Snapshots of the past

Please forgive me dear listeners, as I have been unable to prepare this speech with the facilities of a library. This is a summary of a lecture I have been preparing on the issue of women, Islam and human rights which will be published early next year after I have had the opportunity to complete it with more explanation and    detail. To view the complete talk by Ahmed Zaoui, click here.


   SCHOOLED IN ISLAM:   Graham Reid in NZ Listener, November 27, 2004

His office looks much like any other school principal's, a bit smaller and more cramped perhaps. But here are the trappings of the position: the computer and constantly ringing phones, papers bulging from the row of fat folders and files; the manuals and handbooks. On the wall are timetables and bulletins, the National    Education Guidelines prominent. A child's drawing lies on his desk. Through his window    come the shouts of boys playing soccer and the giggles of a few teenage girls who walk past    on their way to the front office. If it weren't for a few posters and flyers in Arabic, and the    prominently displayed school brochure with a cover quote from the Koran – "Taught the    humankind that which they knew not" – this could be any other school. To view the complete    article about Asin Ali and Auckland's Muslim school, click here.


   A PRICE WORTH PAYING FOR SAFETY?:   NZ Listener, November 17, 2001

Thank goodness we have a Prime Minister who can make sense of the chaos and carnage of war, and show us the error of our ways. Up until very recently, I had been feeling the usual squeamishness of the soft liberal conscience when confronted with images of dead Afghan children, killed by US bombs in the    crusade against terror, or the Taliban, or Osama bin Laden, or whatever else we're meant to    be against right now. Obviously I needed to stiffen my resolve, and Helen Clark was the one    to show me how. To view the complete article, click here.


   COLLAPSE OF ISLAM PREDICTED:   Challenge, May 3, 1990

Amsterdam — The collapse of communism signals the impending fall of a second great anti-Christian power — Islam. So believes the head of mission teams in several Middle East countries, who has urged the Church to renew its prayer focus on the Muslim world. Lynn Green — Youth With a Mission's director for    Europe, Africa and the Middle East — returned from the region "greatly encouraged"... To    view the complete article, click here.


   BREAKTHROUGH IMMINENT TO MUSLIMS?:   Challenge, May 3, 1990

Islam is set to become the main focus of Christian missionary activity world-wide over the next decade as a result of the demise of communism in Eastern Europe, says visiting missionary Ron George. Some missions working in communist countries are already changing their focus to the Muslim world, while new    missions have started because of the need for missionaries among Muslims. To view the    complete article, click here.


   THE SWORD OF ISLAM:   Alexander Fry in NZ Listener, March 7, 1987

John Laffin says things about Islam which are as unfamiliar to New Zealand ears as a muezzin's call to prayer. He talks about jihad, holy war, not as a Saracen response to medieval Crusades but as a present-day fact of life we had better get used to. An Islamic High Command exists, he says, to direct both strategy and    tactics... To view the complete article, click here.


   ISLAM MIRED IN PAST:   Manawatu Standard, September 18, 1986

New Zealanders are babes in the wood when it comes to world politics, says a leading authority on Islam and the Arab world, Dr John Laffin. But innocence is no protection, he warns. And he sees no safety in isolation. Dr Laffin visited Palmerston North this week during a lecture tour of New Zealand. To view the    complete article, click here.


   MUSLIM COMPLAINS OF OUSTING:   The Press (Christchurch), September 13, 1986

A Christchurch man has complained to the Race Relations Office after being asked to leave a meeting of the Friends of Israel Association on Thursday evening. Mr Abdur Razzaq said he had gone to the meeting to hear a talk by Dr John Laffin, an authority on the Middle East. He had explained he was a Muslim,    paid his entrance fee, then began giving Islamic literature to people coming in, he said. To    view the complete article, click here.


   MUSLIM TOLD TO LEAVE TALK:   The Star (Christchurch), September 12, 1986

The Moslem Association president, Mr Abdur Razzaq, was ordered out of a talk in the city last night being given by a Middle East authority, Dr John Laffin. Dr Laffin had told the Friends of Israel, the group sponsoring his New Zealand visit, he did not want Moslems in the audience, the Friends' secretary, Mrs Margaret    Stott, said today. To view the complete article, click here.


   MINARETS IN PONSONBY:   Peter Trickett in NZ Listener, April 21, 1979

Jumma prayer azaan will be held at 1.40, says the notice chalked on the blackboard over the porch. But there is no need to read it to know we have come to the right address: in front of the closed door stand ranks of empty pairs of shoes — mute testimony that this is Auckland's Muslim prayer-house and that an    Islamic service is in progress within. To view the complete article, click here.