Headline News 03/03/2017

Headlines:

Islam to Overtake Christianity as World's Largest Religion by 2070

Aleppo Report Accuses All Sides of Brutal War Crimes

Pakistan OKs Military Cross-border Operations against Terrorists

Details

Islam to Overtake Christianity as World's Largest Religion by 2070

Islam is the only religion growing faster than the world's population, and it will be the largest in the world by 2070, research has found.  US-based Pew Research Centre analysed demographic change among the world's major religions and found that the world's population of Muslims will grow by 73 per cent between 2010 and 2050, compared to 35 per cent for Christians, the next fastest-growing faith.  The world's population will grow by 37 per cent over the same period. If those rates of growth continue past 2050, Muslims will outnumber Christians by 2070, the report found. It also says that Muslims will make up 10 per cent of Europe's population. In 2010 there were 1.6bn Muslims in the world, and 2.17bn Christians. By 2050, there will be 2.76bn Muslims and 2.92bn Christians - and if both religions continue at that rate of growth, Islam will have a larger number of followers than Christianity by 2070.  Atheists, agnostics and non-religious people will decline from 16.4 per cent of the world's population to 13.2 per cent by 2050, the report added, despite growing in Europe and North America. The changes are partly due to the various fertility rates each religion has. Muslims have the highest, at 3.1 children per woman, followed by Christians, at 2.7.  Islam also has a much younger follower-base than other religions, meaning believers still have childbearing years ahead. 34 per cent are aged under 15, compared to a global average of 27 per cent.  Christianity is also likely to suffer as more converts leave to become non-religious or to join other faiths, the report predicted. Around 40 million people are projected to switch into Christianity globally, while 106 million are predicted to leave. The report also summarises findings from a survey last year into European attitudes towards Muslims. "Majorities in Hungary, Italy, Poland and Greece say they view Muslims unfavorably, while negative attitudes toward Muslims are much less common in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Northern and Western Europe. "People who place themselves on the Right side of the ideological scale are much more likely than those on the Left to see Muslims negatively," it said. [Source: The Daily Telegraph]

Despite the relentless western intervention in Muslim lands accompanied by vicious negative campaigns against the Islamic world, Islam is on the rise. Allah says,

[وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّـهُ وَاللَّـهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ]

“Remember how the Unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out (of thy home). They plot and plan, and Allah too plans; but the best of planners is Allah.” [TMQ: Al Anfal: 30]

Aleppo Report Accuses All Sides of Brutal War Crimes

A UN-established commission has issued a damning report on human rights violations in Syria's war-ravaged Aleppo, accusing both sides to the conflict of committing war crimes. The commission gathered evidence to confirm witness accounts that the Syrian and Russian governments used prohibited cluster munitions on civilians in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, suggesting the deliberate destruction of hospitals with repeated airstrikes, among other rights violations. Cluster munitions release smaller "bomblets" that cover a wider area than regular bombs, and are criticized for causing damage beyond intended targets. CNN has reached out to Russian officials and the Syrian mission to the UN for a response to the report, but they have not yet replied. Both countries have in the past denied deliberately targeting hospitals and schools, as well as the use of cluster bombs. The commission could not always distinguish whether it was Syrian or Russian planes carrying out particular airstrikes. The report also said Syrian forces carried out a deadly aid convoy attack in September 2016, giving a harrowing account of how machine guns were fired from aircraft at those who had survived rounds of bombings. The commission heard more witness testimony of chemical attacks using chlorine gas, saying the evidence pointed to the Syrian regime being behind them. The report said the use of chlorine in attacks was a war crime and showed "a blatant disregard for international legal obligations." But the commission said it found no evidence that Russia had used chemical weapons. Both Syria and Russia have denied using chemical weapons. [Source: CNN]

The report forgets to highlight the role of the US and the UN in laying the framework for Assad’s forces and Russian troops to commit war crimes. Only the Khilafah "Caliphate" state (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood can punish the major powers for the crimes they have committed in Syria.

Pakistan OKs Military Cross-border Operations against Terrorists

Pakistan’s civilian government is pursuing a high-risk strategy in authorizing its army to conduct cross-border strikes against terrorists. A flurry of terror attacks in the country is forcing its leaders to try to quell public anger by taking a more aggressive approach in fighting the problem, which has killed more than 125 people and shattered a relatively quiet period that has been fostered by a major military campaign. The attacks have been linked to Islamic State and its allies, with Pakistan saying they have been instigated from Afghanistan’s side of the border. Afghanistan has blamed attacks in its territory on groups operating from Pakistan. Pakistan also wants to be seen as an active ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism at a critical time, with new President Donald Trump’s administration currently developing its foreign policy — including aid — in the region.  The army has just been tasked with carrying out a nationwide initiative aimed at rooting out Islamic extremists, even in areas like Punjab province that previously were considered off-limits. Pakistan’s military, which has long played a strong role in the country, is believed to have ties with some extremist groups.  The decision to authorize the military to carry out missions unilaterally outside Pakistan’s territory has rankled Afghanistan at a time that both are suffering from Islamic State’s attacks, which are disruptive to both countries’ leadership. “This is a clear-cut decision of the government, and the military is authorized to take action within the country or across the country, that where there is terrorism, they will have to take action,” said Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Instead of cooperating to fight terror groups, as both sides agree they must do, the two governments are allowing the gap between them to expand. “Both countries are faced with terrorism and both need to work together; neither can do it on its own,” said Ishaq Khan, a Pakistani security expert and retired army brigadier. [Source: Voice of America].

Ever since, American forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the security situation of Pakistan has greatly deteriorated. Yet despite this obvious fact, the Pakistani leadership refuses to address American presence in Afghanistan as the principal cause behind the violence occurring in Pakistani cities. What is required is severance all ties with America, not more security operations.