CI’s crisp and honest commentaries

We have been ardent followers of your magazine for many years. We have consistently found your articles informative, educational, illuminating and enjoyable. It is clear that the journalists you employ are of the highest calibre and integrity. In all the years of reading Crescent we have found that people who work for you are not afraid to call a spade a spade, even if the topic addressed may be unpalatable to some Muslims. This is truly a trait to be cherished as it is not often encountered in this day and age. Moreover, the contributors are clearly well informed about current events in the world and how they impact upon the Ummah. So it is refreshing to get this perspective when so often the “mainstream media” only present a distorted picture.

In the issue of January 2010, one article in particular chimed with us: Press TV’s use of inappropriate vocabulary. Once again Crescent must be congratulated for its clarity of vision in raising awareness about the need for appropriate terminology in describing Islamic concepts and issues, especially regarding a media outlet purporting to portray an Islamic outlook. It is time Muslims stopped looking at themselves through hostile viewpoints adopted by their enemies. This irksome and annoying manner of presentation has no doubt caused discomfiture to many Muslims such as us. It is the duty of every Muslim to alert others among us to such drawbacks. Thanks to Crescent for undertaking this task.

 
 
Setting the record straight on Iran

Zafar Bangash’s article, Iran protests: the view from Tehran (Crescent, January 2010), goes a long way to set the record straight about what is really happening in Islamic Iran. The lies spun by the Western media stand exposed. No one should be taken in by them. Kudos also to Abu Dharr for his morale-boosting article, The US cannot do a damn thing!

Where Islam and Muslims are concerned, the Islamophobic corporate media mislead, distort and sow seeds of hatred and fanaticism. More often than not, this leads to prejudice, discrimination, torture and other disastrous consequences for Muslims.

Despite its modest resources, Crescent International has shown itself a formidable beacon of light, honesty and objectivity in an ocean of hatred, perversity and thuggery. Keep up the good work, Crescent International.

 
 
 US needs a paradigm shift

I was shocked to read that the so-called peacekeepers of the world — the US, Britain, France and their allies — deceived the world about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and stinger missiles with Taliban (Crescent, November 2009). These were all lies. Now innocent babies are suffering from the “gifts” delivered by the US and its allies: depleted uranium. People throughout the world are urging the US to consider all human beings as equal and not kill them.

   After all, they should know that all men are mortal and will face the Almighty. My advice to Obama: do not follow the path of your predecessor. Make arrangements to remove your forces from Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. Make a paradigm shift in your foreign policy and people worldwide will stop hating the US.

 
Chechnya War

M. Djavadov’s article on Chechnya was very interesting (Crescent, January 2010). The emergence of factions in Chechen society after the 1996 assassination of Dzhokhar Dudayev, the brilliant Chechen leader, and how external powers — the US and its client dictatorial Arabian regimes — manipulated the internal situation is revealing. The lesson that must be drawn from the Chechen struggle is this: without unified command structure and a single leader, Islamic movements struggling for independence will fall prey to external manipulation and subversion.

 
 

Back to jahiliyah!

Thank you for the piece on Rand’s manipulation of Qatar’s educational system (Crescent, January 2010). It is clear that the regime in Qatar is a willing accomplice in this disastrous enterprise. The US has been involved in similar efforts elsewhere. Currently, the US is funding Pakistani universities, TV channels, newspapers, journalists and academics to project a positive image of itself. Cheryl Benard’s emphasis on projecting pre-Islamic history is revealing. She is advocating the Muslims’ return to jahiliyah!