Cluster Bombs in Lebanon...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5360150.stm
Israel pressed on cluster targets
 Up to 40% of cluster munitions in Lebanon did not explode |
The UN has urged Israel to say exactly where it fired cluster bombs during its recent bombardment of south Lebanon. Humanitarian co-ordinator David Shearer says Israel's failure to provide the co-ordinates has hampered a clear-up effort that could take many months.
An average of three people are killed or wounded a day by cluster munitions since the fighting ended on 14 August.
Thousands of cluster bomblets landed in farms and villages, some 30-40% of which failed to explode at the time.
Israel denies using the munitions illegally against civilian targets during the conflict.
But Mr Shearer said Israel has yet to explain why 90% of its cluster munitions were fired in the last days of the conflict, as UN members were finalising a ceasefire resolution.
"We know these munitions have a failure rate and it seems to me extraordinary that they were fired off in the last hours of the war into areas where civilian populations were known to be going," Mr Shearer told a news conference in Beirut.
"For a humanitarian person, it defies belief that this would happen."
Economic impact
At least 350,000 unexploded bomblets litter southern Lebanon, the UN says, only 17,000 of which have so far been cleared, mostly from villages, schools and playing areas.
 Israel denies firing the weapons at non-military targets |
At least 15 people including a child have been killed and 83 others wounded, 23 of them children, the UN says.
UN demining teams in south Lebanon say the Israeli military has supplied maps of cluster bomb strikes but they are not detailed enough to be of use.
Mr Shearer said the economic impact of unexploded cluster munitions would also be severe, as farmers are unable to utilise their land in a region which depends on agriculture for 70% of its income.
Human rights groups have criticised both Israel and Hezbollah for targeting civilians indiscriminately in the five-week conflict, which was sparked when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
ISNA 06 Ruminations...
So ISNA ended last week and alhumdulillah, once again it was a very well timed vacation for me before school started officially and I was going to drown in my books.
One thing I notice is that every ISNA/Labor day weekend there is some really really peculiar thing that happenes in the news. For instance, a number of years back Princess Dianna died in her car accident, years after that Ricky Williams who was set to be one of the greatest Running Backs in the NFL decided he was going to retire in order to smoke weed, and then this year not only did the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin get killed by a fatal Sting Ray sting to the chest, but a LineBacker for the San Diego Chargers was shot 3 times by the police and was suspended by the team. How crazy is that?
Back home as I was at ISNA, my Maryam (my niece for you newcommers to my blog) got her ears pierced. She looks like a girl!!! My baby is getting all grown up. :(
Back to the conference.
Here are some main points I took from the conference, actually, they are pretty much all I remember one week later as I am trying to summon my thoughts together to make this entry. Im sure more will be recollected as I need it in every day life situations insha Allah.
1) In a lecture about the one who sheds tears for the sake of Allah (the 7th of those 7 shaded by Allah swt's shade on the DOJ) given by Imam
Suhaib Webb (may Allah preserve him) there was a question asked about group dhikr. Imam Suhaib began to answer the question by first getting to the root of the issue which is difference of opinion, and he made the point that the difference between whether group dhikr is permissible or not is not a traditionalist vs salafi thing, but it is a fiqi issue that scholars like Abu Bakr al Maliki (Imam Suhaib follows the Maliki Madhab) and others within traditional Islamic Schools also see as not permissible. But he made the point that there are two different types of differences: masaa'il ijtihaadiyyah (matters for those of Ijtihaad) and these matters are matters that are allowable differences, and these differences must be respected by all schools. It is a consensus of the scholars that such matters that fall into this latter category can not be changed by the hand, therefore if someone follows the opinion that it is permissible and you dont, you can not change this with your hand and you leave the person to his dhikr. He then recommended the
ettiquettes of disagreement which I gotta check out when I get a chance.
2) I went to a Shia/Sunni session which, to no surprise, was booked beyond capacity since errybody and their mom wanna know what the deally is. Imam Magid made the point that Muslims need to get back to the Sunnah of Muhammed PBUH which is to honor ahl al bayt, and he also made sure to mention that Abu Bakr ra's grand daughter was actually the mother of Imam Ja'far as Sadiq, who Shia's consider to be one of the 12 imams. The shia speaker also made the point that Shia need to stop cursing the Sahabah of Muhammed PBUH and that this is something that must be fixed if we want bridges to be built.
3) The most beneficial thing I think I got out of the entire conference was the dua of Muhammed PBUH that he used to say the most during his life as reported by umm Salama ra. Ya muqallib al Quloob, thabbit qalbee alaa deenik, O turner of the hearts, establish my heart upon your deen. Subhan Allah! This is such an easy dua and was emphasized serveral times by Imam Suhaib Webb as well as another speaker whose name escapes me right now. This is going to be the dua of the year for me iA!
4) Suhaib Webb also made reference to a hadith that I really felt was extremely benefical to me in which Muhammed PBUH enters into Jannah and sees people who are already there. Muhammed PBUH then asks these people how they snuck into Jannah and they replied "We worshipped Allah swt secretly so we entered Jannah secretly"...Subhan ALLAH!!! This hadith brought tears to my eyes. How many of us do deeds that no one by ALlah swt knows about? How few and far in between are these deeds that are not known by anyone but Allah?
5) In a late night tahajjud session Imam Suhaib webb gave a tafseer of surah Fatihah and I did not know that the surah was actually revealed in both Makkah and Madina, once in each location. This is amazing. In the same session he was then asked during the question answer session whether or not it is necessary to follow a madhab. He responded by saying that he perferred that one follow a madhab, but that that was his own opinion. He then clarified by saying that he definitely recommended following a madhab in ibadaat (acts of worship) since these acts of worship can nnot be mixed and matched, and he gave the example of the placement of the hands (he's Maliki) and how he keeps his hands to his sides, but that the preferred opinion is that if you are in a place where like 95% of the people are not Maliki, then you fold your arms like erryone else to be uniform with the jamaa'. THis was a crucial point he made which is that you dont make these fiqi differences be that which breaks you apart, and that you dont act as if yours is the only valid opinion.
6) Last but not least, a saying of the Tableeghi Jamaat as quoted by Imam Suhaib Webb ( I guess everyone can figure out which lectures I attended huh?) that 'He who is talking, his tongue is closest to his own ear'...subhan Allah, this is a beautiful reminder to practice what we preach and to make sure that we are not calling others to that which we do not even follow ourselves. I remember there was a scholar (someone can post the scholars name cuz i cannot remember it right now) and during his time the slave trade had really became popular in the area. The scholar was asked to give a khutbah telling the people to free their slaves. So one jummah goes by and the scholar does not mention it, then another jummah goes by and he does not mention it, another jummah goes by and the person is wondering why the scholar has not yet mentioned it in the khutbah. Then finally the scholar gave a khutbah in which he asked the people to free their slaves and everyone freed their slaves. When asked why it took so long for him to give the khutbah on the slaves the scholar said that he did not have a slave of his own, so he went out and bought one. Then he kept the slave, and then set the slave free. Then finally he was going to preach something that he too had practiced, and so he waited to give the khutbah until this point.
May Allah make us among those who listen and follow the best of what we listen to. May Allah accept the good deeds that everyone who attended ISNA has put forth, and forgive any sins that may have accumulated for anyone during ISNA as well....ameen
It seems to me extraordinary they were fired in the last hours of the war where civilian populations were known to be going 
