Killing the innocent is unacceptable in Islam

If anyone killed a person – unless it is for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind. (Q5:32).
THIS expression is very instructive from the glorious Quran, which some misguided element in the country has jettisoned to pursue their devilish ideology that does not exist in Al- Islam.
The provocative killing of innocent souls, whatsoever, must be condemned by all, if we must live in this world in tandem with the teaching and practice of our religious belief that says that we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Anybody who feels that injustices have been perpetrated against him or her should find a civilised way of seeking redress in a competent court of law.
Nobody in this world has a monopoly of violence but men of ideas and responsibility have to exercise restraint not to aggravate the existing bestiality that we are witnessing in the Northern part of the country based on the fact that they do not want to rock the boat of a country that has potentials to be one of the best economies in the world.
The fact has to be reiterated to my brothers in this religion of Al Islam that we are allowing criminals to put us in defence on what our religion do not tolerate and we have to speak out en mass to condemn this callous activity of a tiny segment of the society. In the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that if there is ill in the society, if you cannot speak out to condemn it, use your hands and heart to correct it. There is no justification whatsoever for anybody to attack places of worship, not to talk of killing human souls. The scripture is clear of those who commit suicide and those who kill fellow human beings that they will never find the favour of the Almighty in the hereafter. Lack of correct education in our religion has created a room for all sorts of characters to indoctrinate and imbue worshippers with lies and fallacy which cannot be substantiated in the religion of Al Islam.
We should not allow 00.2 per cent of the population to gang us and create fear and anxiety in our system, which made us to be trembling in our abode. We have to stand up and say to their face that they are creating mischief in the country and they are not Muslims as prescribed by the glorious Quran 2:256 “let there be no compulsion in religion; truly the right has become clearly distinct from error …. And Allah is hearing, knowing” The effective application of wisdom, persuasive preaching and logical argumentation are scripturally prescribed rules of engagement and proselytisation (Da’wah) in Islam.
Imams in all mosques must continue to emphasise the sanctity of life as prescribed by the glorious Quran 5:32 and relate the story of Prophet Muhammad’s support to Christians during his time by vacating the mosque for them to worship (Ibn e Saad and Ibn Hisham). Islam encourages its adherents to strive for the enthronement of goodness and repulsion of evil in every circumstances and accommodate plurality of creeds, ideologies and philosophies, which in itself is a manifestation of divine will as expressed in Quran 10:99 “ And if your Lord had pleased, surely all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them; will you then force men till they become believers?”
The cowardly actions have put many innocent families in grief and paralysed human activities in some part of the country. This grievous destruction will continue to hurt this part of the country in future. Thousands have been rendered jobless because of their uninformed mind and madness, which cannot be substantiated in the scripture and teaching of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
I now agree with the analysis of experts that poverty breeds all sorts of behaviour, which is now manifesting in the society. The blame of this problem lies with past and present leaders of our country, particularly Northern leaders, who had refused to encourage Western education alongside Islamic education, which many Muslims have embraced to put their wards in comfortable positions to reason logically and not to be swayed by illiterate scholars parading themselves under the guise of salvation from both the hypocritical evangelical Christian clerics and lazy Mallams, who continue to ignore the fact that religion is a private matter.
We have neglected history to our peril and continue to make the same mistakes not to allow our children to study history of religion development, could have might has placed them in good stead to know that worship is for the development of the society, and not the precarious evocation of sentiment to swell the number of members of a particular religion. The act of congregating was evolved to create companionship and co-operation for the mutual development, not the present penchant for wealth and material accumulation we are witnessing today.
This had led members of the society to be selfish, self centered and greedy, accumulating wealth the of the commonwealth to the detriment of the have-nots. We have neglected the basic things of the society to pursue mundane things. We forget that it is the responsibility of the whole society to train and inculcate norms and values in the younger ones, so that they will be able to be conform to the cause of the society.
We have allowed religious activities to kill our creativity and ideas that would have been beneficial to the whole society. Instead of critical thinking to solve societal problems, we pursue spiritual solutions to individual problems by congregating in churches and mosques 18 hours of the day. How do we realise that things are going wrong within our vicinity?
We have to examine the way we worship God and do evangelism in order to find time to look critically at our way of life and how to improve productive sector that will enable us create jobs and wealth for the benefit of all. We must sieve sentiments in all ramifications from our interaction and decision making for the progress of the country.

Kazeem writes in from Abuja.

Slay not related to Luisita - Palace

MANILA, Philippines - The killing of Dutch missionary and environmentalist Willem Geertman on Tuesday had nothing to do with the victim’s advocacy in assisting the farmers of Hacienda Luisita, Malacañang said yesterday.

“It doesn’t appear to be so,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

Lacierda said police authorities in Pampanga are investigating the incident, following the directive of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said they would look into all possible angles.

Geertman, executive director of Alay Bayan Inc. (ABI), was shot by two unidentified men a few meters from his office in Barangay Telebastagan, San Fernando, Pampanga at noon Tuesday. The 67-year-old Dutch missionary was reportedly assisting farm workers in Hacienda Luisita in his capacity as an official of ABI, which is an affiliate of the Alyansang Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), the mother unit of the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid ng Asyenda Luisita (Ambala).

The hacienda is owned by President Aquino’s family.

Police initially described the killing of Geertman as a robbery as gunmen took a bag of cash he was carrying.

Militant groups, however, rejected the police theories, saying the military could be behind the murder.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Generoso Cerbo said police would carefully examine all evidence, even as the military denied allegations it was responsible.

“In due time, we will discover the true motive and later, we will see who are the perpetrators,” Cerbo said.

A journalist who reportedly witnessed the killing cited a seeming pattern in the elimination of environmental advocates in Central Luzon.

Fred Villareal, vice chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Pampanga chapter, claimed the killing of Geertman could be related to the murder of Waldo Palispis, a former Commission on Elections (Comelec) officer and member of the militant Bayan Muna party-list group, in Aurora over the weekend.

Villareal said that days before the killing of Geertman, they talked about Palispis. He said Geertman and Palispis shared an advocacy on the protection and conservation of the environment.

Geertman reportedly aired his concern over the killing of Palispis.

“He asked me whether I had heard about the killing. He said he had worked closely with Palispis in the campaign against mining and illegal logging in Aurora province,” Villareal said. “I hope I am wrong, but there seem to be a pattern in all of these.”

Villareal said he was disappointed with the initial police report that said Geertman’s was a case of robbery with homicide.

Villareal said he was at the terrace of the ABI trying to email a story from his computer when he heard men shouting below.

“I thought they were just kids joking with each other but when I looked, there was a man holding a gun while Willem was on his knees,” he said.

After seeing Geertman fatally shot, Villareal said he tried to follow the suspects but was stopped when one of them pointed a gun at him.

Villareal said the suspects could have followed Geertman from the bank before he was shot dead. He could not recall, however, seeing the gunman flee with any bag or envelope that could have been taken from Geertman.

“He was about to enter the office when the two suspects arrived and immediately pointed their gun at him. If the bag (of Geertman) was the target, they could have carted it off easily without resistance because he immediately raised both his hands in surrender,” Villareal said.

Despite this, Villareal said one of the suspects forced Geertman to kneel and then shot him in the back “in the manner of execution.”

Robbery

San Fernando City police chief Senior Superintendent Chito Magnaye said the initial investigation showed Geertman was a victim of robbery. Magnaye said Geertman’s bag, reportedly containing P1.2 million, was taken by the gunmen.

Magnaye though stressed the real motive of the killing has yet to be established.

PNP spokesman Cerbo said a task force was created to investigate the murder of Geertman.

“We are hoping to solve the case as soon as possible. The SITG (special investigation task group) will be in addition to the regular police unit in coordination with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Intelligence Group to be able to orchestrate a systematic police investigation,” Cerbo said.

Cerbo, however, said investigators are still clueless on the motive but there was indication that Geertman was a victim of robbery.

“Reports had it that the victim has just withdrawn the money from a bank, so it could be robbery. Another information indicated that the attack could have something to do with his work. We will look into all possible angles,” Cerbo said.

“With the SITG created by the Pampanga police, in due time we will be able to establish the motive and the people behind the attack,” Cerbo said.

Lacierda, on the other hand, took note that a closed circuit TV was in the area, which some residents confirmed had been installed by homeowners.

“There’s a recorded vehicle, there’s a CCTV and they have footage. (Police) are just in the process of identifying the vehicle and the assailants,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda expressed optimism the crime would be solved, saying CCTV had caught footage of the suspects’ getaway car.

The CCTV footage reportedly showed several men in a red Mitsubishi Galant car and a motorcycle following Geertman’s Isuzu pickup on the way to the bank where the victim withdrew cash.

The CCTV also apparently recorded the escape of the two suspects on board a motorcycle.

“Men who said they were police investigators borrowed the tape soon after the shooting and said they would return it in the evening,” one resident said.

Roman Polintan, chairman of the Bayan Muna in Central Luzon, said the tape had not been returned even as Magnaye denied police investigators already had custody of the footage.

“I really would like to see that tape as it would help in the investigation,” Magnaye said.

The usual suspects

Polintan claimed Geertman had been at odds with the military over his environmental advocacies in various parts of Luzon, particularly in Aurora province.

“ABI is involved in pro-poor projects, including environmental, disaster relief and rehabilitation concerns all over Luzon,” he said.

Polintan quoted witnesses as saying that during a recent meeting in Ma. Aurora town, Aurora, a military officer accused Geertman and his staff of being fronts for the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“He demanded the military officer (to) take back the allegation,” he said.

Environment advocates expressed outrage over the killing of Geertman. “Environmentalists are fast becoming an endangered species.”

The group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) claimed a total of 58 environmental advocates in the country have fallen victim to various human rights violations from 2001 to 2012. They cited the murder of Palawan environmentalist Gerry Ortega and botanist Leonard Co.

The group said Geertman is the 17th environmental advocate killed during the two-year Aquino administration.

Kalikasan-PNE national coordinator Clemente Bautista said Geertman was a very active advocate against large-scale mining in Pampanga and Zambales provinces.

“The military forces in the area should be immediately investigated as there are several complaints and records of their involvement in human rights violations against anti-mining activists like Geertman,” he said.

He said Geertman arrived in the Philippines 46 years ago as a Dutch missionary and eventually dedicated himself to land rights and environmental protection issues and concerns in Luzon, particularly forest protection in Aurora, Pampanga and Zambales against logging and mining.

The military, on the other hand, described as irresponsible the allegations that they were behind the murder of Geertman.

Army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said soldiers are not engaged in extrajudicial killing but are actively coordinating with various human right groups in stopping these criminal activities.

“That is an irresponsible accusation which is not based on evidence. If they have proof that our soldiers are behind this killing, we will not hesitate to let the accused soldiers answer the charges in a court of law,” Cabunoc said.

- With Dino Balabo, Ding Cervantes, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mayen Jaymalin, Jaime Laude, Rhodina Villanueva, Evelyn Macairan, Jose Rodel Clapano, Ric Sapnu

11 killed in Iraq attacks

A car bomb blamed on al Qaeda at a market in central Iraq killed eight people on Wednesday and three others were murdered in Baghdad, the latest in a spike in unrest ahead of Shia rituals. The violence came a day after a series of attacks across Iraq, the bloodiest of which was also blamed on al Qaeda's front group in Iraq, killed 38 amid preparations for ceremonies on Friday to commemorate the birth of a key figure in Shia Islam. 

In Wednesday's deadliest attack, a car bombing in the town of Zubaidiyah at 9:15 am (0615 GMT) killed eight people and wounded 37 others, a security official and a medic at a hospital in nearby Aziziyah said on condition of anonymity. The medical official said a child was among the dead, and women and children were among the wounded. 

"This explosion bears the fingerprints of al Qaeda, and the followers of Saddam," provincial governor Mehdi Hussein al-Zubaidi told AFP, referring to now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein. Zubaidi's remarks echoed those of the governor of Diwaniyah province a day earlier, after it suffered a massive truck bomb that left 26 dead. About a dozen shops were badly damaged by the Zubaidiyah bombing, an AFP correspondent at the scene said, adding that security officials imposed a vehicle curfew on the town in the aftermath of the attack. 

In Baghdad, a series of assassinations by gunmen using silenced pistols left three people dead - two police officers and a parliament official. In one shooting, policewoman Ibtisam Ibrahim was killed by gunshots to the head in the east of the capital, an interior ministry official and a medic at Al-Kindi hospital said. In west Baghdad, off-duty police First Lieutenant Ahmed Swadi, who was wearing civilian clothes, was killed, the interior ministry official and a doctor at Yarmuk hospital said. 

Eight killed in Afghan bombing

Kabul, July 2 — At least Eight people were killed and 23 injured when a suicide car bomb went off in Afghanistan's Kandahar city Monday, said an official.

"Based on initial reports from the police, eight civilians were killed and 23 others injured in the suicide car bomb attack near the Kandahar University building Monday evening," Xinhua quoted a provincial government spokesperson as saying.

He expected the casualties to rise.

Afghan official: 7 killed in suicide attack

Kabul - An Afghan provincial official says a suicide car bomber has killed seven people and wounded 23 near Kandahar University in southern Afghanistan.
Ahmad Javed Faisal said the Monday attack occurred near the gates of the university. He said all those killed and wounded were civilians.
Faisal had no other details and did not know what the bomber was targeting.
Attacks in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, have been increasing recently.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Man killed by Amtrak train near Cashmere

CASHMERE, Wash. —

An Amtrak train headed to Seattle killed a man Monday on a bridge over the Wenatchee River near Cashmere.

Chelan County sheriff's Operations Chief John Wisemore says the man was hit after 6 a.m. near the center of the trestle by the train going about 40 mph.

Wisemore told The Wenatchee World ( http://is.gd/sNV01c) he was a Cashmere man in his 60s. His car was parked nearby at a state Department of Fish and Wildlife public fishing site.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas (mel-OWN'-us) says more than 20 trains a day use the bridge. The track was closed four hours for the investigation, delaying three freight trains.

Melonas says six people trespassing on BNSF tracks have been killed this year in Washington. More than 20 were killed last year.

Ex-astronaut killed in water scooter crash in Fla

ORLANDO, Fla. - (AP) -- A former NASA astronaut who commanded space shuttle Discovery's second-to-last mission died after a water scooter crash involving his sons near Pensacola Beach.

Capt. Alan Poindexter, 50, died Sunday after a scooter driven by his 26-year-old son, Zachary, collided into the back of a water scooter that the former astronaut was riding.

"They were both moving and for some reason Capt. Poindexter stopped his watercraft and Zachary for some reason didn't see him stop," said Stan Kirkland, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Zachary's watercraft went up and struck Capt. Poindexter."

Another son, 22-year-old Samuel, was on Poindexter's scooter. They were thrown into the water. A boat picked up Poindexter and took him to shore. He was talking and complaining about rib injuries but he lost consciousness and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The accident happened in a bay between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach in Florida's Panhandle where Poindexter had been vacationing. His family has close ties to the area. His wife, Lisa, is from Gulf Breeze, and Poindexter reported to flight training in Pensacola after college.

No charges were filed, Kirkland said, and an exact cause of death would be determined by the medical examiner.

After retiring from NASA in December 2010, six months before the shuttle program ended, Poindexter took a job as dean of students at the Naval Postgraduate School where he had graduated in 1995.

School spokesman Alan Richmond did not immediately comment.

Poindexter was selected to be in the astronaut corps in 1998. He flew on his first mission a decade later when he was a pilot aboard Atlantis' mission to install the Columbus laboratory at the international space station. He commanded Discovery's second-to-last flight in April 2010, a mission to resupply the space station.

The shuttle program ended in July 2011.

The astronaut's father is retired Navy Adm. John Poindexter, national security adviser under President Reagan. Poindexter was born in Pasadena, Calif., but grew up in Coronado, Calif.

During a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Poindexter said he was inspired to be an astronaut while studying at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the 1980s.

Poindexter became a naval aviator in 1988 and he made two deployments to the Arabian Gulf during Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch. He worked as a test pilot before he was selected to become an astronaut in 1998.

Five millionth 'test tube baby'

Five million "test tube babies" have now been born around the world, according to research presented at a conference of fertility experts.

Delegates hailed it as a "remarkable milestone" for fertility treatments.

The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in the UK in July 1978. Her mother Leslie Brown died last month.

However, delegates at the conference in Turkey warned couples not to use fertility treatment as an "insurance policy" if they delayed parenthood.

The International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Icmart) presented its latest data on children born to infertile parents at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference.

It said official figures up to 2008, plus three years of estimates, put the total number of test tube babies born at five million.

Milestone

Icmart chairman Dr David Adamson said: "This technology has been highly successful in treating infertile patients. Millions of families with children have been created, thereby reducing the burden of infertility.

"The technology has improved greatly over the years to increase pregnancy rates."

About 1.5 million cycles of IVF, and similar techniques, are performed every year, resulting in 350,000 babies, Icmart said.

Stuart Lavery, a consultant gynaecologist and director of IVF at Hammersmith Hospital, said: "IVF is now part of the mainstream, it is no longer something couples are ashamed of."

However, he cautioned that the great success of assisted reproduction techniques should not lull people into thinking they could wait to have children.

"The subtext is that if people delay childbirth they may view IVF as an insurance policy that they can access at any stage.

"Unfortunately the facts still suggest that IVF success rates in women as they get older are not fantastic."

Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "I think it's significant that we've got to five million. It's far more socially acceptable than it has been over the last 10 or 20 years.

"One word of warning, we should make sure that couples understand that IVF isn't a guaranteed solution and if they're in a position to have their children earlier in life then they should try and do that.

"IVF really is something that should be preserved for those people who really need it."