Archive for month: October, 2015

The ISIL terrorist group became so desperate for suicide bombers, they have now started to train up an all-women battalion of bombers in Syria.

Activists from the human rights group ‘Syria is being Slaughtered Silently’ say that sources inside the ISIL held city of Raqqa learnt the terrorists have turned to women to carry out training for deadly attacks.

An Egyptian woman was offered a large amount of money and the promise to ‘go to your husband in heaven’ if she became an ISIL suicide bomber.

It is thought the new terrorist bride suicide squad will be trained up to carry out deadly bomb attacks as the terrorist group believe women are less likely to arouse suspicion.

The activist group also suggested that it is unlikely ISIL will use foreign terrorist brides from the notorious al-Khansaa brigades, who patrol the streets of Raqqa.

The propaganda success of the al-Khansaa brigades, which are thought to include several British women including ex rocker Sally Jones, are a key part of ISIL’s terrifying image.

Due to the value of foreign women in ISIL held territory, the terrorist group have been targeting Arab women to make up the new suicide battalion, having run low of teenagers.

The activist group’s report also cited a woman known only as Farah, who is from Raqqa. She says an ISIL woman approached her and hinted ISIL needed women for “battles to protect Raqqa”.

Farah was told that the defense of Raqqa was part of her “duty to the city”.

“The conversation of this woman started to evolve trying to convince me to join ISIS (ISIL), but what more surprised me was that she asked me to join a new women battalion of ISIS (ISIL) and their mission is not to fight , but to carry out a suicidal operations being the enemy of ISIS (ISIL),” she said.

“They (the enemy) won’t expect that a woman would do such an operation,” Farah was told.

The ISIL recruiter also told Farah that the terrorist group would “take care of her family after her death and will give the large sum of money before the implementation of the operation”.

“Alkhansa’a battalion has a bad reputation among the civilians, and it is a nightmare for the women in Raqqa city as a result for the practices they do to provoke people for personal reasons,” activist Abu Mohammed wrote.

The activist said that some of the women who joined al-Khansaa battalion used to work in prostitution before the arrival of ISIL and “joined to get high salaries” or avoid being stoned.

The female suicide squad suggests ISIL’s fears for its defense of the city of Raqqa with a large forthcoming Kurdish-led offensive expected soon.

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The Hong Kong government must work hard to create a better living environment and more school opportunities for ethnic minorities who have made the city their home, says a leader of the Chinese Muslim community.

Ebrahim Yeung Yee-woo, honorary secretary of the Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association (CMCFA) , and one of the most influential Muslim organizations in the city, criticized Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for “not showing much support” to the Muslim community.

He expressed that non-Chinese Muslims still face discrimination and struggle to adapt to life in Hong Kong.

Last month the Zubin Foundation think tank recommended that a top official such as the chief secretary or chief executive should spearhead a committee to address problems faced by ethnic minorities.

Educators also complain that Hongkongers who do not speak Chinese are increasingly looking to the mainland for post-secondary studies, while minority advocacy group Unison says some landlords appear reluctant to rent flats to families from ethnic minorities.

In an interview with the Post, Yeung suggests it is high time the government did more to help.

“After the 1997 handover, a lot of ethnic minority people came to Hong Kong. They struggle to adapt to life here and people look at them in a strange way,” the 75-year-old complains. “The government should seek to improve their living environment.”

When asked whether Leung has shown the Muslim community enough support, Yeung says: “There wasn’t much. At least he should provide more schooling opportunities and help them with language learning because they see Hong Kong as their home.”

According to official statistics, half of Hong Kong’s 300,000 Muslims are Indonesian, followed by about 40,000 Chinese, 30,000 Pakistani and some Indians, Malaysians and Africans. These figures suggest Muslims account for roughly a third of the 600,000 non-Chinese residents in Hong Kong.

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Japan is poised to become a halal-friendly destination, especially in cuisine, thanks to the surge in the number of tourists heading to the country, mainly from Muslim countries.

Also, as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Olympics, the annual number of tourists is expected to surpass 20 million.

Many of these tourists are especially coming from Indonesia and Malaysia, and halal food, which complies with Islamic dietary guidelines, is in great demand now.

One website, which provides a wealth of information on halal food in Japan, is Halal Gourmet Japan (https://www.halalgourmet.jp/). The site provides all sorts of halal or vegetarian restaurant information for Muslims throughout Japan, even including information on where they can go for karaoke. In the future, the site aims to become the No. 1 portal for Muslims visiting Japan by providing information on food, sightseeing, lifestyle and the culture of Japan.

The site includes pictograms indicating restaurants that are halal-certified, if a restaurant has halal seasoning, if the owner or chef is Muslim, if there are separate kitchens and dedicated cutlery for halal food, if no alcohol served or if alcohol is not used in cooking.

Also, if there is a dedicated place to pray, if Wi-Fi is available, if vegetarian dishes are available, and so on.

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A joint conference by Institute of Islamic Finance and companies of the banking sector will be held on November 4 at the Maldives National University.

The conference will be inaugurated by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)’s Governor Azeema Adam.

In addition to companies and institutes under the Maldives banking sector, companies from Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will also be in attendance.

During the conferences, attendees will discuss the challenges facing the Maldives Islamic finance sector and their solutions, as well as future ventures for the industry.

According to MIB, the conference will focus on the enhancement and expansion of the nation’s Islamic Finance industry, with senior officials of local and foreign companies leading the talks. Senior officials and executives from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Hajj Corporation, Amana Takaful and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) will partipate in the conference.

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