bestcurrentnews 2014 Ramadan Prayer

The Forgotten Girls of Nigeria

2014 Ramadan Prayer Day 26Tuesday marked the 100th day since the terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped approximately 200 schoolgirls from their school in Nigeria. Deborah Sanya, an eighteen-year-old who managed to escape the kidnappers described her ordeal to the New Yorker magazine. She said the terrorists showed up on the night of the abduction dressed in Nigerian military uniforms and told the girls they were there to take them to safety. After the men took food and other supplies from the school, they set the building on fire. At first she and the other girls thought they were safe, however once the men started shooting and shouting, “Allahu Akbar”, she realized the men were not Nigerian soldiers. “I thought it was the end of my life. …There were many, many of them.”

She recounted how she begged God for help and watched as several girls jumped out of the truck they were in. Eventually they reached the terrorists’ camp. After a couple of hours she and a couple of her friends fled behind some trees. Despite the terrorists’ demands to return, the girls kept running until they reached the safety of a friendly stranger’s home. The next day they called their families.

Sanya’s father described the conflicting emotions he now has. Although grateful to have his daughter returned, he feels guilt for those who are still missing. “Every house in Chibok has been affected by the kidnapping.”

Boko Haram has continued their attacks throughout Nigeria and have ignored international cries for the girls to be released. Earlier in July, Boko Haram leader, Abubaker Shekau released a video that mocked the “#BringBackOurGirls” campaign. The social media campaign brought worldwide attention to the plight of the kidnapped girls. The Twitter accounts of celebrities quickly brought attention to the kidnapping. United States First Lady Michelle Obama Bring Back Our GirlsMichelle Obama received nearly 58,000 retweets of the “#BringBackOurGirls” hashtag. Sadly the social media campaign has waned, although at least one U.S. Representative, Frederica Wilson (D-FL) is still attempting to encourage U.S. celebrities to keep the Nigerian girls’ story in the news. She has promised to tweet until the girls are returned to their families.

The Associated Press reported today that eleven parents of the missing girls would never be reunited with their daughters. Boko Haram killed seven fathers of the girls in further attacks, and at least four more parents have died from illnesses that the community blames on the stress of losing their daughters – such as heart failure and high blood pressure. A community leader described the anguish of one father, “[he] just went into a kind of coma and kept repeating the names of his daughters, until life left him.”

Social media campaigns may be short-lived, but we serve a God who has not forgotten these kidnapped girls.

Prayer Points:

Jesus taught in Matthew that a sparrow could not fall to the ground without our Father knowing it. Our God knows exactly where each kidnapped girl is being hidden. Pray that He will reveal to the Nigerian army where each of these girls have been taken, and will give them wisdom to rescue them and bring them home to their families.

Pray for each of these young girls that God will surround them with His angels, comfort and heal them. Pray for their grief stricken families that they will be reunited with their daughters.

A massive assault by Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Damboa displaced more than 15,000 people on Monday. Over 2,000 people were killed by the terrorist group in the past six months. Pray for the protection of the people of Nigeria – especially for the Christian communities that are often the target of the Islamist group.

Twitter Definition

bestcurrentnews ReCap

ReCap March 2013

ReCap LogoWelcome to the March edition of Best Current News’ ReCap series – brief summaries of selected articles chosen to keep you informed of threats to traditional Judeo-Christian values and western culture by Islamists. In each synopsis there are links provided to the original sources to provide you with more information.

United States: Hafiz Khan, imam of the Flagler Mosque in Miami, Florida was convicted by a federal jury of providing more than $50,00 to the Pakistani Taliban. Sentencing will be May 30, 2013.

United States: Ahmed Ferhani was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting to blow up synagogues in Manhattan. Ferhani said, “By targeting a synagogue…I intended to create chaos and send a message of intimidation and coercion to the Jewish population of New York City, warning them to stop mistreating Muslims.”

United States: A report released by Sanctuary for Families discloses the risk for a female in the United States to undergo female genital mutilation, the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia, increased by 35%. The U.S. has had a law against FGM since 1996, but as of 2012 there have been no prosecutions under federal law and only one criminal case brought forward through state law.

United States: The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) president, Mohamed Magid joined 10 other leaders in a conversation with President Obama about immigration reform. Magid also took part in a meeting with the President to give “recommendations” in preparation for President Obama’s Middle East trip. ISNA remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history that was held in Dallas, Texas in 2008.

United States – Syria: Pending Congressional approval, John Kerry committed the U.S. to sending nonlethal aid to the Free Syrian Army, the armed faction that is battling to remove President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. also pledged $60 million to help the anti-Assad group improve services to Syrians such as sanitation and education in areas it has already taken from the government. The $60 million is in addition to more then $50 million that has already been sent. Britain is also planning to send more nonlethal aid, and is consulting with other European nations regarding the type of aid they could send.

United States – Egypt:  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the release of $250 million in American aid to support Egypt’s “future as a democracy” after meeting with, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. This is part of more than $1 billion in U.S. assistance promised by President Barack Obama to Egypt last year.

United States – Palestine: The U.S. has unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority, which had been frozen by Congress for months after President Mahmud Abbas won upgraded UN observer status at the UN General Assembly in November.

United States – Jordan: President Obama pledged an additional $200 million to deal with the growing number of Syrian refugees in Jordan pending Congressional approval. The U.S. is already the largest single donor of assistance to Syrian refugees.

Europe: Muslim gang rapes across Europe are under reported in the press due to political correctness. One report indicated that as many as 5,000 gang rapes occur in France alone each year. One particular gruesome case involved a 29-year-old Swedish mother of two who was raped by 12 Afghan refugees. The rape marathon lasted for seven hours during which the woman went into shock. She now lives in a psychiatric clinic and is wheelchair bound due to damage to her abdomen and suffers from fecal incontinence.

Belgium:  Politicians submitted a proposal in front of the Belgian Parliament to impeach or limit the influence of Muslim extremists in power, arguing that ultra-conservative Muslim beliefs are inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Right’s laws. According to recent estimates six percent of the Belgium population is Muslim.

France: A trial began for Bouchra Bagour, a French Muslim mother for “glorifying crime.” She was charged after sending her three-year-old son, named Jihad to nursery school wearing a shirt with the words “I am a bomb” on the front and “Jihad, born on 11 September” on the back.

Germany:  Three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups were banned in Germany. Salafists are a militant group of Muslims who believe themselves the only correct interpreters of the Qur’an and consider moderate Muslims to be infidels. The banned groups wanted to overturn the German democracy and install a system based on sharia or Islamic law.

United Kingdom: The UK government is considering reviving plans to sell Islamic bonds to boost Britain’s role as a center for Sharia compliant financing. Zakat (which oftentimes funds terrorism) is required in order for a financial instrument to be considered sharia compliant.

Australia: Four men were found guilty of assault in an Australian court after they whipped a Muslim convert with an electric cord as punishment under sharia (Islamic) law.  His religious mentor and three other Islamic men punished the convert for drinking alcohol and taking drugs.

Australia: Cadbury Easter eggs are certified as halal (or permissible according to Islamic law) despite the fact Muslims do not celebrate Easter. A website called Halal Choices lists 340 companies in Australia that pay for halal certification of their products including Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Franklins, Kellogg’s, MasterFoods, Nestle and Kraft’s Vegemite. Many companies pay for halal certification for products that do not require certification because in some cases their customers require the certification.

Malaysia: 27 people were killed after two deadly shootouts in Sabah on Borneo Island after an estimated 100 to 300 Islamic Filipino intruders claimed the state on behalf of the heir to a former Philippine sultanate. Follower of Islamic leader Jamalul Kiram III claim they are ready to die to defend his the Sultan’s claim to Sabah which was once controlled by the now-defunct sultanate.

Bangladesh: Jamaat-e-Islami supporters in Bangladesh are calling for a reunification with Pakistan and the creation of a “pure” state, free of non-Muslims. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is supporting the group, and calling for the current government to resign.  Jamaat has begun handing out weapons to women and children to “save Islam and its soul from danger.” They are calling for Hindus, atheists and Christians to be expelled from the nation. Within the first week of March, 87 people have died – mostly police and peaceful protesters.

Nigeria: Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group allegedly destroyed 50 out of 52 Catholic churches in Borno state in Nigeria. Since its founding in 2001, the group has been responsible for between 3,000 and 10,000 deaths.