Answers to questions you may encounter during dawah

Bismillah,

Assalamu alaikum,

There is nothing in this world where Islamic guidance can not apply.

Dr. Bilal Philips has a video series called 'Contemporary Issues' on halaltube.com


Homosexuality? See the explanation here

Apostasy? See the explanation here

Test-tube babies ? Sexchange operations? Organ donation? See the explanation here

Euthanasia/Mercy Killing ? See the explanation here

Capital Punishment/Criminal Justice? See the explanation here

Terrorism? See the explanation here

Interest free Islamic Banking? See the explanation here

Marriage to a Non-Muslim? See the explanation here

Music, Art, Photography? See the explanation here

InshaAllah I hope you find these videos as helpful as I have.

Jamaican Parliament Death Penalty Vote In

34:15 - Hangman wanted

published: Wednesday November 26, 2008

PARLIAMENT yesterday gave warm-up instructions to the hangman, telling him through a unanimous conscience vote that he was wanted back at work soon.
However, the Senate will have a say, by way of a similar vote, whether the death penalty should be retained.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said yesterday's decision, taken by elected members of the House of Representatives, might take precedence if the Senate votes to abolish the death penalty.
"I think a great deal of weight would have to be attached to what the 60 members of parliament said because those were the persons who were elected by the people," Golding told journalists outside Gordon House shortly after the vote.

Provided that the Senate votes in a similar manner to the House, Golding has said he would move an amendment to the Constitution to remove the stricture which requires that the process of appeals through execution takes place within five years of sentencing or a condemned inmate's sentence should be commuted.

The prime minister also said there were no international treaties or conventions that conflict with the vote of MPs to retain capital punishment on its books.

10 mps absent

Thirty-four members, including Golding, voted for the death penalty to remain on the law books, while 15 voted against. Ten MPs were absent. The House speaker did not have a vote.
On the reverse question of whether MPs were in favour of the abolition of capital punishment, 36 MPs said no, while 15 voted to remove the death penalty. The additional votes came from two MPs who had entered the House during voting on the second.

"Provided that the position that the Lower House took today holds, then we are going to stand ready to carry out that penalty whenever any person on death row has exhausted his avenues of appeal," the prime minister said.

Punishment appropriate

Unlike Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller, who was absent from the sitting of the House and had never made clear her stance on the death penalty, Golding said he believed the punishment was appropriate.

"... The death penalty, which I think is an appropriate penalty for someone who takes someone else's life in those cases that we define as capital murder, I believe [the judicial system] it can withstand that scrutiny," the prime minister said.

He added: "I have looked at the reviews that have been conducted by the Privy Council in England and I would venture to say that, whatever deficiencies may have impaired a trial here, it is not going to pass the Bar in the Privy Council."

Golding said that as long as the Privy Council "is an avenue of appeal open to the persons, then I am satisfied that once somebody is convicted, then the death penalty should be carried out".

Eight persons on death row

There are currently eight persons on death row and, according to Golding, none have exhausted their appeals.

The condemned man has a right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the International Commission on Human Rights.

Yesterday's conscience vote was the second such in the history of modern Jamaica on abolition of the death penalty.

Of the 44 members who voted in the first conscience vote in 1979, a majority of 24 members voted in support of the retention of hanging while 19 voted against. As occurred yesterday, Simpson Miller was also absent then, prompting government members to heckle the Opposition about its leader.

"If you are voting for, then vote for. If you are voting against, then vote against. But don't run and hide," West St Thomas MP James Robertson shouted across the aisle.

Simpson Miller said on Sunday that she had a prior engagement overseas that would prevent her from voting

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

Islam, Judaism Speak Out

Islam, Judaism speak out published: Sunday November 16, 2008

Source:http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081116/news/news3.html

TO TAKE a life of a murderer is to save the life of many, says Sheikh Musa Tijani of the Islamic Council of Jamaica.
"When someone kills and he knows he will be killed, he thinks twice to do it and that will make people live in peace and harmony," he says.
Tijani, who is head of education and Dawah (which means calling people to the religion), says the Koran teaches that capital punishment is the law of God, and robbery and murder of the innocent are crimes punishable by death.
He says if Jamaica reimplements capital punishment, the island's ghastly murder rate is likely to be reduced.
"That is one thing that can help to solve the problem if they utilise it properly," he comments. By that he means the State must act fairly in carrying out capital punishment.
"In Islam, we believe that everybody has to be under the law; no one should be above the law; everybody has to get the same punishment," he adds.
That the innocent could inadvertently be killed in the process of carrying out capital punishment should be no excuse for discarding the system, Tijani states. He says the occurrences of such cases are minimal and all that needs to be done is to improve the process of investigation to minimise such occurrences.

The rights of the victim

"That is what happens in every country. So, as long as it is not a [deliberate attempt] to kill the person, then you cannot use it as an excuse not to perform it. When you talk about human rights, what about the rights of the victim?" questions Tijani.
The stance on capital punishment is not so clearly defined by the world's oldest religion, Judaism.
Spiritual leader Ainsley Henriques says Judaism strongly advocates preserving life, but will subscribe to the observance of capital punishment if it is the law of the land.
"We acquiesce to the majority consideration in this regard, recognising, however, that as far as we are concerned, life is a sacred blessing," he says.
He adds that modern Jewish thought is opposed to capital punishment, but might support its observance in extreme circum-stances. There has only been one execution in the history of the modern state of Israel for crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust.

- gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com

Vote Left Hanging

Vote left hanging - MPs now to decide on death penalty Tuesday
BALFORD HENRY, Observer writer balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008

THE House of Representatives last night pulled back from the brink of a crucial vote on the death penalty, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
Golding, who introduced the motion last week, asked that the vote be delayed until next Tuesday to facilitate more MPs being present. There were 45 members of the 60-seat House present at the time.

The decision was a disappointment for the so-called "hawks", who support retention of the death penalty and who are obviously the majority. But it was welcomed by the opposing "doves", who probably hope to sway some of the "hawks" by Tuesday.The MPs streamed out of the House after accepting Golding's proposal, mostly confident that there would be no further delay beyond the deadline set last night by the prime minister.Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles, one of the fiercest supporters of the death penalty, said last night that although he would not be in the island for Tuesday's vote, he was confident that his view would prevail.

Government's chief whip, Andrew Gallimore, who is passionately against the death penalty, said he had resigned himself to be on the losing end of the vote, but hoped that by Tuesday others could be swayed to his view.

The decision to delay the vote came at the end of a marathon debate lasting four days with contributions from over 40 MPs.Yesterday's portion was highlighted by Charles' demand for immediate action against "murderers" including those who he said recently beheaded an uncle of his, and Gallimore, who severely criticised those supporting capital punishment.

At one stage, Opposition MP Phillip Paulwell (East Kingston and Port Royal) criticised Charles for lashing out at those against the death penalty. Another Opposition MP, Dr Peter Phillips, also accused him of imputing motive for criticising MPs who were against the death penalty and had violence-prone communities in their constituencies.

Opposition MP Robert Pickersgill, whose follow-up motion to have the UK Privy Council's five-year stricture on carrying out the death penalty removed, and has already attracted criticisms from human rights activists, proclaimed "I am for the capital punishment".

Among those absent yesterday were: Leader of the Opposition, Portia Simpson Miller, who had indicated Tuesday that she would not be present; cabinet ministers Mike Henry, Clive Mullings and Olivia Grange, who are abroad; Opposition MP Ronald Thwaites, who left after prayers; and Leader of the House, Derrick Smith, who had surgery over the weekend in Florida.

Source:http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/