All marriages should be solemnized in local mosques, says Shia clerics

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Lucknow: The Shia Muslim Personal Law Board in Lucknow has made it mandatory for all Muslim marriages to be solemnized in local mosques irrespective of their financial status.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, which is preparing to announce its national policy on October 25 in national capital.

Maulana Mirz Mohaommad Athar, a Muslim cleric and Shia scholar, welcomed this move, and said: “The marriages or the Nikkah (the contract between a bride and bridegroom) should be solemnised in the big mosques which is owned by the Muslim community. Not in the marriage halls or the banquets as neither the family of the girl or the boy gains out of it,”

Echoing similar sentiments was Maulana Khalid Rasheed, Principal of Darul-Quaza-Wal-Ifta, who said that this tradition has been continuing from the time of Hazrat Muhammad.

“As per the Islamic Shariat (Islamic law) performing of nikkah is auspicious if performed in a Masjid and this tradition has been continuing from the time of Hazrat Muhammad,” Rasheed said.

The move also aims to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

Blast heard at Islamic University in Pakistan's capital

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A blast was heard at the Islamic University in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, TV stations and a police official said, but there were no immediate details of a cause or casualties.

Two bomb blasts tore through a university in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Tuesday, with at least nine people reported injured as paramedics ferried casualties to hospitals, police said.

Police official Mohammad Afzal from the emergency response department said, “We have sent a team to the site. We are collecting information about casualties,” the policeman said.

Pakistan’s state PTV reported that nine people were wounded as private television channels broadcast footage of paramedics stretchering out two casualties with blood stains seeping through their clothes.

Yemeni army 'close to victory' in north + PIC

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Yemeni Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi says the army is close to quashing the movement by Houthi fighters north of the country.

Yemeni Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi says the army is close to ending Houthis movement in the north.

“The armed forces are taking calculated moves, and a final end to these confrontations will come soon,” the state-run Saba news agency quoted Lawzi as saying on Tuesday.

His remarks come 10 weeks after the Operation Scorched Earth started on August 11 to crush Shia forces in Saada province and its surrounding areas, triggering fierce clashes which have left hundreds of people killed and wounded.

Yemen’s state media are reporting tight siege of anti-government groups, adding the armed forces have cut off their lines of supply.

Earlier, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said the government was ready to hold conditional talks with Shia fighters in the north, but reiterated Sana’a’s refusal to negotiate with those who hold ‘separatist’ demands.

Houthis took arms against the Sana’a rule, accusing the dominantly Sunni government of neglect and discrimination against Yemen’s Shia minority, which accounts for almost 30 percent of the country’s population.

Al-Mazraq refugee camp, near the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada, is the only UN relief center for the displaced Yemenis.

Some 150,000 people have been displaced or affected by the conflict since 2004, more than one-third of whom have fled since the army’s latest offensive against the Shia fighters in the northern Saada province.

According to UN officials, tens of thousands of the displaced are still living in Saada, mostly in abandoned buildings, in the mountains and on roadsides in the war zone.

Lack of food, water and other basic necessities are plaguing those in Mazraq camp in Hajjah, the only UN camp for the displaced Yemenis, as widespread malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition have become major concerns.

The Sana’a government has also been facing massive protests in the south, where people are calling for a return to their formerly independent South Yemen prior to the unification of the north and the south in 1990.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, is also believed to host al-Qaeda militants around its borders while the waters off the Gulf of Aden nation remain a hotbed of relentless piracy.

Iran Guards calls on Pakistan to allow force to hunt attackers

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A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander called on Tuesday for permission to allow the force to confront attakers inside the territory of neighbouring Pakistan, state television reported.

The report, which did not give any direct quotes, said the commander of the Guards’ ground forces, Mohammad Pakpour, called for the “issuing of necessary permissions allowing the Guards to confront terrorists on Pakistani soil.”

It did not give details or specify whether he was referring to possible permission for such an operation from the Pakistani government.

Iran says the Sunni rebel group Jundollah (God’s soldiers), which has claimed a suicide bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 42 people on Sunday, operates from across the border in Pakistan.

Essence of human sciences lies in Koran

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On the occasion of the auspicious birth anniversary of Hazrat-e Ma’soume, thousands of women scholars, involved in Koranic studies, met the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Khamenei in the a speech referred to women’s active participation in all scientific fields as a point of honor and said Koranic studies should be manifested in all aspects of social life.
The Leader of Islamic Revolution criticized the Western view of women and said Islam greatly respected women and paved the way for their capabilities to flourish.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the remarkable number of woman scholars in the field of Koranic studies in Iran is unprecedented, adding that under the rule of the deposed Shah, a huge gap between people and the Koran was formed and because of it we must put all efforts to bridge the gap.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the only way to have a society inspired by the Koran is to align its governing rules with Koran.
“It is a clear cut fact that the establishment of an Islamic republic in Iran was the major result of exact following of Koranic principles,” the Leader of Islamic Revolution said.
The IR Leader underlined that the formation of the Islamic system has paved the way for Koranic training on which the Iranians should form their behavior in family, management politics, and international scene.
Ayatollah Khamenei urged familiarity with Koranic teachings and said Koranic researches should be done in a way to materialize the teachings in society and life.
Ayatollah Khamenei said if heart is not clean, Koran may be misused for attacking Islam, the Islamic Republic and virtues which the Islamic system brought to society.
The IR Leader termed familiarity with Arabic language and principles of jurisprudence as prerequisites for Koranic researches, adding that a scientific method for Koranic studies is very important and the way of Ulema and jurists in using verses and traditions is completely tested.
Pointing to the issue of westernized human sciences in universities and expressing his criticism in this regard, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the base of the western human sciences is material ideology which is contrary to religious and Koranic teachings while we should seek essence of human sciences in The Koran.
The Islamic Revolution Leader urged taking principles of human sciences from Koran and said “if we do so, the Koranic researchers could establish a firm base for human sciences.”