By Alex Lopatka, Silver Spring MD

We have all heard the dire warnings about sea levels rising to unprecedented heights if the Greenland ice sheet is allowed to melt. What you may have not know is that Greenland doesn’t seem to care.At the end of August, Greenland wanted to be represented by the G77. Denmark has been the sovereign nation for Greenland since 1979, but now Greenland wants to be free so it can be a better candidate for oil investors and a potential location for a U.S. aluminum smelting plant.

The G77/China has countries that are committed to reducing emissions to varying degrees. China, India, and Brazil have all said before that they are committed to emissions reductions. Other countries represented by the G77, such as Tuvalu, Maldives, and other small-island nations, have issued frantic warnings that their nations will cease to exist if emissions are not reduced soon.

The G77/China has an ambitious agenda that clearly clashes with Greenland’s nationalistic goals. The G77/China should not hold out a welcoming hand because Greenland simply wants a stronger voice so it can stimulate a “dirty-energy” economy.

Greenland certainly deserves a strong, stable economy like the rest of the world, but allowing coal-intensive industries to move to Greenland will only accelerate the rate of melting ice. Greenland, like other nations should certainly not be penalized for its geographic location, but the fate of millions is in the hands of the Greenland ice.

In order to have a safe and ethical world, developed countries need to invest in alternative energy and sustainable development in Greenland. Developed countries can get a return on their investment, and Greenland will have the economy it needs.

Republic of MALDIVES

stamp: 2 larei

year: 1973

mammal: bat – Pteropus

Maldives photo of desert tropical island at Haddumatti Atoll

http://www.dreamingofmaldives.com

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new global version of Amazon’s Kindle for Christmas, be aware that there are still quite a few places that the global version will NOT work.  I was disappointed to find that the new version still will not work in my country.

Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.   I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in (below).

It’s also interesting to note the PATTERN of groups of countries where the Kindle doesn’t work–some countries probably lack satellite coverage or delivery systems, while others probably don’t WANT readers to be able to download whatever they want by satellite.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka,  Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S.,  Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009) the following countries:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan,  Yemen.

We voted for you in good faith
Hoping for a change that would impact our lives in a good way
Understanding the fact that the road ahead would be, not an easy one
Knowing that there would be many a hurdles to cross
And of course the corrupt disciples of the 30 year regime to deal with
We rejoiced when the movement for change finally won
Trusting you to turn our country around, no matter how difficult a job it may be
At first, the power hungry souls remained silent
Waiting and watching for signs
Readying to move in for the kill
At times the allegations border on the line of ridicule
And one year on
The voice of the opposition seems to grow stronger
While your voice seems to move,
further & further away..
Leaving us barely clutching at straws
To justify to ourselves, why we voted for this change
Many a time we wish
That your actions spoke louder than words
And let awareness be created amongst the citizens
Unless giving armor to the opposition
is the life of good governance,
Because its high time dear gov.mv
That you learn,
Silence is not always golden!

Luxury resort operator Six Senses Resorts & Spas has opened 2 new dining concepts at the Soneva Gili by Six Senses, Maldives. The Bar is a new outlet situated on the resort’s lagoon while Sense by the Sea offers intimate dining with breathtaking sea views.

The Bar

Floating across the resort’s lagoon, The Bar seats 20 guests who can choose to arrive by platform boat, kayaking or swimming. The outlet features 4 sunken glass-bottomed dining tables, allowing guests to enjoy views of tropical marine life and coral amidst the clear waters of the Maldives. The Bar offers a selection of tropical cocktails throughout the day accompanied by snacks and light meals such as seafood salads, sushi, imported meats and lobster casseroles.

Sense by the Sea

Helmed by Chef Santini De Los Santos, the resort’s resident Peruvian chef who trained under Japanese-born Peruvian Chef  Toshiro Konishi, Sense by the Sea offers fusion cusine blending Asian, European, Japanese and Peruvian flavours. Focusing on the abundance of fresh ingredients available in the Maldives, the culinary team has created a tasting menu of signature dishes paired with a fine selection of Japanese sakes and wines from Argentina and Chile. The restaurant also features a sushi bar and open kitchen station where guests can witness live cooking demonstrations when not taking in the panoramic ocean views.

Located on Lankanfushi Island on the North Male Atoll, Soneva Gili by Six Senses has 45 stilted, over-water villas, including 7 Crusoe Residences and The Private Reserve accessible only by boat. Each villa has been crafted in a traditional style using natural materials with private water gardens and sun decks. The resort also features the group’s signature Six Senses Spa.

For more information, visit www.sixsenses.com.

I just discovered this delightfully-entertaining, half-hour episode comedy series about a diverse group of Muslims, set in a small Canadian town on on the prairie.  The 20-minute video above is the first episode.

The diverse group of Muslims in the town have the same disagreements among themselves that different groups of Muslims have in their own home countries, or even that different Muslim countries have with each other (between conservative and liberal views of Islam)–but all in an entertaining way.  Of course everyone in the town misunderstands things, in the same ways people misunderstand in real life.

Try this first video.  It’s a very cleverly done Canadian sitcom, filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and Indian Head, Saskatchewan.   The first episode (above) was filmed in Regina.  Little Mosque is the most popular sitcom in Canada and has been syndicated in France, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Turkey, Israel, the West Bank, and African countries.  It is light-hearted, and family-oriented.  Expats who have lived in Muslim countries will especially enjoy this humorous series!

Links to all Little Mosque on the Prairie episodes (Seasons 1 – 4) can be viewed HERE (scroll down the page).   The links are free.

I am sure it will come as no surprise to any unbiased person that there never was any Jaariya in the case which has been making the headlines for this past few months. The secularists and hypocrites fabricated this story then promoted it in order to attack Islam and sadly many people fell for their lies. The 17 year old woman in question is in fact married and not a concubine or sex slaves as the liars claimed and Islamically there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

The story was broken (fabricated?) by Hilath Rasheed on his blog. It is quite sad that anyone would believe what this man says in relation to Islam as he is always looking for ways to attack the religion, doing this under the guise of attacking “extremism”. Hopefully those who where eager to believe this will learn a lesson and will take in to account the words of Allah:

O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.
Surah AL-HUJRAAT 49:06

But of course there are always those who are not really interested in the truth of the matter but rather how the matter can further their own agendas. This was seen amongst some of those who took up this story and spread it. Azima Shukoor used this issue to score political points at a rally and this was when it became public so to speak.

Of course the munafiq Saleem was not going to let the issue slip and so his anti Islamic commission pushed it and claimed that they had proof that there was in fact a Jarriya. This man will stop at nothing in his assault on Islam and again he has been shown to have lied in this crusade – as there was no Jaariya to begin with then their claim that they have proof of one cannot be anything other than a lie. How can such a commission have any credibility?

What is most sad however is that a young pregnant woman and her family have been put through a lot of stress and their address has even been made public by the secularist media. Those who claimed to be doing this for the girl in question don’t give a damn about her. They used her and this issue to attack Islam and the Islamic marriage.

Of course rather than admit they where wrong many of these people are again on the offensive saying marriage to a 17 year old girl is child abuse. What nonsense. Do these people believe the Prophet (SAW) and most of the Sahaba where “child abusers”? Of course most of them can’t and won’t answer this as it will show them as hypocrites. But what about the vast majority of countries in the world which have an age of consent under 18? Does Britain legalise child abuse? The USA? France? Australia? etc etc.

The hypocrites will never be happy with Islam and they will always attack it because they hate the truth. But no matter what they do Allah will protect this religion:

They wish to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will not agree except that He will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers detest it.
Surah At Tawba 9:32

The Maldives is a popular holiday destination for travelers across the world and has so much to offer. The tranquil beauty of the Maldives is refreshing and breathtaking for those looking for an awesome experience for their holiday. From thrilling water sports to walking on gorgeous shore lines, Maldives is actually a destination for everyone.

Out of a long list of its tourist attraction, mentioned below are some of the best places to visit when holidaying in the Maldives:

Male

Capital city of the Maldives, Male is a remarkable tourist attraction and is situated near to the airport. Often, tourists and visitors holidaying in the Maldives travel to Male to shop for local handicrafts or visit the magnificent national museum that holds a collection of beautiful artifacts, including Palanquins and Sultanese thrones and various mosques.

Grand Friday Mosque

Biggest mosque in the whole of the Maldives, Grand Friday Mosque is a major tourist attraction due to its architecture and design of bygone times. Constructed in the year 1656 by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar, the mosque is worth visiting on a holiday in the Maldives. With a popular Islamic centre and a capacity for 5000 people, the Grand Friday Mosque is a prideful attraction. Even if you are not very religious, you must visit this mosque for its unique coral engravings and tombs of national heroes.

Esjehi Art Gallery

This tourist attraction is an art gallery situated in the capital city, on the eastern side of Sultan Park. Located in one of the oldest buildings, the gallery is quite a treat for art lovers as it preserves, promotes and presents artwork (traditional and modern)of local people. In spite of being a small gallery, the place holds various workshops for Maldive artists and has a decent collection of art, which makes it worth visiting during your holiday in the Maldives.

Maldives Fish Market

Situated on the north side of the Male waterfront, The Fish Market of is a crowded tourist attraction. Tourist, visitors and locals are found shopping for vegetables, fresh fruits, dried fish, tuna and many other such fish variety. The uniqueness of the market is its cleanliness. When holidaying in the Maldives, do visit this market for its commercial activities.

Beaches in the Maldives

No holiday in the Maldives is complete without its beaches, which is why lots of tourist and visitors head first to its exotic and vivid beaches. The Maldives has numerous beaches with breathtaking beauty and lots of water activities. Most of the Maldives tourism depends on its beaches and resorts. Some of these beaches are the beaches of Sun Island, Paradise Island, Royal Island Resorts, Fuammulak and many more. When on a holiday in the Maldives, the best way to enjoy a vacation is to go for its beaches and activities such as parasailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing and windsurfing.

Best time to holiday in Maldives

The Maldives is a year round holiday destination, but the ideal time for a holiday would be December to April.

In a letter to Minivan News and also on their blog the Madkhali sect in the Maldives (know locally as the Super Salafis [SS]) have attacked the Mujahideen and those who wage Jihad in the Path of Allah.

I will reply here to some of the points which they raised, not in the hope of persuading that they are wrong as these are the people of Taqleed (blind following) but rather to illustrate to others they deviant beliefs and methodology of this group. I will not go into too much detail for fear of making the article too long, however I will provide some links for those who seek to read further on this issue.

The letter begins:

Ahlul-athar.net expresses their utter disgust at any acts of extremism and terrorism committed by the Khawaarij and the likes, those that of Al-Qaedah and their ilk.

The Madkhalis make vague statements which hope to appeal to peoples emotions rather than address the actual situation of what is occurring in the world and what Islam has to say about this. They begin by comparing Al Qaeda to the khawarij and this is something which has absolutely no basis whatsoever and rather it is mere rhetoric on their part.

They know that the Muslims hate the khawarij and recognise them as extremist deviants and so they hope that by labelling the Mujahideen as khawarij they will transfer the peoples hate onto the Mujahideen. This is also a tactic of other deviant groups such as the sufis and modernists, but is there any truth to the claim?

To be considered part of any sect such as the khawarij then one has to adopt all the major principles of that sect and this was pointed out by Imam Shatibi in Al-I’etisam and it is also common sense. So to be considered khawarij a group must adopt the major principles of the khawarij which are two:

• The khawarij rebelled against Ali and they rebel against legitimate Muslim rulers (i.e. those ruling by the Sharia)

• The khawarij make takfeer of those who commit major sins and say that such a person should be killed as an apostate. For example if someone drunk alcohol then it is the belief of the khawarij sect that that person should be killed as an apostate. They also make takfeer for those who commit repeated minor sins.

There are also many minor principles of the khawarij such as the fact that they deny the punishment of the grave. So to be considered part of this sect one must at least adopt both major principles above, yet Al Qaeda adopts none of these!  Allah says in the Quran:

Present your evidence if you are truthful
Surah Al Baqarah 2:111

So can the Madkhalis show us where Al Qaeda have adopted both these principles? The actions and statements of that group have been recorded in minute detail and so if this claim against them is true then it would be simple to prove, it would merely take a google search.

Of course no doubt they will say that Al Qaeda and other Mujahideen have rebelled against Al Saud and other regimes in the Muslim world and so the first principle applies to them. We know that the Prophet (SAW) forbade us rebelling against a legitimate Muslim ruler even if he was a tyrant and this is something we follow. But this is depended upon the leader ruling by the Sharia. Whoever rules by other than the Sharia is an apostate and there is no obedience due to him.

The Madkhali have taken something which is in fact in the Quran and Sunnah (obedience to the ruler) and distorted it by removing from it the condition that the ruler must rule by the Sharia. Anyone familiar with them will know that this is a common tactic they use (distorting actual texts) which sets them apart and makes them more dangerous than many other sects who simply oppose what is in the Quran and Sunnah.

The Madkhali will tell you that they follow Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Kathir yet both of these scholars have told us that we must rebel against the ruler who even changes one law of the Sharia and I have pointed this out in previous posts but I will provide these quotations once more:

Ibn Kathir  said in his Tafseer of the Quran:

“Allah denounces whoever renounces the Laws of Allah which are leading to all good and forbidding all evil, and sways away from it to Man-Made opinions and wishes and terms that Man put without reference to Shari’ah, as was the case with the kings of the Mongols who ruled with laws that were introduced by their king Genghis Khan that he put together in the “Yasaq”, which is a book that uses some of Jewish, Christian and Islamic Laws, and some of his own opinions, then these laws became the constitution for his successors to follow instead of the Shari’ah and the Sunnah of the Prophet . So, whoever does such a thing is a Kafir and it is an obligation to fight him until he goes back to Shari’ah, and rule according to it in small and large matters”.

and Sheikh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said:

Every group which leaves, changes, or refuses to implement any agreed upon, undisputed law of Islaam, whether it is these people or others, must be fought until they adhere to ALL the laws of Islaam. This is the rule even if they pronounce the Shahaadatayn and adhere to some of the Islaamic laws, as Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq and the Sahaabah(radiAllaahu anhum) waged war on those who withheld the Zakaah.

So if it is based on this issue alone that they call Al Qaeda Khawaarij then do they(The Madkhalis) also claim that Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Kathir where Khawaarij? What about Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen who they make taqleed of on many issues and expect others to blindly follow  as well? Ibn Uthaymeen said that it is correct to rebel aganst many of the Muslim governments today:

so is he Khawaarij also?

On the second issue of making takfeer of the one who commits a major sin then there is no evidence that the Mujahideen have done this and as far as I am aware no one has even made the claim that they do. If the people of taqleed have evidence to the contrary then they should present it, otherwise they should desist from trying to slander those who are fighting in the path of Allah.

The letter continues:

Such unjustified outbursts of wanton violence are against Islam and Islam does not ever justify kidnappings, suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism.

Unjustified? Are these people so blind and misguided that they do not believe that there is justification for the attacks which they mujahideen carry out upon the crusaders and apostates?

Over one million Iraqis have been killed by the enemies of Islam since the begining of the occupation. Half a million children died in the decade proceeding this as a result of UN sanctions. Every week we hear of innocent Muslims being slaughtered in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya, Philippines, Thailand, China, Pakistan and numerous other countries throughout the world. Our people are being slaughtered, imprisoned, raped, tortured and all this because they say La Ilaha Il Allah. SubhanAllah! Your hearts are closed if you do not feel pain at what is happening to this Ummah and if you see no justification for the actions of the Mujahideen. Rather than attack the kuffar you attack those who are fighting them, those who are defending Islam and defending the Muslims.

As for the actions which you raise(kidnappings, suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism) then let us look at them.

Firstly upon the issue of terrorism I say that you have lied. Not only does Islam justify terrorism but calls us to terrorise our enemies:

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.

Surah An Anfal 8:60

So Allah orders us to terrorise our enemies and the Madkhalis tell us there is no terrorism in Islam. Clearly they have denied part of the book in doing so.

Of course they may be talking of terrorism in the sense that the west defines it, that is targeting civilians. If that is what they are talking about then I must urge them to stick to the Islamic definition of words rather than adopting meanings given to them by the kuffar as this is not the way of the Muslims.

But even this kind of terrorism is not against Islam. It is certainly true that the Prophet (SAW) forbade the targeting of non combatants but there are cases in which this general rule does not apply. For example the Prophet (SAW) himself ordered that catapults be used against the people of a city knowing that this weapon does not discriminate between combatants and non combatants and non combatants would probably be killed.

When the kuffar kill our women and children then it is completely justified for us to retaliate by attacking their women and children. Allah said in the Quran:

Then whoever transgresses the prohibition against you, you transgress likewise against him. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is with the pious.
Surah Al Baqarah 2:194

Commenting on this issue (targeting civilians) Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen said:

The apparent [Thāhir] is that it is (permissible) for us to kill their women and children- even if it means that we lose profit/benefit from it [since keeping them alive is a profit/benefit because they become the property of the Muslims]; (and killing them in this situation is permissible) due to it threatening the hearts of the enemies and a humiliation for them.
And due to the generality of the Statement of Allāh:
ْمُكْيَلَع ىَدَتْعا اَم ِلْثِمِب ِهْيَلَع ْاوُدَتْعاَف ْمُكْيَلَع ىَدَتْعا ِنَمَف
“Then whoever transgresses the prohibition against you, you transgress likewise against him”
And to (purposely) destroy property (which could later belong) for the Muslims (by killing them in this case) is nothing strange.

And due to this, the baggage, the baggage of the one who steals from the Ghanīmah is burned, even though in that, there is the loss of some property of one the fighters.
Then if someone says:
‘If they rape our women then do we rape their women?’
No, this, no, no we do not do it.
Why? Because this is prohibited as a (whole) category [i.e. it is forbidden within itself], and it is not possible for us to do it.
Meaning, it is not forbidden out of respect for the rights of others [i.e. not because we are respecting their rights] – rather, because it is forbidden as a category [i.e. the action of ‘intercourse’]. So it is not permissible for us to rape their women.
But if the dividing (of the Ghanīmah) takes place, and the woman from them ends up as a slave woman, then she becomes property of the right hand. The person can have intercourse with her as a right hand possession, which is permissible and there is nothing wrong with this”
Later on, the Shaykh was asked about the fact that the women being killed are not the ones who killed our women, so is this justice? So he answered:
ْمُكْيَلَع ىَدَتْعا ِنَمَفْمُكْيَلَع ىَدَتْعا اَم ِلْثِمِب ِهْيَلَع ْاوُدَتْعاَف
“Then whoever transgresses the prohibition against you, you transgress likewise against him”
What is justice? Not at all. They kill our women, we kill their women. This is the justice. It’s not justice to say ‘if they kill our women we won’t kill your women.

Kitāb al-Jihād from Sharh Bulūgh al-Marām.

There are many other scholars who take this position. The reason I refer to Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen is because he is one of the Scholars who the Madkhalis blindly follow on many issues and one who the followers of this sect will respect, yet I would assume that most of them are not even aware of this position of the Sheikh. So given this opinion could we not conclude that in the very least there is a difference of opinion on this issue rather than saying that there is no justification whatsoever for it and saying it is against Islam. Is Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen against Islam?

On the issue of martyrdom operations which they refer to as “sucide bombs”, this is yet again an issue on which there is a difference of opinion. Many Scholars say that such attacks are justified under certain conditions, one of these Scholars being Sheikh Al Albani. His ruling:

The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy upon him, was asked:

“(A question) regarding modern day militant operations, there are some forces named, “Commandos” – and after this happening, the (Jewish) enemy represses the Muslims …. So these suicidal brigades wear explosives, and go to the tanks or such of the enemies, and then he gets killed… What’s the ruling regarding this, is this considered sucide, or something else?”

The Shaykh answered:

“This is not suicide. Becuase suicideis when a person kills himself to escape a hard life which he is going through. But as for this thing which you are asking about, this is not suicide – Rather, this is Jihad in the Path of Allah…..

But there is a note which should be considered – this type of action should not be carried out individually, or alone (based on ones own decisions). Rather, it should only be carried out according to the command of the leader of the Jaysh (i.e. Mujahideen)

So if the commander is not dependant upon the life of this Fida’i (self sacrificer), and the commander believes that even after losing this Mujahid, there is a great profit from another angle, meaning the killing of a large number of mushrikin and kuffar – then the decision is up to the commander, and it is obligatory (Wajib) to obey him. And this is (obligatory) even if the particular person (being ordered) does not want to do such an operation, it is still obligatory to obey him”

Questioner interrupts:

“So there is no problem in doing such?”

The Shaykh responds:

“No, there is no problem in doing such. We (the scholars) do not label this as “suicide”. And suicide is one of the worst sins which Islam has prohibited. No one does that, except one who is displeased with His Lord, and rejecting the Decree of Allah. And refuge is sought with Allah.

As for this (Mujahid), then he goes forth, as many of the As-Salaf As-Salih, and from amongst the Companions and those after them – used to go forth, plunging into the kuffar enemy, attacking them with his sword (alone), and used the sword against them , until they were killed, while they where patient and satisfed, because they believed that the Paradise are in front of them.

So what a difference there is! Between one who kills himself in this method of Jihad and one who escapes from a hard life by commiting suicide.

But if it is done haphazardly and one one’s own decision, then this goes under the warning of self destruction. But if it is done upon the command of the leader of army (of Mujahideen), the one who knows the realities of the battlefield, and its necessities, and its benefits, etc – then this is something permissable. No rather it is something virtuous”

- From “Silsilah Al Huda Wan Nur tape no. 134

And on the issue of kidnapping then we know that the Muslims have always taken hostages and when this occurs then their lives are in the hands of the Amir. Just because someone wants to label this as kidnapping and again resort to kuffar terminology does not make it forbidden and there are numerous examples of this throughout Islamic history and anyone with any understanding will see that there is no issue with it.

He goes on:

It is rather disheartening that some of the Maldvian youth are getting deluded into believing that these acts are Jihaad and from Islaam.

As shown above in brief, the very least we can say about these actions is that there is a difference of opinion upon them and I believe that yes they are from Islam and that is the position of the majority of the Scholars and it is even the position of the Scholars who the Madkhalis claim to follow. So we say Alhamdullilah that there are youth who recognise these actions for what they are and we ask Allah to guide more youth to this position and to save them from the deviant sects who misinterpret his ayats to suit their ideology.

I will address the rest of the misconceptions in this letter in the next few days InshaAllah

I have long been a fan of Bill McKibben. I first got into him back in college when I came across his book The Age of Missing Information. Very smart man. Writes about complex issues in a style easy to understand.

It was thus that I was happy to see that he has a new piece in The Washington Post about one of the topics he loves: global warming.

Turns out that he compares Obama to Mohamed Nasheed, who is the leader of Maldives, a tiny nation comprised of 1,200 islands. And Nasheed comes off looking better. Nasheed is forced by necessity to care about global warming because it threatens the existence of his nation. Obama, on the other hand, must juggle industry concerns with worry about his political future as he navigates corporate support on everything from health care to economic policy. Not to mention the upcoming Congressional fight over Waxman-Markey and Kerry-Boxer (more on the Senate battle here).

Now, if you’re like me and you subscribe to the New York Review of Books, you can log in and read this piece from McKibben, written from Malé, the capital city of Maldives. (I’m never sure whether to call it Maldives or the Maldives. Kind of like Ukraine, which a friend from there insists should never be called the Ukraine.)

But you don’t have to be a subscriber to read his review of Thomas Friedman’s book here. The review is particularly great because it starts off as high praise for Friedman before gently slamming him to Earth for his weak sauce and lame optimism.

McKibben is among the best of our public intellectuals on this civilization-threatening issue. He is bold enough to say things like “trying to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide to 450 parts per million is no longer a viable goal” and he has been a driving force behind the 350 movement that I blogged about before. We need more Bill McKibbens (and Mohamed Nasheeds) in this world — especially if we care about having a world to pass on to future generations.

For those who want to surprise a romantic dinner or a family celebration, there is a restaurant in the Indian Ocean that may surpass any expectations. Called The Ithaa, the restaurant is five meters below sea level.

Located in the Maldives, the restaurant – which belongs to the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, has acrylic ceiling that provides a view of 180 degrees. Thus, you can taste dishes prepared and see coral reefs and the peculiarities of the marine life that surrounds the Indian Ocean.

The restaurant measures nine meters wide and five meters high. It can accommodate up to 12 people at a time.

Who wants to get to the restaurant must follow a wooden deck, installed at the resort, and down a spiral staircase. The kitchen, as it would be different, is Asian, with many seafood.

To enjoy this exotic place, the price of a dinner ranges from $ 120 and $ 245 per person (U.S. $ 207 and $ 423 per person).

Source and Photos: Época Negócios Online

Grey Heron in Maldives

The large Grey heron and the rarely seen Maldivian little heron are among the 13 recorded species of Ardeidae (herons and bitterns) found in Maldives on the numerous uninhabited islands and Resorts.

(Photo from Dreaming of Maldives Creative Collection)

http://www.dreamingofmaldives.com

Amazon's Global Kindle Reader

I heard that Amazon now has a global version of Kindle. I was disappointed to find this morning that the new version still will not work in my country.

Since I’ve wanted one for some time, but have been waiting until they got a version that would work in my country, I checked out their website this morning, only to be disappointed again. Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new Global Kindle for a Christmas gift this year, since the new version will only work in SOME countries, I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

Click here to read the article from Haveeru Online.

Our chief concern these days seem to be Global Warming.  Certainly, Maldives with her low coral islands and delicate ecosystem is directly under such a threat, and it most certainly is time we started becoming more eco-aware.  They’ve given us fifty years to enjoy our beautiful nation if we don’t cut down carbon emissions and all such other yuck.  How many of our grandchildren will remember our submerged heritage? A lot of us don’t even have children yet!

Global Warming maybe on the tip of everyone’s tongues nowadays but it’s easy to forget that Al Gore first tried to bring these concerns to light in the early half of the 14th Century, just before Christopher Columbus sailed the Indian Ocean looking for Spain and arrived at the Maldives in 1356. He planted a genus of bread fruit tree indigenous to Eastern Europe as a joke and was surprised when it bore fruit in the shape of a woman.

Two hundred years later, Neil Armstrong lost his title deed to the island that would become the capital Male in an clam eating match against Kublai Khan, who founded the proud nation we are today.  The British briefly occupied us for a while after a young Gandhi headbutted Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who then went on to form a band.  Less than fifty years later, President Mohamed Nasheed famously defeated former president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom in a controversial mud wrestling match, of which the chief controversy comprised the absence of the titular mud and the referee being a half-crazed Cochin cockerel.

Enough history, though.  We know what happens next.  Global warming this, war that, someone did something, someone complained.  But the fact is that the undead will get us long before any of those other things get to finish us off. They may already be among us, under more guises than you may care to imagine. Living zombies, parasites, blood suckers, dream eaters and a large variety of other monstrosities too base to be considered human exist among us now.

This is where The Maldivian Apocalypse Handbook comes in.  We’ll cover a whole host of topics, ranging from how to identify a living zombie, how to flee or create a stronghold in Male, the causes of dream deprivation, and many more, all of which shall be neatly labelled in the archive for your perusal.  We shall strive to identify, isolate, analyse, exaggerate, understand and combat the many calamities that may befall us.

Remember: look behind you!

Crosscut
Travis Hay at Crosscut writes, “There’s no denying 2009 been a great year for Seattle music. It’s the year The Crocodile was resurrected, Pearl Jam pushed itself its back way rock relevance, and hip hop hit hard. But when the local music history books are written, the final year of this decade might be remembered best for Michael Jaworski and his record label Mt. Fuji Records…. Mt. Fuji’s roster of local talent rivals that of just about any Northwest indie label and all of its releases seem to spotlight the depth and diversity of the city’s rock scene.” Read the full feature on the local label at the above link.

Maldives sunset dinner

One of the World’s most romantic destination.

Maldives Sunset Dinners, The recipe
For this unforgettable moment you will need :

(Photo from Dreaming of Maldives Creative Collection)
http://www.dreamingofmaldives.com

Clarence sent me this beautiful letter from the Maldives, thank you! It was posted on October 21, 2009.

The left stamp was issued on April 8, 2002, and depicts the Swinhoe’s Snipe (Gallinago megala). The next stamp commemorates the sunburst butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii); it was issued on October 9, 2007.

The middle stamps depicts an self-portrait of Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641); the stamp commemorates the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. Finally the right stamp depicts the spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari).

Who is Going to Bail it Out?

By Anjum Altaf

We have all read the stories about very big entities failing and being bailed out – these include cities like New York, countries like Mexico and Pakistan, and corporations like General Motors and Bank of America whose businesses were bigger than the economies of many countries. All of them defaulted on their debts – went bankrupt – and were bailed out by an entity that was bigger than them, the US Government alone or in concert with other developed countries.

The combination of size and of the existence of a savior, the protector of last resort, gives rise to a dilemma that is known as ‘moral hazard.’ When an entity believes its failure would damage the rest of the system and that there is someone who will not allow that to happen, then it loses the incentive to manage its risks prudently.

This is quite easy to imagine. If the corner bakery fails no one would bother about it – this is considered the strength of the free market which promotes efficient competition by weeding out incompetent firms. But when General Motors fails, this logic is suspended because GM’s failures could trigger cascading failures throughout the auto industry and its service economy. Because the managers of General Motors believe this, the incentives that guide their behavior and that of the owner of the corner bakery are quite different. For example, GM managers can take outsized risks and give themselves big bonuses even when the company is making huge losses. Similarly, Pakistan’s leaders can mismanage and pillage the economy knowing American policymakers have determined that Pakistan cannot be allowed to fail – which is great for the leaders but terrible for the citizens.

This brings us to a consideration of the world in the context of the global climate crisis. What can be bigger than the world? But, if the world fails, who will bail it out? Allah maalik hai is all and well but even if we fall back on that divine cushion we should remember the corollary that God helps those who help themselves. So, how exactly are we going to help ourselves in this crisis?

Let us leave aside for the moment two contentious issues: Is this crisis for real and, if so, is it the doing of human beings? My interest is more in figuring out how one goes about thinking of such an issue – so let us assume that it is real for the sake of argument. (The Government of Maldives already does and is looking to buy land in anticipation of a rise in sea level that would submerge the islands. South Asia is projected to be amongst the most affected regions by global warming.)

I find useful an analogy similar to the comparison between General Motors and the corner bakery in the context of moral hazard. Think of two households; however, instead of size, now focus attention on the differences in the nature of household budgets. Suppose the monthly household budget is Rs. 20,000 that you get in cash at the beginning of the month. In one case, you know that if in a particular month you break the budget (expenditures exceed allocations), you can borrow the balance from a bank or be subsidized by your father. In the other case, if you go over budget, your house is repossessed – it’s the end of the game. The first is known as the ‘soft’ budget constraint; the second as the ‘hard’ budget constraint. As you can imagine, the softness or hardness of the household (or business) budget constraint has a great impact on individual behavior.

Now apply this analogy to the environment. Clearly, our behavior reveals that we have been living in a world where we feel we are governed by a soft environmental constraint – we believe we can borrow against the future, i.e., we can have economic growth now and have the luxury of cleaning up its environmental consequences later. At the present time, the starkest example of this is China which is fueling its rapid economic growth by building more than one coal-fired energy plant a week. As a result, seven or eight of the ten most polluted large cities in the world are in China with some known and many unknown health impacts on the residents.

Presumably, China believes that it can follow the path treaded by the West. Western cities were environmental hell-holes well past the Industrial Revolution but most were successfully cleaned up later – the London and LA smog are still remembered by many people (the former so well described by Eliot in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock). The scenario in India is very similar to that in China, only less intense, which is not for any lack of trying by the Indians – inefficiency can at times be good for you.

But what if the environmental constraint is no longer soft? What if the decades of abuse of the environment (at least since the discovery of oil-based energy) have now turned it into a hard constraint? What, if that last unit of carbon dioxide emission that would trigger an unstoppable runaway process is close at hand? What if we have arrived at the tipping point beyond which all the king’s horses and all the king’s men would not be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again?

This is what an increasing number of scientists are warning – we are close to such a tipping point. And this opens up a host of interesting issues. Climate change does not know any borders – in the end it will not matter whether the bulk of the damage was done in the past by the now developed countries.  The innocence of the developing countries will not save them – as mentioned before South Asia would be one of the most affected regions from sea rise at one end to glacier melt at the other.

So, how are developed and developing countries going to find a mutually acceptable agreement that is both fair and goes far enough to make a difference? What kind of rules and morality applies in situations like these where the whole system is at risk and there is no one to bail it out. I can’t help my mind going back to the partition of the Indian subcontinent – its leaders kept bickering and were unable to find an acceptable agreement leading to a million deaths and ten million homeless. Is human shortsightedness, false pride, sheer stupidity, and lack of feeling for ordinary people going to make us witness a replay only now on a global scale? This time there might be no one left to gloat over the superiority of one side over the other.

It is useful to end with what has been termed the ‘boiling frog’ analogy: if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.

Will we allow ourselves to be cooked to death? Is it hubris to think humans are any wiser that frogs?

For the implications of climate change in South Asia see the special Autumn (October-November 2009) issue of Himal Magazine. For an essay competition on the tipping point, that fateful last tonne of carbon dioxide, see The Ecologist.

Back to Main Page

In this event the participants will WALK from G.dh Madaveli to Gdh. Fiyoree. The lagoon is 35km long and has more than 80 islands; among them five islands are inhabited. During the trip all five inhabited islands (Madaveli, Hodedhoo, Nadella, Rathafandhoo and Fiyoree) will be observed for their habitat, history and environmental conditions. The event will start on 27th November and ends on 29th.

Click on the image above to visit the official website of the event. Also click here to read an article on Haveeru Online about the event.

For months now I’ve tried to work with King George Topou V and the rest of the Royal Family of Tonga in an attempt to inform them about the risks their kingdom faces from climate change and to get them to act on behalf of their people.  It’s been a frustrating, nonproductive process full of long delays and zero sense of urgency on the part of the King, the Queen and assorted princesses and wanna-be princesses.

Along the way, one thing has become blindingly obvious.  Neither the King, or any other member of the royal family, gives a shit about what happens to their people – whether it’s from climate change, the sinking of unseaworthy ferry boats owned by the government, or from earthquakes or tsunamis.

 

Hidden behind a rubbish dump on the northern side of Nuku'alofa you will find a slum built on a filled-in swamp; showing the real poor side of Tonga...

If you think I’m being too tough on somebody else’s scared culture, then I think you should try being one of the 40% of Tongan’s who live below the poverty level with diminishing prospects of a decent life for yourself and your children, while the Tongan royal family lives high off the hog and makes its money the old fashioned way – by holding their hands out and demanding it in exchange for jack squat.

For the people of Tonga, the best thing they can hope for is to take their future into their own hands and toss the royals out on their asses – even before they are forced to give up power next year.

There’s no reason in the world you should delay the democracy that is long overdue you.  Because the longer you wait, the longer it’s going to take you to start cutting Tonga’s carbon footprint – which you should have started doing already.  That’s step one in learning to save yourselves.

You’re going to need to start by eliminating your use of diesel generators and switching to more carbon free sources of energy.  You needed a solar Tonga project like yesterday.

And you’re going to have to start preparing for the sea level rise that is already baked into your nation’s future. So you might as well get started today.

Frankly, I doubt the delusional royal family will even notice what’s happening.

After all, your  60 year old, still-in-the-closet king (not that there’s anything wrong with that) spends almost all his time dressing up in silly military costumes, playing with remote control toys, sporting his Dr. Evil style monocle, wearing his sword and driving his English taxi – when he’s not pretending to be Scottish and spending months at a time playing war games and sucking up cash wherever he goes.

Hell of a role model, King.  Way to rule.

You’ve done almost as well as your dad did when he got suckered out of millions by that low level employee of the Bank of America who he named the Royal Court Jester before turning over all the profits your nation made by selling Tongan citizenships to the the Chinese before the turnover of Hong Kong.  Ahhhh, the good old days.

Seattle Times
There’s zero downside to “GIVE,” a downloadable benefit compilation of 30 genre-spanning songs by Seattle musicians. At $7, you’re paying less than a quarter per song. Every cent of that $7 goes toward local hunger relief and arts education. Each of the songs — most of them exclusive — is good. “GIVE” is the sort of big city/small pond collaboration that could only happen in Seattle. Every facet — music, engineering, graphic design, server space, organization, promotion, etc. — was donated. From the sponsors to the bands, “GIVE” demonstrates the Seattle music community is all things to all people, if the people are willing to dig a little. Bands include Fleet Foxes, the Moondoggies, Visqueen, the Saturday Knights, the Maldives, Grand Archives, Cave Singers, Gabriel Mintz, Arthur & Yu, Talbot Tagora, Hey Marseilles, Pearly Gate Music, Tea Cozies, Fatal Lucciauno, Fresh Espresso, Josh Morrison, Sera Cahoone, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band. “GIVE” is available for download today, November 17th.

President of Maldives

As a boy Mohamed Nasheed attended Majeediyya School in the Maldives, between 1971 and 1981. He continued his secondary school education overseas at the Overseas School of Colombo, from 1981 to 1982 until he completed his GCSE Ordinary Level Certificate. In August 1982 he moved to the United Kingdom where he completed his Higher Secondary Education at the Dauntsey’s School in Wiltshire. Straight after his A’levels, Mohamed Nasheed moved north to Liverpool where he spent the next three years reading for a Bachelor of Arts in Maritime Studies at Liverpool’s John Moores University.
1990-2003

He was made an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991 when he was being held in prison for a 1990 article in the political magazine Sangu in which he alleged the Maldivian government had rigged the 1989 general election. After being held in solitary confinement and reportedly tortured, he was accused of withholding information about a bombing plot. On April 8, 1992, he was sentenced to three years in prison on that charge. He was released in June 1993, then re-arrested in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for an article he had written about the 1993 and 1994 Maldivian elections.

In 2000, he was elected as a member of the parliament representing the people of Malé. Six months later, in 2001 he was tried and sentenced to two and half years banishment for the theft of unspecified government property from H. Velaanaage – the former residence of former president Ibrahim Nasir. Supporters of Nasheed believe that it was a fabricated charge against him motivated by political desires. This was later proved to be so, when Dhivehiobserver (of Ahmed Shafeeq Ibrahim Moosa) published a leaked letter, sent by then Minister of Construction and Public Works Umar Zahir to the former Minister of Defence (later the High Commissioner to Delhi) Anbaree Abdul Sattar. The letter, dated on October 31, 2001, was published on the website on October 10, 2005. According to this letter, Nasheed did take some files from the residence which were about to be destroyed as they were of no value to the government. According to Umar Zahir there was no restricted area for the public in the residence. In his letter Umar Zahir stated “Later that day I did check the storage place from which Mohamed Nasheed apparently took that material. There was nothing there that could be of use. There remained only old written materials and books. Those things have now been burned.”

To be continued…