Friday 20 July 2012

Ramadan: The Season Of Mercy رمضان: موسم الرحمة


There is no better time to start making positive changes in our lives than this blessed month!

Ramadan is a Muslim's recurring opportunity for spiritual enhancement and soul redemption. It is also an annual exercise in self-control and self-restraint, but above all, it is a physical manifestation of our total submission and obedience to Allah Almighty. Because of this submission and obeying of His order, the Muslim fasts, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual intercourse during the days from just before sunrise until sunset of Ramadan that normally lasts for 30 days. This is the physical aspect of fasting. By nightfall, the spiritual aspects take over, because while eating, drinking, and sexual relationship between spouses are permitted during night time, the Muslim then engages in prayers that take him/her deep into the night. It is a well-balanced program that lifts the spirit, strengthens the resolve, and asserts Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) as no other act of worship can.

There is no better time to start making positive changes in our lives than this blessed month. In Ramadan, many good things occur: the rewards are multiplied, the devils are chained, the gates of Hellfire are closed, and the gates of Paradise are opened. Every night of Ramadan, Allah redeems believers from the pains of Hellfire. It is the month of mercy, repentance, and charity

Don't let another Ramadan pass you by, make use of this one - you never know whether you will be here for the next one.


Thursday 19 July 2012

Federal judge: New Tennessee Mosque To Open For Ramadan


The Justice Department asked a federal court to clear the way for a Tennessee mosque to open in time for Ramadan.
The Justice Department asked a federal court to clear the way for a Tennessee mosque to open in time for Ramadan.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell orders Rutherford County to conduct a final inspection
  • Campbell ordered the county to conduct an inspection by Thursday
  • Campbell's ruling came the same day the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit
  • A fierce debate over the opening of the mosque began in 2010
(CNN) -- A federal judge ordered a Tennessee county to conduct a final inspection of a new mosque, clearing the way for worshippers to possibly begin using the building in time for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Thursday.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell is the latest development in a two-year battle over the opening of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, near Nashville, that has been marked by legal challenges and anti-Muslim sentiment.


"If the building complies with applicable codes and regulations, the County shall issue, on or before July 19, 2012, the certificate of occupancy," Campbell wrote Wednesday in his order granting a temporary restraining order against the county.

Campbell's ruling effectively set aside a ruling by a county judge in June that reversed a planning commission's approval of the Islamic Center's expansion because of what he said was insufficient public notice.

Attorneys for the county have said it followed the normal practice of publishing notice of the hearing in the local newspaper, but the judge said more should have been done because the mosque was "an issue of major importance to citizens."

The U.S. Justice Department and the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro filed separate lawsuits this week, arguing that Rutherford County officials violated federal laws when they denied requests for a final inspection and certificate of occupancy for the mosque.

The Justice Department is accusing Rutherford County of violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 by holding the mosque to a different standard than other religious institutions built in the county. The Islamic Center argued that it was being unconstitutionally blocked "merely because local anti-Islamic protests have made the mosque controversial."

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has existed for more than a decade, but the fight erupted in 2010 when planning commissioners approved an expansion project.

The construction site had been vandalized multiple times, including by an arson attack in 2010, and federal authorities have charged a Texas man with calling in a bomb threat to the center before last year's anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

"Not welcome" was spray-painted by vandals on a sign announcing the construction of the project.