tagged w/ Shia Muslims
-
It's hardly Tahrir Square, but the quaintly named Pearl Roundabout in central Manama is where thousands of Bahrainis believe their budding revolution may soon be won. After three days of angry protests, this inconspicuous mound is covered with a sea of tents, mattresses, black Islamic robes and optimism. It has become the focal point of a movement that is feeding from the success of the Egyptian uprising and fast gathering momentum.
People have been converging here since the protests in Egypt started to escalate in early February. The demonstrators, almost exclusively Shia Muslims, now feel free to talk about issues of discrimination and poverty that they have long resented silently.
Among them was Atiqa Ahmed, her black hijab covered by a banner that read "Bahrain is my life". "All we want are our rights," she said. "We cannot continue to live like this. I am a Bahraini, but the migrant workers who come here have more rights than me and my sons, who work harder here than their employers and get nothing for it."
In the past few days, the demonstrations have clearly become more organised and motivated. Many of those arriving on Wednesday turned up with blankets and food and were clearly in for a long haul. Some of them came directly from the funeral of a protester who had been shot by police on Tuesday. The dead man, Fadal Salman Matrook, was struck from close range outside a hospital where another slain protester had been taken a day earlier.
I met Hassan Jaffa, an Arabic teacher, in a small room in a nearby mosque that is used to prepare bodies for burial. Not far away was the dirt grave that had been prepared for Matrook's body.
"There has been no chance for dialogue here," Jaffa said. "People, some of them religious figures, would meet with the government and nothing would happen. If we complained, as Shias, they would say we are Iranian agents, that we are prosecuting sectarian agendas.
"For a number of years, we have felt that we lived like animals. Egypt has taught us that we can live properly too."
Matrook, a 31-year-old father of two, had been washed and wrapped in white cloth according to Islamic tradition, then covered with a green banner adorned with Qur'anic script. More than 1,000 mourners walked with his body to the grave. The deaths have hardened their tone. "He is the second martyr of this revolution and he won't be the last," said one man. "After the martyr was killed, we marched on Pearl Roundabout and we didn't care if all of us were killed. We wanted to fight the police."
A major clash was averted when the police left the roundabout on Tuesday before the advancing mourners. They have not returned.
Among a sea of people, women in black to one side, organisations in tents on the fringes and everyone else clamoured in between, there were very few Sunnis. Bahrain's ruling class is largely comprised of Sunnis, who account for 30% of the population according to the last meaningful census conducted around seven years ago. Since then, the ruling family and government have given citizenship to tens of thousands of Sunnis from other Arab states, a process that has sharply shifted Bahrain's demographics and incited the Shias.
In a nearby tent, two doctors from a Bahraini hospital were waiting on standby for patients and lending moral support to the gathering rally. They had taken time off between surgical duties. "We started this protest movement before the Egyptians and Tunisians," said Dr Sadiq al-Ikri. "But not like them. We were amazed when we saw what they had achieved.
"There has to be a constitutional monarchy here. There has to be an elected and representative parliament. The king cannot have unfettered powers. We don't mind if he stays, but not with the powers he has. The prime minister, however, must go."
As the sun set, several thousand people settled in for a fourth night on the roundabout. "If we leave now, we will lose momentum," said one. "This is it – it will only snowball from here."
There are none of the sweeping masses of Egypt, no cavalry charges or columns of tanks. However, Bahrain's nascent uprising has a dynamic feel.
"There are issues that cannot be addressed without the government changing," said one man. "This is our moment. This is our time. And we will take it."It's hardly Tahrir Square, but the quaintly named Pearl Roundabout in central... more
-
-
We are getting sick and tired of being a minority and being killed by some uneducated and mentally messed up individuals who were initially trained by US to kill Russians but now they are killing pretty much everyone specially the Shia minority every where they exist.
I hope that this stops soon.We are getting sick and tired of being a minority and being killed by some uneducated... more
-
-
I sung this song in my mother language, to pay tribute to people of Gaza and Palestine. Specially when they suffered destruction and loss of innocent lives by the bombardment of Israeli forces.
May God give every one the power of thinking and feeling of care for others. May the Palestinian people get their freedom and every one lives happily in this world. That is my message.
But I also think that self protection is right of anyone and everyone from any kind of oppression.
I do not believe on any kind of oppression, segregation or racism against anyone.
May everyone understand this.
Song sung by Syed Imon RizviI sung this song in my mother language, to pay tribute to people of Gaza and... more
-
-
Parachinar (Urdu: پاڑاچنار) [show location on an interactive map] 33°56′N, 70°05′E, altitude: 1,725 m (5,659 ft), is the capital of Kurram Agency, FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) of Pakistan. It is about 290 km west of the capital, Islamabad. It is situated on a neck of Pakistani territory south of Peshawar, that juts into Paktia Province in Afghanistan and is the closest point in Pakistan to Kabul and borders on the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan.
Parachinar originated as a summer residence for nomadic tribes who wintered their livestock at lower altitudes, and the district had originally been a summer residence for Moghul emperors from Delhi. The Parachinar region was part of Afghanistan before the Second Afghan War of 1878-79, but was not firmly annexed by the British due to resistance from local tribes until 1892. During the colonial era between then and 1947 Parachinar became a hill station for people from Peshawar as it is relatively cool in the summer and very easy to reach from the plains despite its high altitude since there are no steep ascents on the route from Peshawar.
Although it was a well-known travel destination in the years before the PDPA came to power, since that time Parachinar has become a hotbed of Islamic terrorism and sectarian violence. The town and its surrounds are believed to be a major staging point for Osama bin Laden and his accomplices during the years when the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were planned.
The population are largely of the Turi tribe of Pashtuns who are mostly Shia Muslims and speak Pashto. About half the population are Shia and half Sunni Muslims.
Talibans or the hardliners are killing Shia Muslims and brutaly murdering them. The main road which connects the Islamabad to Parachinar is blocked by Talibans. Before they have stopped many vehicles and brutally butchered and slaughtered the Shia Muslim drivers.
Government of Pakistan needs to do something about this immediately. International governments and Human rights organizations should send their message to Pakistan officials as well to stop this bloodshed.
Because of its proximity to the border it has been an important staging point for mujahadeen and Taliban fighters entering Afghanistan.
The name of this region is Parachinar as there was a big tree of Chinar (Maple tree) in the headquarters of Kurram Agency. In Kurram Agency there is a famous tribe known as "Parikhel " this tribe used to get together under this Chinar tree to resolve their social matters. This is why this region is called Parachinar.
On February 16, 2008, a bomb in Parachinar killed 37 members of the Pakistan People's Party after they returned to party headquarters from a rally. There have been numerous other bombings in recent years due to the conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims.Parachinar (Urdu: پاڑاچنار) [show location on an interactive map]... more
-
-
Man is a wonderful creature; he sees through the layers of fat (eyes), hears through a bone (ears) and speaks through a lump of flesh (tongue). Man is a wonderful creature; he sees through the layers of fat (eyes), hears through a... more
-
-
I define Islam for you in a way that nobody dared do it before me. Islam means obedience to Allah, obedience to Allah means having sincere faith in Him, such a faith means to believe in His Power, belief in His Power means recognizing and accepting His Majesty, acceptance of His Majesty means fulfilling the obligations laid down by Him and fulfillment of obligations means actions (Therefore, Islam does not mean mere faith, but faith plus deeds).
I define Islam for you in a way that nobody dared do it before me. Islam means... more
-
-
The boys were pressured into hitting themselves with an implement with five blades, called a "zanjeer zani", at a religious ceremony.
A Shia Muslim was convicted of child cruelty yesterday after he forced two boys to flog themselves during a religious ritual.
Syed Mustafa Zaidi, a warehouse supervisor, told the boys, aged 13 and 15, to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, a wooden-handled implement containing five curved blades used when commemorating the death of Hussain, grandson of Muhammad and one of the most important figures in Shia Islam. Zaidi is due to be sentenced on September 24.
Manchester crown court heard how Zaidi, 44, flagellated himself at an event held in January in Manchester until his back was bloody and cut. Others at the event also flogged themselves. Some of those present, fearing Zaidi would seriously harm himself, asked him to calm down. Zaidi agreed, only to turn his attention to the two boys.
The 14-year-old, who was 13 at the time, told the jury that neither he nor the other boy wanted to injure themselves. He said Zaidi was insistent with the older boy, "pulling him and pushing him, 'keep doing it', telling people 'this is a sad moment and look, he's not doing it'.
"He goes, 'I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it'. He kept pressuring him, make him do the knife thing, pulling him, trying to get his T-shirt off, pulling and pushing him. He was saying, 'just do it, just do it'." He said the 15-year-old "swung it once or twice and said 'I don't want to do it any more'." The older boy was then pulled away by another man.
After the ceremony, the boys went home to their mother, who noticed several deep wounds on their backs and multiple slash wounds. She took them to Manchester Royal infirmary and the matter was reported to the police.
The Ashura ceremony takes place during the first month of the Islamic calendar and commemorates the death of the grandson of the Prophet.
For Shia Muslims the death of Hussain is a period of intense mourning, leading some to beat and whip themselves. The practice is not compulsory and some Shia authorities prohibit it, while others say it should be done only if certain conditions are met.
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Carol Jackson said: "The CPS wishes to make it clear that this prosecution was not an attack upon the practices or ceremonies of Shia Muslims."
The ruling of child cruelty against Zaidi is a first in the UK.
The boys were pressured into hitting themselves with an implement with five blades,... more
-
