Word: islam
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says the "bill is aimed at enlisting Islam in the fight against crime and corruption," denying the legislation is a power play to consolidate his rule. The Pakistani military begs to differ. Worrying that Sharif is using religion as cover for grander designs, the Army's chief, General Jehangin Karomat, advocates "a direct role for the military in running the country." To see where this is may be heading let us look towards Afghanistan, a country where government, the military and Islamic fundamentalists are one and the same...
Faced with protests from opposition parties, human rights advocates and Islamic scholars, Nawaz Sharif may back down. If he insists on unleashing religious fervor in Pakistan, he could end up one of its first victims, because not all Islamic radicals trust his credentials. Says Maulana Fazl ul Rehman, leader of the militant Jamiat-Ulema-Islami party: "Nawaz Sharif's government is part of the same corrupt system he hopes to overthrow. Only we are the true devotees who will enforce Islam...
Iran and Afghanistan, two of the most profoundly fundamentalist Muslim countries, sit side by side, but common faith doesn't make them friendly. In fact, each despises the other's brand of Islam. Now Iran's Shi'ite leaders and the Sunni Taliban militia that has nearly succeeded in imposing its rule over most of Afghanistan are threatening to turn an ancient theological schism into a fighting...
...Iranians are Shi'ite, and they watched with growing disquiet as the puritanical Sunnis of the Taliban swept across Afghanistan like a fierce windstorm. The Taliban's faithful regard all Shi'ites as heretics who face possible persecution for their minority beliefs. Tehran officials charge that the Taliban gives Islam a bad name, but they mainly resent its challenge to Iran's claim to Muslim supremacy. "Iran is looked on as the godfather of Shi'ites everywhere," says Olivier Roy, a French expert on the region. "If the Iranians do nothing, they will lose face...
...targets in the East African terrorist bombings. Unfortunately, the victims were mainly poor Tanzanians and Kenyans going about their normal daily activities. In no way have the perpetrators gained anything. The suspects are Muslims, and I wonder whose teachings they are following. Muhammad's? Definitely not. He practiced Islam the religion of peace. Please--peace, not terror. MUBARAK BIDMOS Pretoria, South Africa...