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Many people here on SC accept the official narrative of the main stream on life. They agree with the governments and media. As long as a marja says something, it’s not even questioned regardless of what our intellect says. We have a small minority of brothers and sisters who question the mainstream reports and seek alternative views to broaden their scope of understanding. When alternative views are presented it’s labeled as disinformation or its automatically discarded when someone calls it a conspiracy. Conspiracy literally means a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. As a Shia how can the word conspiracy alone make you think it’s nonsense when we all know about Saqifa. They get bashed and ridiculed by other members, even moderators. How can we not even question the main stream view when “main stream islam” has been lying about the Shia for centuries. How can we attack our fellow Shia for having alternative views when alternative views are why Shia Islam has grown so much. Lots of people leave Shia chat because of this, some just stay quiet. I ask all those who are staying quiet to come forward and discuss how we can unite under the banner of preparing for our beloved Imam Al Mahdi. Lets share main stream and alternative views while we discuss ways to really and thoroughly research all matters with an encompassing view. Will Shia chat ever have a mod who doesn’t just accept the mainstream? Both sides of each argument must always be looked at carefully. In his letter to Malik al Ishtar, Imam Ali says ”Then choose to judge among men him who in your sight is the most excellent of subjects, i.e., one who is not beleaguered by (complex) affairs, who is not rendered ill-tempered by the litigants, who does not persist in error, who is not distressed by returning to the truth when he recognizes it, whose soul does not descend to any kind of greed, who is not satisfied with an inferior understanding (of a thing) short of the more thorough, who hesitates most in (acting in the face of) obscurities, who adheres most to arguments, who is the least to become annoyed at the petition of the litigants, who is the most patient (in waiting) for the facts to become clear...” If moderators are allowed to judge the information and remove post this criteria should be followed.

Stacey Dooley, a BBC documentary presenter has got in trouble for calling the one finger point an 'IS Salute' in a documentary about Daesh. People have said that this is offensive and Muslims do it as a sign of tawhid and do it five times a day. Are these people aware that not even their own communities do this during prayer? For clarity a group of women in the documentary point upwards, Daesh propoganda style, she did not say this about the way people point during prayer. Stacey Dooley is recently famous for backlash following a photo of her holding an African child during some work over there. Apparently her skin colour meant that she was not entitled to have such pictures taken, according to several internet social justice warriors. I gotta say, I don't see why people are getting offended on this one, although it isn't an IS salute, it isn't this oft-done act of tawhid that people are making out either. The gesture has become notorious with Sunni extremists. I totally agree with calling something out that damages communities, but sometimes I think we all go a bit overboard. Thoughts?

Salam Alaikum Brother and Sisters My name is Hussain Makki and I've been studying our magnificent religion for over a decade. I started a YouTube channel to breakdown and discuss our ideologies and other important topics. here's a link to the first video i posted https://youtu.be/p8V-EsNjVVA I plan to answer a range of questions such as: is religion a cult? why bother investigating if there is a God? who created the Creator? and many more topics let me know if you have any topics that are relevant and if the channel is helpful at all. many thanks

Salam aleykum my brothers and sisters in religion and my equals in humanity, What is everyone's most trusted news source? Who do you trust to give you a non bias account of current events and politics happening around the globe?

Charlie Hebdo May Now Be Criticized Because It Mocked White Texans Rather Than Muslims by Glenn Greenwald THE NEWFOUND FREE SPEECH crusaders borne of the January 2015 murders of 10 Charlie Hebdo cartoonists in Paris sought to promulgate a new and quite dangerous standard. It was no longer enough to defend someone’s right to express their ideas while being free to condemn those ideas themselves — long the central tenet of the free speech movement (I defend their right to free speech even while finding them and their ideas repugnant). In the wake of the Hebdo killings, one had to go much further than that: It was a moral imperative to embrace and celebrate the ideas under attack and to glorify those who were expressing them, even to declare ourselves to be them (#JeSuisCharlie). As a result, criticizing the content of Charlie Hebdo’s often-vile cartoons became virtually blasphemous. It became common to demand that one not only defend the right of the cartoonists to publish them but also, to show “solidarity,” one had to republish those cartoons no matter how much one objected to their content — thus adopting that speech as one’s own. Opposition to lavishing these cartoonists with honors and prizes was depicted as some sort of moral failure or at least insufficient commitment to free speech rights, as evidenced by the widespread, intense scornheaped on the writers who spoke out in opposition to bestowing Charlie Hebdo with an award at a PEN America gala. A dangerous conflation was thus imposed between the right to express Idea X and one’s opinion of Idea X. Of all the articles I’ve written in the last several years, perhaps the most polarizing and anger-generating were the ones I wrote in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings: one article that rejected the demand that one must celebrate and even republish Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons by criticizing those cartoons and illustrating the results of applying this new, dangerous standard (celebrate offensive and blasphemous cartoons by republishing them) universally; and then a series of articles defending the PEN America writers who objected to the Charlie Hebdo award on the ground that one could simultaneously defend free speech while refusing to praise, honor, and glorify those whose speech rights were under attack. The most dishonest and confused commentators distorted my critique (and others) of the content of Charlie Hebdo’s speech into an opposition to free speech itself. “When Glenn Greenwald castigates the dead Charlie Hebdo cartoonists for racism,” decreed the anti-Islam high priest of New Atheism, Sam Harris, “he’s not only proving that he’s a moral imbecile; he’s participating in a global war of ideas over free speech — and he’s on the wrong side of it.” Similarly confusing these distinct concepts was Quillette’s Jamie Palmer, who, after surveying my years of work defending free speech rights for everyone both as a lawyer and a journalist, somehow concluded that “it would seem logical to suppose that Greenwald’s solidarity with the staff of Charlie Hebdo could be taken for granted.” What was clear all along, and what I argued repeatedly, was that it was not a belief in free speech that was driving these demands that Charlie Hebdo cartoonists be honored and revered and their cartoons be celebrated. Free speech was just the pretense, the costume. Indeed, most of the political leaders who led the “free speech parade” in Paris (pictured above) had long records of suppressing free speech, and few of these new free speech crusaders uttered a word as the free speech rights of Muslims have been assaulted and eroded throughout the West in the name of the war on terror. What was driving this love of Charlie Hebdo was approval of the content of its cartoons: specifically, glee that it was attacking, mocking, and angering Muslims, one of the most marginalized, vulnerable, and despised groups in the West. THE PROOF OF THIS was delivered yesterday. Charlie Hebdo published a characteristically vile cartoon depicting drowning victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston as being neo-Nazis, with the banner that declared “God Exists”: because, needless to say, white people in Texas love Hitler, and it’s thus a form of divine justice if they drown. That led to a virtually unanimous tidal wave of condemnation of Charlie Hebdo, including from many quarters that, just two years ago, were sanctifying the same magazine for its identical mockery of Muslims. Yesterday’s assault on white sensibilities also led many people to suddenly rediscover the principle that one can simultaneously defend a person’s free speech rights while expressing revulsion for the content of their speech. The examples are far too numerous to comprehensively cite; some representative samplings will have to suffice. Here was Piers Morgan in January 2015, with a beloved tweet that was re-tweeted by almost 24,000 people: View image on Twitter Twitter Ads info and privacy Here was the same Piers Morgan yesterday: View image on Twitter Twitter Ads info and privacy For the crime of mocking white Americans, vehement scorn for Charlie Hedbo was commonplace yesterday. “An evil, despicable cover,” opinedNational Review’s Tiana Lowe, who nonetheless added that “the losers at Charlie Hebdo have a God-given right to publish it.” Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson, long a fan of Charlie Hebdo’s anti-Muslim cartoons and an advocate of the duty to republish its content, yesterday announced that, actually, one may hate and denounce the cartoons while still supporting the cartoonists’ free speech rights: “The Charlie Hebdo cover is offensive & dumb, and I fully support their right to be as offensive & dumb as they like.” The right-wing actor James Woods announced: “So much for ‘Je Suis Charlie,’ I guess,” calling the cartoonists “French traitors” in a hastag he added. National Review’s Byron York, showing a picture of the new cover, was similarly candid: “Today, we are not all Charlie Hebdo.” One popular tweet, from journalist Jason Howerton of the conservative Independent Journal Review — who previously mocked news outlets for not showingthe full Charlie Hebdo anti-Islam cartoons — declared that one should not, after all, share Charlie Hebdo cartoons that one finds objectionable: “Was going to go off on Charlie Hebdo for that sick Texas cover. But then I realized that’s what they want. [Edited Out] you. I’m not sharing it.” It’s almost as if the glorification and praise for Charlie Hebdo that became morally mandatory in 2015 had nothing to do with free speech and everything to do with love of the anti-Islam content of Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons. This new rule that one must not only defend Charlie Hebdo’s free speech rights but also honor and praise its work seems to have disappeared rather instantly, violently even, as soon as its targets stopped being Muslims and began being white Americans. This person put it best: Twitter Ads info and privacy What happened here is beyond obvious: Charlie Hebdo was fun, delightfully provocative, bold, and deserving of awards when it was publishing mockery of Muslims. When its cartoonists began publishing exactly the same sort of thing aimed at white Americans, they became “vile,” “evil,” “despicable,” “losers,” and “traitors.” As the author Robert Wright put it this morning: “I’m guessing PEN won’t be giving Charlie Hebdo an award this time around.” The viral 2015 Twitter hashtag campaign would have been much more honest had it read: “#JeSuisCharlie (*pour les bandes dessinées sur les musulmans”): “#IAmCharlie (*for cartoons about Muslims).” Whatever else is true, let this episode bring about the full and permanent death to the new, warped principle that to defend free speech, one must celebrate the ideas under attack and honor those expressing them. It should have never been difficult to grasp the basic yet vital distinction between defending the right of ideas to be expressed and celebrating those ideas. Now that a Charlie Hebdo cartoon has been aimed at white Americans, offending white Westerners, it seems the wisdom of this principle has been rediscovered. Top photo: Prime Minister David Cameron joined other world leaders at the start of the defiant march through Paris, France, in the wake of the terror attacks at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Glenn Greenwaldglenn.greenwald@theintercept.com@ggreenwald

The man correcting stories about Muslims By Catrin NyeVictoria Derbyshire programme 19 January 2017 From the sectionUK Share Image captionEvery day, Miqdaad Versi searches newspapers looking for errors concerning Muslims and Islam When one newspaper reported last year that "enclaves of Islam see UK as 75% Muslim" last year, Miqdaad Versi's instinct was to challenge it. He believes errors in the reporting of Muslims have become all too common, and has made it his mission to fight for corrections. Miqdaad Versi sits in front of a rather geeky-looking spreadsheet at the offices of the Muslim Council of Britain in east London. He is the organisation's assistant secretary general, but the task in front of him is a personal project. The spreadsheet has on it every story published concerning Muslims and Islam that day in the British media - and he is going through them looking for inaccuracies. If he finds one, he will put in a complaint or a request for a correction with the news organisation, the press regulator Ipso, or both. Mr Versi has been doing this thoroughly since November, and before that on a more casual basis. He has so far complained more than 50 times, and the results are visible. He was personally behind eight corrections in December and another four so far this month. Image captionMiqdaad Versi tweets diagrams showing corrections and apologies made following his complaints In the past, corrections to stories were mostly printed when individuals were the victims of inaccurate reporting, but Mr Versi is looking at a whole topic. "Nobody else was doing this," he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. "There have been so many articles about Muslims overall that have been entirely inaccurate, and they create this idea within many Muslim communities that the media is out to get them. "The reason that's the case is because nobody is challenging these newspapers and saying, 'That's not true.'" Find out more Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. See Catrin Nye's full film on this issue here. Mr Versi goes through some of the corrections from December. Five of them concerned a review into integration by Dame Louise Casey. The Sunday Times reported that "Enclaves of Islam see UK as 75% Muslim" in a preview of the review. This was incorrect, with the review actually citing a survey of pupils in one largely Asian school who thought 50-90% of the population in Britain were Asian. The paper corrected the article, and later apologised. As the same story was reported in other publications, it led to five corrections. Mr Versi highlights another article, concerning the Muslim president of the National Union of Students (NUS). She was accused on Mail Online of refusing to condemn so-called Islamic State, when she had openly done so. Also in December, he points out a report in the Sun on Sunday confused the identities of two Muslim individuals - one fighting against extremism and one accused of extremism. "Quite a mix-up," says Mr Versi. He has met several newspaper editors and has been pleased with the quick corrections he has received in some cases. But he is concerned that these revisions are not obvious enough to the reader. "Sometimes the corrections lack a clear acknowledgement of the error they made and often do not include an apology. In addition, they are rarely given the prominence of the original article," he says. He adds that while he is concerned with "significant failings" in the reporting of Muslims, the same issues "might also be replicated for refugee, migrant or other groups". 'No middle ground' One particularly high-profile correction in December last year - that Mr Versi was not behind - involved a 2015 article in which Mail Online columnist Katie Hopkins wrongly suggested Zahid Mahmood and his brother were extremists with links to al-Qaeda, after they had not been allowed to board a plane to the US. The paper and Ms Hopkins apologised and paid £150,000 in damages. At his home in Walthamstow, north-east London, Mr Mahmood says he has forgiven her. He now says it is not her original false accusations that he finds the most upsetting, but the public reaction. "First they were all against us when Katie Hopkins published the article, and then when she made the apology a year later - then they all turn against her. "There's no middle ground. It's not just about Katie Hopkins, it's the mindset of people - how they can very easily be led against somebody, or in favour of somebody." Image captionZahid Mahmood says he holds "no grudge" against Daily Mail columnist Katie Hopkins Mr Mahmood says he feels this kind of reaction is causing divisions in society, and - keen to do his bit for unity - tells the BBC he is formally inviting Katie Hopkins to his home for tea and coffee. "We have no grudge against her, and we would like her to learn and know that we are as British as she is. "In fact, my wife's grandfather and great-grandfather both fought in World War One and World War Two. They fought for the very freedom of this country." Mr Versi says he wants to improve community relations too. He thinks inaccurate reporting has far-reaching consequences, especially because negative stories are often widely circulated by far-right groups and then the corrections are not. Some free speech campaigners, however, are concerned about this kind of work. Tom Slater, deputy editor of Spiked Online, says these complaints could create a fear of reporting certain issues. "I, like anyone else, want a press that's going to be accurate... but what we're seeing here is quite concerted attempts to try and often ring-fence Islam from criticism." Mr Slater says he found a recent correction to a story about a suspected "honour killing" particularly problematic. Image captionTom Slater worries such complaints are attempts to "ring-fence Islam from criticism." In May 2016, the Mail Online and the Sun used the phrase "Islamic honour killing" in their headline. Mr Versi successfully complained to Ipso that Islam does not condone honour killings and that the phrase incorrectly suggested it was motivated by religion. The word "Islamic" was removed from the papers' headlines, and at the bottom of the articles they wrote: "We are happy to make clear that Islam as a religion does not support so-called 'honour killings.'" Mr Slater says he found that statement added by the papers "absolutely staggering". "We all know a religion is just an assortment of ideas and principles. What these papers were effectively asked to do, and what they did do, was to print one accepted interpretation of a religion - and to me this was just like backdoor blasphemy law." Mr Versi, however, insists his work is about ensuring the facts are right - not silencing critics. He says there are many examples where Muslims can be rightly criticised and he is not complaining about those. "All I'm asking for is responsible reporting." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38655760

[ يٓا جُرْحَ الحُسَيٓنْ ] تقدم لكم؛ ●» mula ahmed qurban ●» memory of sayeda zainab death ●» 15th rajab 1438 ●» mawkeb - juffair - bahrain ◆ Track 00 ‏https://goo.gl/BPHfSB ◆ Track 01 ‏‏https://goo.gl/QPqnia ◆ Track 02 ‏https://goo.gl/jC5kkS ◆ Track 03 ‏https://goo.gl/mOsqOM ●» التسجيل الصوتي: علي المنصور حسين طاهر علي حيان ●» الهندسه الصوتيه: علي المنصور ‏Insta: ‏http://instagram.com/jr7_alhussain ‏Soundcloud: ‏https://soundcloud.com/jr7_alhussain ‏WhatsApp: 36990301 | ارسل كلمه اشتراك # اللجنه الصوتيه لموكب أشبال الزهراء ع

New TV channel bethat.tv - limited programing for now, but well worth it , even the few shows they have ... I think they are adding new programs weekly. The TV station is brought to you by the folks at http://islamimarkaz.com

Assalam Alaikum, My name is Farah and I am currently working on an observational documentary for a UK channel which will look to explore the opinions and lifestyles of a diverse section of British Muslims and be used as a platform to voice what Islam means to individual Muslims across the country. In particular we’re looking to reflect the views and opinions of ordinary Muslims and I’d love to feature strong voices which are often under-represented on mainstream media, these often include voices from minority communities within the Muslim faith and I am especially interested in talking to women who are Shia Muslim. The idea would be to bring 10 Muslims from across the UK together to represent a cross-section of the community and explore how each practices their faith. These would include 5 men and 5 women. We are looking for very ordinary people and not scholars or imams and we absolutely don’t expect anyone to represent an entire community – each of the 10 will only be representing their own views. So there is no restriction on how you should practice your faith. It would be great to know if any of the sisters on here would be interested in learning more. Please do drop me a message or feel free to respond on this thread. Jazakh'Allah

British Medical Journal (BMJ) Abstract: Objectives To assess the risk of on-screen death of important characters in children’s animated films versus dramatic films for adults. Design Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with Cox regression comparing time to first on-screen death. Setting Authors’ television screens, with and without popcorn. Participants Important characters in 45 top grossing children’s animated films and a comparison group of 90 top grossing dramatic films for adults. Main outcome measures Time to first on-screen death. Results Important characters in children’s animated films were at an increased risk of death compared with characters in dramatic films for adults (hazard ratio 2.52, 95% confidence interval 1.30 to 4.90). Risk of on-screen murder of important characters was higher in children’s animated films than in comparison films (2.78, 1.02 to 7.58). Conclusions Rather than being the innocuous form of entertainment they are assumed to be, children’s animated films are rife with on-screen death and murder. http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7184

As i was watching this video i was looking to these policemen and saying to myself how much they are so dull and lost to treat this lady the way they did, I mean if they knew that Islam is the rightful religion this man will definitely bow to this lady and probably chops his hand because he touched her the way he did! As a muslim shia convert i think to myself that on the judgment day and when people will die only then they'll realize that the truthful religion has always been Islam and the mistakes that they've done because they were so lost to use their brains and read a bit about islam-shia. I pity these people. May God hasten the reappearance of our Imam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEXl_sYwW8U

Salaam Alaikum again everyone (I know I am posting a lot of things tonight/today--depending on your time zone) Since Muharram is around the corner, I was wondering if anyone could provide links to videos that they find insightful, moving, or educational. My knowledge on Imam Hussein (as) is unfortunately rather limited, and this Muharram I would love to learn more. And videos would be greatly appreciated. Salaam :)

(bismillah) , (salam) "Iranians are converting to Christianity"," Iranians are becoming Sunni's", "Iranian government covertly serves Wahabi interests"," Sunnis are living under dire conditions in Iran", "Iran kills Shia scholars", "Women are being oppressed", "Christians are being persecuted", "There is no freedom of speech in Iran", "Khamenei possesses country's wealth", " Khomeini issued a fatwa that…", … These are just some examples, out of many, of things that are being heard in the media about Iran, its people, government and situation on a daily basis; some of them exaggerated, some distorted and some fabricated. While I know when members here raise the mentioned instances, it is just to know the truth, and there would be no issue whatsoever with creating topics and asking certain questions about Iranian government and people or criticizing them. And while I know people, at least in most of the cases, ask these questions with good intentions and this is appreciable, but at the same time, these can show how the propaganda machine of the Media -- the fabricator and initiator of these stories -- against Iran works. The article below is talking about one case out of this stream in Media: Read the whole article here.

Terrorists Killed 2,000 People in Nigeria Last Week. So Why Doesn’t the World Care? I hate to open another topic surrounding the Charlie Hebdo incident (because personally I'm getting worn out by it), but this is a slightly different perspective. http://mic.com/articles/108192/terrorists-killed-2-000-people-in-nigeria-last-week-so-why-doesn-t-the-world-care And something I took from it is that the terrorists who murdered at Charlie Hebdo are not the enemies of non-Muslims, they are the enemies of humanity. It's not a Muslim v NonMuslim thing, it's a crazy extremist faction v the world. Otherwise all of these Muslims wouldn't be getting killed, too. If non-Muslims would realize this, it would be clear to them that Muslims in general are in no way the enemy.

Tony Blair gives Kazakhstan’s autocratic president tips on how to defend a massacre Tony Blair told the Nursultan Nazarbayev that the deaths of 14 protesters 'tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress' his country had made Tony Blair ® and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Photo: AFP/GETTY By Robert Mendick, Chief reporter 7:00AM BST 24 Aug 2014 Tony Blair gave Kazakhstan’s autocratic president advice on how to manage his image after the slaughter of unarmed civilians protesting against his regime. In a letter to Nursultan Nazarbayev, obtained by The Telegraph, Mr Blair told the Kazakh president that the deaths of 14 protesters “tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress” his country had made. Mr Blair, who is paid millions of pounds a year to give advice to Mr Nazarbayev, goes on to suggest key passages to insert into a speech the president was giving at the University of Cambridge, to defend the action. Mr Blair is paid through his private consultancy, Tony Blair Associates (TBA), which he set up after leaving Downing Street in 2007. TBA is understood to deploy a number of consultants in key ministries in Kazakhstan. Human rights activists accuse Mr Blair of acting “disgracefully” in bolstering Mr Nazarbayev’s credibility on the world stage in return for millions of pounds. The letter was sent in July 2012, ahead of a speech being given later that month by Mr Nazarbayev at the University of Cambridge. A few months earlier, on December 16 and 17 2011, at least 14 protesters were shot and killed and another 64 wounded by Kazakhstan’s security services in the oil town of Zhanaozen. Other protesters, mainly striking oil workers, were rounded up and allegedly tortured. Mr Blair had begun working for Mr Nazarbayev in November 2011, just a few weeks before the massacre. In the letter, sent on note-paper headed Office of Tony Blair, Mr Blair wrote: “Dear Mr President, here is a suggestion for a paragraph to include in the Cambridge speech. I think it best to meet head on the Zhanaozen issue. The fact is you have made changes following it; but in any event these events, tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress that Kazakhstan has made. Dealing with it [the massacre] in the way I suggest, is the best way for the western media. It will also serve as a quote that can be used in the future setting out the basic case for Kazakhstan.” In his own handwriting, Mr Blair added at the bottom of the letter: “With very best wishes. I look forward to seeing you in London! Yours ever Tony Blair.” Mr Blair enclosed with the letter two lengthy paragraphs of about 500 words for Mr Nazarbayev to add to his speech. The words written by Mr Blair but spoken by Mr Nazarbayev with some changes, were widely picked up at the time. They were used to portray Mr Nazarbayev as a visionary leader who had improved living standards in his homeland. Mr Nazarbayev has been president of Kazakhstan, which is oil and gas rich and occupies an area larger than western Europe, since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. He won the last presidential election in 2011 with almost 96 per cent of the vote. Mr Blair advised his client to insert into his speech one paragraph beginning: “I love my country. I have worked hard to help it overcome the bitter legacy of its recent history. I have been at the helm as it has dramatically made these strides in living standards, wealth and prosperity for the people... I rejoice in the essential religious tolerance of the nation that allows people of different faiths to practise those faiths freely.” Mr Blair also wrote into the speech the role Kazakhstan played in helping Nato forces withdraw from Afghanistan and Mr Nazarbayev’s decision to give up nuclear weapons – a relic of the Soviet era. On the issue of Zhanaozen, Mr Blair suggested Mr Nazarbayev say in his speech: “There are issues of democracy and human rights which it is essential to address. I understand and hear what our critics say. However, I would simply say this to them: by all means make your points and I assure you we’re listening. But give us credit for the huge change of a positive nature we have brought about in our country over these past 20 years... We are going to have to go step by step.” In the speech finally delivered by Mr Nazarbayev, he largely followed Mr Blair’s advice although he ignored one key aspect – by failing to mention Zhanaozen by name. In its latest analysis of the country’s record, Human Rights Watch (HRW) concluded that: “Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2013, with authorities cracking down on free speech and dissent through misuse of overly broad laws.” Hugh Williamson, the director of HRW’s Europe and Central Asia Division, said: “It is disgraceful that Tony Blair has taken millions of pounds from this autocrat to write speeches for him without really tackling head on the huge human rights problems in Kazakhstan,” he said. Mr Blair has denied that he “profits personally” from his role in Kazakhstan. In fact he is paid through Tony Blair Associates, which is the trading arm of the Office of Tony Blair. It is thought TBA’s deal with Kazakhstan is worth around £7 million a year. A spokesman for Tony Blair said the letter was making the point “that the events of Zhanaozen were indeed tragic and they had to be confronted in any speech, not ignored”. He said that while Mr Blair had always made it clear that Kazakhstan faces “real challenges” over issues of human rights, the country had none the less “made huge progress” in terms of its economy, religious tolerance and nuclear disarmament. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/11052965/Tony-Blair-gives-Kazakhstans-autocratic-president-tips-on-how-to-defend-a-massacre.html

A few days ago BBC News were claiming that Ayatollah Sistani had issued a 'call to arms to fellow Shia'. I complained to the BBC that this was incorrect: Today I got the following reply: Just goes to show that complaining sometimes does work. One of the reasons zionists are so influential in the media is that they are very good at complaining when they see or read something that they don't like. No journalist wants to be accused of making false claims or being biased, so they are more likely to be careful when reporting news that can potentially cause a backlash. Organizations like the BBC are required to investigate complaints, and this is time consuming and costly for them. We need to make journalists feel that there will be a strong negative reaction if they get things wrong when it comes to news about Islam and Muslims and so it's in their interests to get things right. If you read something you disagree with, let them know - don't be lazy!

http://imhussain.com/e_index.php?ac=news&id=33%C2'> In the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Aid and Charity Fund in the Shiite Endowment began distributing subsidies to the needy and orphan families registered in it, in compliance with the directive of the head of Shiite Endowment his Eminence Sayyid Saleh al-Haidary. A source in the Media Department of the Endowment reported that the manager of the Aid and Charity Fund, Sayyid Abdul Redha Hadi Saleh, confirmed in a press release that 6213 families including those who have orphans, widows and divorced spouses are registered in the Fund. The Shiite Endowment emphasizes to the distribution of subsidies before every religious or national occasion, pointing out to the continuous funding of subsidies until the last day of Eid al-Adha. It is worth mentioning that the assistances received are from the General Commission for investing the funds of the Shiite Endowment in the case of lack of aid from the Ministry of Treasury for this year. The director of the Charity Fund said a registration department will be opened in the Fund and will have one condition which is that the family receiving assistance mustn-t receive any other aid from other funds. Note: We are the International Media Unit in the holy shrine of Imam Hussain. Our main aim is to spread the message of Ahlul-Bayt worldwide. Please join our Facebook Group at Hussein Revivalism follow our Twitter account @ImamHusainMedia follow our Instagram account @imamhussainmedia Thank you, may Allah and the Ahlul-Bayt bless you.

Many Pittsburgh residents converted to the Islamic religion while confirming that Islam corresponds to them in a deep way. Cheri Snow, a convert since 1999, says in her remarks to Pittsburg Newspaper - I didn’t waste a lot of time figuring out that Islam corresponds with what I think of regarding God.- Snow, who changed her name to Safi, added -I was raised as a Catholic and had many unanswered questions going through my head, then fortunately I found Islam, a religion where Muslims believe in one God (Allah) and has answers to all my questions.- It is mentioned that the Muslim population in the United States amounts to 6-8 million, 20% of which are converts from other religions. Note: We are the International Media Unit in the holy shrine of Imam Hussain. Our main aim is to spread the message of Ahlul-Bayt worldwide. Please join our Facebook Group Hussein Revivalism, follow our Twitter account @ImamHusainMedia and our Instagram account @imamhussainmedia Thank you, may Allah and the Ahlul-Bayt bless you. We would like to proudly announce the launch of the new and renovated International Media Unit website! Your participation will help disseminate the voice of Imam Hussain worldwide. Click on the link below to start experiencing the holy city of Karbala from your computer! www.imhussain.com/e_index.php

Photos of the New Zarih of Imam Hussain Unveiled http://imhussain.com/eng/index.php/reports/368-the-new-zarih-of-imam-hussain-unveiled Note: We are the International Media Unit in the holy shrine of Imam Hussain. Our main aim is to spread the message of Ahlul-Bayt worldwide. Please join our Facebook Group at شعبة الاعلام الدولي and follow our Twitter account @ImamHusainMedia Thank you, may Allah and the Ahlul-Bayt bless you.

The Path of Imam Hussein is The Path of The Messengers of Allah There were similarities between al-Imam al-Hussein’s revolution and the legacies of the Messengers of Allah. Allah had sent His Messengers to guide people to the right path and save them from the misconduct of the oppressors who humiliated the offsprings of Adam. These oppressors broke Allah’s covenant, rejected His signs, slayed His prophets, spread mischief and shed blood. The Messengers of Allah spared no effort to challenge those oppressors. The same position had been taken by al-Imam al-Hussein when he witnessed that the truth was concealed and falsehood was not prohibited. He observed Yazid the Umayyad ruler rebelling against Allah’s (Shari’a) and went on transgressing the Message of Islam and placing the book of Allah (al-Quran) behind his back and commanding what is evil and shameful. Karbala embodied the struggles of the Messengers of Allah and posed the greatest challenge to the Umayyad dynasty. Yazid exercised his authority in cruel, unjust and oppressed manners to compel al-Imam al-Hussein to choose one of two things: either to put him to the swords of his army or to accept humiliation. The aim of this plan was to distort al-Imam al-Hussein’s stature among Muslims in order to undermine his revolution. It is worth mentioning that it is impossible for al-Imam al-Hussein to accept humiliation for being the Vicegerent of Allah (khalifatul’Allah) on His earth, the proof of Allah (hujjatul’Allah) to his creatures who upholds the command of Allah, the most noble obedient to Allah, and the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) who is superior to all the angels who are near to Allah, the best of mankind and the leader (sayyid) of the sons of Adam. On the contrary, he denounced the tyrant rulers and held them responsible for permitting what had been forbidden by Allah, turning away from the traditions ( Sunna ) of the Messenger of Allah, and acting amongst Muslims sinfully and aggressively. He welcomed death and sacrificed his life for establishing justice. Death to him was nothing but happiness and living with tyrants was nothing but abject. According to this statement al-Imam al-Hussein’s happiness was correlated to the voice of justice to free the Muslim nation which was captured and imprisoned. Certainly, he was fully aware about the consequences of the battle. He made many statements in this regard. It was a divine mystery which was revealed at the battle of Karbala. It revived Islam, liberated Muslims from the hands of the oppressors and “provided them with determination and strength to defend their principles and live with honor and dignity” The swords which faced al-Imam al-Hussein at the battle of Karbala did not shake his stance. His purpose was stronger than them and greater. They made deep cuts in his sacred body but they did not subdue the inflammation of his revolution. From his wounds Islam overflowed again and his martyrdom changed the course of the Islamic history and sowed the seeds of freedom to enlighten the future Muslim generations to reject humiliation, save humanity, fight for justice, and spread love and peace. Every word al-Imam al-Hussein uttered on the sand of Karbala revealed the principles of his revolution and narrated to us that every unjust ruler and oppressor will come to an end. Those who fought against al-Imam al-Hussein and his principles vanished, but al-Imam al-Hussein remained alive in the consciousness of the Muslim nation. His legacy as well as in the consciousness of free men and women throughout history and became the symbol of freedom and the conqueror who wanted to establish the Divine justice (al-tawhid) on earth. That was the goal of the Messengers of Allah and al-Imam al-Hussein. Note: We are the International Media Unit in the holy shrine of Imam Hussain. Our main aim is to spread the message of Ahlul-Bayt worldwide. Please join our Facebook Group at شعبة الاعلام الدولي and follow our Twitter account @ImamHusainMedia Thank you, may Allah and the Ahlul-Bayt bless you.

The Women Affairs Minister in Pakistan, Mrs. Sheghufta Joomani, accompanied by a number of Pakistani political figures, were honored to visit the holy shrines of Imam Hussain and his brother Al-Abbas. They were given a tour of the Imam Hussain Museum to observe some of the rare and valuable ancient items. During the Interview, Mrs. Joomani stated that it was her ambition to visit Karbala, particularly the holy shrines and that it was "a dream come true." She also called on all Muslims of the world to visit the holy shrines to point the religion of Ahlul-Bayt as a triumph. http://imhussain.com/eng/index.php/reports/361-pakistani-women-affairs-minister-honored-to-visit-the-holy-shrines For more cultural news updates visit our website at www.imhussain.com

Important I need someone that is willing to take and translate Velyattv episodes with english subtitles and break the episode into parts pertaining to different subjects. I want to post it on youtube. Please I need help! The thing is I know farsi enough to understand it myself. You can find all episodes on their website: http://www.velayattv.com/fa/index.php But right now I need this one episode that has some important topics discussed, translated. You can post on here or PM me for further info and discussion! Wa Salaam

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