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'Woman leading Friday prayers violated Islam'

    Islamabad: The Islamic Fiqh Academy, an affiliate of the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), has strongly condemned the event of a woman, Amina Wadud, leading Friday prayers in America's New York City. "This is a misleading heresy and sedition," the News quoted the academy as saying. The academy felt that in Islam, a woman could neither lead prayers nor stand among the male Muslims in any mosque. "The incident is a clear violation of Shariah as it does not allow women leading prayers for men or delivering Friday sermon to them or mingling of men and women at prayers," the paper quoted a statement release by the academy. The US administration had, earlier, given its approval to Dr. Wadud, an African American and a long time convert to Islam, to lead prayers in the US. After that she led a mixed-gender Friday prayers in an old church building in New York City on March 18, 2005 and became probably the first woman in mainstream Islam to give a "khutba". She teaches philosophy and religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and has written the book "Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective". The academy further said that the incident had violated the spirit of Islam and its jurisprudence. The paper also quoted Sheikh Muhammad Tantawi of Cairo's Al- Azhar, the Islamic World's leading institution, as saying that Islam permitted women to lead other women but not mixed-gender prayers.

Benazir to arrive in India on April 1 (Go To Top)

      Islamabad: Self-exiled former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will arrive in India for a private visit on April 1. The Daily Times quoted her spokesman Farhatullah Babr as saying that she would visit Muslim shrines in Jaiput and Ajmer and would stay for a few days. She, however, was not expected to have any political meetings with the Indian leaders. "As far as I know, no political meetings have been requested, or lined up, or are expected," the spokesman told a news agency. He said that her trip had been made possible by the relaxing of visa regulations, as part of the ongoing peace process driven by the feel good factor between India and Pakistan. "Now the military establishment has taken a leaf from what Benazir Bhutto used to say," he said and added that when Bhutto made efforts to normalise the relations with India in her capacity as the PM, her critics dubbed as a security risk. Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari will accompany her on the trip which is scheduled days before the arrival of Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf in India to watch the New Delhi one- dayer between the two sides. Benazir last visited India in 2002 for a conference on security.

21 states agree to implement VAT: Chidambaram (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Twenty-one states have agreed to implement the Value Added Tax (VAT) regime from April 1 following a meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram here today. "According to the Empowered Committee chairman, 21 states have agreed to implement VAT from April," Chidambaram said. Uttar Pradesh and BJP-ruled states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have expressed their reservations against switching over to the new tax system. The Minister asked them to come on board the revolutionary tax regime as it was the need of the hour. The Empowered Committee on VAT, headed by West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta, has held a series of discussions on the issue and also made some changes in the proposed tax regime under pressure from traders lobby. According to the panel, it has done the groundwork to switch over to the new regime and it was the right time to implement it.

     The new tax, which has been delayed five times in 10 years, hit a snag at the weekend after five states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) refused to implement the plan in its present form and demanded changes. VAT, levied on the value manufacturers and retailers add to goods at each sale point in the chain, seeks to replace a web of state sales taxes which resulted in duplicate taxation. The tax, in place in 130 countries, aims to create a uniform tax system across India's 28 states, curb tax evasion and increase the Central government's tax take. It will have two basic rates of 4 percent and 12.5 percent and a special rate of 1 percent for gold and silver ornaments. Traders, however, term it as too complex and unfairly harsh on the smaller merchants, who make up a sizeable chunk of India's massive trader community. A delegation of the Confederation of Indian Traders met chief of the empowered committee on VAT, Asim Das Gupta today. Gupta assured that the government would listen and try to placate all their problems. Meanwhile, the traders associations have threatened to intensify their agitation if the government goes ahead with its proposed VAT draft.

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