New Trend Magazine (www.newtrendmag.org)

[Biggest Islamic web site in the U.S.]
P.O. Box 356, Kingsville, MD 21087.
Phone: 410-435-5000.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are not necessarily shared by editorial committee.
Responses (positive or negative) up to 250 words are welcome.
Names will be withheld on request.
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DAY EIGHT OF THE INVASION OF IRAQ: NAJAF BATTLE + Bombing

1. As the war went into its second week, the U.S. parachuted troops into a northern Kurdish area. [See our report below on the Kurdish card in the U.S. arsenal.]

2. The bombing of Baghdad continued. MSNBC reported that a B2 bomber was used to drop an 4300 pound bunker buster bomb on Baghdad today. There was a huge atomic bomb like plume as the bomb exploded. Iraq has now been struck by 600 missiles and 4300 bombs.

3. The U.S. officially admitted [March 27] that quick victory is not possible in Iraq and the fighting might continue into the near future.

4. On March 26, the Al-Jazeerah link to U.S. audiences was disconnected and that situation continued into March 27. Our observer says that Al-Jazeerah was coming up with photos of a whole group of new U.S. casualties in Iraq. Evidently the U.S. does not want Americans to see what is happening in Iraq.

5. One Arab report indicates that 40 more U.S. troops have been killed in the Najaf area in an attack by Iraqi fidayeen who rammed American tanks with pickup vans and a civilian bus loaded with explosives. U.S. sources have claimed killing 150 Iraqi paramilitaries in this battle.

6. U.S. media admitted on March 27 (10.30 PM EST) that in addition to the 5 U.S. troops shown in captivity on Iraqi TV, another 18 are "missing." The U.S. has stopped giving specific information on ongoing deaths in its troops.

7. British troops were disappointed to find that Iraqi forces in Umm Qasr are still holding out. Thus the U.S.-UK after EIGHT days have not been able to capture any town of any significance in Iraq.

8. Fighting is continuing in Nasiriyah.
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INTERESTING MSNBC NEWS REPORT:
On March 26, MSNBC produced a very rare report of value: It showed IRAQIS in AMMAN, JORDAN who are returning to Iraq to JOIN THE FIGHT against the U.S.-Brit invasion. It concluded with a report on Iraqi immigrants in the U.S. who are joining the U.S. forces to help defeat their former homeland.
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Understanding the Kurdish problem: Dangerous Connection with Israel

The Kurds are divided into regions which are pat of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The Kurds in Iraq are divided as follows:

1. Those who want to be part of Iraq and support President Saddam Hussain.
2. Two secularist groups, the KDP and PUK which support the U.S. and are working with the U.S. in the ongoing war against Iraq.
3. An Islamic group, Ansar al-Islam which is independent with leanings towards President Hussain. [Civilians connected to this were slaughtered in a U.S. missile attack as we reported earlier.]
4. Another Islamic group which is independent but opposed to President Hussain, also (mistakenly?) bombed by the U.S. a few days back.

The secularist Kurdish groups have played a major role in the misfortunes of the Kurds. They are easily exploited by outside forces and lured with weapons and money to rise up against Iraq. When the Iraqi government forces counterattack, there are often numerous deaths and atrocities on both sides.

Following the Iran-Iraq war, the secularist Kurds thought President Hussain was going to lose and rose up in armed rebellion. The Iraqis were in no mood to accept such a stab in the back. In the Iraqi counterattack, the Kurds suffered heavy losses.

The same secularist leaders again rose up in 1991 when they were incited by the U.S. This was a serious miscalculation and a devastating counterattack destroyed the Kurdish secularists. The U.S. then used its air power to set up a puppet Kurdish administrative area in the north where all the "blessings" of liquor, night clubs and a secular "free press" were made available to a Kurdish "democracy in action."

Again in 2003, these "never learn" secularist Kurds, flush with American funds, are helping in the preparation of a northern front to undermine Iraqi defenses.

KURDISH DANGER TO ISLAMIC WORLD: CONNECTION WITH ISRAEL.
by Buut Shikan (Idol Breaker)

Most people do not know that 100,000 Kurdish Jews linked to the secularist Kurds in Iraq are living in Israel. Of these 10,000 Kurdish Jews are from the home town of the PUK secularist Kurdish group leader.

The Israelis have been planning the destruction of Muslim Iraq for decades and this planned movement of Kurdish Jews to Israel was part of this plan. PUK leaders are in constant touch with the Jews in Israel.

If the secularist Kurds succeed in undermining Saddam Hussain, the Americans will be able to start a new "Israel" in the Muslim heartland. This time it will be called "Kurdistan."

The situation would have been easy for the U.S., but the influence of Osama bin Laden has helped energize the Islamic Kurds. Of these, the Ansar al-Islam are staunchly opposed to the U.S. invasion. As a result they are enduring daily doses of bombing by the U.S. air force.

The Kurds have suffered tremendously owing to the greed and gullibility of their secularist leaders. The solution for the Kurds lies in the acceptance of Islam and unity with Kurds actively helping President Hussain. The alternative is to become an American enclave, an "Israel" kept alive with American handouts.

Though President Saddam Hussain crushed armed secularist Kurd uprisings, he subsequent to 1991 tried steadily to win over the Kurdish people. He proclaimed a GENERAL AMNESTY under which all Kurds who fought against Iraq were forgiven. The Kurds are well represented in the Iraqi National Assembly.
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HADITH IS FINAL INTERPRETATION OF THE QUR'AN
'Qur'an Only" Idea Connected to Beating of Women

(From Br. Shoaib, England): You seem to be saying that hadith can abrogate Quran. On several occasions you have said that you don't accept the traditional abrogation idea. Here you seem to swing right to the other extreme. All for the sake of a vocal minority of Ahl Quran people.

By the way you used to endorse the Quran translation by Ahmad Ali. I've not seen you do this for a long time. In this translation, he comes up with a completely different translation of the hitting verse 4-34.

Actually there are some bigger issues, involved as well, which lead to "unpalatable" interpretation. These are for example,
1. Is Quran basically a law book, or is it a book of guidance?
2. Text is text. Interpretation is done by humans. Humans are not neutral. Their mindset does make all the difference. This is confirmed by the way we happily dismiss people, who happen to be politically of a different persuasion

Answer by K. Siddique:

I later found Ahmed Ali's translation to be weak and forced.

Hadith does not abrogate the Qur'an. It teaches us how to interpret the Qur'an. Hadith teaches us that each verse of the Qur'an is not to be taken as absolute in itself. Qur'an was progressive: it was revealed in stages. What came later abrogated what came earlier.
"Abrogated" does not mean that previous verses are to be deleted or discarded. It simply means that as society moves on from stage to stage, the later revelations are to be applied and the earlier ones ignored (to be applied to new 'elementary' developments).
According to this, 4:34 is abrogated by sura Noor where the husband cannot take any action against the wife other than to take an oath (which leads to the end of the marriage).
The Hadith provides the context in which the Qur'an was revealed. Without context, understanding is not possible.
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2003-03-28 Fri 20:27ct