Friday, October 29, 2010

Solutions to the Farooques and Shahzads

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/10/solutions-to-farooques-and-shahzads.html

We have chosen to live in deception and that is the harsh truth. The idea that “nothing will happen to me and my family”  and “I can bail myself out” and “the storm will calm down”, “ I am safe and surrounded by well meaning people” and “I can always go back…” with all that I have, I can take care of myself.
There are more Farooques and Shahzads in the making and they will make our lives miserable. It is time we attend to social matters.  This is our home, we will be buried here for eternity and we OWE it to our own long term security to build a better America.
We are conditioned to re-act to situations, it has got to change, consider the long term effects of the following pro-active actions”
1.   An announcement on all Muslim websites and news papers to offer $50,000 reward to anyone who turns in a possible threat to national security and safety of Americans. Let this be announced in Friday Sermons.

2.   These AH’s are not only a threat to us Americans, but doubly to us Muslims, they will make our lives more miserable and we have got to turn these turds in. More restrictions will come… are you aware of the issues with the Mosques and the Oklahoma anti-Sharia Laws, although It may not affect a single Muslim in Oklahoma, but these steps will lead  to tightening the noose around our necks. Be a part of the American society, you will know it.

3.   A few Muslims, yes, you can count them, no more 1/10th of 1% of us will not like it. In case of Muslims in Dallas it would be less than 80 given the 80,000 Muslim populations in the DFW Metroplex. Based on my serious observations you cannot even find 1/100th of 1% of Muslims who will want decry in turning these turds in – i.e. Less than 8. Tough luck Bhai, we have to move on with it.

4.  After we get our act together, we can take the next step. To initiate a bill to treat criminals as criminals and not slap a religious, ethnic or national label on them.

We owe to our homeland to make it safe for every American. Indeed, we have to become a part of the American story – Please read the following article; it is worth your time.

Are Muslims a part of the American story?

http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2009/04/are-muslims-part-of-american-story.html

 
Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism and Islam offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His blogs and sites are listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

TEXAS FAITH: Does firing Juan Williams improve our understanding of religious diversity?

That's this week's question: Are we better off by forbidding some views, some beliefs - however ill-expressed - in an honest discussion of America's view of Islam?

If you wish this article is worth reading, please feel free to comment at the end of the link, you can do thumbs up or down and recommend the article on top of the article

No, we are not better off forbidding any view however ill-expressed in an honest discussion of America's view of Islam. Neither God nor religion should be free from any critical study including Islam and Quraan. Yes, I am a Muslim, and like most Muslims I will defend that freedom to the core – Mike Ghouse

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, India and Civil Societies. He heads the Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress and offers Pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on issues of the day.  He is available to speak at your school, work or place of worship. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Juan Williams defines Muslim garbs

1. Juan Williams is frightened when he sees Muslim 'garbs', really?
2. Juan Williams is pandering to the fears of the "frightened”*
3. Juan Williams signs up $2 Million contract
4. Juan Williams makes a fool of the right wingers
5. Juan Williams - http://tinyurl.com/2al7s2j
6.  Juan Williams - http://tinyurl.com/27zx43n

CHECK OUT THE MUSLIM GARBS
http://muslimswearingthings.tumblr.com/

The frightened souls are those who seek a false sense of security by creating chaos and pitch one American against the other.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism and Islam offering pluralistic solutions to the media and public on issues of the day. His blogs and sites are listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

Friday, October 22, 2010

Juan Williams -Sean Hannity show with Ghouse

1:30 CST PM Thursday, October 21, 2010
Actual Show Script will be added as a link.  

Freedom of speech must be guarded and defended at any cost; ultimately truth triumphs over every thing and is certainly truth is sustainable. However to have the moral courage to defend that freedom, its application must be universal and not selective.

Fox is defending Juan Williams saying that he followed it up by supporting Muslims, but that sound byte has done a lot of damage.  It reminded me of my encounter with Sean Hannity and Brigit Gabrielle on the Hannity Radio Show on Thursday, October 21, 2010.

Sean Hannity reads the words off my Blog on the air, “You said, it is good for America that Juan is fired” and jumps on to the free speech bit.  I asserted, “Sean, you did not read the next sentence and the last sentence”


Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism and Islam offering pluralistic solutions to the media and public on issues of the day. His blogs and sites are listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

  

Thursday, October 21, 2010

GOOD FOR AMERICA: Juan Williams is FIRED

by Mike Ghouse on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 9:08am
 
Thanks to NPR for firing him. It is a new precedent in placing bigotry in its place following racial slurs, the N word, the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and now Anti-Islam or anti-religion. This can take us further to purge public statements in the interests of building cohesive societies for America; we have to laud this decision.
Juan made me wonder about his mind-set; was he simply expressing his bigotry or was he bashing Islam to get into the “inner circle” of big boys for fame and fortune? Islam bashing is not only fashionable, it brings big money. The right wingers give them a big hug and help them become big. It is an irresistible bait right wingers throw at greedy men like Juan. (Right wingers are those who mess with the social cohesion of our nation and attempt to set one American against the other)

Thank God again for the media to fire Helen Thomas for criticizing Israel as it set a new precedent. If she does not have the right to criticize a nation, and the media forced her out to retirement, then most certainly NPR has a right to do the right thing.   http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/helen-thomas-you-cannot-criticize-israel-in-the-u-s-and-survive-1.318705  

Juan can remain on Fox, but not on NPR which is usually free from bigotry. Now, it is time for all the media to follow the suit.

Mike GhouseAmericans together For Building a cohesive America
Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism and Islam offering pluralistic solutions to the media and public on issues of the day. His blogs and sites are listed at www.MikeGhouse.net
# ##

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/21/juan-williams-fired-npr_n_770901.html

Juan Williams FIRED: NPR Sacks Analyst Over Fox News Muslim Comments Huffington Post   |  Jack Mirkinson First

NPR announced late on Wednesday night that it has terminated the contract of longtime analyst Juan Williams over his comments on Fox News that, when he is on a plane with Muslims, "I get nervous."

NPR's media reporter David Folkenflik broke the news on Twitter.

Williams' comments came during a discussion with Bill O'Reilly on Monday's "O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly asked Williams if he had been in the wrong during his now-infamous appearance on "The View" last week. (There, O'Reilly's statement that "Muslims killed us on 9/11" caused Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set in anger.)

Williams replied that he thought O'Reilly had, in fact, been right. He continued:

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Williams did go on to tell O'Reilly that he had to be "careful" to stress that he was not talking about all Muslims when he criticized some and that America was not at war with Islam. He also compared blaming all Muslims for the actions of extremists to blaming all Christians for the actions of Timothy McVeigh. (O'Reilly responded that he was "done" being careful.)

In a statement, NPR said that it had informed Williams of its decision on Wednesday night, and that his remarks were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."

Williams had been a contributor and analyst at NPR for decades, but his dual role on Fox News -- where he has also been a longtime and frequent contributor -- drew so many complaints from NPR's listeners that it asked Fox News to stop identifying Williams as an "NPR News Political Analyst" in 2009.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Should Christians (and other non-Hindus) beware of yoga?


Courtesy: Dallas Morning News, Texas faith Panel. The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Albert Mohler, caused a stir with a recent column decrying the practice of yoga by Christians.

Mohler seems to be threatened with the popularity of Yoga, a beautiful practice to bring composure to oneself. He is obsessed with the idea that Yoga is a bait to lure his congregation away into “a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a `post-Christian, spiritually polyglot’ reality”, and then he asks, “Should any Christian willingly risk that?” How mistaken can one be? Yoga is not a mutually exclusive practice, nor is it a religion; it is indeed a catalyst in achieving the union of mind and body that is central to all spirituality.

Yoga is neither Christian nor Hindu; it is a beautiful gift that originated in India for the benefit of mankind to function cohesively.  All individuals and nations should give and receive the good without labeling it.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism and Islam offering pluralistic solutions to the media and public on issues of the day. His blogs and sites are listed at www.MikeGhouse.net  


Friday, October 15, 2010

One on One with the Aga Khan

THE AGA KHAN

by Peter Mansbridge

A portrait of Peter Mansbridge of CBC Canada. Photo Credit: Photo by Dustin Rabin.com, Toronto – July 25, 2007. Copyright: Dustin Rabin.
Editor’s Note: The following interview has been excerpted from Peter Mansbridge One on One by Peter Mansbridge. Copyright © 2009 Peter Mansbridge. Interview Material © Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Reprinted by permission of Random House Canada.

The Story Behind the Interview

There are about eighty thousand Ismaili Canadians in our country, and when I decided to interview their spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, his Canadian representatives told me that every single one of them would be watching. They weren’t kidding. Every time I meet an Ismaili Canadian, whether in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa or any of the other urban areas they seem to favour, I’m stopped and told how great the interview was. One on One airs at least three times every weekend on the CBC, and one of those airings is in the middle of the night.
The audiences at that time are understandably small – often no more than fifteen thousand. So I had to smile when I saw the overnight ratings the first time the Aga Khan’s interview ran: eighty thousand.
Ismailis are a minority in the Muslim faith; in fact, some Muslims don’t even recognize them as Muslims. Their history is deep, ancient and to a degree bitter. Ismailis broke away from the main Shiite Muslim faith about twelve hundred years ago over who best represented the true Imam, or leader of Islam. I’ve seen some Ismaili friends at work shunned by other Muslims, who refused to accept them as friends and barely acknowledged them
as colleagues.
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan is the leader of the world’s Ismaili community, and he has spent many of his fifty years as the Aga Khan trying to counter those differences. He’s become a well-known and well respected international figure and his admirers exist far beyond his faith. He established the Aga Khan Foundation to improve living conditions and opportunities for the poor, whatever their faith, origin or gender. He was a great friend of Pierre Trudeau; his trips to this country during the Trudeau years were frequent and they continue that way now.
While the Trudeau relationship became broader in scope, it was based on the former prime minister’s decision in the early seventies to admit to Canada thousands of Asians who had been expelled from Uganda by the brutal dictator Idi Amin. Many of the new arrivals were Ismaili, and they, and the Aga Khan, have never forgotten Canada’s open doors in their time of need.
All of those points had made me determined to invite the Aga Khan onto One on One during one of his frequent Canadian visits. The opportunity came in early 2007.
When I flew to Ottawa for the interview, I took with me a good friend and colleague. Sherali Najak is the executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada, and years ago he worked with us on The National. He’d begged me and my regular director, Fred Parker, to let him direct the Aga Khan shoot. Freddie, normally very protective of his turf, said, “Absolutely,” and so did I. Sherali, you see, is Ismaili. His family story traces back to those Uganda days, and for him this opportunity to be in the same room as the Aga Khan was going to be a life-defining moment.
The interview was enjoyable and informative. The Aga Khan is a moderate Muslim leader at a time when many Muslims and Christians are wondering if they will ever get along. His thoughts on that topic were provocative, but we started by trying to understand his fondness for Canada.

http://simerg.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/jwm_6194.jpg
His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th Ismaili Imam and direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad pictured at Rideau Hall on October 7, 2010, where he was received by Canada’s 28th Governor General, His Excellency David Johnston. Photo: John MacDonald, Ottawa. Copyright.
Peter Mansbridge: You must love Canada – you keep coming back here.
Aga Khan: I do.
PM: What is the quality that you most admire about this country?
AK: I think a number of qualities. First of all, it’s a pluralist society that has invested in building pluralism, where communities from all different backgrounds and faiths are happy. It’s a modern country that deals with modern issues, not running away from the tough ones. And a global commitment to values, to Canadian values, which I think are very important.
PM: Let’s talk about that a little bit, because I wonder whether your confidence in Canada has in any way been shattered a little bit in these past few years, especially since 9/11. There have been tensions in this country, as there have been in many other Western countries, between Muslim and non-Muslim societies – on any number of levels, on both sides, about history, religion, tradition and integration within society. How much has that concerned
you?
AK: It concerns me and at the same time it doesn’t, in the sense that, to me, building and sustaining a pluralist society is always going to be a work in progress. It doesn’t have a finite end. And so long as there is national intent, civic intent to make pluralism work, then one accepts that it’s a work in progress.
PM: Let me go a little deeper on that, because it raises a question you have often raised, and that’s the issue of ignorance. You reject the theory of a clash of civilizations, or even a clash of religions. You believe there’s a clash of ignorance here, on both sides of that divide. And you’ve felt that way for a long time. I was looking through the transcripts of an interview you gave in the 1980s in Canada where you were warning the West that it had to do a better job in trying to understand Islam. That clearly hasn’t happened.
AK: No, it hasn’t happened. A number of friends and people in important places have tried to contribute to solving that problem, but it’s a long-established problem. It’s going to take, I think, several decades before we reach a situation where the definition of an educated person includes basic understanding of the Islamic world. That hasn’t been the case. And the absence of that basic education has caused all sorts of misunderstandings.
PM: What’s been the resistance?
AK: I think it’s essentially historic. I think that Judeo-Christian societies have developed their own education, and basic knowledge of the Islamic world has simply been absent. Look at what was required for an education in the humanities; for example, I was a student in the U.S. and education on the Islamic world was absent.
PM: Is this a one-sided clash of ignorance?
AK: No, I think there is ignorance on both sides, and I think very often there’s confusion. I think more and more there has been confusion between, for example, religion and civilization. And that’s introducing instability in the discussion, frankly. I would prefer to talk about ignorance of the civilizations of the Islamic world rather than ignorance just on the faith of Islam.
PM: What we’ve witnessed in the last couple of years, not just in this country but in other Western countries as well, is what we call “homegrown terror,” where you see young Muslim men – born in the West, educated in the West – moving towards a fundamentalist view, a militant view of Islam. Why is that happening?
AK: There is without any doubt a growing sense amongst Muslim communities around the world that there are forces at play that it doesn’t control, that views the Muslim world with, let’s say, unhappiness or more. I would simply say, however, that if you analyze the situation I don’t think you can conclude that all Muslims from all backgrounds are part of that phenomenon. Secondly, if you go back and look at the communities where this is common, you will find that there’s a long-standing unresolved political crisis in the community. It’s very, very risky, I think, to interpret these situations as being specific to the faith of Islam. It is specific to peoples, sometimes ethnic groups, but it’s not specific to the face of Islam.
PM: That must really concern you. Your followers see you as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the same prophet that some of these minority fundamentalist militant groups hold up and claim as the reason they’re doing the acts they’re doing.
AK: Again, I think one has to go back and say, “What is the cause of this situation?” With all due respect, if you look at the crisis in the Middle East, that crisis was born at the end of the First World War. The crisis in Kashmir was born through the liberation of the Indian continent. These are political issues originally; they’re not religious issues. You can’t attribute the faith of Islam to them. I think the second point I would make is this tendency to generalize Islam. There are many different interpretations of Islam. As a Muslim, if I said to you that I didn’t recognize the difference between a Greek Orthodox or a Russian Orthodox or a Protestant or a Catholic, I think you’d say to me, “But you don’t understand the Christian world.” Let me reverse that question.
PM: Canada’s role in Afghanistan is well-known, has been since 9/11. So is the Aga Khan Foundation, which is in there in a big way in development matters. The question is simple, really: with all the help that’s been given to Afghanistan, why is the Taliban resurging? Not only in numbers, but in popularity as well. Why is that happening?
AK: I think there are a number of reasons, but the one that I would put forward as the most immediate is the slow process of reconstruction.There was a lot of hope that once there was a regime change and a new government and the political process had been completed, the quality of life would change. It hasn’t changed quickly enough. It’s taken much more time than I think many of us had hoped to get to isolated communities in Afghanistan and improve their quality of life. It’s an organizational problem. Even amongst the donor countries there have been differences of opinion. The management of the drug problem has not been a united effort by any means. So there are a number of things that have slowed up the process. And there are still acute pockets of poverty in Afghanistan: people who don’t have enough food, people who don’t have access to any education, any health care. It is clear this sort of frustration causes bitterness and the search for other solutions.
PM: Is there time to turn it around? Because you get a sense that the pendulum has swung back considerably in the last year or so. There’s this growing sense of frustration among the Canadian people and a belief that it’s a war that cannot be won.
AK: I would beg to differ on that. I think what we’re seeing in Afghanistan, at least from my own network of activities, is an increasingly visible two-speed process, where in the north and the west you’re beginning to see quantifiable change. In the east and the south you’re not seeing that. Two-speed change is going to have to be managed with great care, but it’s not a good reason to give up by any means.
PM: Can you do both at the same time? That’s the debate in Canada: to run a military operation – talking specifically about the south – while trying to introduce aid and development in an area that is not secure.
AK: It’s very difficult to do, but necessary. Every step counts. Certainly in areas where there’s insecurity, I think the availability for populations to participate in these development activities does go down when quality of life changes. And I believe the same thing with regard to the drug problem.
PM: How much of the problem in Afghanistan is a result of the decision on the part of the Americans and the British to move into Iraq?
AK: Very substantial indeed. The invasion of Iraq was something which has mobilized what we call the Imamat – the community of Muslims around the world. Every Muslim that I have ever talked to has felt engaged by this.
PM: On what level?
AK: Baghdad is one of the great historic cities of the Islamic world. Iraq is not a new country; it’s part of the history of our civilization. It’s been a pluralist country and has produced great philosophers, great historians, great scientists. Reverse the question again. What would the Christian world think if a Muslim army attacked Rome? I think there would be a general reaction in the Christian world, not just an Italian reaction.
PM: But it seems that even in the Muslim world, that invasion has caused major divisions – the clash inside Islam itself, between Shia and Sunni.
AK: That was entirely predictable. Entirely predictable. What you are effectively doing is replacing a Sunni minority government in a country that has a Shia demographic majority. And again, what would happen – I’m sorry to come back to this, but it’s important – if a Muslim army went in to Northern Ireland and replaced one Christian interpretation by another? Imagine the fallout that that would cause in the Christian world itself.
 
PM: So what happens now? Can Iraq be put back together? And who would be doing the putting back together?
 
AK: I think that’s a very, very difficult question, and I would not want to predict the answer. Because I think that the whole process of change in Iraq has regional dimensions which have got to be managed. They’re not national dimensions in Iraq. Those regional dimensions also were predictable, let’s be quite frank about it. I think they’re going to need to be managed with very, very great care.
 
PM: Is the answer, as some suggest, the splitting of it into three regions with the main two combatants, the Shia and the Sunnis, actually separated by borders?
AK: That’s really, I think, an issue where the leaders of the three communities have got to agree or not. In my life, in the past fifty years, I have been uncomfortable with the creation of unviable states. So I would ask this question: if you did do that, what components of Iraq would be stable, viable states in the future?
PM: Who’s showing leadership in this world right now in terms of the major global issues? Who do you look to as a leader, whether it’s a political leader or not?
AK: I think there are a number of people in the U.N. system who’ve shown leadership, who have shown balanced judgment on these issues. Because when all is said and done, it’s the balance of the judgment that counts. And it’s understanding the issues. I think, amongst others, Kofi Annan has been remarkable in his understanding of the issues. He’s also had a team of people around him who are very good.
PM: It’s quite a condemnation though of the political leaders of our generation that you don’t point to one of them, no matter which side of the divide we talked about earlier. You don’t see one there?
AK: I’m looking at the regions of Africa, Central Asia, and I’m asking myself within this context who’s having the greatest influence. I think that certainly the U.N. Development Program…I think the World Bank and Jim Wolfensohn changed direction very significantly and dealt with real human issues and has done a wonderful job.
PM: Some people suggest that there’s been a movement in terms of real leadership away from governments to private foundations, philanthropic organizations – yours being one, the Gates Foundation, and you can name a number of them. Do you see that happening? Is that a good thing?
AK: I see it happening, and I welcome it wholeheartedly. Because what we’re talking about, I think, is accelerating the construction of a civil society. I personally think that civil society is one of the most urgent things to build around the world. Because one of the phenomena you see today is the number of countries where governments have been unstable. Progress is made where there’s been a strong civil society, and that’s a lesson that I think all of us have to learn. My own network is immensely committed to that. And so what the Gateses and others are doing is providing new resources, new thoughts to create civil society. Whether it’s in health care or education, it’s the combined input which is so exciting and so important.
PM: We touched briefly earlier on the new Global Centre for Pluralism, which will be established here in Canada through the Aga Khan Foundation and the people of Canada through the Government of Canada. What is your hope for that? What do you see that doing, accomplishing?
AK: I hope that the centre will learn from the Canadian history of pluralism, the bumpy road that all societies have in dealing with pluralist problems, the outcomes, and offer the world new thoughts, new ways of dealing with issues, anticipating the problems that can occur. Because in recent years I think we’re seeing more and more that no matter what the nature of the conflict, ultimately there is a rejection of pluralism as one of the components. Whether it’s tribalism, whether it’s conflict amongst ethnic groups, whether it’s conflict amongst religions, the failure to see value in pluralism is a terrible liability.
PM: Why Canada?
AK: Because I think Canada is a country that has invested in making this potential liability become an asset. I think that Canada has been perhaps too humble in its own appreciation of this global asset. It’s a global asset. Few countries, if any, have been as successful as Canada has, bumpy though the road is. As I said earlier, it’s always going to be an unfinished task.
PM: Next year is your golden jubilee: fifty years. What’s your – I was going to say what’s your dream for the world in that year, but I guess dreams are dreams. What’s your realistic hope?
AK: In areas of the world which are living in horrible poverty, I’d like to see that replaced by an environment where people can live in more hope than they’ve had. I’d like to see governments that produce enabling environments where society can function and grow rather than live in the dogmatisms that we’ve all lived through, and which I think have been very constraining. And I’d like to see solid institutional building, because, when all is said and done, societies need institutional capacity.
PM: Those are grand hopes. I’m sure they’re shared by many. How realistic do you think it is that we can achieve anything like that?
AK: I think we can achieve a lot of that. I think the time frame is what we don’t control. I remember in the mid-fifties reading about countries in the developing world being referred to as basket cases. Fifty years later those are some of the most powerful countries in the world -  enormous populations. They’re exporting food when fifty years ago we were told they’d never be able to feed themselves. They had an incredible technology deficit fifty years ago. Today they’re exporting technology, homegrown technology. So I think there are a number of cases out there where we can say what we don’t control is the time factor. But society does have the capability to make those changes.
PM: So there is reason for hope.
AK: I believe so, God willing.
Postscript by Peter Mansbridge: As inspiring as his message was, the lasting memory I take from that day was more personal. It was the beaming face of Sherali Najak standing next to the Aga Khan for that special photograph he had so wanted to get. The man who regularly bosses Don Cherry around looked pretty tame all of a sudden.
Interview Material © Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Reprinted by Simerg permission of Random House Canada.

Canadian imams issue declaration to combat radical Islam

CANADIAN COUNCIL OF IMAMS DECLARATION


We, the imams who have signed below, hereby affirm and declare the following fundamental points:


1. We believe in the oneness of Allah (God) and in the oneness of humanity and that all the Messengers of God, including the final Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), have taught human beings how to come closer to God and closer to one another. Islam is a religion of nature and humanity, one that teaches that a person cannot be a good Muslim until he/she becomes a good human being. All human beings are equal, and all of them are the children of Adam and Eve (peace be upon them). The best Muslim is the one who is good to his/her family and neighbors and one who avoids harming others with his/her hand or tongue.


2. We believe in peaceful coexistence, dialogue, bridge building, and cooperation among all faiths and people for the common good of humanity. Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people, regardless of their creed, ethnicity, race, or nationality. The sanctity of human life overrides the sanctity of religious laws. Islamic rulings do not – and should not – contradict natural laws. Islam is a religion that promotes peace, justice, equality, dignity, and freedom for all human beings.


3. We believe in the preservation of all the necessities of life. Islam upholds the sanctity of religion, life, intellect, family/society, and property.


4. We believe that the well-being of our fellow citizens is the well-being of Muslims, and that the well-being of Muslims is the well-being of our fellow citizens. Being law-abiding people is part of the Islamic practice, and following the pristine teachings of Islam leads to good citizenship.


5. We believe in gender equity and each man and each woman’s divine right to education, social contribution, work, and treatment with respect and dignity. Men and women complement each other, and healthy relationships between them are essential to a healthy society.


6. We believe that it is the right of every individual adult person to determine for themselves their conduct towards and within their society (for example, in matters of dress or good manners), and their personal conduct in matters of faith and belief as well, as long as their conduct does not threaten the common good. Likewise, we believe that every society must be allowed to express and celebrate humanity's profound cultural diversity, as long as the expression of that diversity does not include the compulsion of any individual to violate their own human rights, or their personal values, or their human nature, or otherwise threaten the common good of all people.


7. We believe and strongly encourage Muslims to seriously engage in civic life and contribute to their communities and society as much as they can.


Signatories:
Imam Dr. Hamid Slimi (Canadian Council of Imams/Faith of Life Network)
Imam Ismail Fetic (Bosnian Islamic Centre of Hamilton)
Imam Dr. Arafat Elashi (Scholar & Lecturer in GTA)
Imam Dr. Ziyad Delic (Canadian Islamic Congress, Ottawa)
Imam Habeeb Ali (Canadian Council of Imams, Secretary)
Imam Abdul Hai Patel (Canadian Council of Imams, Interfaith Relations)
Imam Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Al-Nadvi (Alfalah Islamic Center, Oakville)
Imam Hafiz Faizan-ul Haq (West End Islamic Center, Mississauga)
Imam Yusuf Badat (Islamic Foundation of Toronto)
Imam Omar Subedar (The Islamic Society of Peel, Brampton)
Imam Ashraf Baddar (Faith of Life Network)
Imam Abdullah Hatia (Islamic Association of Saskatchewan, Regina)
Imam Mohamed Arif Desai (Masjid Darul Iman, Markham)
Imam Prof. Abdulvehab Hoxha (Albanian Muslim Society of Toronto)
Imam Sikander Ziad Hashmi (Islamic Centre of Kingston)
Imam Mohamed Nafis Bhayat (Jame Masjid, Mississauga)
Imam Mahomed Iqbal Subrathi (Markaz-ul-Islam Masjid, Edmonton, Alberta)
Imam Anver Moallim (Jami Omar – Ottawa)
Imam Michael AbdurRashid Taylor (Islamic Chaplaincy Services Canada)
Imam Dr. Aly Hindy (Salaheddin Islamic Centre, Toronto)
Imam Tarek Abu Noman Mohammad (Islamic Center of Cambridge)
Imam Zamir Ahmed Chohan (Islamic Foundation of Toronto)
Imam Jamal Hammoud (Muslim Council of Calgary)
Imam Abdul Raaoof Kabar (Muslim Council of Calgary)
Imam Ahmad Abdul Kadir (Muslim Council of Calgary)
Imam Hafiz Asim (Brampton Islamic Centre)
Imam Ahmed Ibrahim (Brampton Muslim Community)
Imam Ahmad Kutty (Islamic Institute of Toronto)
Imam Abdool Hamid Akbar (Islamic Institute of Toronto)
Imam Nedzad Hafizovic (Bosnian Islamic Centre, Toronto)
Imam Shabir Ally (Islamic Information Centre, Toronto)
Imam Ayman Al-Taher (International Muslims Organization of Toronto)
Imam Mohamad Khatib (Muslim World League, Toronto)
Imam Muhammad Kamaruzzaman (Danforth Islamic Centre & Baitul Aman Masjid)
Imam Refaat Mohamed (Barrie Mosque)
Imam Alaa Elsayed (Islamic Centre of Canada-ISNA)
Imam Khaled Alazhari (Ottawa Mosque)
Imam Mohammad J. Qazi (Masjid al-Farooq Islamic Centre, Mississauga)
Imam Mustafa Khattab (Islamic Society of Clemson, SC)
Imam Shafique Ur Rahman (Temple Community Association, Calgary, AB)
Imam Ahmad Shehab (Anatolia Islamic Centre, Mississauga)
Imam Ahmed Limame (Mosquée de Gatineau, QC)
Imam Ibrahim Malabari (Messenger of Mercy International)



More signatures to be added...
http://www.canadiancouncilofimams.com/pages/EklEVVVZFkFzwZtrsi.shtml
# # #


A council of Canadian imams is issuing a declaration Friday that it says represents the world's first nationwide condemnation of radical Islam by the faith's religious leaders.


"People have done many, many condemnations of terrorism but it has never been done well enough or complete enough to get people to pay attention and to say this is a point of sea change," said David Liepert, a spokesman for the Canadian Council of Imams, which is issuing the statement.


"This is us reclaiming Islam from radicals who want to promote conflict and promote violence," he told CNN.
The Council, which comprises 50 influential imams, says its statement - called the Canadian Council of Imams Declaration– will be read in more than 200 mosques across Canada during Friday's afternoon prayers.


"Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people, regardless of their creed, ethnicity, race or nationality," the statement says.


The declaration doesn't mention radicalism or terrorism, but it repeatedly condemns religious violence.


"The sanctity of human life overrides the sanctity of religious laws," it says. "Islamic rulings do not - and should not - contradict natural laws. Islam is a religion that promotes peace, justice, equality, dignity and freedom for all human beings."


"All human beings are equal, and all of them are the children of Adam and Eve (peace be upon them)," another part of the statement reads. "The best Muslim is the one who is good to his/her family and neighbors, and one who avoids harming others with his/her hand or tongue."


The declaration, which comes at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is aimed at establishing basic tenets of Islam for Muslim youth and at improving the public image of the religion, Liepert said.
"For Muslims, our religion is always part of the story when one of us does something wrong," he said. "Maybe that's not the way it should be, but it's the way it is."


"We need to take every opportunity we get to denounce terror and violence and their linkages to religion, which are false," he said.


Earlier this year, a Muslim scholar issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, from London saying that suicide bombers are destined for hell.


In March, Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri criticized Islamic extremists who cite their religion to justify violence, in what one counterterrorism think tank said was "arguably the most comprehensive theological refutation of Islamist terrorism to date."


"We looked at things like a fatwa, but the trouble is it's a limited legal opinion," Liepert said. "We consider this statement almost a constitution for the way Islam is and will be interpreted by Canada."


At a time of rising tensions in the United States between Muslims and other Americans over a proposed Islamic center near New York's ground zero and over proposed mosques elsewhere in the country, Liepert hopes his group's document will provide a roadmap to its southern neighbor.


"This document will show American Muslims that this is the way to go," he said.


But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that many American Muslim groups had issued condemnations of Muslim terrorists. He pointed to a 2005 fatwa issued by the Fiqh Council of North America, a U.S. counterpart to the Canadian Council of Imams.


http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/13/canadian-imams-issue-declaration-to-combat-radical-islam/

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Quran (Koran) Conference in Dallas, an American effort to build cohesive societies

The Conference puts a Quraan in the hands of panelists made up of Pastors, Rabbis, Pundits, Shamans, lay persons, elected officers and the public. It is to demystify the myths about Quraan and Islam. An American effort to build cohesive societies.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct 10, 2010 - DALLAS, TEXAS - The Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress have announced a conference on Quraan in Dallas to be held between 3:00 PM and 6 PM on Sunday, December 5, 2010 at the Unity Church of Dallas.  

Representing the organizations, Mike Ghouse adds, "As members of diverse family of faiths, we seek to demystify the myths and falsification of our respective faiths. It is time for all of us to gather and understand the Qur'aan, the holy book of Muslims, which has been the subject of attack by a few among us. Indeed, the conference is a positive response to negative sermons delivered from a few pulpits of America this year."

The uniqueness of the event is highlighted by facing the "terrifying passages" of Quraan.  For the first time in history, the actual verses from Quraan will be read directly and explained by non-Muslim panelists made up of Pastors, Rabbis, Pundits, Shamans, Clergy, lay persons and elected officials who have a deep interest in bringing Americans together on common grounds.  The Muslim scholars either affirm their reading or refer to the Quraan for further understanding. It would be indeed a first hand educational experience.

It is time now to replace the ill-will with goodwill; no American has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other. The purpose of this conference is to remove such myths in an open forum in the public and restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America.  

Bring your children to experience the multi-cultural costumes in a designated room for them.

Refreshments will be served after the event.

THE EVENT IS FREE

Please R.S.V.P. to confirmattendance@gmail.com  
Direct your inquiries to QuraanConference@gmail.com .

For details visit website http://www.quraanconference.com/


Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam and Civil Societies. He heads the Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress and offers Pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on issues of the day.  Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

 

Why do our faiths shape some political views, but not others?

Why do our faiths shape some political views, but not others?
10 Members of the Texas Faith Panel respond to the question.

"An element of hypocrisy is embedded in what is conveyed from the pulpit. An excessive emphasis is placed on homosexuality which the scriptures do not "appear" to favor, but that is not the only item that is disfavored. An equally strong punishment is prescribed for adultery and incest which are down played by the clergy as though they don't exist." Mike Ghouse, Foundation for Pluralism.

Full Story at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/texas-faith-why-do-our-faiths.html 

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam and Civil Societies. He heads the Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress and offers Pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on issues of the day.  Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Monday, October 4, 2010

Proposed Sellout of Palestinians Unconscionable

Bismillah
MWA Director to President Obama: Proposed Sellout of Palestinians Unconscionablehttp://prlog.org/10975040

"As Israel continues to dictate U.S. foreign policy, holding the West Bank settlement moratorium hostage in exchange for arms, the world watches Mr. President. Are we supposed to believe this is the road to peace?" asks MWA Director, Aishah Schwartz.

Oct 04, 2010 – WASHINGTON, D.C. (MWA-Net) – A report by the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat earlier today quoted Israeli officials as saying that an agreement had been reached to extend the Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement construction by 60 days. However neither the White House nor Israeli officials were reported as confirming, other than to indicate that negotiations toward an extension continued in the hope of salvaging the latest round of rapidly declining peace talks.

Details of the alleged agreement were revealed by researcher David Makovsky on the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the terms of which included numerous incentives crucial to Israel's security. Yes, you read that correctly.

For example, the U.S. would guarantee to prevent the smuggling of weapons and missiles into a Palestinian state; guarantee a lengthy period of interim security arrangements in the Jordan Valley, and guarantee a comprehensive regional defense pact for protection from Iran to follow the establishment of the Palestinian state, in addition to guaranteeing that the U.S. would veto any U.N. Security Council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year. The U.S. would also reportedly initiate talks with Arab countries toward a regional agreement vis-a-vis Iran.

But wait, there's more!

Israel would also receive an increase of the three billion dollar security aid package it already receives annually, together with upgraded security capabilities, including advanced fighter jets, early warning systems and satellites.

The final item in the President's proposal to sell out the Palestinians?

Assurance from the U.S. that it would also not ask Israel to further extend the settlement moratorium, in addition to pledging that the issue of settlements would be dealt with only as part of final-status talks with the Palestinians.

Wait a minute. The U.S. is the only country standing beside Israel while the rest of the world condemns its actions in the occupied territories, and Israel receives more aid from the U.S. than any other country in the world, and the U.S. administration is accepting ultimatums from Israel?

Mr. President, when you were elected into office, the entire world embraced the glimmer of hope you encouraged it to reach for, but as Israel continues to manipulate your administration, that hope, faith, trust and confidence is fading fast. The peace talks you so carefully orchestrated will go down in history as nothing more than a charade if you continue to allow Mr. Netanyahu to dictate your marching orders.

You, Mr. President, are the Commander-in-Chief, and we, the people standing in solidarity with Palestine, are waiting for you to start acting like it.

Mike Ghouse of the Foundation for Pluralism stated, "The world carries a collective burden of guilt for remaining silent and divisive in humiliating a population that has lived in humility for nearly three generations. As Americans we ought to be ashamed of these policies - where the mighty keeps oppressing the helpless, the little Davids against the Goliaths."

RELATED:
Netanyahu agrees to extend settlement freeze by 2 months (Published 11:23 04.10.10|Latest update 11:23 04.10.10)
LATER UPDATED TITLE: Netanyahu: Israel, U.S. working quietly to resolve peace talks deadlock (without an update to the 'latest update time')
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-agrees-to-extend-settlement-freeze-by-2-months-1.317101
TIME Settlements Slideshow
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2021423,00.html
Open Letter to President Obama about Promoting Democracy and Defending Human Rights in the Middle East
https://www.csidonline.org/sign-open-letter?start=1575

# # #

Established in 2006, MWA is an internationally-based collaboration of Muslim women writers and advocates working together to counter negative and inaccurate perceptions regarding members of the Muslim community and the Islamic faith.

--- end ---

"Activism is my rent for living on this planet." ~Alice Walker
"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." ~Alice Walker
"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." ~Alice Walker
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." - Nelson Mandela

MWA PRESS ROOM: http://pressroom.prlog.org/mwa-net
NEW FACEBOOK-Original Page Over 5,000 Limit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aishah-Schwartz-Activist-Writer/112183388832436
ON GAZA: http://aishahsjourney.blogspot.com/2010/07/gaza-chronicles-muslimah-writers.html

The Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, "One who helps a fellow Muslim in removing his (or her) difficulty in this world, Allah will remove the formers distress on the Day of Judgment. He who helps to remove the hardship of another, will have his difficulties removed by Allah in this world and in the Hereafter. One who covers the shortcomings of another Muslim, will have his faults covered up in this world and the next by Allah. Allah continues to help a servant so long as he goes on helping his own brother (or sister)." (Muslim)


MY PERSONAL NOTES:
We, the Americans have stood up for the downtrodden, the refugees and the oppressed. We are champions of human rights across the globe and thank God for making us an instrument in stopping the annihilation of Jewish population in the Holocaust.

The world carries a collective burden of guilt for remaining silent and now we are in the same jam - remaining shamelessly silent and watching the dehumanization of Palestinians who have lived in humility for nearly three generations.

It takes guts on the part of Obama Administration to tell the hawks in Israel and Palestine not to screw up their future of their children. One bold step will bring peace to both the people. We have that right; we fund them, it is our money and we can tell them to act up and make peace or stand to lose the money.

They really don’t know what they are doing – if they did, they would not have let 60 years go without securing security for every Israeli and hope for every Palestinian. If we take that bold step, the future of Israeli and Palestinian children would be hopeful, and we will save $3 Billion a year that we can invest in our own communities. They have no interest and we have to stop the buck some where

Mike Ghouse

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Burning Quraan and Bible

How dumb!
 
I was surprised to see my article somewhere down below that appeared in Huffington post
 
Mike Ghouse

 
Orthodox Jews burnt hundreds of bibles in Israel two years ago
by Associated Press
Source: 
Haaretz - Sept 11 2010
 

http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Bible-burnt-by-Orthodox-Jews-in-Israel.jpg

It seems burning of religious texts is not something only confined to crazy fringe Christian leaders wanting to burn Quran's on Spet 11.

In 2008 Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in an act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land.

At the time Or Yehuda Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon said missionaries entered a neighborhood in the predominantly religious town of 34,000 in central Israel, distributing hundreds of New Testaments and missionary material.

After receiving complaints, Aharon said, he got into a loudspeaker car and drove through the neighborhood, urging people to turn over the material to Jewish religious students who went door to door to collect it.

"The books were dumped into a pile and set afire in a lot near a synagogue," he said.

The newspaper Maariv reported at the time that hundreds of yeshiva students took part in the book-burning. But Aharon told The Associated Press that only a few students were present, and that he was not there when the books were torched.

"Not all of the New Testaments that were collected were burned, but hundreds were," he said.

He said he regretted the burning of the books, but called it a commandment to burn materials that urge Jews to convert.

"I certainly don't denounce the burning of the booklets, he said. I denounce those who distributed the booklets."

Jews worship from the Old Testament, including the Five Books of Moses and the writings of the ancient prophets. Christians revere the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, which contains the ministry of Jesus.

Calev Myers, an attorney who represents Messianic Jews, or Jews who accept Jesus as their savior, demanded in an interview with Army Radio that all those involved be put on trial. He estimated there were 10,000 Messianic Jews, who are also known as Jews for Jesus, in Israel.

When the incident happened in 2008, Police made no immediate comment and no charges were laid since.

Israeli authorities and Orthodox Jews frown on missionary activity aimed at Jews, though in most cases it is not illegal. Still, the concept of a Jew burning books is abhorrent to many in Israel because of the association with Nazis torching piles of Jewish books during the Holocaust of World War II.

In early 2008, the teenage son of a prominent Christian missionary was seriously wounded when a package bomb delivered to the family's West Bank home went off in his hands.

In 2007, arsonists burst into a Jerusalem church used by Messianic Jews and set the building on fire, raising suspicions that Jewish extremists were behind the attack. No one claimed responsibility, but the same church was burned down 25 years ago by ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremists.

Depsite all these incidents, there was no media driven world wide outrage from the Christian world.

Whether it is a Bible, Torah, Quran or any other sacred religious text, book burning is wrong and should be condemned.

 
***********************************
 

On  Burning  Of  Quran

Who is burning the Quran? A Christian priest?

Ask a question, if I write the name of Jesus Christ on a piece of paper 29 times and give it to him to burn it, will he burn it?

If I write the name of Moses on a piece of paper and give it to a Jew, will he burn it?

What they intend to burn is the same. In the Quran the name of Jesus Christ is mentioned with great Honour 29 times and the name of Moses with dignity 129 times, while the name of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon all of them) is mentioned just 4 times. In addition all the 24 prophets mentioned in the Quran are there in the Bible.

Make them aware that they are burning the names of Jesus Christ, Moses and all 24 prophets.

The problem is none of them have ever cared to read the Quran. My request to them is to read the Quran's translation in their own language (easily available free in mosques and in Islamic Centers) and then decide whether burning the Quran is justified or not. I may assure them that they will highly regret in their lives when at a later date they read it. 

All the allegations of immorality on Mother Mary, Jesus Christ and other prophets mentioned in different books have been very neatly refuted in the Quran. Mother Mary has been given the highest Honour amongst all the women of the World. Read it you will be enlightened.

Birth of Moses and his marriage has been described in the most respectful manner. Not a single derogatory word has been used in the Quran for any of the prophets those mentioned in the Bible.

Why burn the Quran? Burn those books in which baseless allegations have been put on many of the prophets of God. That will be fully justified. Once you read its translation, you will be convinced that it is the best book on earth, every word is of God, the God of Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all). Not a single word has changed in 1431 years. It is in its original, pristine form preserved in Turkey and in Leningrad.

It is totally a wrong concept that it was written by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). How can a person who did not know how to read anything or write, can write a book of over 600 pages without any mistake, describing the advance theory of science and space? He could not even put his signature on the letters which he sent to the heads of states, he used to stamp them with a seal of his name. Moreover the Quran is in the highest literary form of Arabic language, which he did not speak; he used to speak colloquial Arabic. How can Quran be considered man made; a book which describes intricate embryological development of a fetus, space science, complicated oceanography and in over 1400 years no one has found any contradiction or any mistake? Every word of the Quran is the word of God, the same God of Adam, Abraham Moses and Jesus Christ. How can anyone even think of burning the words of your own God?

What is radical about Islam or the teachings of the Quran? Without reading it you call it radical!

Bring a single copy of the Bible which is in its original form. What amount of changes is made in the Bible by men to the words of God? Who gave them the authority in the very first place to change the words of God, revise and re-revise the Bible? But still we do not call it radical. We also have appeal to the Muslims of the whole world don't even think of burning a single copy of the Bible in retaliation because the Bible has the names of our 24 prophets whom all we respect from the core of our hearts.

Coming down to the most crucial point of 9/11: The allegation is again on the Muslim, so they decided to burn the Quran, stop building an Islamic Center in Manhattan near Ground Zero. Have a look at the documentaries made on the truth of 9/11. These documentaries are proved without the shadow of doubt there in the scenario of 9/11 in the year 2001, no Muslim was involved. In one of the documentary it said loud and clear  that no Muslim is involved in 9/11 .

Amazing, all the documentaries and films are made by Americans and that too Christians. Go through each and every documentary on YouTube, you will be amazed, who did it - you have to decide yourself of course not any Muslim? 

The preparation was done three months before 9/11. If anyone considers these documentaries are not authentic, why can't they take the producers to the courts and involve FBI to investigate how dare they can make such movie which has tarnished the image of America all over the world and the whole world had sunk in deep recession shattering the economy of all the countries. What benefit they achieved by doing so? Thousands of Americans were killed and even are being killed today. Trillions of Dollars have burnt in smoke, millions of innocent people were killed and other multimillions suffered. Why don't these preachers of peace go after them who did it? Why Muslims and why Quran?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: raja chemayel <chemayelraja@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 12:02 AM
Subject: Inside a Koran
To: 
Do not burn a Koran
because:
Moses inside!
Jesus inside!
Abraham inside!
Virgin Mary, Joseph, Isaak
and Salomon
also inside.!!

--------------------

Koran burner Derek Fenton booted from his job at NJ Transit
++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/16/2010-09-16_christie_njtransit_right_to_can_koranburn_creep.html

NJ governor: State was right to fire Koran burner

Gov. Chris Christie supports NJ Transit's termination of Koran-burning protester.



NJ Transit was right to can Koran-burning creep Derek Fenton, says Gov. Chris Christie

BY PETE DONOHUE  - DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER - Thursday, September 16th 2010

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/16/2010-09-16_christie_njtransit_right_to_can_koranburn_creep.html

-------------------


http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Thank-you-Pastor-Terry-Jones---for-your-service-to-Islam-.html?soid=1102017010127&aid=uiLZlkFwUH4 http://twitter.com/home?status=Thank+you+Pastor+Terry+Jones...for+your+service+to+Islam!+http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Thank-you-Pastor-Terry-Jones---for-your-service-to-Islam-.html?soid=1102017010127&aid=uiLZlkFwUH4+via+#constantcontact http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Thank-you-Pastor-Terry-Jones---for-your-service-to-Islam-.html?soid=1102017010127&aid=uiLZlkFwUH4 http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=ctctproductstrategy&url=http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Thank-you-Pastor-Terry-Jones---for-your-service-to-Islam-.html?soid=1102017010127&aid=uiLZlkFwUH4 http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Thank-you-Pastor-Terry-Jones---for-your-service-to-Islam-.html?soid=1102017010127&aid=uiLZlkFwUH4&share=fblike

Thank you Pastor Terry Jones

For your service to Islam!

1.       Thanks for making Quran a bestsellerMore copies Qurans and  were sold on Amazon, local and online Islamic stores, thus providing humanity an opportunity to read and ponder over God's guidance for  humanity.

 

2.       Thanks for the business.  More people bought Islamic literature, along with the Quran, generating extra revenue for the Islamic stores. 

 

3.       More individuals visited the mosques to attend Muslim open houses and Islam presentations, thus receiving the  wonderful message of Islam.

 

4.       More individuals called on the GainPeace's outreach hotline 800-662-ISLAM and inquired about the faith of Islam, giving Muslims an opportunity to explain Islam to our fellow citizens.  You generated more publicity for Islam, then all our past outreach campaigns combined. 

 

5.       More people Googled the words 'Islam' and 'Quran'.The more that you spoke about Islam and the Quran, more people came to Muslim websites to learn about the truth of Islam.

 

6.       Libraries were busy loaning out copies of the Quran. Yes, libraries across the USA, Canada and Europe were busy lend out copies of the Quran to its patrons.   

 

7.       Thanks for saving the Muslims advertisement dollars.  The free publicity to the words 'Quran' and 'Islam', that you gave, Muslims could have spent millions of dollars but couldn't have generated the same publicity and attention of the media, and thanks to you, the word of God (the Quran) became a household word.

 

8.       Thanks for waking up the Muslims.  Muslim all across the world are now more passionate about the wonderful and peaceful faith of Islam and are eager to share it with their neighbors, colleagues, friends and humanity.

 

9.       Thanks for encouraging more people to embrace Islam.  We had more people calling, learning and embracing Islam in the past few weeks, then we ever had since the last 40 years.   

 

10.   Thanks for uniting the people of consciencethe Muslim, the Jews, the Christians, the Hindus, and the atheist, on the common platform of goodness, love and tolerance and against hatred, bias and bigotry.

 

Pastor Terry Jones, we pray that you actually read the Quran with an open mind and heart and ponder over its message of the oneness of God. If you love Jesus, follow the religion of Jesus, the religion of Jesus was Islam, submission to the The Creator. May God, enlighten you to the truth of Islam and that you start worshiping the One Creator as was preached and practiced by Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them.  Welcome to Islam.

Dr. Sabeel Ahmed

Director

The GainPeace Project, USA

Info@GainPeace.com


About us:
GainPeace.com is an outreach project of Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA, whose goal is to share the authentic message of Islam with humanity.
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Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA Chicago) | 6224 N. California | Chicago | IL | 60659


--------------------

12 September, 2010

THOUSANDS MARCH IN NYC AGAINST ANTI-MUSLIM BIGOTRY

 RallyAgainstRacism2.jpg

Emergency Mobilization Against Racism and Anti-Muslim Bigotry

THOUSANDS MARCH AGAINST RACISM IN THE

"UNITY AND SOLIDARITY RALLY"

EVERY NATIONALITY IN NEW YORK COMES OUT 
IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY

RallyAgainstRacism1.jpg

On the ninth anniversary of September 11, thousands of people marched against racism in a diverse show of solidarity that far outnumbered the Tea Party-led hate rallies.

RallyAgainstRacism3.jpg

For more information and reports see:
www.iacenter.org/muslimsolidarity

To donate to continue this critical mobilization against racism, go to 
www.iacenter.org/muslimsolidaritydonate

Emergency Mobilization Against Racism and Anti-Muslim Bigotry
c/o Solidarity Center 55 W 17th St #5C NYC 212-633-6646 iacenter.org/muslimsolidarity



--------------------

--------------------

Interview with Pastor Jones' Daughter


'Papa, Don't Do It'


September 10, 2010
 PastorTerryJones; HeSeemsLikeAStrangeToMe_Says Daughter.jpg

++++++++++++

 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: raja chemayel <chemayelraja@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Subject: How to burn a light-tower....
To:

http://www.antifascistencyclopedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Terry-Jones-Pastor-Mug.jpg

What IQ can this creature ever have??
why do people watch what he does??
or care what he says??


Should we not
lock him up
with some Catholic-paedophile-monks ??

for 2 week.....


--------------------

Mike Ghouse

Mike Ghouse

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Islam and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day

 
 
 
 
 

WTC911a.jpg WTC911.jpg

+++++++++

Burning the Quran and the Satanic Verses: Is there a difference? By Yamin Zakaria - http://yaminzakaria.blogspot.com  Sept. 10, 2010

http://www.radicalviews.org/index.php/analysis/conflict/181-burning-the-quran-and-the-satanic-verses-is-there-a-difference.html

Whilst some Muslims around the world demonstrate with rage, others find this cheap media stunt by the US Pastor, Terry Jones, rather amusing; he appears like the typical ignorant rugged hillbilly with a tiny band of followers. From his interviews, he fits the profile of those ignorant Americans raised on a diet of Zionist Fox News and baseball, who would struggle to comment on the US history and geography, let alone the rest of the world.  

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: raja chemayel <chemayelraja@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 3:34 PM
Subject: Flooding over the Truth
To: 
 


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NE-72ZXux-g/SsNGMcdejmI/AAAAAAAALCw/GxpG6bPqIL8/s400/osama-cia.jpg
If it is no true,,,,,,,,,,they make it true

http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2010/08/03/1225900/331521-pakistan-floods.jpg
if there is a flood........they make invisible.


The CIA´s spending-budget for the Pakistan
shall not be increased due to the flooding.

The CIA is of the opinion that
a flooding is purely a
 national-internal-matter

and therefore the CIA shall not intervene
because it concentrates on the support only
for the Talibans and al Qua´eeda recruitment's,
training and strategic plannings.

Unless a Taliban or a  Al Quaeeda member
gets d
rowned......in the flood.

Eng. Moustafa  Roosenblom
anti/truth/drowning/association
10.09.2010

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Islamophobia Speech

By Rev. Deborah C. Lindsay
 
Please consider circulating it; it is a must  for people to hear; we pray that everyone Jewish; Christian and Muslim Hear her sermon; so everyone will realize that the world is full of good people on ALL sides; and all Phobias-whether  towards Judaism; Christianity; Islam or anything else - can be known for what it truly is; a fear by the few; that the majority good will and common ground ties of compassion ; humanity; good will and friendship- God Willing- can defeat.
 
Preaching: Rev. Deborah C. Lindsay
Sermon from Sunday, August 29; 11 am service

RevDeborahLindsay on Islamphobia1.JPG

Across America today, we are seeing an increase in fear and suspicion of people of Muslim faith. Rev. Deborah Lindsay reflects on the urgent need for understanding and peace-making, and she says a true Christian message is one of respect and understanding for all people of all faiths and traditions. After all, we are ALL created in the image of God.

Click the player below to start the stream and view this sermon.
http://www.fcchurch.com/worship/broadcast/502-pecking-order-video
 
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A Message From an Arab Catholic Priest to Pastor Jones Who Wants to Burn The Quran Monday, August 30, 2010
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURZ_4H5QCOzd_IbaXG9eWFlz4nxxQNdd9AxVo4n1X8LvaYH8nLdwMMNoRklRGS52MwBxxg8HE9OWivgMmg7ZLapqzHlSx9z6Q1Xl9yF3atPyrz-WyQFCr3Po1xplIyu8fERhMCw5EGdg/s1600/zahlawi.jpg
Respected Pastor Terry Jones,

I have read your worldwide call for the burning of the Quran on this coming 11th of September. Your message stated that you are a pastor of one of the churches in Florida in the United States of America.

As an Arab Catholic priest from Damascus (Syria), I wondered what would be your objective, as an American pastor, for such a call?

I wondered, and I ask you: What are your responsibilities as a pastor?
Are you really a Christian pastor serving God in a church in America?
Or are you merely a layperson from America who is pretending to be in the service of Christ?

..............................

Name of Jesus was mentioned in Quran 154 times by name while Muhammad was mentioned lesser.

"And the pains of childbirth drover her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!"
But (a voice) cried toher from beneath her "Grieve not! for thy Lord Hath provided a rivulet beneath thee.. And shake towards the thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.  '
So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye'.
And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (God) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'"
At length she brough the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms).
They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!".. "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"
But she pointed to the bebe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is child in the cradel?"
He (the child) said: "Iam indeed a servant of God: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live..
"(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)!"
Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (veinly) dispute"
It is not befitting to (the majesty of) God that He should beget a son, Glory be to HIM! when he determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.."
Verily God is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight.
[Holy Quran]
 
 

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quraan burning

Planned Muslim Response to Qur'an Burning by Pastor Jones on September 11 in Mulberry, Florida

PRESS RELEASE
August 19, 2013| Dallas, Texas

Mike Ghouse
Text/Talk: (214) 325-1916
MikeGhouse@aol.com

Mirza A Beg
(205) 454-8797
mirza.a.beg@gmail.com

www.WorldMuslimCongress.com


PLANNED MUSLIMS RESPONSE TO QUR'AN BURNING BY PASTOR JONES ON 9/11/13 IN MULBERRY, FLORIDA

We as Muslims plan to respond to pastor Terry Jones' planned burning of 3000 copies of Quran on September 11, 2013 in positive terms.

Our response - we will reclaim the standard of behavior practiced by the Prophet concerning “scurrilous and hostile criticism of the Qur’an” (Muhammad Asad Translation Note 31, verse 41:34). It was "To overcome evil with good is good, and to resist evil by evil is evil." It is also strongly enjoined in the Qur’an in the same verse 41:34, “Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend.”

God willing Muslims will follow the divine guidance and pray for the restoration of Goodwill, and on that day many Muslim organizations will go on a “blood drive” to save lives and serve humanity with kindness.

We invite fellow Americans of all faiths, races, and ethnicities to join us to rededicate the pledge, “One nation under God”, and to build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of fellow Americans. This event is a substitute for our 10th Annual Unity Day Celebration (www.UnitydayUSA.com) held in Dallas, but now it will be at Mulberry, Florida.

Unwittingly Pastor Jones has done us a favor by invigorating us by his decision to burn nearly 3000 copies Quran on September 11, 2013. Obviously he is not satisfied by the notoriety he garnered by burning one Qur'an last year.

As Muslims and citizens we honor the free speech guaranteed in our constitution. We have no intentions to criticize, condemn or oppose Pastor Terry Jones' freedom of expression. Instead, we will be donating blood and praying for goodness to permeate in our society.

We plan to follow Jesus Christ (pbuh), a revered prophet in Islam as well as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) – that of mitigating the conflicts and nurturing good will for the common good of the society.

We hope, this event and the message will remind Muslims elsewhere in the world as well, that violence is not the way. Muslims, who react violently to senseless provocation, should realize that, violence causes more violence, and besmirches the name of the religion that we hold so dear. We believe that Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to the mankind, and we ought to practice what we believe and preach. We must not insult Islam by the negative reactions of a few.

We can only hope it will bring about a change in the attitude of the followers of Pastor Jones, and in the behavior of those Muslims who reacted violently the last time Pastor sought notoriety – We hope this small step towards a bridge to peaceful coexistence would propel us towards building a cohesive society.

Like most Americans a majority of Muslims quietly go about their own business, but it is time to speak up and take positive action instead of negative reaction. May this message of peace and goodwill reverberate and reach many shores.

Lastly, we appreciate the Citizens of Mulberry, Florida, Honorable Mayor George Hatch, City Commissioners, police and Fire Chiefs for handing this situation very well. This will add a ‘feather of peace’ in the City’s reputation. We hope Mulberry will be a catalyst in showing the way in handling conflict with dignity and peace.

We thank the Media for giving value to the work towards peace rather than conflict.






URL- http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/08/planned-muslim-response-to-quran_18.html



Thank you.

CIVIL DIALOGUE

The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.