Gareth Bale will sit out Tottenham's Champions League last-16 first-leg match against AC Milan on Tuesday after failing to recover from a back injury.

The Welshman, who has been a revelation for Spurs in the past year, did not travel with the squad to Italy on Monday despite hopes he might be fit.
That will mean another chance for the rejuvenated Niko Kranjcar, while Rafael van der Vaart (calf) will also play.
Peter Crouch (back) is a doubt, though, as is Luka Modric (appendicitis).
It means boss Harry Redknapp's side could line up at the San Siro with something resembling a skeleton first XI, with long-term absentees Tom Huddlestone, Ledley King and Younes Kaboul, as well as the suspended Jermaine Jenas, also unavailable.
Serie A leaders AC Milan will be without ineligible January signings Antonio Cassano, Mark van Bommel and Urby Emanuelson.
That would mean coach Massimiliano Allegri deploying a three-man front line of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Alexandre Pato, with few attacking options on the bench and key midfield duo Andrea Pirlo and Massimo Ambrosini also out through injury.

But Bale's absence, in particular, is a big blow to Redknapp's plans - especially following the left-sided player's demolition of Inter Milan earlier in the season.
Despite losing 4-3, Tottenham fought back from 4-0 down on their last visit to the San Siro thanks to a Bale hat-trick, and the 21-year-old produced another man-of-the-match performance when AC's cross-city rivals Inter visited White Hart Lane as the Londoners secured an outstanding 3-1 win.
"I'd like to be able to scare Milan and say he's going to be available, but he's not," said Redknapp on Sunday. "He's struggling to get over this back injury.
"The specialists don't see too much of a problem there. There's nothing that should keep him out too long... [but] we've got to make sure he's right. He's a young lad and he's very important. He's got a great future in front of him.

''On Sunday morning, when the fitness coaches started to push him a bit, he couldn't go on. He doesn't feel he's ready to play. We've got to take our time and make sure he's right when he comes back."
Modric, too, looks unlikely to play, with Redknapp admitting: "He trained on Sunday morning and felt a bit better again but to push him back into it would be difficult. He's not quite up to speed yet."
And that will mean a start for Brazilian Sandro. The 21-year-old was not even named in Tottenham's 25-man Champions League squad for the group stages.
"[Sandro] will be playing, for sure, because I've only got two central midfielders [alongside Wilson Palacios]," said Redknapp. "We've got to wrap them in cotton wool and they'll be playing."
Tottenham qualified for the last 16 after finishing top of Group A, pushing Inter Milan down into second and knocking out FC Twente and Werder Bremen, while finished AC Milan finished second in Group G behind winners Real Madrid.

Tibi/news.bbc

uefa champions league preview Valencia vsSchalke 04 leg-1

The UEFA Champions League match between Valencia and Schalke 04 is perhaps the most evenly matched of all of the Round of 16 ties in the competition. Though Schalke started their campaign in the Bundesliga very poorly, they have been much better over the last couple of months and they were great throughout group stage play in the Champions League. Valencia have been consistent, if not spectacular, and currently sit in the top four places in La Liga, poised to return to the Champions League for next season. Both teams have a wealth of options at their disposal, with Unai Emery possibly having the most interesting managerial dilemma between the two gaffers. Valencia have utilized both a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1 formation for portions of this season. This stems from the dilemma between controlling the center of the pitch and being able to play Roberto Soldado and Aritz Aduriz together. This weekend, Emery opted for the former option with mixed results. Though they were able to win their match against Atletico Madrid, Los Che just barely managed to steal the three points. Considering how poor Atleti have been recently, it’s not a great sign for a team who has aspirations of making a deep run in Champions League.
In that match, the band of three attacking midfielders behind the striker, Soldado to start the match, was Joaquin, Pablo, and Jordi Alba. Juan Mata was unavailable for the match, while Vicente was left to the bench. Because of the absence of Ever Banega and the aforementioned players, Tino Costa took his place in midfield alongside Mehmet Topal. Valencia seem likely to play a similar midfield on Tuesday, but with Mata returning from injury, one member of the starting band of three behind Soldado will likely be dropped.
While Schalke did well in the group stages of this tournament, they will be coming into their tie with Valencia with a slightly different squad. Jermaine Jones has been sent packing to Blackburn after falling out with Felix Magath, while Ivan Rakitic was sold to Sevilla on account of him only having six months remaining on a contract he had no intention of renewing. They have been replaced with Ghanaian international Anthony Annan and Iranian international Ali Karimi. Time will tell if they are adequate replacements for the two departed former stars.
Schalke could opt to leave out either Klass-Jan Huntelaar or Raul in order to put an extra man in midfield on the road, but it seems unlikely that Felix Magath would want to pull one of his best two players against a team that arguably out-classes his on pure talent. Much will be asked of his central midfield pairing, whoever they may be, against Valencia if Los Che opt not to play 4-4-2.
Los Che looks good to get a win in the first leg at home on Tuesday, but don’t put it past them to concede an away goal that makes the away leg a much tougher prospect. Valencia should control the midfield, but succumb to the talents of Huntelaar, Raul, and Jefferson Farfan on at least one occasion.
Valencia projected starting XI: Panadero; R. Costa, Stankevicius, Maduro, Bruno; Topal, A. Costa; Pablo, Joaquin, Mata; Aduriz
Schalke projected starting XI: Neuer; Uchida, Hoewedes, Metzelder, Schmitz; Farfan, Kluge, Matip, Jurado; Raul, Huntelaar

Prediction: Valencia 3, Schalke 1

Tibi/worldsoccerreader

uefa champions league preview ac milan vs tottenham hotspur leg-1

With both AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur deprived of key players, this UEFA Champions League clash is perhaps not as exciting an encounter as it might have been a few months ago when the name Gareth Bale was on everyone’s lips. Still, it’s the furthest and highest Spurs have been in a European competition in decades and the atmosphere should be cracking.
For Milan, who have held their place atop Serie A for 13 consecutive weeks, despite challenges from the likes of Napoli, Inter and Lazio, it’s a chance to prove to everyone that they’ve put the later Ancelotti years and Leonardo era behind them and are again the dominant team in Italy.
Despite all the squad changes and managerial turmoil, the core of the Milan team is one that anyone who has even followed Serie A casually will recognize. The ageless Alessandro Nesta remains the key man at the back, and should feature alongside Thiago Silva here after recovering in time for the 4-0 victory over Parma on Saturday.  If Bale were available he might be licking his lips at the prospect of torching the likes of seldom used Massimo Oddo or Mario Yepes, but he’ll have to wait for the return leg.
In midfield, manager Massimiliano Allegri has been missing key figures such as Massimo Ambrosini and Andrea Pirlo through injury, but has been able to piece things together by relying on veterans like Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf. I’d expect both of them to feature on Tuesday, behind a three-man attack of Pato, Ibrahimovic and Robinho. Ibrahimovic has been in outstanding form this season for the Rossoneri, leading the line magnificently and scoring some incredible individual goals, making some Ibra haters look ridiculous in the process. On the other hand, everyone knows about his reputation for disappearing in big games. Antonio Cassano, brought in from Sampdoria, is cup tied, as is Mark Van Bommel.
The big absence for Spurs, as mentioned, is Bale.  Arguably the Premier League’s best attacking player during the first half of the season, he has not been able to recover in time to revisit the scene of his breathtaking hat trick against Inter. Spurs have sputtered recently without his rampaging runs. They’ve also been missing Tom Huddlestone and Rafael van der Vaart, but the latter is expected to be in the lineup for this one, probably playing in behind Jermain Defoe. Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch are the other options up front, but Redknapp seems to have no confidence in the Russian, while Crouch is fighting a back problem. Another big question surrounds the status of midfielder Luka Modric, who will probably be an option off the bench, if he plays at all. Niko Kranjcar should take his place.
Even taking into all their injuries, suspensions and missing players, Milan should still favored at home against a depleted Spurs side.  They key will be the ability of Spurs’ fairly inexperienced defense (Gallas the exception) to contain both the speed and guile of Pato and Robinho, and the brute strength of Ibrahimovic.
AC Milan projected starting XI: Abbiati; Oddo, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini; Gattuso, Flamini, Seedorf; Pato, Ibrahimovic, Robinho.
Tottenham Hotspur projected starting XI: Gomes; Corluka, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Sandro, Palacios, Kranjcar; Van der Vaart; Defoe.

Prediction: AC Milan 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Tibi/worldsoccerreader 

Mawlid An-Nabi: The 1441st Birth Anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) February 15, 2011

MANILA, Philippines – Tuesday is Mawlid an-Nabi. It is the day when the millions of Muslims of more than 54 countries around the world celebrate the Birth Anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Mawlid an-Nabi is a standard Arabic term which means “The Birth of the Prophet.”

Considered as the founder of Islam and regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of God (Allah in Arabic), the Prophet Muhammad was the last law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets and was therefore the last prophet of Islam. Born in 570 in Mecca, he was orphaned at an early age and lived a difficult life. He retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. It was here, at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event, he started preaching these revelations, proclaiming that “God is One,” that complete “surrender” to Him is the only way acceptable to God.

He initially gained few followers and was met with hostility by some Meccan tribes. To escape persecution, Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar known as the Hijra Calendar. In Medina, he united the conflicting tribes, and after eight years conquered Mecca. In 632, a few months after returning to Medina from his Farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam; and he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single Muslim religious polity.

On Tuesday, Muslim religious leaders and scholars gather in mosques and relate the life of the Prophet. The stories of his birth, childhood, youth, and adult life; his teachings, sufferings, and forgiveness, his fortitude in the face of opposition, his bravery, and wisdom, and his final triumph over the hearts of the Muslims are narrated in detail. Salutations and songs in his praise are recited. In some countries, streets, mosques, and buildings are decorated with colorful bunting and pennants and well illuminated at night. Affluent Muslims generously donate to charity. Feasts are arranged and food is served to guests and the poor.

Here in the Philippines, Mawlid an-Nabi is a holiday for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other Muslim provinces, pursuant to Presidential Decree 1083 and Civil Service Commission Resolution No. 81-1277. We greet our Muslim brothers and sisters in the marking of the Prophet Muhammad’s 1441st Birth Anniversary this year. We take this occasion to have a better understanding of Islam and establish harmony, unity, and peace with our Muslim brethren. May this event help promote peace among the major religions of the nation.

Tibi/Mb

The Hijra: Movement of God's People

The Islamic calendar does not begin with the year of Muhammad's birth (as the Christian calendar begins with the birth of Christ), nor does it begin with the commencement of revelation to Muhammad. Rather, it begins with this purposeful move of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to what became known as Medina. This migration, the Muslim Exodus, established the model community under Muhammad's rule and care. This was the emigration to Yathrib, the city that would be renamed Madina al-nabi ("the City of the Prophet") and forever after known simply as Medina ("the City"). Like much of the Prophet's actions, this movement has been remembered both for itself, and also for the larger symbolism of the need to spiritually and politically move to a state of emancipation. There are other similar moves in other traditions, whether it is the Exodus of the Hebrews, or the Rastafarian tradition remembering, as Bob Marley put it, the Movement of Jah People. Muhammad's migration to Medina would be known as the Hijra, and it is the quintessential marking point of Islamic history.
The context was urgent, and timely: The pagans of Mecca were stepping up their persecution of Muhammad and his followers. Whereas in the beginning of Muhammad's prophetic career the persecution was directed at the marginalized members of the Prophet's community, now there were clear indications that Muhammad's own life was in grave danger. In fact, the Meccans were planning the imminent assassination of the Prophet. It was at this time that providential grace provided an opening: a community of people from Yathrib, a city two hundred miles away from Mecca came to Muhammad, offering their allegiance to him and asking him to come to their city to help them settle their tribal disputes. They had been long impressed by Muhammad's qualities as the Amin ("the Trustworthy") and saw him as having the Solomonic wisdom to arbitrate among them.
After Muhammad's dear wife, Khadija, passed away, his two closest friends were Ali and Abu Bakr, a respected elder of the community. Both would play crucial roles in this migration. Muhammad had Ali assume the dangerous task of sleeping in his stead in his bed while the band of assassins waited outside the Prophet's house. Muhammad covered Ali in his green shawl and had him repeat a verse of Surah Ya-Sin as protection. Meanwhile, Muhammad and Abu Bakr took to the road, heading toward Yathrib. Standing outside the city, Muhammad looked back lovingly on Mecca and said: "Of all God's earth, you are the dearest place unto me, and the dearest unto God. Had not my people driven me out from you, I would not have left you."
The Hijra was neither an abandonment of Mecca nor the forgetting of where one had come from. It was the determination to rise up from oppression, with the intention of returning eventually to redeem even the oppressor. This Muhammad would accomplish at the end of his life through his triumphant return home. But before he could liberate Mecca, he had to move to the city where the Muslim community would become established.
Muhammad and Abu Bakr eventually arrived in Yathrib and were received with joy and beautiful poetry composed in honor of the Prophet. Ali too would join them in a few days. It had taken him three full days to disperse all the goods that Muhammad's enemies and others had entrusted him with, a further indication of the level of trust all had had in the very soul they were persecuting.
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, his address there was simple, and a reminder of the need to connect acts of worship with care for the poor:

O people, give unto one another greetings of Peace; feed food unto the hungry; honor the ties of kinship; pray in the hours when men sleep. Thus shall you enter Paradise in peace.

The first communal action in Medina was establishing the Mosque, truly the first Muslim mosque. Muhammad himself joined in the building task, and he was fond of reciting a line of poetry as he worked:
No life there is but the life of the Hereafter,
O God, have mercy on the Helpers and the Migrants.
One of the ways in which God's mercy rained down on the Helpers (the Ansar, those from Medina who received the Prophet) and the Migrants (the Muhajirs, those who accompanied Muhammad from Mecca) was through a bond of brotherhood. Muhammad's first declaration was to alter the social fabric of the Yathrib (now Medina) community. He had each member of the Helpers pair up with a member of the Migrants, establishing a bond of faith that bypassed, transcended and inverted tribal connections and socioeconomic class status. Muhammad's own faith-brother would be none other than Ali.
In one of his first speeches, Muhammad preached the following sermon:

Praise belongs to God whom I praise and whose praise I implore. We take refuge in God from our own sins and from the evil of our acts. He whom God guides none can lead astray; and whom He leads astray none can guide. I testify that there is no God but He alone, and He is without comparison... Love what God loves. Love God with your hearts, and weary not of the word of God and its mention. Harden not your hearts from it... Love one another in the spirit of God. Verily God is angry when His covenant is broken. Peace be upon you.

This community was one based on faith in God and love for one another "in the spirit of God," as this speech enjoined them to do. It was in Medina that the general moral outlines of Muhammad's teachings became linked with a full set of ethical, legal and social injunctions. In Mecca, Muhammad received the Divine call that placed him in the footsteps of Abraham, and in the line of Biblical prophets. It was that purposeful movement from Mecca to Medina that established the Muslim community, one that would remain rooted in the spirit of God, carrying the fragrance of the Prophet.
As the Prophet moved from Mecca to Medina, Muslims today, and every day, hope to leave behind and beyond the state of injustice, heedlessness and tyranny, to move to the higher spiritual ground of a community rooted in the spirit of God and the love of one another, and then to come back to redeem that very state of tyranny and injustice. That is the loftiest way to remember and honor the movement of God's people.

Omid Safi is a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina. The above essay draws on his newly published Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters (HarperOne).


Tibi/huffingtonpost 

On the Prophet's Birthday: Old Guards, New Guards and Rear Guards

As with Easter and Passover, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad is dated by the lunar calendar. This year it falls on Feb. 15, and the time seems particularly fraught with meaning. Every time there is a crisis in the Muslim world, grudges and resentments going back almost to the beginning of the faith, in the seventh century, seem to resurface. Islam, being an all-inclusive religion, refers every aspect of life back to God. When you feel that God has been affronted or disobeyed by your enemies, time disappears. It's always a good time to reopen old wounds.

That's why there are rarely any upsets in society that are not also religious upsets. Traditional Muslim society equates with religious society. In Egypt, where secular rule has been the rule, the chemistry between God and government is still volatile and almost impossible to fathom if you live outside the Arab world. I don't speak as an insider but as a writer who delved into these issues when researching a book on the life of Muhammad. It is remarkable the extent to which the life of the Prophet set the template for attitudes that persist today.

Among the most marked of these are a sense of being embattled for God, a defensive posture against infidels, a fierce desire to devote one's life to protect the Prophet, a desire to obey God's laws down to the smallest letter, and jihad, which in its broadest meaning denotes the struggle of the soul to reach a pure relationship with Allah against the temptations of one's base nature. These elements are entangled inside the worldview of devout Muslims. The new guard that tries to provoke change must contend not just with the old guard -- in this case the clash is between the youth of Egypt and the ruling military elite -- but also there is the rear guard of religious conservatism. A centuries-old worldview is always ready to condemn change as being against the will of God.

What I came to understand is that this worldview has its reasons for being. The Prophet was personally troubled about the messages he received that commanded him to convert the entire world to the new faith. When the early Muslims first fled from Mecca to Medina, Muhammad was welcomed as a peacemaker among warring tribes and faiths. His approach was conciliatory, and all sides recognized him as a fair arbiter. Islam sees itself as a faith that is far more inclusive than exclusive. Therefore, when Muhammad was forced to lead battles in defense of the faith, and afterwards when he turned on former Christian and Jewish allies, a dangerous rift became part of the Muslim worldview, at once aiming for universal peace and brotherhood but using violent means to get there. Christianity has its own built-in contradictions. This will always occur as long as human nature is divided. "What we say" and "what we do" have been perpetually at odds.

In the present crisis the U.S. also falls between two stools. We say that we promote democracy around the world, but what we do is to defend stability (and the steady stream of Gulf oil) in support of reactionary, oppressive regimes. The layer of contradiction that we don't have, for the most part, is the religious one. Lurching toward modern secularism, Iraq, Iran, and Bosnia all ran afoul of religious pressures, and each society had to make peace with itself -- a very fragile peace at best -- in its own way. No doubt the same will happen in Egypt, with whatever convulsions that ensue when people are forced by passion and raging events to examine their innermost beliefs.

Tibi/huffingtonpost

Make Prophet's Birthday Celebration Catalyst To Boost Nation's Transformation, Says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14  -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has invited Muslims to make Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration on Tuesday a catalyst to boost the nation's transformation in a holistic manner in all fields.

He said this was to give strength to a progressive people and make them a great nation, just like how the prophet was a great person.

"I pray for this Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration to really drive us to struggle to make gains in this world and the hereafter, as called for by the prophet," he said in his message in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday on Tuesday, on his www.1malaysia.com.my blog.

Najib said the "1Malaysia, 1Ummah" theme was most apt as history had proven that Prophet Muhammad, as the outstanding icon for mankind, gave priority to unity of the people of all races and religions in Medina.

"This lesson is being implemented in our country through the appreciation of 1Malaysia, 1Ummah," he said.

Najib said strength founded on this unity was the main ingredient which brought about a noble transformation for the Muslims in this country, and this message should be appreciated and disseminated to the whole Muslim world.



"In this era of globalisation, the impact of any crisis in other countries will be felt in our country," he said.



Citing the example of the strife in Egypt, the prime minister said the political crisis in that country had a direct effect on the 11,000 Malaysian citizens and students there.

He said that to ensure that the country's young assets and potential beneficiaries were safe, the government undertook a rescue mission swiftly and effectively in the face of various challenges and impediments.

"The mission to bring back Malaysians from Egypt went ahead. Unfortunately, however, a small group of people attempted to politicise this noble mission," he said.

However, that did not pose any hurdle to the government to carry on with the mission because it was of importance to ensure the safety of Malaysians there, he said.



"This national mission received the support of the private sector, the people and Egypt as well as Saudi Arabia in the spirit of cooperation of a very high degree.



"This is the Islamic teaching whose radiance emanates from the Messenger of Allah (God), Prophet Muhammad," he said.



Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also called on Muslims to strengthen unity and maintain harmony among themselves and all citizens of the country.



He said Muslims should accept the pluralism of race and religion in the country as an invaluable blessing of Allah.

Touching on the theme "1Malaysia, 1Ummah", he said 1Malaysia, which symbolised the harmony and unity among the people of various races and religions in the country, was a priceless blessing for all Malaysians.

1Ummah represented the unity of faith of Muslims, he added.

Tibi/bernama

Cake war breaks out on Prophet's birthday in Gorontalo

A traditional commemoration of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday got out of hand momentarily in Gorontalo on Tuesday, when a cake war broke out in the middle of the ceremony.
The ceremony had commenced at 7 a.m., with piles of cakes known as walima paraded around the city in cars, electric pedicabs and horse-drawn carts, while members of the Gorontalo public and officials looked on.
All the walimas were to be taken to the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque yard, where a mosque imam was scheduled to lead a prayer before the cakes were then distributed.
However, thousands of people crowding the yard became impatient and started grabbing at the cakes before the prayers were recited. During the upset, some of the people and the drivers who had been carrying the cakes started throwing them at each other in a food fight.
Security guards could not to control the group.
“The image of the Prophet's birthday has been tainted by this. People shouldn't have grabbed the cakes and should have waited patiently until the prayers were complete,” ceremony participant Rita Yusuf, 45, said Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

SBY takes part in mass zikr for Prophet Muhammad's birthday

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday took part in a morning a mass zikr (chanting verses in praise of Allah) in the southern part of the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta.

Starting at 9 a.m., the event drew hundreds of thousands of members of the Majelis Rasulullah SAW, and was held as part of Indonesia’s commemorations of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, which fell on Tuesday.

Coming from areas across Greater Jakarta, and causing traffic around Monas, participants prayed for the safety and prosperity of the entire nation, as well as for protection against disasters.

The steering committee for the event said it had been the largest mass zikr in the world, Antara reported.

Tibi/thejakartapost