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Unrest in Middle East, Africa cast pall over Ramadan for Muslims
This file image, taken October 13, 2007, shows Egyptians praying in Cairo's streets during the holy month of Ramadan.
August 1st, 2011
08:30 AM ET

Unrest in Middle East, Africa cast pall over Ramadan for Muslims

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) - Muslims around the world on Monday ushered in Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk abstinence from food and drinks.

But this year, the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa has cast a pall over what is traditionally a period of comity and goodwill toward men.

Several countries in the region have been swept up in protests against longtime rulers since the January revolt that ousted Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

In many cases, these demonstrations and movements have been met with brute force that has escalated into seemingly unending violence.

Most anti-government demonstrations have taken place after prayers, with the masses taking to the streets after meeting at mosques.

The month, which brings more Muslims to mosques, has some governments worrying that the gatherings will provide more opportunities for such protests - and demonstrators fearing that security forces will crack down forcefully to prevent them.

Read the full story here about Ramadan unrest in the Arab world
- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: Belief • Egypt • Food • Islam

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soundoff (28 Responses)
  1. trxsuspension

    Hello. everyone.
    would like to make new friends with you guys.

    November 28, 2011 at 9:21 pm |
  2. Muneef

    As it seems "The Middle East Spring Flu" will soon be catching into Europe...

    August 8, 2011 at 3:20 pm |
  3. Muneef

    Unrest in the Middle East;

    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MH05Df01.html

    August 8, 2011 at 12:04 pm |
  4. Muneef

    Wonder if you know where will the unrest lead all those to;

    These pictures are the same pictures that Jewish people could get the
     Sympathy of the world for what they have suffered with Hitler and his army.
    But now they are doing the same crimes with the Palestinians
    Please try to send
    TO CLEAR THE TRUTH OF THE REAL KILLER
    And cooperate to publish as much as possible

    http://www.nawiseh.com/monawat/jewish/

    August 8, 2011 at 11:38 am |
  5. Muneef

    Islam had it's share of False Prophets During Muhammad's saws time, so God only knows how many were there after his death and result of those at present times...!?
     
    -01) Al-Aswad al-Ansi.
    Aswad Ansi (Arabic : الاسود العنس), better known as Abhala son of Kaab, was a prophet who claimed prophethood in Yemen towards the end of the prophet Muhammad's lifetime, around 630 AD. He claimed to receive divine inspiration in the form of words and is recorded to have recited them to his people.
    He was known to be a soothsayer and a sorcerer who had a passion for consumption of alcohol. He had an ability to dazzle a crowd with tricks, according to traditional accounts he had a donkey whom he had trained to kneel before him, he would tell the donkey, in front of a large crowd "Kneel before your lord" and it would kneel, and then he would say to it "Bow before your lord" and it would bow. He eventually managed to convince the people of Yemen that he was a prophet.

    -2) Musaylama The Liar
    “ "From Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to Musaylimah, the arch-liar. Peace be upon him who follows (God's) guidance. Now then, surely the earth belongs to God, who bequeaths it to whom He will amongst his servants. The ultimate issue is to the God-fearing."[4] ”

    -3) Tulayha
    Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi[1] belonged to the Bani Assad tribe. He was a wealthy chief and a great warrior.[1] In 625 he was defeated in the Expedition of Qatan (against the Muslims). He also took part in the Battle of the Trench in 627.
    In 630 he submitted to Muhammad. However, he rebelled against Muhammad in 631 when he claimed to be a prophet and the recipient of divine revelation.[1] Thus, Tulayha became the third person to claim prophethood among the Arabs against Muhammad.[2] Many tribes acknowledged him as a prophet, which made him sufficiently strong and powerful to lead a confederacy of numerous tribes against the Muslims.[1].

    August 4, 2011 at 4:11 pm |
    • Muneef

      False Prophets reveal them selves time after time all through generations..today they are called politicians....

      August 4, 2011 at 4:32 pm |
  6. Fact-telling

    Now is the time for Muslims to hear the Gospel of the Divine Savior Jesus all over the world.

    August 2, 2011 at 4:43 am |
    • Muneef

      Start with your own as seems they are the one's most ignorant about it...

      August 2, 2011 at 10:47 am |
    • Fact-telling

      Muneef, the Word of God says you have no salvation without believing that Jesus died for your sin and rose from the dead. Believe what God says instead of your own religious inclination.

      August 2, 2011 at 11:45 am |
    • Muneef

      We have no sin God created Adam&Eve to rule Earth...Jesus was Assassinated by conspiracy among those from the Children of Israel who took him for a Corrupter corrupting their beliefs....and since Judaism did not invite converts they had to officially establish a new religion to convert non Jews to it and then use them as a sword in their hands to fulfill their prophecies of ruling the world...!

      August 2, 2011 at 2:19 pm |
    • frank

      @Fact-Telling
      Pick a name and stick with it, you vapid twat third-rate troll.

      August 2, 2011 at 6:04 pm |
    • Reality

      "The kind on thinking I saw in Saudi Arabia and among the Brotherhood of Kenya and Som-alia, is incompatible with human rights and liberal values. It preserves the feu-dal mind-set based on tr-ibal concepts of honor and shame. It rests on self-deception, hypro-cricy, and double standards. It relies on the technologial advances of the West while pretending to ignore their origin in Western thinking. This mind-set makes the transition to modernity very painful for all who practice Islam". – A.H. Ali

      August 3, 2011 at 12:06 am |
  7. JohnR

    When's the last time there weren't any troubles in the Middle East????

    August 1, 2011 at 1:11 pm |
    • Muneef

      When was it when did not the West and East bring their trouble into the MidEast??

      August 1, 2011 at 2:43 pm |
    • BG

      @ Muneef

      Islamic militants launch Ramadan offensive in famine-stricken Somalia
      By the CNN Wire Staff
      August 1, 2011 - Updated 1726 GMT (0126 HKT)

      Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) - The Islamic militant group al-Shabaab launched a Ramadan offensive Monday amid spreading famine in Somalia, the African Union said.

      Heavy fighting was reported in the Wardhiigley district in northeast Mogadishu, according to African Union officials. Mortars and gunfire could be heard near the African Union base on Monday.

      Troops killed two apparent suicide bombers dressed in Somali uniforms before they were able to detonate bombs strapped to their bodies, African Union officials said. During a gunfight, two African Union soldiers were fatally wounded.

      "In the midst of a famine seizing Somalia, the extremists are choosing to focus on killing, not saving life," said Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the spokesman for African Union forces. "The extremists are using desperate measures to achieve their ends through their willingness to use brutal violence during the holy month of Ramadan."

      Al-Shabaab has launched Ramadan offensives against Somali and African forces every year since the organization sent troops to Mogadishu in 2007, according to the African Union. Ramadan began Monday.

      The African Union said al-Shabaab appeared to be massing fighters in the city and preparing for additional attacks.

      Last week, African Union forces mounted an offensive against al-Shaabab aimed at giving humanitarian organizations more breathing room to deliver critical food and supplies as the country attempts to deal with a crippling drought and famine.

      On June 20, the United Nations declared a famine in two regions of southern Somalia for the first time since 1991, according to the organization.

      The rate of malnutrition in Somalia is the highest in the world, approaching half of the population in parts of the country's rebel-held south, the U.N. said.

      U.N. officials are concerned the fighting could affect the ability to deliver humanitarian aid in Mogadishu, but it has not yet done so, Valerie Amos, under secretary-general for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said Monday.

      The U.N. needs to raise $2.4 billion to help prevent the famine from spreading, Amos said. So far, donors have contributed $1 billion, she said.

      CNN's Nima Elbagir contributed to this report

      +++++++++++++++++++++

      Your perverted beliefs cause enough trouble all on their own. It is nothing more than an excuse. Don't blame us. Where is all the Islamic relief? When will the religious and/or governmental leaders of other Islamic countries make a plea to Al Shabaab to cease the killing? When will NATO, the U.N., the U.S., and the rest of the 'civilized world' step in a stop this atrocity? We stopped Kaddafi, we condemned the civilian deaths in Egypt and Syria... yet here are Islamic followers killing millions of their own without the same restrictions being imposed. "Extremists" at work? Or representatives? Where do you draw the line of demarcation to describe the -majority- of followers? Maybe when a country is being killed. That's fairly indicative.

      Your 'belief' is a sham – it is simply an excuse for political domination and civil control through both domestic and international terrorism. People are waking up to this, increasingly, every day. There was a time when I wanted to talk with you, Muneef, in order to understand what drives the unbridled actions of extremists of your 'religion.' Now I realize it doesn't really matter. Talk, opinion, taqiyya, Koranic verses, interpretation, understanding... none of it matters.

      It's action – or lack thereof.

      God save and keep the people of Somalia. There is no worse death than dying by dehydration and starvation.

      And the rest of Islam can take it's "Ramadan" and shove it.

      August 1, 2011 at 4:11 pm |
    • Muneef

      Read the history of Somalia before ruler was overthrown and after if you want to know I was right...! How many times thereafter Somali fell into famine and starvation? Did the world arrange water to arrive to their lands to grow their food ? No just kept giving porridge stuff every time for the past 20 years...Intervention in the country politics as to the west liking this but not liking that has created this mess in the country...read about it...!

      Finally who are those Shabaab are they a new name for Alqaida? Understood that most of them were trained in private American Militias before they are sent to fight any opportunity into bringing peace in the region...they are nothing but another pirates on land as those in sea...read more on who support those to make political changes and presence in the area...!
      Got to wakeup one day and see the world with the right light glasses and not with dark one's...if you want to know or find out the real truth about the problem or any problem you got to ignore the turning over leafs,rather should go to the roots of the tree to see the main cause of the problem to fix it...rather than surface solutions that keeps the problem returning over and over again...!

      August 2, 2011 at 12:19 am |
    • Fact-telling

      @Muneef, don't blame the West. The Christian West is the only civilization that made the whole world civil. On the other hand, you guys were brainless and barbaric, oppressed women and infidels and gave no rights to children; that's why you were razed by the foreign forces. Get a lesson. It's not too late now.

      August 2, 2011 at 4:41 am |
    • Muneef

      Now you are changing facts...it was us who brought you out of your dark ages...it was us who brought the Knowledge to Spain...we were your teachers..you only came to take our wealths and enslave us...most of you were pirates then...

      August 2, 2011 at 10:45 am |
    • Fact-telling

      Muneef, excuse me? Britons and Germans never needed anything from Spain and they developed everything without anyone's help but the Bible. Why do you still oppress women and children?

      August 2, 2011 at 12:20 pm |
    • Muneef

      That was I am trying to bring you to...
      We are talking about Nations and not countries...say as Romans or as Crusoders...did you get it now...when one does in the name of The Cross or in the name of Europe then automatically becomes Christians or the Europian Union...and those can not be divided since they are considered as one Alliance !!
      When few evilish Muslims plotted all of you blamed the whole nation of Islam...so why your case should be looked upon differently...?!

      August 2, 2011 at 2:33 pm |
    • Reality

      "The kind on thinking I saw in Saudi Arabia and among the Brotherhood of Kenya and Som-alia, is incompatible with human rights and liberal values. It preserves the feu-dal mind-set based on tr-ibal concepts of honor and shame. It rests on self-deception, hypro-cricy, and double standards. It relies on the technologial advances of the West while pretending to ignore their origin in Western thinking. This mind-set makes the transition to modernity very painful for all who practice Islam". H. Ali

      August 3, 2011 at 12:07 am |
  8. AvdBerg

    By reading the comments on this Blog it seems very obvious to us that people need to learn more about the gayness of Christ . The truth of Christ’s gayness is coming out more and more each day. For a better understanding of this scriptural verse we invite you to visit our website http://www.gaychristian101.com...

    August 1, 2011 at 12:13 pm |
  9. AvdBerg

    By reading the comments on this Blog it seems very obvious to us that people need to learn more about the gayness of Christ . The truth of Christ’s gayness is coming out more and more each day. For a better understanding of this scriptural verse we invite you to visit our website http://www.gaychristian101.com

    August 1, 2011 at 12:13 pm |
  10. Reality

    Saving Muslims is quite easy!!!

    The Five Steps To Deprogram 1400 Years of Islamic Myths:

    ( –The Steps take less than two minutes to finish- simply amazing, two minutes to bring peace and rationality to over one billion lost souls- Priceless!!!)

    Are you ready?

    Using "The 77 Branches of Islamic "faith" a collection compiled by Imam Bayhaqi as a starting point. In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true "faith" (iman) through related Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings." i.e. a nice summary of the Koran and Islamic beliefs.

    The First Five of the 77 Branches:

    "1. Belief in Allah"

    aka as God, Yahweh, Zeus, Jehovah, Mother Nature, etc. should be added to your cleansing neurons.

    "2. To believe that everything other than Allah was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah Most High created these things and subsequently they came into existence."

    Evolution and the Big Bang or the "Gi-b G-nab" (when the universe starts to recycle) are more plausible and the "akas" for Allah should be included if you continue to be a "crea-tionist".

    "3. To believe in the existence of angels."

    A major item for neuron cleansing. Angels/de-vils are the mythical creations of ancient civilizations, e.g. Hitt-ites, to explain/define natural events, contacts with their gods, big birds, sudden winds, protectors during the dark nights, etc. No "pretty/ug-ly wingy thingies" ever visited or talked to Mohammed, Jesus, Mary or Joseph or Joe Smith. Today we would classify angels as f–airies and "tin–ker be-lls". Modern de-vils are classified as the de-mons of the de-mented.

    "4. To believe that all the heavenly books that were sent to the different prophets are true. However, apart from the Quran, all other books are not valid anymore."

    Another major item to delete. There are no books written in the spirit state of Heaven (if there is one) just as there are no angels to write/publish/distribute them. The Koran, OT, NT etc. are simply books written by humans for humans.

    Prophets were invented by ancient scribes typically to keep the un-educated masses in line. Today we call them for-tune tellers.

    Prophecies are also invali-dated by the natural/God/Allah gifts of Free Will and Future.

    "5. To believe that all the prophets are true. However, we are commanded to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) alone."

    Mohammed spent thirty days "fasting" (the Ramadan legend) in a hot cave before his first contact with Allah aka God etc. via a "pretty wingy thingy". Common sense demands a neuron deletion of #5. #5 is also the major source of Islamic vi-olence i.e. turning Mohammed's "fast, hunger-driven" hallu-cinations into horrible reality for unbelievers.

    Walk these Five Steps and we guarantee a complete recovery from your Islamic ways!!!!

    Unfortunately, there are not many Muslim commentators/readers on this blog so the "two-minute" cure is not getting to those who need it. If you have a Muslim friend, send him a copy and help save the world.

    Analogous steps are available at your request for deprogramming the myths of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Paganism..

    August 1, 2011 at 10:42 am |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.