari'ah, the ban placed on hijab and the minaret in Western countries, disallowing Muslim children from having access to Islamic education, turning traditional Muslim countries into satellites of the West and their rulers into mere cronies of Western leaders.   The latest onslaught is the campaign for the burning of the Qur'an which, though dissuaded in the United States in 2010, materialised in the same US in 2011 when evangelical preacher Wayne Sapp burned the Qur'an in a renegade Florida church.   The question is: what is the West doing about the extremists among them when the Muslims have excommunicated fanatical elements and have even gone to the extent of fighting them? Why is the West treating Israel with kid gloves when Muslim countries have joined forces to attack Iraq and Libya?   Why does the West hurriedly impose and apply sanctions on Muslim countries while failing to impose a single sanction on Israel in spite of hundreds of United Nations (UN) resolutions ignored by Israel? Why is the US always more than willing to veto UN resolutions on Israel? What is wrong if Iran possesses nuclear power when nobody has ever querried Israel for its nuclear arsenal?   Western wrongs against Muslims and their nations flow from Western fanaticism. The earlier the White House discusses this with No.10 Downing Street the better for the conscience of the West. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

'CONTACT US' NOW ON MURIC WEBSITE

Salaam All   A new window 'Contact Us' has been added to MURIC's website Visitors can use this link to send their views on any issue relating to Muslims or Islam from the site The advantage is that while it is only members of the MURIC Yahoo Group who can post messages to the Group's site, anyone at all, even non-Muslims anywhere in the world can send their messages to the MURIC website   MURIC's website is:                          www.muric.net     Allah bless you all as you support the rights of fellow Muslims around the globe Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

WATCH YOUR CAMPAIGN PROMISES

22nd March 2011 PRESS RELEASE: WATCH YOUR CAMPAIGN PROMISES     With the April 2011 Nigerian general elections drawing close, politicians have been making different types of promises. Egged on by the determination to out-do the opposition, many politicians have been using sheer eloquence and flowing rhetoric to deceive the electorate. Unrealistic pledges are being made merely to woo voters whereas the candidates know their own limitations and the tricks they employ.           The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) calls on the Nigerian public to wake up from their slumber. The electorate must be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, the idealistic from the self-seeking and the charlatan from the nationalist. The time has come for all the poor and oppressed whose rank cuts across religions, tribes and gender to take their destiny in their hands.   Nigerians should never again allow themselves to be carried away by sugar-coated mouths whose pronouncements do not (and are never meant to) reach their hearts. This is the time for workers to come together and demonstrate the power of the proletariat. Nigerian workers have for long been over-worked, over-taxed and under-paid. Successive regimes have ignored the plight of workers for improved take-home package and higher standard of living. Workers' take-home pays cannot take them home.   The decay in this country's infrastructure should be the focal point and any candidate who cannot address this is not worth the salt. Nigerians still live in darkness fifty-one years after independence. Our roads are death traps cutting short the lives of our youths in their prime. The health sector is an unmitigated disaster. Nigerian graduates are long on degrees but short on quality education. In the public sector, square pegs are in round holes. We live in fear, sleeping with one eye closed as security has gone to the dogs. There is an army of unemployed yet able-bodied Nigerians. Thousands eat from the dust-bin.    These are the criteria, not religion, not ethnicity, not North-South dichotomy, not even party politics. MURIC urges Nigerians to watch the campaign promises being dished out by politicians and try to match each promise with the pedigree of the candidate. If they match, vote for him or her. If they don't match, reject him or her. Do not allow today's hunger to push you into selling your voter's card or vote for the highest bidder or to aid and abet rigging at election. You may be inviting permanent hunger and the impoverishment of your children, your grand children and your great grand children to the tenth generation.   Finally, MURIC reminds politicians to fear Allah. Politicians must remember that their pronouncements at rallies and in privacy are being recorded by angels (Kiraman katibin, Qur'an 82: 10-12); that it is a great sin to promise what they will not do (Qur'an 61: 2-3); that Allah will hold politicians accountable for their promises (Qur'an 17: 34) even if nobody else does and that they will receive double punishment in Al-Qiyamah (the Hereafter) for deceiving the people (Qur'an 33: 67-68).  Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE US

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE US:   We are surprised at the rate of incidents of Islamophobia in the United States. Hate crimes are rising. Hate graffiti are inscribed on mosques. Petrol bombs have been thrown inside some mosques and it has resulted in fire in some cases. We have followed these developments in recent years with keen interest. Already, 16 states in the United States are considering placing a ban on Shariah. The governments in these 16 states believe that Salat (Muslim mode of worship) is Shariah!   Nothing can be more ridiculous. How can anyone equate Salat with Shariah in this jet age? America is tampering with Allah-given and fundamental rights of Muslims. We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) counsel against an official declaration of hostility against Muslims in the United States. It is a bad wind that will blow nobody no good. It stands in contradistinction with America's avowed stand on liberty and human rights. It portrays those of us who are advocates of dialogue, non-violence and peaceful coexistence as shortsighted while it raises the banner of radicals and terrorists.   MURIC frowns upon the idea of 'no fly list' targeting Muslim individuals unless where such lists are made public. We also denounce the practice of rendition whereby Muslims are kidnapped in foreign countries and flown elsewhere to face inhuman treatment in the hands of security agencies of the United States. We therefore advise Muslims to avoid traveling to the United States without full guarantee of their safety and protection.   Finally, we urge Muslim groups hostile to the United States and the rest of the Western world to suspend hostilities and to open their doors for fresh diplomacy. True Islam must build without destroying. Islam gives hope, not frustration; light, not darkness; life, not death. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace