Free Republic

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - A senior Shiite cleric called Friday for peaceful resistance to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and warned his followers were running out of patience. In Baghdad, gunmen attacked worshippers after prayers at a Sunni mosque, wounding three people. Imam Sadreddine al-Qobanji spoke to more than 15,000 people who jammed the Imam Ali mosque, Iraq's holiest Shiite Muslim shrine. He said last week's bombing outside the mosque - which killed Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim and dozens of other people - was aimed at sowing discord in Iraq. "Once we find that this road (peaceful resistance) has come...

Jehad And Civilization - 1 (The Battle of Badr) The Battle of Badr is a tiny event by any stretch of the imagination, yet it has significantly influenced the course of human history. A deeper study of the episode reveals that this mole assumed mountainous proportions because it served as the first practical exposition of the Islamic doctrine known as JEHAD. 'Jehad' is an Arabic word, which literally means 'endeavor', but as an Islamic doctrine, it implies fighting in the way of Allah (the Arabic God) to establish His supremacy over unbelievers until they relinquish their faith to become Muslims...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - It was shortly before midnight when the knock on the door came. It was the Pakistani secret service, and the agents took Abdul Ahad's father and two uncles, all Afghans sheltering in Pakistan. One uncle was quickly released. But the whereabouts of the others remained a mystery until a postcard arrived at the family residence in Peshawar nearly six months later. The return address was Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo, Cuba.   Ahad's uncle, Badruzzaman Badr, and his father, Haji Rahim Muslim Dost, were in American custody at Guantanamo, along with several hundred suspected Taliban and...