$5000 REWARD

Muslims are in America to live their American dream, and NOT to dominate or impose Sharia Laws.

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$5000 REWARD

The Neocons* are fabricating and propagating the idea that Muslims are invading America to dominate and impose Sharia Laws without any substantiation. Cashing in on fears is Neocons modus operandi. They know how to scare the devil out of those few self proclaimed conservative Americans, and get them to open their check books, and the poor suckers pay the ransom.

There are several websites out there, where they write a frightening article followed by requests for donations, or they will show a frightening documentary as a “fact” and watch and laugh at the men who crap in their pants and open their check books in a hurry to these ‘ugly’ defenders of their traditions. I wish, they spend half their time in promoting goodwill, and I pray that the scared ones don’t open the check books to these fear mongers who will mess up the world further.

Muslims are a fabric of America and are a part of the Moderate Majority of Americans of every hue, they are busy in participating and contributing towards nation building, and living the American dream.

Muslims have no ambitions of making Islam a dominant religion or imposing Sharia Laws in the United States. A few individual may say that for a few claps, but for every creep who runs his mouth with a Muslim label, you will find a lot more of them with other faith labels. The good news is that there are thousands of Muslims out there who will speak out against such non-sense and I am one.

Islam is not about domination; it is about mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill, and it is about working for just societies. If we find men who want to subvert peace in our societies, let’s lock them up as individuals. I guarantee you that you will find them in every faith.

The American Muslims have become aggressive and are not going to let any idiot jeopardize their chosen homeland with hate sermons in their mosques. They go to mosques to find peace, to pray and to appreciate the creator. In our society, we believe in one, many or no God, we need to watch every pulpit that allows delivery of hate sermons, it is our individual responsibility to speak up and perhaps be bold enough to stop it.

Here is a challenge for you - If you find mosques that allow hate sermons delivered from their pulpits and DO NOT find a church, synagogue or a temple to match it, you can earn a reward of $5000.00. This challenge goes to Wall Street Journal and all those fear salesmen who have failed to substantiate their claims. We cannot accept bullshit, we need the truth.

Extremism is the combined enemy of peace and security; we are all in it together and need to find solutions. We cannot become extremists ourselves to rid of extremists. I cannot leave peacefully when people around me don't.

We all need to stand up for the general goodwill of the society. Please take a stand that Muslims in America are no different than any one of the 301 Million Americans. They do what every American does; live the American dream; living a life and contributing and participating in the well being of America. The false propaganda that Muslims are here to dominate or impose Sharia must be strongly condemned; there is no substantiation to that.

We owe it to ourselves and our kids to create a society of co-existence.

Mike Ghouse
Sounding off the voices of a majority of Muslims.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. Mike is a frequent guest on talk radio and television network discussing Pluralism, interfaith, Islam, Peace, India and civic issues. He co-chairs the center for interfaith inquiry and presides the Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress with a simple theme; Good for Muslims and good for the world and vice-Versa. His comments, news analysis and opinions are placed on the Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net.

Mike is a Dallasite for three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
Go to main website: http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/

Ongoing comments at Facebook (50+): http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/note.php?note_id=95554357773&ref=mf

When individual men murder, rape and make off others, is it our constitution that is faulty or is it reflective on all Americans or is it the American Religion? Baloney! Crimes are committed by individuals regardless of the homes they are raised in; the religious values they are given or race them belong to. Let’s place the blame where it belongs; the individuals and bring justice instead of blaming the universe of that individual.

**
Neocons are those Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other extremists who make it their business to malign other groups for their gains.

Neocons are people who choose to wear a religious label but act and talk contrary to the very belief they claim to espouse. It is their way or no way. Their attitudes are shaped by the fear that their life is at risk if others exist, if they can, they will wipe every one off from the face of the earth who ever differs from them. They are intolerant and insecure group of men. They trust their Gun power but invoke God in vain, they do not want to dialogue, as they are afraid to lose. They are chaotic and desperate souls.

They believe God is on their side, and that God has given them the permission or at least they pose to the world that it is their God-given right to dominate, control, monopolize and influence the resources that God has created for the benefit of his creation. They want to have it all.

***
The most important step in doing peace work is to distinguish between the following opposites:

Extreme Islamists V. Islam
Extreme Zionists V. Judaism
Extreme Evangelists v. Christianity...
Extreme Hindutva V. Hinduism

The second most important step is to identify the ugly men amongst us, every group has bad guys, and every faith has bad guys, acknowledging it takes us little closer to the reality. We should have the audacity to speak out our point to elicit a response of knowledge and understanding and not denial. We should stick and fight and not run away.

Qur'aan and the Big Bang Theory

We have got to remember that God is neither a body nor a being. Giving a shape or a descripion would amount to limiting the unlimited and defining the undefinable. God is what one perceives guided by different religious beliefs. God is the name to that which causes, creates and sustains what we know - Mike Ghouse

The following research is the work of Mohammad Irtaza.

[17:44] Glorifying Him are the seven universes, the earth, and everyone in them. There is nothing that does not glorify Him, but you do not understand their glorification. He is Clement, Forgiver.

[13:2] GOD is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see, then assumed all authority. He committed the sun and the moon, each running (in its orbit) for a predetermined period. He controls all things, and explains the revelations, that you may attain certainty about meeting your Lord.

[13:3] He is the One who constructed the earth and placed on it mountains and rivers. And from the different kinds of fruits, He made them into pairs - males and females. The night overtakes the day. These are solid proofs for people who think.

[40:57] The creation of the heavens and the earth is even more awesome than the creation of the human being, but most people do not know.

The whole world that is known to us and everything in it is our universe. Many astronomers think that everything in our universe was once packed together in one lump. Then, about 15 billion years ago, there was a gigantic cosmic explosion which they call the Big Bang. According to them, our universe was created from that explosion!

[21:30] Do the unbelievers not realize that the heaven and the earth used to be one solid mass that we exploded into existence? And from water we made all living things. Would they believe?

[49:18] GOD knows all the secrets in the heavens and the earth; GOD is Seer of everything you do.

According to the cosmology, The Big Bang explosion sent the young universe flying out in all directions. Over vast ages of time, bits came together to make galaxies. The galaxies are huge groups of stars in space. The galaxies are still speeding apart today, and our universe is getting bigger!

[41:11] Then He turned to the sky, when it was still gas, and said to it, and to the earth, "Come into existence, willingly or unwillingly." They said, "We come willingly."

[25:61] Most blessed is the One who placed constellations in the sky, and placed in it a lamp, and a shining moon.

[51:47] We constructed the sky with our hands, and we will continue to expand it.

No one knows where all the material to make the universe came from in the first place!

[6:73] He is the One who created the heavens and the earth, truthfully. Whenever He says, "Be," it is. His word is the absolute truth. All sovereignty belongs to Him the day the horn is blown. Know-er of all secrets and declarations, He is the Most Wise, the Cognizant.

The Milky Way is the galaxy we live in. It is made up of all the stars we can see in the sky at night, and lots and lots more we cannot see. The Milky Way looks a bit like whirlpool. Astronomers usually give galaxies numbers instead of names. Only a few have names that tell us what they look like-the Whirlpool, the Sombrero, and the Black Eye, for example. There are about 1,000 billion stars in the Milky Way. Astronomers have worked out how big our universe is and how many stars it has. There are about 100 million trillion stars, in around 100 billion galaxies!

[22:18] Do you not realize that to GOD prostrates everyone in the heavens and the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the animals, and many people? Many others among the people are committed to doom. Whomever GOD shames, none will honor him. Everything is in accordance with God's will.

[6:96] At the crack of dawn, He causes the morning to emerge. He made the night still, and He rendered the sun and the moon to serve as calculation devices. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.

Stars are made of gases. The two main gases in stars are called hydrogen and helium. They are the stars' fuel. Stars make heat and light from them. Sometimes huge flame-like sheets of glowing gas shoot out from a star. These are called prominences.

[34:9] Have they not seen all the things in front of them and behind them, in the heaven and the earth? If we willed, we could have caused the earth to swallow them, or caused masses to fall on them from the sky. This should be a sufficient proof for every obedient servant.

All stars are born, live for a very long time, and then die. Stars are being born all the time. All stars are born in huge spinning clouds of gas and dust. Our Sun is a star. It was born 4.6 billion years ago. Most stars are like our Sun and shine steadily for nearly all their lives. Toward the end of their lives, stars like our Sun swell up and became as much as 100 times bigger. They turn into red giants. When it has used up all its gas fuel, a red giant shrinks down into a white dwarf. It is then about 10,000 times smaller, but still very hot!

[6:97] And He is the One who made the stars to guide you during the darkness, on land and on sea. We thus clarify the revelations for people who know.

[10:5] He is the One who rendered the sun radiant, and the moon a light, and He designed its phases that you may learn to count the years and to calculate. GOD did not create all this, except for a specific purpose. He explains the revelations for people who know.

A black hole can happen when a massive star dies. The star falls in on itself, squashing all its material and becoming smaller and smaller. In the end all that is left is a place light cannot escape from a black hole.

[17:99] Could they not see that the GOD who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the same creations? (That) He has predetermined for them an irrevocable life span? Yet, the disbelievers insist upon disbelieving.

The planets are not big or as hot as stars, and they cannot make light of their own. They were made from the leftovers of the same gas and dust cloud that gave birth to our star, the Sun. Our planet Earth is the only one in the solar system with water and living things on it. That makes it very special. It is the 3rd planet from the Sun, and it get just right amount of heat and light to keep us alive! Any closer, and it would be too hot. Any farther away, and it would be too cold!

[54:49] Everything we created is precisely measured

[36:36] Glory be to the One who created all kinds of plants from the earth, as well as themselves, and other creations that they do not even know.

[71:16] He designed the moon therein to be a light, and placed the sun to be a lamp.

[36:38] The sun sets into a specific location, according to the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.

[36:39] The moon we designed to appear in stages, until it becomes like an old curved sheath.

[36:40] The sun is never to catch up with the moon - the night and the day never deviate - each of them is floating in its own orbit.

Everything in space has a pulling force called gravity - galaxies, star, planets like the earth, and even moons. Gravity holds things together and stops them floating off into space.

[35:41] GOD is the One who holds the heavens and the earth, lest they vanish. If anyone else is to hold them, they will most certainly vanish. He is Clement, Forgiving.

[25:45] Have you not seen how your Lord designed the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it fixed, then we would have designed the sun accordingly.

[25:46] But we designed it to move slowly.

[25:47] He is the One who designed the night to be a cover, and for you to sleep and rest. And He made the day a resurrection.

Like all stars, our Sun is a huge ball of super-hot gas. The outside temperature of the Sun is 10,000 deg. F. The Sun is the only star that is close enough to the Earth for us to feel heat. The next nearest star to Earth is called Proxima Centauri. Our Sun's light takes 8.3 minutes to reach us, but Proxima Centauri's takes 4.3 years!

[14:33] He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, continuously. He has committed the night and the day to serve you

[31:29] Do you not realize that GOD merges the night into the day and merges the day into the night, and that He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, each running in its orbit for a specific life span, and that GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do?

One day the Sun will use up all its gas fuel and die. Our planet, the Earth, has eight neighbors. Together they make a family of nine planets which travel around the Sun. We call the Sun, and all the space bodies that whirl around it, the solar system. Beside the Sun and the planets, the solar system includes moons, mini planets called asteroids, and comets.

[14:33] He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, continuously. He has committed the night and the day to serve you

Moons are rocky bodies that orbit planets. Jupiter has sixteen moons. Mercury and Venus are the only planets that do not have moons. All the other planets have at least one. Our Earth has one moon. The Earth's moon is dry, dusty and lifeless. There is no air to breath or water to drink. On July 20, 1969, two American astronauts became the first living trying ever to set foot on the moon. Astronauts left the moon in the lunar module containing 21 kg. of rocks that had belongs to the moon!

[54:1] The Hour has come closer, and the moon has split.

[67:3] He created seven universes in layers. You do not see any imperfection in the creation by the Most Gracious. Keep looking; do you see any flaw?

[65:12] GOD created seven universes and the same number of earths. The commands flow among them. This is to let you know that GOD is Omnipotent, and that GOD is fully aware of all things.

The size of our solar system is extremely insignificant in compare to our vast universe where it belongs. Our universe is the smallest and the innermost of all seven universes. Our universe is estimated to span distances in excess of twenty billion light years! The second universe surrounds our universe and is very large. The third universe surrounds the second universe and is even larger. The outermost universe is the seventh universe. No number exists to describe the size of this outermost universe! The incomprehensible vastness of these seven universes is within the fist of God's hand!

[39:67] They can never fathom the greatness of GOD. The whole earth is within His fist on the Day of Resurrection. In fact, the universes are folded within His right hand. Be He glorified; He is much too high above needing any partners

[41:12] Thus, He completed the seven universes in two days, and set up the laws for every universe. And we adorned the lowest universe with lamps, and placed guards around it. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient

[81:1] When the sun is rolled.
[81:2] The stars are crashed into each other.
[81:3] The mountains are wiped out.

[77:8] Thus, when the stars are put out.
[77:9] The sky is opened up.
[77:10] The mountains are blown up.
[77:11] The messengers are summoned.
[77:12] That is the appointed day.
[77:13] The Day of Decision.

Some astronomers think that the galaxies may one day start falling back toward each other until they crash together in a Big Crunch! In cosmology, the Big Crunch is a hypothesized collapse of the universe upon itself after its eventual stoppage of expansion! Is it not true that the Big Crunch is not a hypothesis, not a theory but an informidable law of God Almighty that will surely take place on the appointed day, the Day of Decision!

[7:187] They ask you about the end of the world (the Hour), and when it will come to pass. Say, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord. Only He reveals its time. Heavy it is, in the heavens and the earth. It will not come to you except suddenly." They ask you as if you are in control thereof. Say, "The knowledge thereof is with GOD," but most people do not know

[75:9] And the sun and the moon crash into one another.
[75:10] The human being will say on that day, "Where is the escape?"
[75:11] Absolutely, there is no escape.
[75:12] To your Lord, on that day, is the final destiny.

[10:5] He is the One who rendered the sun radiant, and the moon a light, and He designed its phases that you may learn to count the years and to calculate. GOD did not create all this, except for a specific purpose. He explains the revelations for people who know.
[10:6] Surely, in the alternation of night and day, and what GOD created in the heavens and the earth, there are proofs for people who are righteous.

[10:18] They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, "These are our intercessors at GOD!" Say, "Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?" Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.

[12:103] Most people, no matter what you do, will not believe.
[12:104] You are not asking them for any money; you simply deliver this reminder for all the people.
[12:105] So many proofs in the heavens and the earth are given to them, but they pass by them, heedlessly!
[12:106] The majority of those who believe in GOD do not do so without committing idol worship.

Thank you and God bless you,

M. Irtaza

Ref: 1. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/
3. http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/
4. Quran - translated by Dr. Rashad Khalifa

Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'

AMERICAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN BIGOTRY

A Republican Senate challenger in Arkansas called Sen. Chuck Schumer "that Jew" at a campaign event and has spent a week backtracking, apologizing, and digging himself in deeper.

This kind of bigotry must be condemned. The senator needs to apologize and promise never to say anything like that ever again. Inclusion is the hallmark of civil societies and we need to let the world know we are a civilized people and a civilized nation. As American Muslims, we condemn this bigotry.

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/05/kim-hendren-calls-chuck-schumer-that.html

Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress

Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'
BY Michael Mcauliff

Schumer as 'that Jew.'
Sen. Kim Hendren

WASHINGTON - A Republican Senate challenger in Arkansas called Sen. Chuck Schumer "that Jew" at a campaign event and has spent a week backtracking, apologizing, and digging himself in deeper.

Kim Hendren, now the minority leader of the Arkansas state Senate, dropped his J-bomb last week after he got mad that Schumer described conservative Republicans as "hard right" in a TV interview.

He almost got away with it, but conservative Arkansas blogger Jason Tolbert caught it, and called out Hendren, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

Hendren excused his remark by pointing to his reputation as a gaffe machine.

"I don't use a Teleprompter, and occasionally I put my foot in my month," he told Tolbert, then inserted it a little farther.

"I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on 'The Andy Griffith Show,'" Hendren said.

"I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as 'that Jew' and I should not have put it that way, as this took away from what I was trying to say."

Defending himself again to the Arkansas News, Hendren went further, saying he didn't know why the words "that Jew" came out of his mouth. He added that there is a Jewish person in history he admires - Jesus. He's also partial to Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.

"I ought not to have referred to it at all," Hendren told The Associated Press Thursday. "When I referred to him as Jewish, it wasn't because I don't like Jewish people."

Schumer declined to get involved with Hendren, taking his admission of idiocy at face value.

"Apology accepted," the senator said.

Other Jewish Democrats were less forgiving.

"The most shocking thing here is that this guy thinks it's privately okay to refer to Schumer as 'that Jew,' but has enough political sense to realize it probably isn't the best thing to say publicly," said Ira Forman, head of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

He noted that the GOP's tent has been getting smaller lately, with just one Jewish Republican left in Congress.

Hendren didn't get any love either from national Republicans Thursday.

"Comments like this are completely inappropriate and don't have any place in public or private discourse," said Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which plays a vital role funding Senate candidates. "It's right that he apologized to Sen. Schumer."

mmcauliff@nydailynews.com

Read more: "Oy vey! Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_oy_vey_arkansas_state_senator_kim_hendren.html#ixzz0FilgEJ3m&A

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_oy_vey_arkansas_state_senator_kim_hendren.html

Islamic Reform

The book is out now.

"Critical thinkers for Islamic reform" a collection of articles from contemporary thinkers on Islam. Your friend is one of the 35 people who have contributed towards the book.

The book is available at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinkers-Islamic-Reform-Yuksel/dp/0979671574/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242430729&sr=1-3

I am pleased to inform you that, the book "American Islam" will be out this fall. It is everything you always wanted to know about Islam and Muslims. Much of the inspiration is drawn from Sura Kafirun. http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html

It is encouraging to see the moderate Muslims speak up, they make up 99% of the Muslim population. Just like all other groups, they want to get along with every one, and see that every human is cared for and do the best one can do.

Insha Allah one of these days I may get financial support from a few Muslims in forming the "Moderate Muslim Majority" to reflect the voices of Muslims for the common purpose of working towards a world of co-existence, by mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill among nations and communities. The formation is not to be against any one, but for the peace and justice for every one.

When Allah says "submit to my will", what is the latent wisdom in it?

Perhaps we can understand that in the context of our own lives; the family we have nurtured, the work we do, the home we live in, the car we drive, the food we cook or anything we work for is very dear to us, we want that to be intact and not go helter skelter. That is God's will - to have his creation live in peace and harmony and sustain itself - and God has given us a beautiful formula to live by; the Qur'aan, the book of guidance.

What is God's will? To surrender to him is to become like him, when we do that, there is no more "you and I", it is all of us, one inclusive community. One world under God.

To become like him occurs when there is no distinctions between any one of his creation, the whole creation belongs to him and he belongs to all. God wills that we live in peace and harmony and nothing but that. Islam is a beautiful religious formulas to peace, tranquility and equlibrium through justice. Our role as Muslims is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill.

Mike Ghouse

Iran - What would the prophet do?

May 10, 2009
Christian Science Monitor.

We have to demonstrate and act peace and quit talking about it. I gave a lecture to an interfaith group few months ago - Muhammad the Peacemaker; ten models of peacemaking. I hope to concretize the other 9 items as Asma has done with the Hudaibiya treaty. The silent majority of Muslims are with the author and this article is an expression of them. We need to get them to speak over the voices of a few fanatics amongst us.

Mike Ghouse
# # #

A stark question for Iran: What would the Prophet do?
By Asma Afsaruddin Mon Apr 6, 5:00 am ET

South Bend, Ind. – If Iranian leaders do not come to grips with reality soon, they will have missed an historic opportunity to make a deal for peace with the United States. It takes courage and considerable moral integrity to reach out to an entrenched adversary; both attributes were amply displayed by President Barack Obama in his recent overture to the Iranians, which incurred the censure of right-wing US hawks.

Regrettably, the Iranian response has been unreflective, pugnacious – and most important – unIslamic.

A verse in the Koran states: "If they [the unbelievers] incline to peace, you should also incline to peace." Because believing Muslims revere the Koran as sacred scripture containing the very words of God, it is not unreasonable to expect that professed Muslims should take these words to heart.

Inclining to peace should manifest itself in a willingness to negotiate through diplomacy, especially when the an adversary indicates a preference for it. When the pagan Meccans sought arbitration with the Prophet Muhammad and his followers in 628, he concluded the treaty of Hudaybiyya with them. The treaty included provisions not entirely favorable to the Muslims, but the Prophet did not waver in his resolve to sign this agreement. Some of his companions grumbled about the unequal treatment of Muslims in this accord and a few were even opposed to the whole idea of peacemaking.

The arguments were familiar – the Meccans had driven the Muslims out of their homes, looted their belongings, and persecuted them for their beliefs. As far as one could tell, the Meccans remained committed to destroying the nascent faith and its adherents. How could one sit down with such trenchant enemies, whose intentions were suspect? The Koran answers those objections in the very next verse: "And if they intend to deceive you – then surely God is sufficient for you." Scripture had made it clear that Muslims should take a risk for peace, and if the opposing side should desist from hostilities, Muslims should reciprocate in kind.

The treaty was signed and was meant to guarantee 10 years of peace. As it turned out, the worst fears of Muhammad's followers proved to be true. The Meccans soon violated the agreement and fighting loomed. Further negotiations, however, brought about the peaceful surrender of Mecca and a general amnesty for the previous enemies of the Muslims.

Muhammad and his immediate successors implemented a principle known as "the joining of hearts," according to which the erstwhile enemies of Islam were to become reconciled with Muslims through charity and inclusion within the new community. The fact that Muslims throughout time have not always implemented these principles in no way makes them less normative for contemporary Muslims.

Both Sunnis and Shiites read the same Koran and both agree that its ideals were perfectly realized by their prophet. Thus Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation, is just as obligated to follow Koranic teaching as any other Muslim-majority country with a commitment to Islamic principles.

After eight years of relentlessly hawkish US policies toward the Middle East (and some would argue toward the Muslim world in general) under President Bush, Mr. Obama has clearly set a new course. He has expressed resolute good will toward the majority of Muslims in the world who also desperately – and audaciously – hope for change for the better, as global surveys and polls have repeatedly shown.

Why then has Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a religious man by all accounts, spurned Obama's outreach and rejected negotiations. He certainly cannot claim a scriptural imperative for his behavior.

From a realpolitik perspective, risking political capital for peace may appear to be a foolhardy venture and Mr. Khamenei will certainly be criticized by Iran's hawks for talking to "the Great Satan."

But morally speaking, he and other Iranian leaders owe it to their people and to the world to sit down at the negotiating table in view of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a principal actor in some of the major conflicts of our time.

It is not enough for Muslims to repeatedly affirm that Islam stands for peace; they need to demonstrate that Islam means peace. When valuable opportunities for peacemaking occur and it is Muslim leaders who fritter them away, they should expect scorn to be directed at them and at their hollow rhetoric.

In the popular American imagination, Muslims after Sept. 11 have become tarred by the brush of violence. Now we can add to this image an unholy lack of moral courage and intransigence in the face of a singular opportunity to put an end to a nuclear standoff that could engulf the whole world.

If Iranian leaders adhere to the faith for which they claim to have launched a revolution 30 years ago, they will put aside bellicose rhetoric and take up the work of peace.

Asma Afsaruddin is a professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies at the University of Notre Dame and is the author of "The First Muslims: History and Memory."

Saudi Beauty Queen

Here She Comes: Miss Beautiful MoralsBy DONNA ABU-NASR, AP

posted: 1 HOUR 49 MINUTES AGOcomments:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (May 6) - Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side.

But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for "Miss Beautiful Morals" is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.

Khadra al-Mubarak, shown, helped organize Saudi Arabia's "Miss Beautiful Morals" pageant, which focuses on the female contestants' commitment to Islamic morals. Good looks won't win this crown -- the queen will be the one who exhibits the most love and respect for her parents. And since men aren't permitted to watch the event, woman can remove their veils and abayas.

"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak.

"The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."

So after the pageant opens Saturday, the nearly 200 contestants will spend the next 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including "Discovering your inner strength," "The making of leaders" and "Mom, paradise is at your feet" — a saying attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad to underline that respect for parents is among the faith's most important tenets.

Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact with their mothers, al-Mubarak said. Since the pageant is not televised and no men are involved, contestants can take off the veils and black figure-hiding abayas they always wear in public.

The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant is the latest example of conservative Muslims co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and satellite television.

A newly created Islamic music channel owned by an Egyptian businessman aired an "American Idol"-style contest for religious-themed singers this month. And several Muslim preachers have become talk-show celebrities by adopting an informal, almost Oprah-like television style, in contrast to the solemn clerics who traditionally appear in the media.
Now in its second year, the number of pageant contestants has nearly tripled from the 75 women who participated in 2008. The pageant is open to women between 15 and 25. The winner and two runners up will be announced in July, with the queen taking home $2,600 and other prizes. The runners up get $1,300 each.
Last year's winner, Zahra al-Shurafa, said the contest gives an incentive to young women and teens to show more consideration toward their parents.
"I tell this year's contestants that winning is not important," said al-Shurafa, a 21-year-old English major. "What is important is obeying your parents."
There are few beauty pageants in the largely conservative Arab world. The most dazzling is in Lebanon, the region's most liberal country, where contestants appear on TV in one-piece swimsuits and glamorous evening gowns and answer questions that test their confidence and general knowledge.


Our new toolbar integrates latest news into your Web browser and installs in seconds. Download It Now There are no such displays in ultra-strict Saudi Arabia, where until Miss Beautiful Morals was inaugurated last year, the only pageants were for goats, sheep, camels and other animals, aimed at encouraging livestock breeding.
This year's event kicks off Saturday in the mainly Shiite Muslim town of Safwa, and mostly draws local Shiite contestants. But it's open to anyone — and this year, 15 Sunni Muslims are participating, al-Mubarak said. "This is a beautiful thing," she added.

There have long been tensions between the two sects in the kingdom. Hard-liners in the Sunni majority consider Shiites infidels, and the Shiites often complain of discrimination and greater levels of poverty.

Al-Zayer, a 24-year-old international management student, said she signed up because she is the "spitting image" of her mother. "I'm proud of my devotion to my parents," she said.

What does she think of Lebanon's beauty contests?
"It's a matter of cultural differences," she said. "In Saudi Arabia, they are Islamically unacceptable."
Awsaf al-Mislim, another contestant, said if she does not win the crown, she will have won something more important.

"I will be proud to show everyone that I competed with the others over my devotion to my parents," the 24-year-old said.

Muslims Condemn oppression against Sikhs

Dallas, Texas

We the Muslims, condemn the oppression of Sikhs in Taliban held territory of Pakistan, and urge the government of Pakistan to immediately put these lawless individual men behind bars for evaluation and rehabilitation. It is the duty of every government to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen.

A Muslim stands up against oppression, and the harassment of Sikhs by the Taliban is one that needs to be checked immediately. This is an act of gross arrogance of those in power abusing religion to their own end; we should not let bad guys use religion for their gain, shame on us if we let these evil men act in the name of Islam again, as they did on September 11. Time has come to put an end to this bullyism.

Oppression is one of the most evil elements in Islam and we have an obligation to stand up for that value.

We welcome the statement by the Indian Muslim Leaders and urge the Muslims leaders around the world to add their name in the comments section below. We also invite all such condemnations for posting on this site.

Please add your name, organization name to the list by clicking this link.

Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
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Joint Statement of Indian Muslim leaders

Pakistani Taliban’s treatment of Sikhs in tribal areas is illegal and barbaric
We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims, are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money from their Sikh compatriots as “Jizya” and demolition of the houses and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.

We would like to say that Jizya is a tax paid in an Islamic state for exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakat and have to perform military service as well.

Jizya was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas like Madina where during the time of the Holy Prophet no Jizya was ever imposed on non-Muslim citizens who enjoyed equal rights and duties under the Constitution of Madina. For many centuries Jizya has not been levied by Muslim states and today even the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islamic Republic of Iran do not levy Jizya on non-Muslims for the simple reason that non-Muslims in these states pay all taxes payable by others. Prominent Islamic scholars of the modern times like Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi are of the view that Jizya should not be imposed now as non-Muslims are equal citizens of Muslim states and pay all taxes paid by other citizens and shoulder all the duties.

We wish to make it clear that the imposition of the so-called Jizya is nothing more than extortion by an armed and lawless gang which does not constitute a sovereign government or state or even an organ thereof. Moreover, Pakistan’s tribal areas are not “conquered lands” as their non-Muslim population has been living there for centuries. These areas were part of the British India and became part of the new State of Pakistan as a result of peaceful transfer of power on Partition.

As regards the huge amounts in millions reported to be demanded, these are arbitrary and exorbitant as the amount of annual Jizya paid by non-Muslims in early Islam was merely one to one and a half dinar, which is 4.24 gram to 6.36 grams of gold. Moreover, this tax was payable only at the end of the year and not in advance.

We regard this as an act of injustice incompatible with the letter and spirit of Islam and the international covenants accepted by all Muslim states.

We demand that the Pakistani authorities must take earliest steps to retrieve the extorted sums and pay them back to their affected non-Muslim citizens and facilitate their peaceful return to their homes and properties in their traditional homelands and give them all due protection.

Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad
Shahi Imam, Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi
Hafiz Muhammad Yahya
President, All India Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees
Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani
Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
Syed Shahabuddin
Former PM & ex-President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Prof Tahir Mahmood
Member Law Commission of India
Mujtaba Farooq
Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi
President, Shah Waliullah Institute, Delhi
Maulana Waris Mazhari
Editor, Monthly Tarjuman, Delhi
Dr Zafar Mahmood
President, Zakat Foundation of India
Dr SQR Ilyas
Member, Muslim Personal Law Board
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Mirza Yawar Baig
President of Yawar Baig & Associates
Shahnawaz Ali Raihan
Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation

Issued at New Delhi on 2 May 2009

Issued by the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Delhi
For media comments only please contact zik@zik.in or phone 09811142151

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