tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34622429757749013122024-03-16T18:26:34.752-06:00Muslims Together Our Mission is driven by the Qur'an, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.
Our Website: www.WorldMuslimCongress.comMike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.comBlogger948125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-17658553726388889512020-01-19T11:14:00.000-06:002020-01-19T11:14:32.066-06:00Holocaust and Genocides 2020<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2019/12/15th-annual-holocaust-and-genocides.html" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15th Annual Holocaust and Genocides</span></span></a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-size: small;">PRESS RELEASE<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Mike Ghouse</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Center for Pluralism</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Website: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">www.CenterforPluralism.com</span></a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Website: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">www.HolocaustandGenocides.com</span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com </span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Office: (202) 290-3560</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cell: (214) 325-1916</span></span></span></div>
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<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Press Release - </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://www.einpresswire.com/shareable-preview/Ph3gI72imCk3afsvJWZbZA" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">http://www.einpresswire.com/shareable-preview/Ph3gI72imCk3afsvJWZbZA</span></a></span></span></span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">RSVP - </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Facebook: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2929516827067272/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.facebook.com/events/2929516827067272/</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At this time, it is published in 148 News outlets </span></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15th Annual Reflections on the Holocaust and Genocides </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The purpose of this event is education, information, and activism. We hope to learn and acknowledge our failings and make a personal commitment to our share of saying, "Never Again."</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Sunday, January 26, 2020</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arlington, VA 22201</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tickets are complimentary, but donations are accepted </span></span></span></div>
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<a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/</span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">RSVP: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127</span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br /></span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We hope you will walk out of the event with a genuine feeling of being a contributor towards building a cohesive world where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLQJUlMQIUhd1bfhQKdapAcKdRK6M3mRM0MoOpAI7dpTZ1aiwFO1tiBW4n6TF1piRTUhLyHFWeGqDeaHlN7wdwABgPZou1Wu73Y0G3nK79PsdJYQmLtEJ_Xc-L3YPuZI6qIpECTuY9cZ6/s1600/HG2020+Flier+in+making.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #0d0d4a; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLQJUlMQIUhd1bfhQKdapAcKdRK6M3mRM0MoOpAI7dpTZ1aiwFO1tiBW4n6TF1piRTUhLyHFWeGqDeaHlN7wdwABgPZou1Wu73Y0G3nK79PsdJYQmLtEJ_Xc-L3YPuZI6qIpECTuY9cZ6/s400/HG2020+Flier+in+making.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8rdvEAgVGyRJ2SOFYpU88LVS5mxr0U2-OEZYleCd-9mchEoRbpaGytplrEq-2kaMEHG1k1w6J0UwGyB0p9iuwkDPDV_u5SXy9TaWLR1336Su-aOxCcKwbZ5FC0uiDoIX6qLGPtTX-m7f/s1600/HG20+poster+for+email.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0d0d4a; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></a></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Jewish community has been commemorating the Holocaust event since 1953, known as Yom HaShoah in Synagogues around the world. The general public learns it by visiting the Holocaust Museums and educational institutions.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the Center for Pluralism, we are committed to spreading knowledge of the Holocaust and Genocide through interfaith and public events, including the Annual reflections. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Speakers: </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Robert F. Teitel - Holocaust Story</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Gregory Stanton - Signs of Genocides</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rushan Abbas & Omer Kanat - Uyghur Updates</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Wakar Uddin - Rohingya Update</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Muneer Baig - Kashmir Update</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. TO Shanavas - India Update</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Rani Khan - Peace Pledge</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Mike Ghouse - Genesis of this event</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rabia Baig - Mistress of Ceremony</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Volunteers:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nausheen Baig</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rabbi Alana Suskin</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jafer Imam</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Zafar Iqbal</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Charles Stevenson</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sponsors:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would you like to be a sponsor?</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our budget is $2000, full or any part </span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Co-Chairs:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Rani Khan</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Mike Ghouse</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Organized by:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Center for Pluralism</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our format consists of four parts; Interfaith prayers, Holocaust, Genocides, Massacred and the Pledge of Peace. Silently, we will acknowledge all suffering, but physically we are limited to a few Genocides each year. </span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This year, a Holocaust survivor will share his story, followed by updated Uyghur, Rohingya, and the signs of making of Genocide in India. I urge everyone to watch the Schindler's list and Civil War movies to grasp the signs.</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe, when we acknowledge each other's grief and participate in each other's commemoration, we connect with the humanness within ourselves and seed the relationship of understanding and caring for each other. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, or amounts to infidelity to our pain, and every community and nation has suffered through this. To all those who have endured the Holocaust, Genocides, Massacres, Ethnic Cleansing, Land Mines, Hunger, Rape, Torture, Occupation, Expulsion, and inhuman brutality, we must say, you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a Muslim initiative to assure fellow humans who have endured the Holocaust, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres, rapes, injustice and other atrocities that we are all in this together to create a better world. Tikkun Olam is our sacred duty. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 27.6px;">List of Supporting Organizations (links embedded)</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 27.6px;"></span><br /></span></span><ul style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://ifcmw.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington</span></a></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.mpac.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)</span></a></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.thej.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia</span></a></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Foundation for Ethnic Understanding</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">American Sikhi Educational and Empowerment Network </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jews, Muslims and Allies Acting Together (JAMAAT<span style="color: #222222;">)</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Response USA for Relief and Development (RUSARD)</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://iswamd.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">Islamic Society of Washington Area</a> (ISWA)</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Church of Scientology National Affairs Office </span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jews for Jewish Muslim Understanding</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Send email t</span>o</span><span style="color: #1c1e29; font-weight: normal;"> </span><a href="mailto:HolocaustandGenocides20@gmail.com" style="color: #0d0d4a; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">HolocaustandGenocides20@gmail.com</span></a><span style="color: #1c1e29; font-weight: normal;"><br /># # #</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Published at 148 News Outlets<br />A few are listed below </span></span></span></span></h2>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">Fox News, Washington, DC<br /><a href="https://www.fox34.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.fox34.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">Fox News<br /><a href="http://www.wicz.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.wicz.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">NBC News<br /><a href="http://www.nbc-2.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nbc-2.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 14pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">Boston Herald<br /><a href="http://markets.financialcontent.com/bostonherald/news/read/39355237" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://markets.financialcontent.com/bostonherald/news/read/39355237</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4a6ee0;">All Event<br /><a href="https://allevents.in/arlington/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides/1000086666932127" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4a6ee0;">https://allevents.in/arlington/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides/1000086666932127</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29; font-weight: normal;">Religion News<a href="https://religion.einnews.com/pr_news/506869723/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;"> https://religion.einnews.com/pr_news/506869723/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-57369132925355107722019-04-25T20:05:00.004-06:002019-04-25T20:05:44.234-06:00Book - American Muslim Agenda<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">If you are a conservative, then grudgingly you'll see the value in what this book offers, and if you are on the left, you want more of it, and if you are moderate, you will dance with joy.</span></i><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">HOSTING A BOOK TALK<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 28px;">The book is about building a cohesive America where each one of us feels secure about our faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientation. Who does not want to live a tension free life at home, workplace, and in the public space? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The "American Muslim Agenda” serves a two-fold purpose. On the one hand, it separates the chaff from the grain for fellow Americans to see Muslims for who they are and not how the media projects them. On the other hand, it challenges Muslims to restore Islam to its original purpose; that is to create cohesive societies, in our case, a coherent America, where each one of the 323 Million Americans feels proud of his or her uniqueness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The book presents many success stories to keep the reader bemused. I am pleased to submit three versions of the blurbs on the book talk. The format can be 10 minutes or 20 minutes presentation with room for Q&A. We want our esteemed guests to go home fully satisfied with all the questions they have had about Islam and Muslims. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Our conservative friends would grudgingly acknowledge the pathway laid out in the book, while the moderates will dance with joy. If your vision of America is in tune with the book, together as Americans, we can contribute towards the greatness of our nation.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Would this book bring a change? </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Would this bring a change among Muslims towards others and others towards Muslims? Indeed, this book lays out a clear agenda to foster harmony among fellow Americans. It is akin to planting a seed and nurturing to give the beneficence to the next generation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some of the reservations we have about Muslims is based on what we have heard from our parents, friends, teachers, pastors, and TV. It is time for us to learn first-hand about them and remove the misunderstandings and live freely. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is one of the bold books written about Muslims, and it highlights the sources of extremism and how to cure it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Unfortunately, some of the Muslim scholars from the past have reduced Islam to a religion of rituals and obedience. This book brings clarity to Muslims and fellow humans and separates the chaff from the wheat for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The overall theme of the book is to open people's hearts and minds towards each other. I believe that the ultimate ‘unexpressed’ purpose of humans is to live freely and be comfortable with one's culture, race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and individuality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It will appeal to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike, as they have never seen the pristine, pluralistic Islam. Moreover, for the first time in Islamic history, the essence of Islam is explained. Also, for the first time, the book explains twelve values directly from the Quran that contributes towards building cohesive societies with no privileges to one over the other. It is human nature to get along with fellow beings, and this book will resonate with them and pave the path for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">TEN T<b>AKE AWAY POINTS FROM THE BOOK</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">1. The American Muslim Agenda challenges Muslims to think and restore Islam to its original purpose – i.e., to create a cohesive America, where each one of the 323 Million Americans feels secure with his or her faith, race, ethnicity culture, sexual and political orientation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">2. The American Muslim Agenda paves the way for Muslims to own their mistakes, and remedy them. It corrects how fellow Americans perceive Muslims.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">3. Islam is not about imposing (Sharia) your ideas or governing others. Islam is about living your life and letting others live theirs with freedom. That is the original Islam. Islam is about freedom and firmly stands for free will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">4. The essence and purpose of Islam from a humanity’s (Aalameen) perspective for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">5. Never before in Islamic history, twelve values of Islam that contribute to creating secure, orderly and cohesive societies have been articulated. Verses from the Quran fully back each value. Thus, the book becomes a reference manual to teach and learn about Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">6. The best way to combat Islamophobia is through education, engagement, and dialogue. There are many success stories narrated including dealing with Fox News, Sean Hannity, Stuart Varney and the supposedly most of the Islamaphobes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">7. This book is the product of twenty years of research and interviews with the right, left, and the moderate fellow humans from many faiths including 150 interviews at Fox News and its many right-leaning guests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">8. Can a Muslim become President of the United States? What does it take, there is a full chapter on the topic?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">9. In the end, it is learning to respect the otherness of the other and accepting the God given the uniqueness of each one of the 323 million Americans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">10. There is a whole lot more, and it is all in the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Talk Version 1.0<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Title of the talk: Muslims making America the Greatest nation on earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Americans Muslims are committed to building a cohesive America, an inclusive America where each one of the 323 Million Americans feel secure about his/her faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">When you are free from apprehensions, and connect with fellow workers, the workplace becomes a joy to be. You will give 100% of your heart and mind to your work, and your family benefits from having a whole of you, thus creating a little heaven for yourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Dr. Mike Ghouse, author, public speaker, pluralist, interfaith wedding officiant, and the president of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC., will discuss how Muslim efforts in building a cohesive America are working.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">He points out that we are Americans, we are free and brave people and must jettison our apprehensions about each other to live freely. Mike advises that if you are a conservative, then grudgingly you'll see a value in what this book offers, and if you are on the left, you want more of it, and the moderates will dance with joy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">He points out that we are Americans, we are free, and the brave people, and must jettison our apprehensions about each other to live freely. How do we accomplish that? It is by knowing each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">America has always led the world in science, medicine, math, agriculture, automation, information technology, exploration and all the advancements of the human race, and it is time for us to lead the world in building a cohesive nation. The book offers concrete solutions to Americans to make America a great and powerful model nation of inclusion for Americans to enjoy living their lives productively and purposefully, and the world to look up to us to emulate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">We have to assure each other and every American without exception that we are committed to each other's security, prosperity, and peace. Our goal is to reach out to every American who has not been reached before, particularly those who do not understand us. As American Muslims, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Mike will share a few incredible success stories of dealing with our friends on the right and answer questions about Muslim efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The book “American Muslim Agenda” will become a reference manual to knowledge seekers and teachers of Islam, and those who want to see one nation, one people and one America. For Muslims, it is backed up with verses from the Quran. You can order this book from Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Google, and other book stores. See the talking points at http://www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com and Mike’s profile appended at https://www.linkedin.com/inmikeghouse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Talk Version 2:0<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Americans Muslims are committed to building a cohesive America, an inclusive America where each one of the 323 Million Americans feel secure about his/her faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">When you are free from apprehensions, and connect with fellow workers, the workplace becomes a joy to be. You will give 100% of your heart and mind to your work, and your family benefits from having a whole of you with them creating a little heaven for yourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Dr. Mike Ghouse, author, public speaker, pluralist, interfaith wedding officiant, and the President of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC., will discuss how Muslim effort is ongoing in building a cohesive America, where each one of the 323 Million Americans feel secure about his/her faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">He points out that we are Americans, we are free and brave people and must jettison our apprehensions about each other to live freely. Mike advises that if you are a conservative, then grudgingly you'll see a value in what this book offers, and if you are on the left, you want more of it, and the moderates will dance with joy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The book paves the way for Muslims to own their mistakes, remedy them, and correct how fellow Americans perceive Muslims. Mike argues that Islam is not about imposing your ideas or governing others. Instead, Islam is about living your life and letting others live theirs with freedom. It is a bold challenge to Muslims. He shows a narration from humanity's (Aalameen) perspective of the essence and purpose of Islam for the first time in history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Mike articulates, for the first time in Islamic history, twelve values of Islam that contribute to creating secure, orderly and cohesive societies. He concludes that the best way to combat Islamophobia (and other phobias) is through education, engagement, and dialogue. Mike lays out a clear agenda to foster harmony among fellow Americans. It is akin to planting a seed and nurturing to give the beneficence to the next generation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Mike believes when Muslims become one with all and defend American values with their souls, they will become part of the American story, and everyone’s language will automatically shift from us vs. them to us, the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. As American Muslims, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">This book will become a reference manual to teachers of Islam and knowledge seekers about Islam, as it is backed up verses from the Quran. You can order his book from Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Google, and other book stores. See the talking points at http://www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com and Mike’s profile appended at https://www.linkedin.com/inmikeghouse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The American Muslim Agenda is a primer, a blueprint, and a road map for Americans in general and Muslims in particular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">A Muslim is someone who is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer, following the formula for peaceful societies practiced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and guided by the Quran.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">As a community, American Muslims have not developed any concrete plans to extricate themselves out of the chaotic situations, hostility and incessant Islamophobic rhetoric we face. Each time a terrorist acts out, we start praying and wishing that the terrorist not be a Muslim. We are Americans, and we can do better than that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">There is only one America, and all of us are fully integrated parts of that nation. We need to learn to engage with those who are opposed to us, and reassure them that we are all in this together. Mike will share some success stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">When we start defending America and the American values we are in! We become an integral part of American Fabric. That is the clear objective articulated in this book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The book is available at Amazon, Kindle, Google, Xlibris, Barnes & Nobles, and other book stores. The softcover is priced at $19.99, and the hardcover is $29.99. It is also available as an eBook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The American Muslim Agenda will be in the hands of lawmakers, presidential candidates, media persons, lobbyists, think tanks, educators, interfaith activists, CEO, and fellow Americans. The book is about building a cohesive America where each one of us can live securely with our faith, race, ethnicity, and culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">As American Muslims, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, a newsmaker and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him at <span style="color: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Email to: SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com or text (214) 325-1916</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-24678197205412672922019-01-13T14:23:00.000-06:002019-01-13T14:23:43.263-06:00Book Release - American Muslim Agenda<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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THE BOOK – American Muslim Agenda<br />Muslims Together Building a Cohesive America</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-7096" height="324" src="http://www.theghousediary.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/AmericanMuslimAgenda-Book.jpg.jpeg" style="border: 0px; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0.857143rem 1.71429rem 0.857143rem 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="216" /></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.71429; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1.71429rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To order call: 1-888-795-4274 x 4528</li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To order online –<a class="x-el x-el-a px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-word-wrap-break-word px_-overflow-wrap-break-word px_-fs-16 px_-fw-400 px_-c-rgb101__129__19 px_-text-decoration-underline px_-d-inline px_-cursor-pointer px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px__hover-c-rgb90__115__16 _mdpx_-fs-16 _lgpx_-fs-16 x-d-ux" href="https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=547287" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=547287</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Softcover $19.99 / Hardcover $29.99</li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you would like to receive a signed copy, please send an email to <a class="x-el x-el-a px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-word-wrap-break-word px_-overflow-wrap-break-word px_-fs-16 px_-fw-400 px_-c-rgb101__129__19 px_-text-decoration-underline px_-d-inline px_-cursor-pointer px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px__hover-c-rgb90__115__16 _mdpx_-fs-16 _lgpx_-fs-16 x-d-ux" href="mailto:AmericanMuslimAgenda@gmail.com" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">AmericanMuslimAgenda@gmail.com</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the book about?</li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What do the Scholars say about the book?</li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Talking points</li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Media Inquiries to <a class="x-el x-el-a px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-word-wrap-break-word px_-overflow-wrap-break-word px_-fs-16 px_-fw-400 px_-c-rgb101__129__19 px_-text-decoration-underline px_-d-inline px_-cursor-pointer px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px__hover-c-rgb90__115__16 _mdpx_-fs-16 _lgpx_-fs-16 x-d-ux" href="mailto:AmericanMuslimAgenda@gmail.com" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">AmericanMuslimAgenda@gmail.com</a></li>
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<span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the book about? </span></h2>
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You will be pleased to see your vision of America resonate in the book. Even though the title is ”American Muslim Agenda,” it is for all Americans.</div>
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One of the purposes in naming the book is for my fellow Americans who have misunderstood Muslims to pick up the book and read, and my fellow Muslims who have misunderstood Islam to take a look the at the pristine Islam that they long for, it is not lost, we have to revive it. Islam is not about ruling or dictating others; it is about living your life and letting others live theirs, one of the 12 strongest values of Islam is freewill that Muslims have forgotten. I have cited the Quran extensively with reinforcing practices of the prophet.</div>
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There are occasional references of wisdom drawn from Atheism to Zoroastrianism and every faith in between. You will see Jesus in Muhammad, Torah in Quran or Bhagavad Gita’s reflections or Buddhas Middle path or Nanak’s service to humanity.</div>
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<span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You may like this note that Dr. Frank Islam has highlighted.</span></div>
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“I am intrigued by the book, particularly the chapter on the Essence of Islam. The great Talmudic sage Rabbi Hillel in the first century BC said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—to study it!” Dr. Ghouse responds to Rabbi Hillel with a corollary on Islam, “God wants us to respect the otherness of the others and accept the uniqueness of each human. That is the whole Quran; the rest is the explanation of this—to study it!”</div>
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MUSLIMS TOGETHER BUILDING A COHESIVE AMERICA</h3>
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This book, The American Muslim Agenda, is a primer, a blueprint, a road map for American Muslims to consider. A Muslim is someone who is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer, following the formula for peaceful societies practiced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and guided by the Quran. As a community, American Muslims have not developed any concrete plans to extricate themselves out of the chaotic situations, hostility and incessant Islamophobic rhetoric we face. Each time a terrorist acts out, we start praying and wishing that the terrorist not be a Muslim. We are Americans, and we can do better than that. This book paves the way for us to own the mistakes we have made, remedy them, and become fully integrated Americans. There is only one America, and all of us are fully integrated parts of that nation. We need to learn to engage with those who are opposed to us, and I have some good success stories to share on that front. When we start defending America and American values we are in! We become an integral part of American Fabric.</div>
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<span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What do the Scholars say about the book?</span></h2>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bob Roberts</span>, Renowned Evangelical Pastor & Founder of Global.net Author Bold as Love</strong></div>
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I’m so grateful for the work of Mike Ghouse and his desire to build bridges. You will love this book, it’s about how Muslims in America think, and how we should all be connected regardless of faith. For too long, we’ve ignored the divide between Muslims and Christians and the result is we are prone to believe the worst about one another. Thanks, Mike for this important book.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bob Crane,</span> first Muslim US Ambassador</strong></div>
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Mike Ghouse’s path-breaking book, American Muslim Agenda, recommends a new agenda in the form of a paradigm shift from the negativism of attacking Islamophobia to the constructive support of America’s founding vision as a model of every world religion’s essence in compassionate justice. This is based on the interfaith search for transcendent truth from both scriptures and natural law in order to translate this wisdom into principles of both ethical value and jurisprudence. These principles, in turn, are essential to guide the modern think-tanks that shape policy agendas, as well as to inform the voters and legislators who have the practical responsibility to translate the vision of compassionate justice into both societal and institutional reform. This is what it has always meant to be an American.</div>
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Fi Aman Allah,</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar</span>, first Muslim woman scholar to translate the Quran sensitively! </strong><br />Endorsement for The American Muslim Agenda by Mike Ghouse The author presents a challenge to American Muslims to lose their egos and integrate themselves into being fully Muslim, fully American. They have a Muslim example to follow and it is that of spiritual chivalry (javanmardi, futuwwah).</div>
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Spiritual chivalry is that the spiritual warrior constantly strives for the sake of others. It is not seeing yourself as superior to others, to be an enemy of your own soul for the sake of your Lord, to act justly without demanding justice for yourself. Spiritual chivalry is to manifest a beautiful character.</div>
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The spiritual warrior (fata or the feminine, fatat) is a person who has a sense of honor, is called ‘he who breaks the idol.’ God Most High has said [in the Quran], ‘We heard a spiritual warrior named Abraham speak of them [the idols Abraham broke]’ [21:20]. And He said, ‘And he (Abraham, the spiritual warrior) made them [the idols] fragments’ [21:60]. The idol of every person is his own ego, so in reality, whoever opposes his own passions is a ‘spiritual warrior’.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Tariq Cheema, </span>Founder, World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists</strong></div>
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“Bold and brilliant Mike Ghouse. He has not just drawn a roadmap for Muslim Americans to contribute to the society meaningfully but highlighted the unique value proposition of Muslims that mainstream America can bank upon to progress. In fragmented America today, the hope lies in the people of faith who believe in social justice and cohesion. This book is an open invitation and a call to action for all those men and women of conscience.”</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rabbi Gerald Serotta</span>, Executive Director, Interfaith Conference of Washington</strong></div>
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Dr. Mike Ghouse is a warrior for conflict resolution and a partisan for non-partisan dialogue. He aims to bring all voices to the table of religious pluralism that he sets with the “agenda” in this book. He and I have shared presentations on panels where the perspective centers on covenantal pluralism, the idea that a God who can treasure one faith community must have the will and power to treasure all moral communities of whatever faith or of no faith. May his efforts in articulating the agenda for his beloved Muslim community inspire other faith leaders to delve self-critically and responsibly into the resources within their own religions to move beyond tolerance to a loving and robust mutual appreciation. Our times need his voice and need others to speak out as well.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Harbans Lal</span>, Emeritus Professor, and Chairman, </strong><br />Dept of Pharmacology & Neuroscience, UNT Health Science Center, Texas</div>
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It is only recently that many courageous scholars and public servants began to tell what the real Islam was. Guru Nanak wrote hundreds of hymns in the Sikh scripture on who is a good Muslim. I am glad to see the recent book by Mike Ghouse. Mike began nearly 15 years ago to set the stage right. He started with a radio show on the world’s religions. I remember my frequent participation there and answering Mike’s piercing questions. Then he contributed hundreds of columns in leading newspapers and magazines. Now, he came up with his book that elucidates the purpose of religion in general and the role of Islam in particular as a member of the community of faiths. I recommend this book to the Muslim community and their neighbors who are the followers of other religions. In facts, the adherents of other religions might consider Mike’s approach in spreading the sacred words of the founders of their beliefs.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Zia H Shah MD, </span>Chief Editor of the Muslim Times International.</strong></div>
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This beautiful, well-written book, is the next level thinking for the Muslims, many of whom still live in the medieval paradigm of ‘them’ versus ‘us.’ Mike Ghouse is the Messiah for pluralism to pull the Muslims out of a sectarian vision, to a genuine universal brotherhood and sisterhood, befitting our global village, for the 21st century.</div>
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It is a must read for every Muslim living in the West, who is desirous of genuine integration, to benefit from all the good that rational and democratic human societies have to offer. By the same token, it is a must-read for every Westerner, who wants to grasp the genuine peaceful and inclusive vision of true Islam.</div>
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The book is a breath of fresh air, away from the political Islam of the Islamists or the Islamophobes, a futuristic vision of coexistence, where we not only tolerate our differences but celebrate them.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Frank Islam</span>, Philanthropist, and a Scholar, Washington</strong><br />I am intrigued by the book, particularly the chapter on the Essence of Islam.<br />The great Talmudic sage Rabbi Hillel in the first century BC said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—to study it!” Dr. Ghouse responds to Rabbi Hillel with a corollary on Islam, “God has created us into different races, religions, sizes, colors and other uniqueness’s, respecting the otherness of the other and accepting the God-given uniqueness is the whole Quran and the rest is the explanation of this – to study it.”</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="x-el x-el-span px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-fs-unset px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px_-fw-700 x-d-ux" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Safi Kaskas</span>, Modern translator of Quran, his translations have been referenced in the book.</strong></div>
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Dr. Mike Ghouse is a courageous American Muslim. At a time when Muslims are under attack, he courageously stood tall and walked into the enemy’s camp to talk to them and to explain Islam as he knows it.</div>
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His book, American Muslim Agenda, is the summary of his experiences and vision for his Muslim community and America his country. I think we Muslims will be wise to listen to what he is saying and take steps away from our antiquated stands of us and them toward a new Quranic vision of competing in doing what is good.</div>
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The future of Muslims in America is what Muslims decide to make of it. In order to be successful, we need to think and really understand the environment in which we live. We also need to understand Islam with fresh eyes on the future, taking in consideration the need to find new solutions to the new problems we are facing without compromising our basic beliefs. This requires courage and resilience. It requires leadership coming from within the Muslim community, with the ability to unite and lead.</div>
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I have acknowledged the mistakes Muslims have made, including an apology to Jews, Christians, and Hindus and have offered solutions to go forward.</div>
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Every question you have about “American Muslims” will be answered<br />in a book signing event, or a special meeting you may consider organizing.</div>
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1. Why I wrote the book?<br />2. Muslim Woman President of the United States in 2036<br />3. What does it take to run for public office?<br />4. What are the 12 Islamic Values to shape future societies?<br />5. Why is this book a reference Manual?<br />6. Are Muslims a part of the American story?<br />7. What does it take to be an Amin?<br /><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">8. Spineless Muslim Leadership</span><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">9. Mistakes Muslims have made and fixing them</span>10. Rejecting public Sharia<br />11. Criticism of the Quran, Islam and the prophet<br />12. Dealing with conservatives<br />13. Pristine Islam<br />14. Extremism<br />15. More</div>
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Contact information:</div>
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Mike Ghouse<br />(214) 325-1916<br />Washington, DC<br /><a class="x-el x-el-a px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-word-wrap-break-word px_-overflow-wrap-break-word px_-fs-16 px_-fw-400 px_-c-rgb101__129__19 px_-text-decoration-underline px_-d-inline px_-cursor-pointer px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px__hover-c-rgb90__115__16 _mdpx_-fs-16 _lgpx_-fs-16 x-d-ux" href="mailto:AmericanMuslimAgenda@gmail.com" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">AmericanMuslimAgenda@gmail.com</a></div>
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Dr. Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His new book, the “American Muslim Agenda” guides Muslims and non-Muslims alike to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill. The book will be available at the end of January 2019 in all the bookstores. Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him at <a class="x-el x-el-a px_-letter-spacing-normal px_-text-transform-none px_-word-wrap-break-word px_-overflow-wrap-break-word px_-fs-16 px_-fw-400 px_-c-rgb101__129__19 px_-text-decoration-underline px_-d-inline px_-cursor-pointer px_-ff-_Lato___arial__sans-serif px__hover-c-rgb90__115__16 _mdpx_-fs-16 _lgpx_-fs-16 x-d-ux" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/" rel="" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/</a></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-19303497019433439992018-12-30T05:07:00.002-06:002018-12-30T05:07:59.338-06:00Holocaust and Genocides Event in Washington<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="line-height: 15.301px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">14<sup>th</sup> Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 15.301px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Approx. 3:30 PM Sunday, January 27, 2019, | First Event at 2:00 PM<br />Jewish Muslim Perspectives on Mysticism at Islamic Society of the Washington Area<br />2701 Briggs Chaney Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20905 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: blue;">CLICK FOR</span>: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/holocaust-and-genocides-event-tickets-54157371155" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">RSVP</a> | <a href="https://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2018/12/14th-annual-reflections-on-holocaust.html" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">INFO</a> | <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/mission-accomplished-at-the-center-for-pluralism/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">ABOUT</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Center for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress are deeply committed to education and regularly bring Americans together to learn about each other’s joys and suffering. It is an initiative to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The 14th Annual Holocaust and Genocides event is an effort to stand with all the men, women and children who have endured the apprehension of Holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation, and inhuman brutality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge everyone's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people and stand with each other, we are indeed one world and only humanity, and caring for each other bring safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away from facing or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our cause. We cannot justify massacres arrogantly believing that the victims deserved it or asked for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and have to commit to ourselves to resist the temptations to be prejudiced and stereotype others. We cannot demand peace unless we are peaceful ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This particular date was adopted by the sixtieth session of the United Nations on November 21, 2005, “Resolves that the United Nations will designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.” Our events are scheduled on Sundays to accommodate the Jewish community’s presence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our safety hinges on the safety of others around us, and it behooves us to work for the safety and security of others on this little planet. We have to be continuously aware of the Holocaust and Genocides and prepare us to avert such tragedies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bringing people to understand the suffering of people has been my drive, I must say that through this program, many non-Jewish people have come to know about the Holocaust for the first time. You can see pictures people from Atheist to Zoroastrians and everyone in between has been a part of this event. Moreover, everyone has shared a prayer in the past commemorations. We have to create the awareness to get people to become activists and speak up and Never say again.<br /><br />________________________________________________</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>FIRST EVENT AT 2:00 PM</b><o:p></o:p><br />Program: Getting Closer to God: Jewish and Muslim Perspectives on Mysticism<br /><br />Gabrial Abasi will speak on Selfless service and commitment to mysticism<br />Herb Levy is a teacher of Kabbalah<br />Andra Baylus will speak on the Sufi-inspired spiritual leader Meher Baba<br /><br />Organized by: Jewish Islamic Dialogue Society<br />________________________________________________</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>SECOND EVENT AT - Approx 3:30 PM</b><br />Program: 14th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides<br /><br />Holocaust<br />Syrian Refugee Crisis<br />Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Bob Marro,<br />Uyghur Chinese Muslims - Omer Kanat<br />Crimean Tartars - Walter Ruby</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Organized by the Center for Pluralism<br /><br /><b>Supporting Organizations</b>:</span><ol>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jewish Islamic Dialogue Society- <a href="http://jids.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">http://Jids.org</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Islamic Society of the Washington Area - <a href="http://iswamd.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">http://iswamd.org/</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">World Muslim Congress - <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">http://worldmuslimcongress.org/</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">JAMAAT - Jews Muslims and Allies acting together</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Foundation for Ethnic Understanding</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Center for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress are deeply committed to education and relentlessly pursue building cohesive societies where no human has to live in apprehension and fear of the other.<br /></span><address style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>RSVP</b>: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/holocaust-and-genocides-event-tickets-54157371155" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/holocaust-and-genocides-event-tickets-54157371155</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><br />INFO</b>: </span><span style="font-style: normal; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2018/12/14th-annual-reflections-on-holocaust.html" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">https://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2018/12/14th-annual-reflections-on-holocaust.html</a></span></span></address>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br />ABOUT US</b>: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/mission-accomplished-at-the-center-for-pluralism/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">http://centerforpluralism.com/mission-accomplished-at-the-center-for-pluralism/</a></span></span></span></address>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Mike Ghouse<br />(214) 325-1916<br /><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com</a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d4a;"><a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">http://www.CenterforPluralism.com</a></span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><br />
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More at <u><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/" style="color: #00589d; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/</span></a></span></u></span></span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-21249927639884999742018-12-30T04:38:00.000-06:002018-12-30T04:38:25.829-06:00Mission Accomplished <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I hope your vision for America resonates with our work. If you feel, this is what you always wanted America to be, I welcome you to join the Center for Pluralism as a volunteer, donor (big or small), inspirer, encourager, and a writer with all your heart mind and soul. Please feel free to send me an email or call me. It is worth your while to glance at the work we have done.</div>
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Towards the end, I have included a few sample videos and profile links representing the diversity of our work. Each video has a description for you to choose what you want to watch.</div>
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Everything in life, both war and peace begin with an individual’s dream and actions, and people join in and make a movement. We have accomplished an unbelievable amount of work, it is all in front of you.</div>
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Whatever we do, we do it wholeheartedly with all our heart, mind and soul.</div>
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Mike Ghouse<br />Mike@CenterforPluralism.com<br />(214) 325-1916</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. MY PERSONAL MISSION</strong></h2>
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My personal mission is to open people’s hearts and minds towards fellow beings. I am committed to building cohesive societies where each member of the society feels secure with his/her faith, race, gender, ethnicity, culture, politics, shape, size and other uniqueness.</div>
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Please do not judge me by seeing pictures, videos, or articles on the internet with people on the extreme left or the right, alt-right conservatives, and progressives, and with members of every faith from Atheism to Zoroastrianism, Native American and LGBTQ communities. I meet them with the express purpose of knowing and understanding different points of view to develop pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.</div>
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Our problems erupt from the fact that the majority bulldozes the aspirations and hopes of the minorities when it is their turn. Bulldozing the Affordable Care Act by Trump Admin would not have happened, had Obama sought the Republican votes to pass the act in the first place even though it was not needed. One of my policymaking goals is to advance the idea that critical bills in the House and the Senate must be passed with 66.67% majority to gain wider consensus, thus representing a larger swath of Americans, offering sustainability and stability of policies formed by either Democrats or the Republicans.</div>
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Real conflicts come into play when someone robs your space, grabs your food or hurts your loved ones, these are real conflicts, other than these all other conflicts are imaginary and can be handled through dialogue. You can Google search my name with the name of any religion, or a major festival, and you will find ample information, it is all voluntary effort for people to learn about each other. I respect and accept all religious, political and cultural traditions as valid to its followers. Culturally, I respect the otherness of other cultures and hold programs to express that. I have no barriers between another human and me and I don’t consider anyone to be my enemy either, nor do I believe anyone is out there to get me. I am content and peaceful with who I am.</div>
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I am blessed to witness the fruits of my work and will continue to offer pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media, religious, civic and political leadership. Much of my work in pictures and video links are put together in a 60-page document appended with my profile at linked in. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse</a>/ and here is a summary of the different things we have done in behalf of the Center for Pluralism, formerly the Foundation for Pluralism.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: blue; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. SHAPING AMERICA’S FUTURE</span></h2>
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We are committed to a building a cohesive America, and we have several programs, events and workshops to be a catalyst to bring about the results, some of them are listed below.</div>
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Ten years from now, you will not find a place of work, worship, playground, school, restaurant, theater and other areas of public gatherings where you will not see people of different faiths, races, and ethnicities interacting, working, studying, intermingling, playing and even marrying each other. These interactions are bound to create conflicts and it is our duty to prevent such conflicts, so each American can live securely with his or her faith, culture, gender, race, sexual orientation or ethnicity.</div>
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We have already witnessed how the natives (those who have been here for several generations) feel about the new Americans. It is not a phobia, but a natural feeling of losing one’s way of life, and one’s world.</div>
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A vast majority of us have heard things about each other from our family members, friends, news, social media our teachers. Our hearsay knowledge of others pushed us to instantly form opinions about others. As responsible individuals, we must strive to strip stereotyping and build pathways to ensure the smooth functioning of our society, whether it is the workplace or our neighborhoods.</div>
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We need to reassure each other, particularly the disconnected ones, that together as Americans, we are committed to safeguarding the American way of life. No American needs to worry about losing his or her way of life. Together as Americans, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution; a guarantor of the way of life each one of us wants to lead.</div>
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The Center for Pluralism will continue to bring non-stop actions in bringing Americans together from different faiths, political affiliations, societies, and cultures and be a catalyst for a safe and a secure America for each one of us, as we move through this transition.</div>
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As we learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</div>
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Please visit our website and participate as a volunteer, sponsor or a donor. We are a Washington based non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5856" height="488" sizes="(max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px" src="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shaping-Americas-future-300x207.jpg" srcset="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shaping-Americas-future-300x207.jpg 300w, http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shaping-Americas-future-624x430.jpg 624w, http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shaping-Americas-future.jpg 641w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="709" /></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. THE FIRST STEP IS TAKEN </strong></h2>
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Our mission is to learn, explore, exchange, inform and share the knowledge of pluralism with every human being, at least the ones in our ambit. Pluralism is simply developing an attitude of respecting the otherness of the others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of the fellow humans.</div>
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The first step is accomplished with the establishment of the Center for Pluralism. The next step is to establish a credit course in pluralism to coach politicians, civic, religious and business leaders to shape our future with informed inclusive leaders. The leaders who would learn to respect the otherness of the other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of their constituents. They can dislike an individual based on their personal experience, but not because of an individuals’ race, faith, ethnicity, shape, size or culture.</div>
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I am seeking fellow Americans to join me, who not only wish to see a world where people get along with each other and enjoy their lives at work and home but also want to be a catalyst for such a change. Employers want productive employees and not the ones who are tense and distrust the fellow worker because he/she is a Jew, Muslim, Christian or a Hindu, Mexican, Arab or Chinese, Black, or White. A tense free environment creates a peaceful person who will give 100% of his attention to the family when she or he is home with them instead of being occupied with getting even with the guys at work.</div>
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If you have a similar vision to see a world where each one of us lives securely, then prosperity comes to all, and particularly to you, the contributor, the donor, and the philanthropist towards creating such environment. I have always admired Bill Gates, he is one of the rare humans who has become a billionaire by making millionaires out of the people working for him. He saw his prosperity comes by helping others prosper. I am of the belief that if we can create a safe world for each one of us, all of us will benefit in the end and live with contentment, after all, that is why we bust our asses at work.</div>
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Our organization is yours when you join. At the Center for Pluralism, we realize that the purpose of government, religion or a social and civic organization is to ensure all its members will have an opportunity to live their lives in pursuit of their happiness regardless of their invincibility or vulnerability.</div>
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The process of positive change begins by “Respecting the otherness of the other and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us resulting in conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance.</div>
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All our activities at the Center for pluralism are geared to bring Americans Together in social, religious, cultural, political, business, civic and other settings. The more we know each other, the fewer the conflicts would be. We have programs in place to achieve this mission. We need your support to take it to the world.</div>
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One man can make a difference; indeed, all the good and bad things in the world are initiated or dreamt up by an individual, and others join in to create the movement.</div>
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Concerned with the divisiveness and discord that I have witnessed over the years, as you may have, I made a commitment to reverse the change. Indeed, I give credit to Brigitte Gabrielle, who and I have battled off on Sean Hannity show on Fox News over a period of 7 years, I told her that she can continue to pit one American against the other, and I will work on bringing Americans together, thus we formed America Together Foundation (known as Center for Pluralism) in contrast to her Act for America. Our vision is to see each one of us live securely in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. A tense America is not good for anyone, neither a divisive America, it takes away your freedom to live without tensions.</div>
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I am motivated by all the holy books, all the books. Our significant achievement started with our Radio show called “Wisdom of Religion, all the religions.” We did 780 hours of Radio show explaining the essence of each religion, and three sets of workshops on twelve different religions. You will find a similar verse in all the books, the verse in Quran (49:13) says, that the world is one large family, born out of the first traceable couple (Adam & Eve) spread out on the earth into different tribes, nations, races, and religions. The wisdom in the Quran suggests that the best ones among you are those who take the time to know each other’s uniqueness, the more you know about the other, the fewer the myths you hold about them. Indeed, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of the uniqueness of the otherness of the other in creating peaceful societies.</div>
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What inspires me? Prophet Muhammad’s attitude towards problems, he saw “Conflict Mitigation and goodwill nurturance and acted upon finding resolutions to every conflict he came across through dialogue. He was committed to building cohesive societies where no one had to live in fear of the other. One of these days, I will write a book on that. The inclusive embrace of Jesus and the idea of forgiveness, condemning the sin and not the sinner is the foundation for building better societies. Lincoln’s bold decision to free the slaves, and Mahatma Gandhi’s pat on my back twice in my dream with the words ”Son, you have work to do’ has inspired me.</div>
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My late mother laid it on me by saying, when you meet me in heaven, I want you to tell me that you were helping someone while you took your last breath of life rather than counting money. My father always taught us to “respect the otherness of the other” and quoted the verses from the Quran. Finally, Steve Jobs made me quit my business and pursue my passion and live a full life. There is no money in this, it is pure volunteerism. Please remember, I could make a heck of a lot of money with two masters degrees or go back into the home building and make it big, but I chose to make my life purposeful and meaningful and follow my passion. Two of the individuals I knew died in car accidents and their hard-earned wealth was squandered and did not go with them, I wish they had invested in our work and left a legacy.</div>
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Our work is not for a single faith, race or community. Our Board of Directors are represented by different races and faiths and we are waiting to have more people join us, provided, they are “willing” to be prejudice-free. If I want to retire securely, and want my kids and grandkids to live worry free, I have to create a world where all are secure. My security hinges on the security of the people around me. It behooves me to invest my energies here.</div>
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The Center for Pluralism is committed to awakening people to respect the otherness of the other and accept the given uniqueness of each other. I believe when we do that, conflicts fade and solutions emerge. We have programs to make that happen and are listed on the home page <a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.CenterforPluralism.com</a></div>
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Currently, there are three organizations in the world who are actively producing the work on Pluralism including the Center for Pluralism, Harvard University, and Aga Khan’s Pluralism Center. I invite you to seriously consider joining us and take this further, that is if want to give legs to your wishes. I want to retire and go on speaking tours.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. HAPPY ACCOMPLISHMENTS </strong></h2>
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You feel happy when you see justice is served to everyone, You feel good at the end of most movies when the good wins over the villainous characters. I am happiest when people open their heart, minds, and souls towards fellow humans. A few quick examples from our workshops, lectures, and seminar are as follow:</div>
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Individuals who had no idea about Hinduism began respecting Hinduism, and many have started reading Bhagavad Gita to understand Hinduism. Some of them dropped their bias against Atheism and started seeing their point of view without denigrating. A few started seeing Paganism as another tradition rather than looking down upon it. Many of them have accepted homosexuality as a part of the society, Many people who hated Islam started learning that they were misinformed and stopped being Islamophobes and living free from tensions.</div>
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Sean Hannity of Fox News cut down his hyperbole against Quran, he has a copy of the “correct” translation of the Quran and knows how to read it – three verses before and three after the supposedly maligned verse to give a full picture of justice and sense of fairness of the verse. Sean also learned that there is a difference between Personal and Public Sharia, and his criticism rightfully focused on the flawed aspect rather than the whole body of Sharia. Stuart Varney on Fox News announced that he would not use the phrase Muslim Terrorist any more when he saw that individuals are responsible for bad acts and not their religions. The Late Jeff Weiss of Dallas Morning News stopped attacking Islam exclusively and started seeing the same mistakes by individuals in other groups, he became an equal opportunity basher in his Faith column at Dallas Morning News. Examples abound and we may put together a book of achievements someday for people to see how they can be contributors towards better societies.</div>
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Our Annual Holocaust and Genocides program has produced knowledgeable people from Atheist to Zoroastrians and everyone in between, until 2006, the Synagogues offered Holocaust education to Jews on Yom HaShoah, but now people of all faith have participated in our events and make a commitment of never again. We are all in with them in their tense moments. In our annual Unity day programs when an Imam led the pledge of allegiance and a Hijabi girl sang the national anthem, it put a dent in the attitudes of acceptance of Muslims as fellow Americans. The Native Americans felt good about their inclusion in the Thanksgiving Celebrations. Festival of Faiths is about celebrating American faiths from Atheism to Zoroastrianism. Pluralism is about inclusion and respecting the otherness of the other. We have to shape the future of a secure America for everyone by including everyone.</div>
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One of the few complaints about God is that he forgot to include “Exclusion” and “Arrogance” as mortal sins. They are the root cause of all evil on the earth and he forgot these two and listed all other important stuff in all the religions of the worlds, both oral and written traditions.</div>
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If you are looking for instant results, you will be disappointed, it takes years for people to see the value based on one’s actions. Bhagavad Gita says, do the work as a duty and not for the fruit of it, God in the Quran says, Muhammad, your job is to give the message and it is up to me to give the will to the people and suggests him not to be frustrated. Indeed, I take that message seriously. The most critical value of life is free will.</div>
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Islam teaches me that God is not the exclusive property of anyone, rather, we are all his creation, he is the creator of the entire universe, so is Prophet Muhammad, the man who is a mercy to everyone in the universe, life, and matter. The message of all the great souls like Moses, Jesus, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Abraham, Jesus, Rama, Muhammad, Nanak, Bahaullah, and several others is for the entire humanity, they were not the exclusive property of anyone. They were as universal as the Sun and the Moon, their message should not be monopolized by any group, they are a guide to humanity. I thank God every day for falling the barrier between me and another human, there is so much joy in being free from prejudices.</div>
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Today in Dallas, we have 10 clergies from different faiths, who did the workshop with me on Quran – they read the truth first hand in the Quran, and have learned to separate the false charges that the Quran teaches violence or wants “to kill the infidels wherever you find them”. They see the Quran as a book of guidance to create cohesive societies. I want to do the same for all faiths. All faiths are equally dear to me.</div>
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You will be surprised to know that even Muslims have misunderstood the purpose and essence of Islam, the traditional educators keep repeating what is dished out to them by scholars from medieval times during the crusades. You will get to read what the scholars say, and also the peeled out version of Pristine Islam in the upcoming challenging book American Muslim Agenda, the information is at <a href="http://www.americanmuslimagenda.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com</a></div>
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The workshops and radio shows on understanding the essence of religions is continued to be appreciated by those who benefited from it by ridding the poison of ill-will towards others. If you have an interest in enlarging this work, please join the Center for Pluralism with your spirit, energy, time and money. The only condition for membership is your ‘willingness’ to be bias-free towards any human including Republicans and Democrats.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. BUSINESS CONSULTANT</strong></h2>
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As a consultant, I have turned around failing businesses into successful ones. I have established and been instrumental in establishing several non-profit organizations from scratch. I will continue to take up assignments on a fee basis.</div>
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The MBA program from the University of Dallas and the M.Com from Bangalore University has equipped me with grasping any aspect of business and enhancing its performance. Dealing with people of nearly 50 nationalities, and every faith and political hue has given me the ability to understand people’s motivations and create a cohesive effective working environment.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6. MY SECRET</strong></h2>
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No one wanted to be the first, and I have done things that no one has done before. One of the 67 examples listed below is holding a Demonstration against ISIS on the steps of Lincoln Memorial – Fox News supported and lauded it, and right after that, 11 other demonstrations took place within a month. They were hesitant, once one paves the way, others will follow.</div>
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In my English class at Central College in Bangalore, my friends called me Everready. That has stuck to me and has become a part of me. I am never hesitant to be the first one to raise the hand, clap or volunteer and take the lead. A few may resent that, but that is me. I have been sitting on the front bench most of my life.</div>
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My whole life is an experience of taking on challenges whether it is business or social work or even sports and entertainment. Nothing I have done has been done before. Whatever I do, I do it wholeheartedly. I take failure as necessary stepping stones for accomplishing the mission.</div>
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Let me share the secret – Bruce Williams, a Radio talk show host in the early ’80s blasted me for asking if I can “try” working part-time in business to see if that works. He said either you do it or you don’t, the idea of trying is nothing but setting up for failure. That was the best advice I have received in my life in contrast to the story of Temoor Lung’s story of try, try again. Tariq bin Ziyad’s story of burning the ships when he crossed the straights of Gibraltar has deeply influenced me, his message was crystal clear; there is no going back. A commitment is a commitment! This has been my life, I jump with two feet in whatever I do with all of my mind, heart, and soul into it.</div>
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Mother Teresa’s wisdom has helped me deal with people on the extreme left and the right. I meet people with the attitude that I have no enemies and no one is out to get me. If I am biased, then I cannot blame the others for their bias, if I am not inclusive I cannot ask others to be inclusive. That is the reason I can sit with Sean Hannity, talk with Pamela Geller and walk with Brigette Gabriel or deal with anyone on the extreme left or right because I don’t see them as a threat to me, they are not my enemies. In John McCain’s words, we are fellow Americans that differ.</div>
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Back to Mother Teresa, she said, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, go talk with them.” Talking among friends does not change the equation, talking with the ones opposed to you has a chance of putting a dent into the relationship. The Quranic verse 41:34 beefs it up when it says, treat your enemy with kindness, who knows, they may become the best of your friends. it is has happened to me several times. The Chinese proverb fits right in with this if you want to eliminate your enemy for good, make friends with them and that is what Jesus must have meant, love your enemies. The purpose of all their effort is to create cohesive societies, where no one has to live in fear of the other.</div>
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Goethe’s wisdom runs in my veins now, “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy… Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. Whatever you can do or dream that you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”</div>
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Ray Bradbury, “If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”</div>
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That is what I have done, jump off the cliffs, been hurt a few times, but overall, I am happy with my life. I have one life to live and want to live it in full and live purposefully.</div>
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Dr. Abdul Hamid Abusulayman “There is a clear distinction between doubts and problems. Doubts provoke obstruction, frustration, and discouragement, whereas problems inspire motivation, action, and diligence.</div>
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And I have formed my own quotations, one of them is, ” Whatever you do in life, do it wholeheartedly, there is joy in it for everyone around including ourselves” I give credit to my younger brother Shan for this attitude, Kaleem for the phrase “Life is a time pass” and it is, the youngest one, Farooq for his caring attitude towards the family. Of course, my sister Dilshad has been a stable positive influence in my life. I have learned from my daughter Mina and son Jeff as well and frequently mention them in my workshops what I have learned from them. One of them is “Gee Dad, God can be worshipped in so many ways.” I am blessed with my friends Abusaleh Shariff, Adil Khan, and Zafar Iqbal from Delhi, Dallas, and DC respectively.</div>
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Doing things wholeheartedly is one of the many motivational talks I give along with Michami Dukadam, i.e., cleaning each other’s slate and starting over.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5874" height="557" sizes="(max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px" src="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/MikeGhouse-12.16.18-300x225.jpg" srcset="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/MikeGhouse-12.16.18-300x225.jpg 300w, http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/MikeGhouse-12.16.18-240x180.jpg 240w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="739" /></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7. FOX NEWS/ SEAN HANNITY</strong></h2>
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Sean Hannity gave me the national presence. After 110 TV Shows, 150 Nationally Syndicated Radio shows, Sean gave the best concession anyone can ask: the Major accomplishment with him was he stopped bashing Quran and understood there are two types of Sharia, the Public Sharia has aspects that American Muslims reject, and the private Sharia is between an individual and God – that is how one prays, fasts, gives charity, cares for fellow beings. This had a considerable impact on the outcomes. When Peter King, the then chairman of the Homeland security committee, he said to CNN upon Boston bombing, that 96% of Muslims are good people, that was a 180 degrees turnaround and Sean Hannity affected that in a conversation with me at his retreat.</div>
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More about it in the Video about Hannity: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd-mgSFziII" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd-mgSFziII </a><br />Dealing with difficult ones: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=HiEHbdK84Gk" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=HiEHbdK84Gk</a><br />Sharia Explained: <a href="http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/ </a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">8. FOX NEWS/ STUART VARNEY</strong></h2>
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Stuart Varney on Fox declared he will not use the phrase Muslim Terrorists and instead use Terrorists among Muslims. It took me quite some time to get to that point. Videos available at Google and youtube. One of them: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=aGSti7f9F-A" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=aGSti7f9F-A</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">9. DALLAS MORNING NEWS</strong></h2>
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Thanks to Dallas Morning News’ Texas Faith Column, where I wrote 250 pieces over a period of 5 years, each article weaves thru several faith traditions, it is a common road that all religions travel upon. No tradition was excluded. The readers cherished the articles as they started seeing the essential values of their faith in other faiths.<br />Google search: Dallas News Mike Ghouse Texas Faith</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">10. HUFFINGTON POST</strong></h2>
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About 125 Articles over a period of 10 years, mostly interfaith pieces. My fellow Americans start seeing the beauty of each festival in each religion and started relating to it. When you do that, the biases evaporate into thin air.<br />Link: <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/mikeghouse-302" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/mikeghouse-302</a><br />LInk: <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/mike-ghouse" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/mike-ghouse </a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">OTHER NEW PAPERS</strong> include Op-Ed News, Indian Panorama, The Daily Arab News, Al-Bilad and a host of others. About 300 Newspapers covered the Quran burning event around the world, even Iranian and Somali Newspapers have published my articles. And all South American Newspaper carried my picture on their front page when I walked into Farmers Branch Mayor’s office with fellow Americans to protest against the draconian immigration policy the City wanted to pursue.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">11. PRESIDENT TRUMP</strong></h2>
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Reaching out to President Trump – I produced a simple 4 paragraph dream letter for President Trump to review. I went to C-PAC meeting for all the three days, and passed the message to Matt Schlapp, President of the conservative Union, he read it, it is on video, and said, he will give it to President Trump. The next day, I handed the letter to VP Pence, emailed or texted all the Trumps men and women – Then on the first address to the joint house, he started his speech, the first two sentences were an expression in my letter. I had asked him to speak for Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and the Mexicans, he excluded Muslims and Mexicans from the speech.</div>
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“Fellow Americans, you chose me to be your President, and now help me do the right thing. Listen carefully, stop those ‘few’ guys who are a threat to fellow Americans, particularly the bomb threats against the Jewish Community Centers which is not acceptable. We will hunt them down and punish them accordingly.</div>
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Stop the radicals from harassing the Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Immigrants, African Americans or anyone for that matter, the actions of those few are a terrible reflection on my administration. I will not tolerate anyone messing with fellow Americans under my Presidency, neither should you? Stop them now.” Google search “CFP delivers the letter to President Trump.” or<br /><a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/cfp-delivers-the-letter-to-president-trump/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/cfp-delivers-the-letter-to-president-trump/</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">12. HILLARY CLINTON</strong></h2>
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Two days before the election on 11/06/16, I wrote a Dream Speech for Hillary at Huffington Post. What is unique about that speech is the inclusion of fellow Americans who were ignored, had Hillary listened to me, she would not have lost elections. What is rewarding is, Peggy Noonan wrote the same idea two weeks after the elections, and she got the Pulitzer prize for it. She needs to share that with me! Here are a few excerpts:</div>
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My priority is to reach out to my fellow Americans who had it right until the disaster from wars brought misery to them; the white Americans. We are going to find ways and means for them to recover from the difficult times they have endured while others Americans have prospered.</div>
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Believe me, the Black Americans, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, immigrant Americans, and all other Americans want each one of us to prosper, particularly the disaffected White Americans. Our prosperity hinges on the prosperity of people around us and the success of nations around us. None of us will succeed if some of us are left behind.</div>
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I am committed to restoring justice to my fellow Americans who lost their jobs in manufacturing, to fellow Americans who live on farms and to fellow Americans who do not have an education or technical skills. All the men and women who are plumbers, electricians, repairmen, drivers, janitors, and small business owners, and taking care of them is a priority of my administration. We will restore our glory days, and in the end, no American will be left out.</div>
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Hillary’s last-ditch effort – the final speech<br /><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillarys-last-ditch-effort-the-final-speech_us_581f90f8e4b0102262411963" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillarys-last-ditch-effort-the-final-speech_us_581f90f8e4b0102262411963</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">13. AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK</strong></h2>
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The Ambassador for Religious freedom has a great group of people updating him on religious freedom across the world. I am one of the many signatories to several letters sent to different heads of the government to preserve the religious liberty of the people, including India.<br />Google: Brownback Ghouse, you will find several articles.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">14. INTERFAITH WEDDING OFFICIANT</strong></h2>
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Interfaith marriages are becoming the new norm of society. In a few years, one out of two unions would be of interfaith. Yes, this is across the board, whether you are a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Baha’i, Atheist or the other. According to the Pew survey, 40% of people of faiths will be marrying a person of another religion, it is higher among Jews, it’s 50%.</div>
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I am blessed to have officiated secular ceremonies for a few, and religious interfaith ceremonies for Jewish-Christian, Hindu-Christian, Bahai-Jewish, Hindu-Jewish, Atheist-Jain, and several other combinations. Being a Muslim, I am pleased to have officiated weddings for Muslims in a variety of combinations; Muslim-Christian, Muslim-Jewish, Muslim-Hindu, Muslim-Mormon, Muslim-Sikh, Muslim-Jain, Muslim-Buddhist and Muslim and an Atheist.</div>
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Website: <a href="http://interfaithmarriages.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://interfaithmarriages.org/</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">15. A HAND OF FRIENDSHIP WORKED WITH A VIOLENT GROUP</strong></h2>
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In October 2015, a group that did not like Muslims were planning to hold anti-Muslim demonstrations across 19 mosques in the United States. At a meeting of 30 plus Muslim leaders, chaired by Congressman Keith Ellison at CAIR’s national headquarters, they were about to decide to close the Mosques and not deal with the gun toters. Thanks to Congressman Keith Ellison for letting me speak, which was seconded by Dalia Mogahed and the whole narrative changed. I presented it as an opportunity to welcome the strangers with full hospitality by serving them water, hot dogs, and waving American Flags. When they come expecting Muslims to resist and hostile, they will find that Muslims are not what they thought they were, they were kind and hospitable people. It will speed up the process of acceptance of Muslims as a part of the American family of faiths. A press release was sent, and thank God, they decided, their teasing will not work and canceled the demonstrations across the nation. The full story is on this website.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">16. MUSLIM CREATE A MODEL FOR CONFLICT MITIGATION</strong></h2>
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When Pastor Jones decided to burn 2998 copies of the Quran in Mulberry, Florida – my immediate concerns were the safety of Americans serving in Afghanistan, the Journalists reporting from conflict zones and the safety of fellow Americans traveling around the world.</div>
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I wrote a press release that hit all the major newspapers of the ‘world.’ New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Religion News, Saudi Gazette, Times of India and many papers responded positively with write-ups. The event closed peacefully, the Department of State and Department of Defense also got involved in it.</div>
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The most significant success came when I walked into Mulberry, Florida. Mayor Hatch did not want to deal with the Quran-burning Pastor Terry Jones, but extensive conversations and assurances that it was the right thing to do made him join, the other mayors, sheriff Grady, and the commissioners joined us in the movement along with Butch Rahman, Curtis Rahman, Suzanne Carter, and other volunteers. It is a funny story about a Muslim landing in Mulberry and what he had to face.</div>
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Pastor Jones’s right to free speech was acknowledged; the event communicated to the Muslim world that our God-given right to free speech is not to be compromised, regardless of the vileness of the statement. Ultimately, it is the freedom that uplifts the whole of humanity; indeed, it is as much an Islamic value as it is American.</div>
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An alternate Muslim behavioral model was established in Mulberry to become the standard for future conflicts; we can call it a genuine Islamic response based upon the Quran and the examples of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Jesus Christ, and Mother Teresa. If we get the funding, we will make a documentary that will skillfully manage different conflicting issues of free speech and what is sacred. Indeed, the concept was encouraged by major institutions, including the Brookings Institution and the US Department of State. The department indicated an interest in showing it in US embassies around the world.</div>
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It is one of the biggest events for me in resolving the conflict in a non-violent way and setting a model for future conflicts. Three hundred plus newspapers around the world covered it. It is a real-life drama that happened in Mulberry, Florida – a compelling story loaded with elements of human aspirations, fears, suspense, distrust, discrimination, anger, kindness, hope, tenderness, and even a car chase. It all ends on a happy note. Funds permitting we are looking to make a documentary called Sacred, it is a forty-five minutes film about conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance. What is freedom of speech and what is sacred? It is based upon Prophet Muhammad’s formula applied in negotiating the conflict between free speech and desecrating what is holy – the Quran. Info – several articles and videos. It is a good story to tell.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">17. QURAN BASHING PASTOR</strong></div>
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As a society, we have faltered in blaming the group or the religion for the acts of individuals. The words of Pastor Jeffress generates fear, anxieties hate and ill-will, it is him and not the reflection of his Church, even if the congregation sheepishly claps and gives a standing ovation when the pastor calls out, “Islam is an evil evil religion and Quraan is a book written by a false prophet” with full passion. This is the story of how education can make a difference. The conference was about reading the difficult verses of the Quran by 10 religious leaders in front of a live audience.<br />Info: <a href="https://quraanconference.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://quraanconference.blogspot.com/ </a><br />info: <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2010/09/19/In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2010/09/19/In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397</a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ogquq1nlQ" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ogquq1nlQ</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">18. ESTABLISHED NON-PROFITS</strong></h2>
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I undertook the responsibility to start American Muslim Institution from Scratch, zip, zero and established it and put it on the Map of Washington. All in 20 months. If you go to TheGhouseDiary.com and type in the words “Mission Accomplished Mike Ghouse,” you will get the full summary. <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/mission-accomplished-american-muslim/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.theghousediary.com/mission-accomplished-american-muslim/</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">19. HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES – (Annual Event since 2006)</strong></h2>
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A purposeful event to reflect on human failings, with the intention of learning to prevent such happenings as individuals, and reaffirm, “Never Again.”<br />Website: <a href="https://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/ </a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uneRYgYfgWI&t=794s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uneRYgYfgWI&t=794s</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">20. UNITY DAY</strong> <strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">USA (Annual event Since 2005)</strong></h2>
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Bringing Americans together to rededicate our pledge to one nation with liberty and justice for all.<br />Website: <a href="http://unitydayusa.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://Unitydayusa.com </a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Wxo-vSMjc" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Wxo-vSMjc</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">21. THANKSGIVING CELEBRATIONS (Annual Event Since 1993)</strong></h2>
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A time of gratitude and celebrations of cultural pluralism and appreciating men and women amidst us who have learned to accept each other as they are and how they express their joys through their unique cultural dances.<br />Website: <a href="http://thanksgivingcelebrations.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://thanksgivingcelebrations.org/ </a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyDBHp4GQaM" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyDBHp4GQaM</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">22. FESTIVALS OF THE WORLD – 25th year</strong></h2>
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When we live as neighbors, we might as well learn about each other. The best way to build cohesive societies is for its members to understand each other’s sorrows and joys, and festivities and commemorations. Wouldn’t it be nice if you know a little bit about your neighbor’s festival and perhaps invite them to your celebrations to start safe neighborhoods by understanding each other? Every human and every religious group ce<span class="text_exposed_show" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lebrates something or the other in their way, each one is different, but the essence is the same; celebrations and commemorations. A simple language is used for most people to get a gist of it.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Website: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/festivals/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/festivals/ </a></span>Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vAwvoqz01I&t=7s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vAwvoqz01I&t=7s</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">23. PLURALISM AWARDS</strong></h2>
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To encourage fellow Americans to reach out and serve beyond their own folks, nearly 50 such individuals have been recognized their outstanding serving tot he community, these are individuals with prejudice towards none.<br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H9V0h7Jr_M&t=251s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H9V0h7Jr_M&t=251s</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">24. AMERICAN AMIN AWARD</strong></h2>
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It is about community building. The idea behind this recognition is to encourage Muslims to reach out and build relationships with fellow Americans and create cohesive societies where harmony and peace prevail. Indeed, that is the simplest purpose of Islam. Islam is not about governance, ruling others, imposing your values on others, Islam is about learning to live in harmony with ourselves and with others.</div>
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Web: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/american-amin-award/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/american-amin-award/</a><br />Video:</div>
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When we live as neighbors, fellow workers, students, players, activists and inhabitants of the same city, it behooves us to learn about each other’s beliefs, motivations, moments of celebrations, devotions or commemorations. The more we know about the other, the less mythical they would become creating a friendly environment for all of us to function efficiently in whatever we do. Knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance of the otherness of others leading us into tension free and sustainable prosperity.<br />Website: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/workshops/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/workshops/ </a><br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">26. STANDING UP FOR OTHERS</strong></h2>
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Societies are built to protect the rights of individuals whether they are invincible or vulnerable. If you don’t stand up for others, why should anyone stand up for you? It is all about Human rights and religious freedom. A book is in the planning and hopes to release it in 2019.<br />Website: <a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.Standingupforothers.com </a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb_3rr8zB-g&t=17s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb_3rr8zB-g&t=17s </a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">27. WISDOM OF RELIGION – RADIO SHOW</strong></h2>
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Summary: Our radio show was called Wisdom of Religion, all the beautiful religions. The purpose was to simplify each faith so that the person on the street can get the essence of that faith. This was broadcasted on AM Radio 1150 in Dallas, Texas. A total of 780 hours were dedicated to studying of the religions – 104 hours each for Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam on Monday, Thursday and Friday respectively. 52 hours each for Atheism, Bahai, Buddhism, Interfaith, Jain, Judaism, Sikhism and a few hours on the annual program and pluralism.</div>
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Info: <a href="http://pluralism.org/news/dallas-hosts-new-multi-faith-radio-show/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://pluralism.org/news/dallas-hosts-new-multi-faith-radio-show/ </a><br />Info: <a href="https://www.smu.edu/Perkins/News/News_Archives/Archives2012/Faith_Forum_Panel/Ghouse" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.smu.edu/Perkins/News/News_Archives/Archives2012/Faith_Forum_Panel/Ghouse</a>Info: <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-dallas-morning-news/20090614/281968898661320" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-dallas-morning-news/20090614/281968898661320</a><br />info: to be uploaded<br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">28. MEMORIAL DAY </strong></h2>
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Memorial Day resonates with American Muslims, and I am blessed to have joined in the tradition of honoring our Veterans on this Memorial day by visiting the Cemeteries for a short prayer for the last eight years. It is an annual event and I hope to bring interfaith gatherings to honor our men and women.</div>
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Info: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/muslims-honor-veterans-memorial-day/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/muslims-honor-veterans-memorial-day/</a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCHWggiwqw&t=28s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCHWggiwqw&t=28s</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">29. JULY 4TH – ANNUAL EVENT</strong></h2>
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CFP is one of the organizations that has produced an unbelievable number of articles on July 4th and integration. We need to start thinking and acting as one people. July 4th is a great opportunity for Americans to come together and celebrate our freedom.</div>
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Info: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/happy-july-4th-muslim-contributions-to-america/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/happy-july-4th-muslim-contributions-to-america/ </a><br />info: <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/muslims-pay-tribute-to-veterans-on-memorial-day-2017_us_592c1258e4b08861ed0ccaf6" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/muslims-pay-tribute-to-veterans-on-memorial-day-2017_us_592c1258e4b08861ed0ccaf6</a><br />Video: to be uploaded</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">30. VETERAN’S DAY – ANNUAL EVENT</strong></h2>
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We are grateful to the men and women in uniform, who risk their lives in defending our freedom and guarding our safety. I have always made a point to salute them and certainly participate in the Veterans Day Parade and have spoken at homeless Veterans centers. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></strong></div>
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Info: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/veterans-day-parade-in-dallas/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://centerforpluralism.com/veterans-day-parade-in-dallas/</a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q43qnhfZ93A&t=20s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q43qnhfZ93A&t=20s</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">31. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM</strong></h2>
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Summary: to be updated<br />Info:<br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">32. SHARIA LAWS</strong></h2>
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Summary: As Americans, we are apprehensive about the Sharia laws and the fears are real for some people. I say, fear not, American Muslims have no appetite for the Sharia as practiced in a few orthodox nations, and no American Muslim wants the Public Sharia, except the Private Sharia which is between an individual and God. Sharia serves as the constitution in other nations, and it badly needs amendments like our constitution.</div>
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Info: <a href="http://www.sharialaws.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.ShariaLaws.com</a><br />Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBcUVQmi6dU&t=102s" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBcUVQmi6dU&t=102s</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">33. BLASPHEMY LAWS</strong></h2>
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Summary: Blasphemy laws have no basis in the Quran, God is about justice and mercy, and not cruelty and tyranny. Those who claim to defend the dignity of God, Prophet, Quran, and Islam really do not have faith in them. They are afraid God, Prophet, Quran, and Islam will disappear from the face of the earth without their protection. They are wrong! We are bloody mortal beings here today and gone tomorrow, whereas God, Prophet, Quran, and Islam have been around and will always be there. There should be no punishment for Blasphemy, it is not in the Quran and it was not practiced by the prophet.</div>
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Info: <a href="http://blasphemylaws.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://blasphemylaws.blogspot.com/</a><br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">34. 9/11 GROUND ZERO MOSQUE</strong></h2>
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Summary: America missed an opportunity in leading the world and set the tone for a world of co-existence. The center was to become a Mecca for teaching Pluralism. Sadly, Imam Feisal did not respond on a timely basis. Pamela Geller and I fought off from Day 1 of the demonstrations against the mosque on Hannity Radio. I was on Hannity for a whole week. While the tragedy will never fade from our memories, we have to consider the political opportunists who have opposed the Muslim Center near Ground Zero? The revelations are as clear as the daylight, the right-wing politicians had gone berserk and hung on to tiny branches to save their political careers, and it is an abuse of Patriotism to have political gains. I was fully involved in the conversation</div>
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Site: <a href="http://groundzeromosque.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://groundzeromosque.blogspot.com</a><br />Washington Post: <a href="https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2010/07/26/on-mosque-us-should-stand-on-moral-high-ground/5118" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2010/07/26/on-mosque-us-should-stand-on-moral-high-ground/5118</a><br />Video links at the site.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">35 RAMADAN NEWS</strong></h2>
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Summary: Everything you always wanted to know about Ramadan. The website RamadanNews.com is down, but you can visit its predecessor <a href="https://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">35. QURAN COMMENTARY</strong></h2>
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Summary: I have corrected the wrongful understanding of about 20 verses, another 40 to go.<br />Info: <a href="http://www.quraantoday.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.Quraantoday.com</a><br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">36. ISRAEL PALESTINE DIALOGUE</strong></h2>
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Summary: to be updated – everything about the issue.<br />Website: <a href="http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/</a><br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">37. PLURALISTIC ETHOS OF INDIA</strong></h2>
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Summary: to be updated<br />Website: <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com</a><br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">38. INTERFAITH WEDDING OFFICIANT </strong></h2>
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Summary: to be updated<br />Website: www.InterfaithMarriages.org<br />Video:</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">39. CRICKET</strong></h2>
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In 1996 we held an Exhibition Cricket Match between the Ambassadors (or someone from the Embassy) of Cricket playing nations represented by UK, India, Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh, NewZealand, South Africa, Jamaica, and others. Putting Dallas on Cricket map of the world. When I was the president of the North Texas Cricket Association, the organization grew from a team of 6 to 30 teams, and I secured several cricket grounds from different cities including four in Plano. I also instituted the first ever Cricket development program – where all the players had to go through mandatory continuing education through renowned umpires including Greg Chapel. Our organization won the award for Best Cricket development in the Western Hemisphere.</div>
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Info: to be updated</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">40. ACTIVISM </strong></h2>
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My heroes are the activists, who get out on the street and demonstrate against injustice to anyone anywhere. These demonstrators are the reason we have the freedom and democracy in our nation. Over the last 25 years, I have taken part in many demonstrations and have organized a few. Had we listened to Michel Moore and Cindy Sheehan, we would have saved nearly a million people’s lives.</div>
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I thank God and Mother Teresa for inspiring me with her words, “If you want to make peace with your enemies,” she said, “go talk with them.” I thank God and my parents for instilling guts in me to speak up and reach out to the most difficult people on the planet. I have spoken and participated in the Gaza Rally, which a few of my right-wing Jewish friends had difficulty with. And in the same year, I participated, spoke, prayed and stood with the Jewish community at the Holocaust Museum, two Synagogues, Texas Jewish post, and Akiba Academy, and of course, a few right-wing Muslims had a problem with that. What they fail to see is what their holy books say -Saving a life is like saving the whole humanity.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">41. WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS</strong></h2>
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WMC is a think tank formed in 2001 with the intent of restoring Islam to its pristine nature and stripping all the cultural elements from it. We had a strong yahoo group called WorldMuslimCongress with 1800 members from across the world vigorously debating about the issues. More at <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.WorldMuslimCongress.org </a></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: blue; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">42– 67 Items will be uploaded asap.</span></h2>
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I am grateful to many many people who have been an influence in my life, from my parents, sibling, kids, spouses, friends, bosses, co-workers, customers, clients, vendors, patrons, fans and well wisher and just the people I know. One of these days, I will list all their names as an expression of gratitude. My sister Dilshad has been the most steady influence in my life.</div>
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A few<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Profiles</strong></h1>
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<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dallas Morning News 1 of 4 – <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Religion News – <a href="https://religionnews.com/2013/09/09/commentary-pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-burning-qurans" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://religionnews.com/2013/09/09/commentary-pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-burning-qurans</a>/</li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Times of India – <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/From-Muslims-in-America-a-novel-protest-against-Quran-burning/articleshow/21982162.cms" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/From-Muslims-in-America-a-novel-protest-against-Quran-burning/articleshow/21982162.cms</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Holocaust and the Muslim Guy – <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/holocaust-and-the-muslim-_b_4629509.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/holocaust-and-the-muslim-_b_4629509.html</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My 9/11 Story – <a href="http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/09/911-my-personal-journey-from-2001.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/09/911-my-personal-journey-from-2001.html</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Indian Pluralist – <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/12/mike-ghouse-indian-american-pluralist.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/12/mike-ghouse-indian-american-pluralist.html</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My name is Mike Ghouse – <a href="http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-name-is-mike-ghouse.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-name-is-mike-ghouse.html</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Muslim Times – <a href="https://themuslimtimes.info/2018/07/12/dr-mike-ghouse-one-of-the-best-muslim-voices-for-pluralism-joins-muslim-times-team/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://themuslimtimes.info/2018/07/12/dr-mike-ghouse-one-of-the-best-muslim-voices-for-pluralism-joins-muslim-times-team/</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Saudi Gazette <a href="http://live.saudigazette.com.sa/article/56767/A-proper-response-to-an-inflammatory-act" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> http://live.saudigazette.com.sa/article/56767/A-proper-response-to-an-inflammatory-act</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">About</li>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Videos: </strong>A sampling of diverse, small to large events.</h1>
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There are about 2000 videos with over 350 on National TV. Just place Mike Ghouse Videos in Google Search and you will get most of them and I am trying to list them all at <a href="https://mikeghousevideo.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://mikeghousevideo.blogspot.com/</a></div>
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Dallas Immigration Rally for Immigration Reforms</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1" frameborder="0" height="469" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OrjU0KULv-Y?feature=oembed" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="625"></iframe></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Annual Holocaust and Genocide event – Since 2006</strong></div>
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We have to learn to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other, and we have to commit to resisting the temptations to be prejudiced or to stereotype others. We cannot demand peace unless we are peaceful ourselves.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1" frameborder="0" height="352" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uneRYgYfgWI?start=61&feature=oembed" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="625"></iframe></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Festival of Faiths – Celebrating America</strong><br />When we live as neighbors, we might as well learn about each other. The best way to build cohesive societies is for its members to understand each other’s sorrows and joys, and festivities and commemorations. Wouldn’t it be nice if you know a little bit about your neighbor’s festival and perhaps invite them to your celebrations to start safe neighborhoods by understanding each other? Every human and every religious group ce<span class="text_exposed_show" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lebrates something or the other in their way, each one is different, but the essence is the same; celebrations and commemorations. A simple language is used for most people to get a gist of it.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Positive Power of Engagement with Sean Hannity and Fox News</strong><br />Many people have difficulty with Sean Hannity, some of them hate him, if you watch my interactions with him, he is another fellow with different information, if you see his point of view with patience, then he will see your point of view. Don’t expect the results in one or two interactions, it took me four years, and the humiliation I endured, in the beginning, was worth it at the end.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Apology to Jews, Christians, and Hindus</strong><br />This is the story of the Quran mistranslations, how politicians and the insecure men seek the change through false information. My sincere apology to Christians, Jews, Hindus and others who have read the wrong translation of the Quran. It is also the story of how Bhagavad Gita was a catalyst in choosing Islam to be my faith along with Karen Armstrong’s book on Muhammad.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Native Americans Greetings</strong><br />Religious greetings from major religions, religious greetings are the icebreakers, they break the apprehension that comes with a stranger.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At Capitol Hill with Congressman Don Beyer</strong></div>
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Now, thank God, I know many Senators and Congressmen and have held several events on Capitol Hill – and a few more to be held this year. To me they are our representatives, they are not Republicans or Democrats to me. I reach them as Americans. I am at equal ease with both the parties.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sikh Community Honored</strong><br />Our annual Unity Day event honors exemplary individuals and organizations for their work in promoting peaceful methods in resolving conflicts. The Jewish Community, the African American Community, and the Muslim communities have been honored over the years and here is the Sikh community of Dallas was honored for the exemplary role in dealing with the Wisconsin Shooting.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Veterans Day</strong><br />It is a tradition among many faiths to pray for humanity and seek blessings for those who sacrificed their lives for the benefit of all, and many an American will be visiting the cemeteries around the country to pay their homage. Annual visits to Veterans Day parade and speak at Homeless Veterans Luncheons, visit them at VA Hospital.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Memorial Day </strong><br />“The freedom that you and I cherish did not come to us on a platter, and was not ‘a given’ either; it was earned for us through the sacrifices of men and women who fought for it. It is particularly an important day for all the immigrants who enjoy the freedom and all the opportunities America offers, and owe that gratitude to our veterans. Every Memorial Day, as an American and a Muslim I stop at different veteran Cemeteries, in 2010 I drove from Louisville, Ky to Dallas, Texas and stopped at every Veteran’s Cemetery in the 850 Miles drive.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Frank Islam interviews Mike</strong><br />When I moved to Washington DC, Dr. Frank Islam honored me with an interview on his show, here I laid out the goals I wanted to achieve with my move.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Civil Dialogue Explained</strong><br />There is a chapter in the Quran, a model for teaching how to conduct civil Dialogue. A full chapter is included in the upcoming book, info at www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To President Obama – Say yes to Palestine</strong><br />It was during the UN vote to recognize Palestine. The United States made a mistake by not recognizing Palestine, it would have paved the way for peace and relieved Jews from the pangs of the conscience they endure between being just and secure.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is Unity Day?</strong><br />I wrote the full story of 9.11, I was on Radio on that day trying to bring coherence to the chaos of the day. Which was read by over 1.5 Million people? It is a day to…. hear it on the vide in 59 seconds.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Muslims are an integral part of America from the very beginning</strong><br />Muslims are a part of America from the very beginning, watch the video</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Symposium: Are Religious Scriptures a source of conflict or harmony?</strong>A Rabbi, Imam, Pastor, and a Pundit respond at Capitol Hill event – At CFP, our seminars are in-depth and going beyond the politically correct surface polishing.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Intra-faith Dialogue</strong><br />For the first time in the United States, we held an intrafaith dialogue between Sunni, Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslims at Rice University in Houston. Since then, we have done three more programs.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dealing with Quran Burning Pastor Terry Jones</strong><br />We hope to make a documentary on this, it will make a very exciting movie – What is sacred? Holy books, Mother, Prophet, Flag, and Freedom of Speech and…?</div>
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It is a successful real-life story set in Mulberry, Florida coupled with a compelling romantic saga woven around the Quran burning event, filled with human aspirations, relationship issues, suspense, humor, action, and disappointments. It has all the ingredients of a successful Hollywood film.<br />The script is ready, we need funding!</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sharia Explained</strong><br />Even Muslim have misunderstood the origins of Sharia, it is not divine, as it is believed to be, it is a human effort created to serve justice, and since it is human, it has its own flaws that need fixing. The upcoming book has a full chapter on this – info about the book at www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com</div>
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Fox News with Stuart Varney – Stuart said that he will not use the phrase Muslim Terrorism any more after he understood that individuals commit the crime and not religions</div>
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$5 MILLION DOLLARS TO MIKE GHOUSE</div>
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God can be worshipped in so many different ways</div>
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Defending Obama Care (note, I was a Republican then, but an independent since 2014)</div>
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Motivational Talk on Gratitude – The Appaiah Story</div>
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Dealing with Quran Burning Pastor in Urdu/Hindi Language</div>
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Honoring Reverend Moon and Neil Armstrong</div>
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Address the Annual Convention of Muslim</div>
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Gurdwara Garland</div>
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Quran Workshop in Dallas</div>
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Quran Bashing Pastor Challenged – Part I</div>
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Fox News with Megyn Kelly about beheading in Oklahoma</div>
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Fox News with Greg Gutfield about Bikini wear in Indonesia</div>
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Fox News with Laura Ingram about Pamela Geller and blood Libel</div>
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Ghouse Defending Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London on Fox News</div>
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Mike Ghouse upon Bil Laden’s death</div>
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Americans Together – A documentary to be made upon funding… here is a sampler</div>
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Forgotten video – Part I</div>
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Part II – My story</div>
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Hannity, Mike Ghouse on Fox News ( 1 of the 300 videos)</div>
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Addressing Salana Jalsa at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community</div>
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Assorted Clips</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is a Cohesive Society, and how does it help America?</strong></div>
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Take the human body as an example – to function normally, all our body parts and organs have to work in coordination, and they function their role if we feed them the right energy. What if we don’t eat right? When we have a headache or heart problem, we cease to function cohesively, right?</div>
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Extend this to the social aspect of our lives, i.e., our interactions with other people. In a given family, or at a workplace, community center, our states, and our nations, we do not act as one nation. If we lose the common objective, we tend to go in different directions instead of finding solutions.</div>
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Chief Seattle, a Native American said this correctly, “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the webs, he does it to himself.”</div>
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Examples – the community is a bus!<br />America is God’s own country. Indeed it is. It is a representation of everything God has created on this planet from the sea to the shining sea. We have green pastures, rivers, mountains, deserts, snow, rainfall, storms; we have a cold to hot climates.</div>
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We are one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. We are represented by every race, nationality, ethnicity, language, culture, and religion.</div>
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We are blessed with every possible faith that you can imagine on the earth, there is no other nation represented by this many faiths. Together as Americans, we believe in one God, no God, and many God representations; we think him to be male, female and genderless; we believe it to be a being, non-being, and everything; unknown and innumerable names.</div>
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We have families who opt to live a simple life with no modern amenities and us families who live in the lap of luxury that is unmatched anywhere.</div>
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We believe in our constant declaration of independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.</div>
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=============================<br /><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> What does inclusion mean? How does it benefit the common man?</strong></div>
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Do you remember the hurt you felt when a group of associates huddled in the corner and did invite you to the conversation? Do you remember two of your family members were talking together, and when you walked in they stopped talking… you feel frustrated when you are excluded. You lose interest…. you are onto a project, and your spouse is not aware of it, you know how he or she feels?</div>
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Inclusion is inspiring, it breeds enthusiasm and commitment to the common purpose.</div>
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Two days before the election in 2016, I wrote an imaginary speech for Hillary Clinton and published it in the Huffington Post. It called for her to “Include” the disaffected Americans, mainly the suburban and the ones who lost their jobs in manufacturing. Had she done that, Trump would not have earned their sympathy.<br />Inclusion is important.<br />=============================<br /><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Does Pluralism beneficial to the business?</strong></div>
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Absolutely! Every business, religious, political, and community service organization wants people to get along with each other, be productive and live out with least tensions.<br />Let me share a quote from Maya Angelou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”</div>
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And when they feel bad, their productivity goes down, and it is infectious, others will crawl too. You switch gears to go into either “getting even” mode or resentment towards the other. This consumes you at the workplace, Then you carry the tension home, and you don’t give 100% to your family it deserves, neither you nor your family or the people at work are happy.</div>
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But when we learn about Pluralism, most things can be shaped to reach our goals of cohesion and one nation.<br />When you have a conflict with someone, don’t carry it with you, sit down and have a conversation – the pain from that conversation is worth the freedom you will have for a long time to come.</div>
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Real Example: 4 work associates going for lunch, two scenarios!<br />=============================</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7. What is the most significant contribution of CFP to America?</strong></div>
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It will be instrumental in shaping the future of America. Ten years from now, you will not find a place of work, worship, playground, school, restaurant, theater and other areas of public gatherings where you will not see people of different faiths, races, and ethnicities interacting, working, studying, intermingling, playing and marrying together. The future is bound to create conflicts, and the CFP is determined to shape that future where all of us can live without apprehension and fear of the other.</div>
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=============================<br />Dr. Mike Ghouse is a public speaker and the founder and President of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/</a> and <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/mike-ghouse-my-mission/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.theghousediary.com/mike-ghouse-my-mission/</a> and <a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</a> and <a href="http://www.interfaithspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.interfaithspeaker.com</a></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-62752198096915750222018-06-13T14:21:00.002-06:002018-06-15T11:10:02.590-06:00Ramadan Mubarak - Reflections on Celebrations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A few Ramadan questions are answered here; why do we celebrate on different days? What is it with the Moon? How do you greet Muslims on this day? What kind of culinary delights are out there? How do Muslims celebrate in different parts of the world? Ramadan TV Commercials? A bit of politics too and lots of Eid Mubarak symbols at the link.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-683" height="309" sizes="(max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px" src="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-9-1-300x148.jpg" srcset="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-9-1-300x148.jpg 300w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-9-1-768x378.jpg 768w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-9-1-624x307.jpg 624w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-9-1.jpg 799w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="626" /></div>
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I urge Muslims around the world to take a minute to stop and appreciate the men and women who serve our nation, the armed forces, national guard, police, firefighters and others who are out there to guard our freedom and secure the safety of individuals and families. I have done this time and again, and I always remember the Louisville experience, where the police officer asked me to forward the email to him, asking Muslims to appreciate them, and after the Eid prayers, he had forwarded it to many police officers.</div>
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I urge Muslim organizations to issue a press release to this effect, and this is our appeal from the World Muslim Congress, a think tank committed to building a cohesive America. WMC is a part of the Center for Pluralism.</div>
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Pluralism is alive and kicking in Islam – i.e., respecting the otherness of others! Indeed, there are many schools of thought, and the good clergymen always point out the different traditions, Dr. Imam Kavakci, one of the leading Muslim Scholars, always advised on that basis. It is up to the individual to follow what he or she is conditioned or comfortable with. The non-pluralistic Muslims resort to name calling the others who take a different path. But all of them celebrate the festival.</div>
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A month-long fasting should clean up our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls, it means we are not biased towards anyone, we have no wall between us and another human, and that we are committed to peace and harmony. What others do to you does not matter, but how you behave towards others is all that matters in making America great again. All of us need to live without apprehension regardless of what we believe, wear, look and talk, and this is the work of Center for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress.</div>
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By the way, I am an independent, and not a Republican or a Democrat and I am a Pluralist Muslim, like a majority of Muslims – i.e., respecting the otherness of others, and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of his beautiful creation.</div>
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All of this at <a href="http://ramadannews.com/ramadan-celebrations-eid-mubarak/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ramadannews.com/ramadan-celebrations-eid-mubarak/</a></div>
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Mike Ghouse</div>
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When is the Eid? Ramadan Celebrations? Is it Friday, Saturday or even Sunday? For some, it will depend on when the moon (first day) is sighted.</div>
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Pluralism is alive and kicking in Islam – i.e, respecting the otherness of others! Indeed, there are many schools of thought, and the good clergymen always point out the different traditions, Dr. Imam Kavakci always advised on that basis. It is up to the individual to follow what he or she is conditioned or comfortable with. The non-pluralistic Muslims resort to name calling the others who take a different path. But all of them celebrate the festival.</div>
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<img alt="" class="wp-image-653 alignleft" height="288" sizes="(max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px" src="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-300x300.jpg" srcset="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-300x300.jpg 300w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-150x150.jpg 150w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-768x768.jpg 768w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-624x624.jpg 624w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-180x180.jpg 180w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen-60x60.jpg 60w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamdanKareen.jpg 960w" style="border: 0px; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0.857143rem 1.71429rem 0.857143rem 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="288" />Since the beginning of Islam, there have been debates as to what constitutes moon sighting. Some interpret that there has got to be a minion to declare that they have seen it themselves with their own eyes, while others do not accept it unless they have seen it themselves. It is also acceptable if the moon is sighted elsewhere, but now, each group has to have their own moon sighting. In the United States, there is an organization that monitors moon sighting and announces it in advance. Over the millennium we learned to accept and respect the otherness of other.</div>
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Politics plays a crucial role in our Temples, Synagogues or Churches, Mosques are no different. A few scientifically-inclined-Muslims have adopted NASA’s calculations believed to be precise. However, four different traditions are operating concurrently; i) Strictly Calendar, ii) NASA iii) Sighting with bare eyes and iv) sighting by others in the community.</div>
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The NASA-oriented and the Calendar-group miss out the fun, joy, and exhilaration of waiting and watching the needle thin moon on the horizon. The whole family gets out on the rooftops, or higher grounds, some even climb electric poles, and a few will drive out where they can see the sky without obstacles, kids would climb on parent’s shoulders, and a few go from place to place shouting in excitement, did you see it? It is like the belief in Santa Claus, Angels, and other myths, each tradition fulfills one’s emotional needs and every one becomes sentimental. After all, if celebration does not have the excitement, it is not a celebration.</div>
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America’s spirit of freedom touches every soul, no matter what religion or tradition they follow. American Muslims are no different, they prefer to have a pre-set date to start fasting and the celebration called “Eid” pronounced as Eeed as in Eeel. The idea is for them to take a day off from work or get an optional day off for their children from the schools. Always, the joy multiplies when the family and friends celebrate it together. They prefer to start on a pre-set date and trust the calculations.</div>
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The conflicts are the same everywhere on the earth. Each group subscribes to one of the four systems mentioned above. America is no different; you will find celebrations on one or three different days in any given city, the Sunnis, being the largest group has the greater division within, while the Sufis, Shias, Ismailis, WD Mohammad, Bohra and Ahmadiyya follow the pre-determined dates.</div>
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The consensus may be attributable to having central spiritual leadership in all groups except the Sunni. However like the American Public wishes to see the Republicans and Democrats drop the party lines and focus on what is good for America, the Muslims also wish they could celebrate the Eid on one single day. It ain’t going to happen, it is human to differ. It is against the spirit of Ramadan to denigrate, diminish and devalue other practices.</div>
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The essence of Ramadan is to become humble, simple and free from ill-will, anger, meanness, and hate. Let’s fill our hearts with goodwill and honor Ramadan by saying “Eid Mubarak” or Happy Eid to everyone who celebrates on a different day in the same town. The essence of Ramadan is joy and let’s not prick the bubble; God has not signed a pact with anyone behind other’s back to favor one and disfavor the other. Let’s allow God to be an honest God who is just, kind, merciful and loving as Quran says. Let’s rejoice the differences of interpretations. If you want to celebrate every day, go to every celebration.</div>
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In the spirit of Ramadan, I pray that Ramadan gets into our hearts and minds and make us embrace all factions of Muslims without undermining their tradition and further pray that we treat every human on the earth with dignity, respect, and care.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: blue; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Conflicts within</span></h2>
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The Shia-Sunni conflict we see in Iraq is new to both groups of Muslims, conflicts have always been there. The violence in conflict is new and took birth after our invasion of Iraq, which sowed the seeds of division. Shamefully, the Shia and Sunni played right into it. Our short-sighted foreign policy is pitting Saudi Arabia against Iran. Iran is not a threat to anyone, it is the false propaganda by Netanyahu, and the salesmanship of defense contractors to sell Arms to Saudi, and the Saudi monarchs have bought the idea.</div>
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I wish we could sell peace and democratic education that will benefit everyone in the long haul. I pray, the leadership of these two nations make a bold move and meet in Singapore and hash out the differences.</div>
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In the spirit of Ramadan, I hope the Pakistani people will wake up and fix the discriminative clauses in their constitution towards minorities, particularly the belligerent attitudes towards Ahmadiyya Muslims. If Ramadan cannot purify us, not sure what will. As Iqbal would have said it, “tujhe kya milega ramzan may ” – that what is the point in observing Ramadan if it does not purify you? I wish Muslims choose to follow the foundation of Islam; Amin, that is caring for every human being and seeking peace and harmony by respecting the otherness of others. No human is more privileged than the other and only God is the judge of one’s faith.</div>
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That is indeed the wisdom expressed in Qur’an, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: “O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of God, is the best in conduct. God Knows and is Aware of everything you do.”</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: blue; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Muslims must do this</span></h2>
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I urge Muslims around the world to take a minute to stop and appreciate the men and women who serve our nation, police, firefighters and others who are out there for the safety of individuals and families. I have done this time and again, and I always remember the Louisville experience, where the police officer asked me to forward the email to him, asking Muslims to appreciate them, and after the Eid prayers, he had forwarded it to many police officers.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: blue; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What else? </span></h2>
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Everything you always wanted to know about Ramadan is here at <a href="http://www.ramadannews.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.RamadanNews.com</a></div>
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Ramadan around the world at <a href="http://ramadannews.com/videos-ramdan-around-the-wordl/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ramadannews.com/videos-ramdan-around-the-wordl/</a></div>
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Ramadan Commercials by McDonald at <a href="http://ramadannews.com/ramadan-commercials/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ramadannews.com/ramadan-commercials/</a></div>
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Ramadan Culinary at <a href="http://ramadannews.com/ramadan-traditions/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ramadannews.com/ramadan-traditions/</a></div>
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The essence of Ramadan at <a href="http://ramadannews.com/essence-of-ramadan-may-be-traceable-in-your-faith/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ramadannews.com/essence-of-ramadan-may-be-traceable-in-your-faith/</a></div>
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What does God want? http://ramadannews.com/happy-ramadan-what-does-god-really-want/</div>
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You can also read “The Rituals of Ramadan” followed by the “Spirit of Ramadan”.<br />Usually, Arabic Speaking people call it Ramadan, all others call is Ramzan, both are acceptable terms.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There should be at least 100 ways of wishing the festivities:</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ramadan Mubarak!<br />Salamat Hari Raya<br />Eid Mubarak<br />İyi Ramazanlar<br />Ramadan Kareem<br />Hayırlı Ramazanlar<br />Hoşgeldin Ramazan,<br />Happy Eid-ul-Fitr</em></div>
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If you know the greetings in any other language, please send an email to MuslimVision2020@gmail.com to be included for the next Eid.</div>
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Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day through the <a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Center for Pluralism</a> and <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">World Muslim Congress</a> and its affiliate sites including <a href="http://www.ramadannews.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.RamadanNews.com</a> and <a href="http://www.ramadannews.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</a> and <a href="http://www.interfaithspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.InterfaithSpeaker.com</a></div>
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height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="312" /> <img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-664" src="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-15-300x193.jpg" height="185" sizes="(max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px" srcset="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-15-300x193.jpg 300w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-15-768x494.jpg 768w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-15-624x401.jpg 624w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-15.jpg 950w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="288" /> <img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-667" src="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-0-287x300.jpg" height="317" sizes="(max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px" srcset="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-0-287x300.jpg 287w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-0.jpg 450w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="303" /> <img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-670" src="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-3-278x300.jpg" height="317" sizes="(max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px" srcset="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-3-278x300.jpg 278w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-3-768x829.jpg 768w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-3-948x1024.jpg 948w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-3-624x674.jpg 624w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-3.jpg 1000w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="294" /><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-665" src="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-16-300x188.jpg" height="176" sizes="(max-width: 281px) 100vw, 281px" srcset="http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-16-300x188.jpg 300w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-16-768x480.jpg 768w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-16-1024x640.jpg 1024w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-16-624x390.jpg 624w, http://ramadannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RamadanMubarak-16.jpg 1440w" style="border: 0px; 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<div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 1.71429rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day through the <a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Center for Pluralism</a> and <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">World Muslim Congress</a> and its affiliate sites including <a href="http://www.ramadannews.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.RamadanNews.com</a> and <a href="http://www.ramadannews.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</a> and <a href="http://www.interfaithspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.InterfaithSpeaker.com</a></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-274423315815091642018-04-02T18:14:00.001-06:002018-04-02T18:14:12.712-06:00Hate a Muslim Day - Live video<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Live Video<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MikeGhouse2/videos/1837664629618930/?t=1">https://www.facebook.com/MikeGhouse2/videos/1837664629618930/?t=1</a><br /><br />Write up is at <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2018/04/hate-muslim-day-april-3-2018.html">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2018/04/hate-muslim-day-april-3-2018.html</a><br />
<br />
Mike Ghouse</div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-31517203289139374222018-04-02T16:23:00.003-06:002018-04-02T16:48:06.657-06:00Hate a Muslim Day - April 3, 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A handful of misguided individuals have set the date of April 3rd to harm a Muslim on this day. Forgive them, lord, for they know not! Hating others will do a lot of unsettling to the hater, but very little to the hated. There is no need to hate anyone or love anyone either. Just live your life and let other's live theirs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5220" src="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/No-need-to-love-300x214.jpg" height="285" width="400" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You have a right to free speech, indeed, it is a God-given right and we are not concerned about it, but we are concerned that you did not have a dialogue with Muslims to see if your hate is valid. I will be happy to address your concerns. Call me or text me at (214) 325-1916, let's talk. (Serious calls only). If we all can abide by the laws of the land, all of us will be safe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Center for Pluralism is a community affiliate member of the Shoulder to Shoulder campaign. We are committed to building a cohesive America where every American feels included. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of us then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Our vision is to see each one of us live securely in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Shoulder to Shoulder is a coalition of many a faith groups formed to counter Islamophobia and bring coherence to chaotic situations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A lot of work needs to be done, with your donations we can do more - <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcenterforpluralism.com%2Fdonate%2F&h=ATPoWXwjx1hjQHSV5xQHo9ijVtZ97gG-TbWCoMzTVa8eLY0kf1XkHDjXP-x6kNiBOzKZxvvvEb_6q7_NexImt4vs3v6JDdOa-zouEfMQ7GxUXm1mO855f_vZi0lJifHskKktJsIRaSkGWSLwo2k" href="http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Watch this clip about free speech <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9vQs1IcSdYA&h=ATPVc3CHhDSK-rP9Z_r45bjDDFYbCGlBj7RhNEzNkRcgn7gAfGzZmsMKeu5MZqZEOpC5uoww54aMY03cLQjU_ZO8RzNcPssPBDyQm-5Ic06fx9MFXWT0mIZxNokAw7kCQMxyIw3v5NFYUsg1FUI" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQs1IcSdYA</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"># # #</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong><br /></strong> On April 2, Shoulder to Shoulder issued the following statement, in response to a recent wave of anti-Muslim threats. We are alarmed by the recent wave of anti-Muslim flyers, promoting "Punish a Muslim Day" on April 3, that have been seen in several US cities and on social media, after they originally surfaced in London. We stand in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors against any and all acts of hate speech and violence, and reiterate the commitment of religious groups from across the spectrum to working together for inclusive and respectful communities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hate has no home in the United States, and no one should fear for their safety because of how they look, where they come from, or how they pray. Together, we must work to uphold our national ideals of dignity, equality, and religious freedom for all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Read and share the statement here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What can YOU do? Below are some resources for responding to these threats:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Speak up: Use social media to voice your solidarity with Muslims on April 3. Find some samples and resources through the <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/knowyourneighbor?source=feed_text"><span class="_5afx"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz">#</span><span class="_58cm">KnowYourNeighbor</span></span></a>campaign here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2. Reach out to your Muslim neighbors: Particularly in light of these threats, offer your support and solidarity. Recognize the psychological toll that threats like these take on your friends and neighbors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. Share resources for reporting hate: If you or someone you know experiences a hate incident, you can report it to Muslim Advocates, who will follow up with support; or you can contact the pro-bono legal team at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee at legal@adc.org.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4. Deepen your relationships with Muslims in your community. Reach out to info@s2scampaign.org if you'd like some help in taking the first step.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike Ghouse,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Center for Pluralism</span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-35520009933068991172018-01-18T21:00:00.000-06:002018-01-18T21:00:03.975-06:00Sexual harassment in the Jewish community and Solutions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sexual harassment is rampant in every group of people with no exception. The uncivil men among men feel entitled to women, every woman that they see. The #Metoo movement is a good beginning to end such harassment and treat every man and woman as equal and respecting the sanctity of each individual. This news is the same for Muslims, just have to switch the names - Mosque instead of Synagogue, Muslim in place of Jews.<br /><br />A few Muslims are arrogant that Islam protects women, yes it does, but Muslims are men. One of the sentences in the following article is a perfect descriptor, "</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Despite our moral code, however, sexual misconduct in the Jewish community too often goes unaddressed." Replace Jewish with Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh or the other. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br />Mike Ghouse</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Courtesy: <a href="https://www.jta.org/2018/01/16/news-opinion/opinion/6-ways-to-address-sexual-harassment-in-the-jewish-community">JTA.org, January 16, 2018</a><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><br />
<h1 class="loop-entry-title" itemprop="headline" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.10526; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">6 ways to address sexual harassment in the Jewish community</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(<a href="http://jta.org/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JTA</a>) — #MeToo. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/groups/1503695826381063/?ref%3Dbr_rs&source=gmail&ust=1516204971291000&usg=AFQjCNGfCQz_KSHG9GF1CIrQ_sJuVwDjIA" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1503695826381063/?ref=br_rs" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">#GamAni</a>. The stories are numerous and painful. They span decades and reach every corner of the Jewish community. Enough is enough. The time is now for us to finally and fully address sexual harassment in Jewish institutional life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When it comes to sexual harassment, Jewish teachings are unequivocal: We are obligated to put an end to the behavior for the sake of the victim, the perpetrator and the community as a whole. Despite our moral code, however, sexual misconduct in the Jewish community too often goes unaddressed. As Hollywood, media and government offices grapple with their ethical challenges, it is clear we need a reckoning of our own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When the <span class="il" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Good</span> <span class="il" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">People</span> <span class="il" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fund</span> surveyed Jewish professionals in 2017, it found that sexual harassment is perceived by respondents to be tolerated in Jewish organizations. Female CEOs, fundraisers and rabbis frequently report problems in their interactions with donors and lay leaders. Female employees report feeling some level of harassment is inevitable, and most believe — and some have left the field as a result — that their organizations are ineffective at preventing or addressing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, the recent <a href="http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/new-leading-edge-report-details-results-of-2nd-annual-employee-engagement-survey/?utm_source=Nov.+22%2C+2017&utm_campaign=Wed+Nov+22&utm_medium=email" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leading Edge study</a> found that only two-thirds of employees of Jewish organizations report that they are aware of their organization’s sexual harassment policies, and only about one-third know what to do or where to go if they experience harassment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The time is now to end this reality. The time is now to move from talk to action. The time is now for us to commit to acting individually and collectively to build safer, more respectful and equitable places to work. We must come together across political, denominational and gender lines to address the power dynamics and structural inequalities that allow harassment and abuse to take root. We must raise the bar of fairness and equality in our workplaces, institutions and the spaces in between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To succeed, we need to advance cultural and practical change. We at the Schusterman Foundation are joining with other foundations and organizations to explore how we can help create systemic change in Jewish communal life on both fronts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are five crucial areas in which we can and must act:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ensure accountability</strong><br />To eliminate harassment in our community, all of us — funders, nonprofit professionals and lay leaders — must hold ourselves and our organizations accountable. I envision a pledge, akin to the Child Safety Pledge, committing us to uphold safety and respect in and around the Jewish workplace as an important step forward. A common pledge — backed by tangible resources and collective action — could ensure that organizations walk their talk and actively pursue today’s best practices for preventing and responding to sexual harassment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Exhibit leadership</strong><br />Committed, engaged organizational and philanthropic leaders are critical to changing the status quo. Thanks to the outstanding work of Commissioners Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic, who led the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, <a href="https://www1.eeoc.gov//eeoc/publications/promising-practices.cfm?renderforprint=1" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">we know that</a> “the cornerstone of a successful harassment prevention strategy is the consistent and demonstrated commitment of senior leaders to create and maintain a culture in which harassment is not tolerated.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those in leadership positions must start by refraining from and putting an end to adverse behavior. Jewish leaders need to show they will not stand for or accept sexual harassment and take proactive steps to promote a safe, respectful Jewish organizational culture. Funders, too, must commit to this work — not just for the organizations we support, but also to help equalize the relationship between donors and Jewish professionals, and to strengthen our own internal cultures.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Refresh policies and procedures</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the wake of #MeToo, every Jewish organization must have in place the modern infrastructure of a safe workplace, including transparent policies, consistent training and protected reporting methods. The EEOC recommendations are clear on this front as well. Healthy work environments need “strong and comprehensive harassment policies; trusted and accessible complaint procedures; and regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to updating our own policies and procedures, those who serve as funders can request anti-harassment and discrimination policies in our grant applications, share sample templates and best practices with grantees, and refer them to expert resources.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Train staff and boards</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Annual, ideally in-person training of staff and boards are vital and can be customized to the fields and organizations they serve. They can transcend the harasser-victim dichotomy and focus on more effective methods, such as empowering bystanders and helping employees understand how they can advocate for one another. For models, we can look to the Respect in the Workplace training currently offered by the <a href="http://www.jwfny.org/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York</a> or to those <a href="https://www.keshetonline.org/work/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keshet</a> provides on tolerance and inclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Facilitate reporting</strong><br />Every employee in the Jewish sector should know and trust their organization’s reporting structure. One of the most common refrains is that employees do not know who to turn to if they experience or witness harassment. This is equally true at foundations and all other kinds of nonprofits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is incumbent upon us as Jews that our reporting structures allow for fair consideration and due process for both the accuser and the accused. To that end, it is worth considering external reporting structures like those suggested by Yehuda Kurtzer and Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, who have called for the creation of a neutral platform for those seeking redress without fear of retribution. We may also consider the use of ombudsmen or new tools like <a href="https://allvoices.co/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">AllVoices</a>, an app-based reporting service under development.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Equal opportunity</strong><br />Beyond these five areas, the most important way to create sustainable change in our community is to ensure that women are treated equitably and have opportunities to advance to top leadership roles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Starting today, we must help elevate women’s voices in Jewish life. We must advocate for pay equity for comparable roles. We must include more women on CEO search committees and candidate interview lists. We must mentor and sponsor women in advancing in their careers. We must, as <a href="http://advancingwomen.org/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Advancing Women Professionals</a>has taught us, make the choice not to serve on or support panels, committees and initiatives where women are not represented. When we raise up women, we raise up everyone — especially those of diverse, underrepresented backgrounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, we can make an inclusive, safe and respectful environment a key element of great Jewish workplaces. In doing so, we will create spaces free from harassment, gender disparagement and bias; make our offices models of what a modern workplace should be; and usher in a new era of leadership that better reflects and supports the people and communities we serve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s make 2018 the year we live up to the steadfast ethics of our people and put an end to sexual harassment in the Jewish community once and for all. Let’s join together to create a culture in which nobody ever again has to say #MeToo or #GamAni.</span></div>
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<em style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Lisa Eisen is the vice president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, a global organization committed to igniting the passion and unleashing the power in young people to create positive change; www.schusterman.org.)</span></em></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-16016542690098307192018-01-18T15:40:00.002-06:002018-01-18T15:40:34.034-06:00Quran (Koran) Translations Galore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">The first Quran was translated in the year 1142, and it was commissioned by the European Kings to Paint Islam as a bad religion, and they frightened their subjects that Muhammad was going to slaughter the people of Europe if they don't stand up against the advancing Arab armies. The work was carried out by the French Abbey for a fee. They coined word the word "Mohammedan" religion for Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">It is a big story I would like to tell, as it is easier than writing it out. Please read the full story with many videos and write-ups at<a href="http://www.quraanconference.com/" style="color: #4a5d7c; text-decoration-line: none;">www.QuraanConference.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Quran is a book of guidance in building cohesive societies where no human has to live in fear or apprehension of the other; it is as simple as that. I usually refer to at least 5 different translations to get the essence of a single verse, and of course, our formula to understand the Quran is to read three verses before and three verses after a given verse to understand the context and meaning behind the verse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">However, every faith including yours has a % of people who do things that go against the very teaching of the faith they claim to espouse. That is an insignificant number and less than 1/10th of 1% of any group.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Over the years, I have collected about 20 different translations for reference. A few are in this picture. I have also visited the Library of Congress and checked Jefferson's copy of Quran translation by George Sale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><b>You may like this article in Dallas Morning News</b>;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece" style="color: #4a5d7c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">By Steve Blow, sblow@dallasnews.com Published 19 September 2010 02:28 AM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be your hero.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">It is hard to imagine that anyone has worked harder than the Carrollton resident to demonstrate the peaceful and moderate side of Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">And that effort includes personally visiting Dallas' First Baptist Church last Sunday just to put a friendly face on the "evil, evil religion" that the Rev. Robert Jeffress denounced a few weeks before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"It was wonderful," Ghouse said of the visit. "We were so warmly received."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">He hopes a quick chat with Jeffress will be the start of a deeper discussion about Islam and the importance of respect between religions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"I want to have a dialogue with him, not to say he is wrong but to share another point of view," Ghouse said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">The 57-year-old Muslim was born in India and has lived in the United States for 30 years. He owns a small property management firm. But most of his day is devoted to building bridges between people of different faiths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"It is my passion," he said in his distinctive raspy voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">He has been a guest a dozen times on Sean Hannity's TV and radio talk shows. "I don't like the way Sean cuts me off, but I have to honor him for giving the American public a semblance of another point of view."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">In the Middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"It was all for politics," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"If he can, I will convert. I will join his church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his statements and become a peacemaker."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Ghouse acknowledges that deep problems persist within Islam. "Three steps forward, two steps back," he said with a sigh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">And he agrees that mainstream Muslims have not done enough to counter violent images of their faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"That is very true," he said. "But part of it is that many Muslims have given up hope that we will ever be heard."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">He said repeated denunciations of terrorism seem to fall on deaf ears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">And some efforts have backfired – like the proposed Islamic information center in New York. He said it should be hailed for furthering the moderate Muslim cause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Instead, it has deepened hostility toward Muslims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">I have been astounded by the amount of anti-Islam propaganda that circulates via e-mail. Tons of it has come my way in the last few weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">One theme is that people like Mike Ghouse can't be trusted, that Islam encourages deception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">But Ghouse says actions speak louder than words. And he points to elections in Muslim nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">More than half of Muslims live in countries with some degree of democracy. And time and time again, Islamist parties are overwhelmingly rejected in favor of secular, mainstream parties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"The religious parties don't get more than 3 percent of the vote," Ghouse said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Polls show deep mistrust of Muslims. "But the most important question in those surveys is: ‘Do you know anything about Islam?' " Ghouse said. "Most people say no."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">What keeps him going is faith in Americans, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"The majority of Americans, if they know the truth, they will change their minds."<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"># # #<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer, thinker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Islam, India and Civil Societies passionately offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-68328273536597062772018-01-14T21:16:00.000-06:002018-01-14T21:16:13.177-06:00Muslim success Stories - Jewish-Muslim romance shaped one of India’s biggest pharma giants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a story of Muslim-Jewish romance and it is worth reading and reflecting. The article “How a Muslim-Jewish romance shaped one of India’s biggest pharma giants” is the courtesy of Dawn News Paper and is appended below with gratitude. It has all the elements of harmony, and the efforts of individuals to build cohesive societies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Interfaith romance and marriages have been around for ever, thank God, they have become common in the United States. Nearly 40% of the marriages are interfaith and interracial, and 50% of of Jewish marriages are interfaith. Our nation will continue to lead the world in accepting the otherness of other religions, cultures, politics and ethnicities and I pray other nations follow us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To paraphrase Goethe, “Once you are committed to an idea or an act, all sorts of things will occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.” This wisdom has been a source of inspiration to me, somehow I stumble into articles on building cohesive societies in a variety of ways.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This man’s mission is inspiring and what he has done in social and religious pluralism is admirable. As a Muslim myself, I am deeply committed to building cohesive societies and I will do my share of work in building bridges between the communities, particularly between Jews and Muslims, Jews and Christians, Hindus and Muslims and Hindus and Abrahamic traditions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If Muslims and Jews can work on producing a sense of security to Israelis and Justice to the Palestinians, most of the conflicts will fade and solutions emerge. All they have to do is drop their non-nonsensical thoughts they harbor about getting even with the other, showing who has the upper hand, and proving the other to be wrong… and simply focus on looking in the eyes of each others’ children and make a commitment – I will not dump our problems on you, and I will not make life difficult for you when you grow up. I will do all I can to make your life better than we had so you guys can live in harmony. We will work on teaching you to eat, drink, school and play together to create a society we want. Before 1948, Jews and Muslims were each others sanctuaries and safety nets, we can do it again and create an exemplary world for all humanity to live in harmony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we get the funding, we will have a research arm for every faith from Atheism to Zoroastrianism and every one in between. We will be holding training classes in summer for one to be a Pluralist – i.e., one who respects the otherness of others and validates the uniqueness of the other without diminishing his own political, religious, social or cultural tradition. We have many programs to accomplish that and we invite supporters to run the program in their name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope to go on a tour in the US, listening and talking about building a cohesive America, where we appreciate the otherness of others and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one. Quran guides Muslims to be inclusive and build cohesive societies with pluralism as its foundation, and I hope we can reach out to those few Muslims who did not get that message.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the center for pluralism we continue to research on all aspects of Pluralism; politics, religion, society and culture. I have a lot of admiration for interfaith and inter-racial couples for they are setting the new standards of harmony around the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Enjoy the article now and let me know if you did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can find more articles like this at <a href="http://www.pluralismnews.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.PluralismNews.com </a>a part of the Center for Pluralism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Mike Ghouse</span><br /><span style="color: #444444;">Mike@CenterforPluralism.com</span><a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.CenterforPluralism.com </a><br /><span style="color: #444444;">www.InterfaithMarriages.org</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">How a Muslim-Jewish romance shaped one of India’s biggest pharma giants</span></span></h2>
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<span style="line-height: 17.71px;"><a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1235502" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Courtesy Dawn.com, January 27, 2016</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1992, the editor of <i>The Times of India </i>telephoned one of Mumbai’s most prominent businessmen, Yusuf K Hamied. The editor asked Hamied, “as a Muslim leader” his opinion on communal riots that were taking place in the city.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hamied replied: “Why aren’t you asking me as an Indian Jew? Because my name is Hamied? My mother was Jewish!” His maternal grandparents had perished in the Holocaust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">KA Hamied and Luba Hamied.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hamied, the chairman of one of India’s largest pharmaceutical firms, Cipla, is the son of an aristocratic Muslim scientist from India and a Jewish Communist from what is now Lithuania.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Defined by his parents’ extraordinary marriage, he unites his father’s scientific skills, business acumen, and Indian patriotism with his mother’s compassion for the less fortunate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He charges the Western pharmaceutical industry with “holding three billion people in the Third World to ransom by using their monopoly status to charge higher prices,” and has devoted himself to making life-saving inexpensive generic medications for the inhabitants of poorer countries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Yusuf K Hamied: Maker of generic life-saving medications and scourge of the giant multi-national pharmaceutical houses.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yusuf’s father: Khwaja Abdul Hamied (1898 - 1972)</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yusuf Hamied’s father, Khwaja Abdul (K.A.) Hamied, was born in Aligarh. His paternal grandfather Khwaja Abdul Ali (1862-1948) traced his lineage through spiritual guides to the Mughal emperors of India back to Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar (1403-1490), a great Naqshbandi Sufi in Uzbekistan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His mother, Masud Jehan Begum (1872-1957), came from the family of Shah Shuja ul-Mulk, the pro-British Amir of Afghanistan (1803-1809 and 1839-1842), whose family fled to India after his assassination in an anti-British uprising. Khwaja Abdul Ali’s uncle was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1819-1898), the great Muslim educational and social reformer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR50A6wc4TN87H7Z3RFRgJiMyNYfwtXYTnKWZmXmP1TEfG2EXtLQyBkLrwzuZCMb5cID44tuDvIsNjpsbLSlwq2-Fv-pKL_FbduN817xfLtTv4hYRBsXouJa2cst-7GUEddUQs7fFhmQQ/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR50A6wc4TN87H7Z3RFRgJiMyNYfwtXYTnKWZmXmP1TEfG2EXtLQyBkLrwzuZCMb5cID44tuDvIsNjpsbLSlwq2-Fv-pKL_FbduN817xfLtTv4hYRBsXouJa2cst-7GUEddUQs7fFhmQQ/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-4.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><br />KA Hamied with his his father, brothers, nieces, and son Yusuf.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9x1rkJrPtg3F2RuXWusJPr8bdgP0u0mQGL5tXc_fvr-HHULaa_vwGsUq5UTmLHOL7spWMkaafmzrWHRRDMKR1tV2CUzhv1P6JvsQlYKKjIpAQyYcrteBfiHjUlDr3ncT7aDQmOJqw_qk/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9x1rkJrPtg3F2RuXWusJPr8bdgP0u0mQGL5tXc_fvr-HHULaa_vwGsUq5UTmLHOL7spWMkaafmzrWHRRDMKR1tV2CUzhv1P6JvsQlYKKjIpAQyYcrteBfiHjUlDr3ncT7aDQmOJqw_qk/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-5.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The family of KA Hamied</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Khwaja Abdul Ali entered the judicial service of the British government in India, but his son KA Hamied passionately opposed “the evils of foreign rule”. When Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement called for a boycott of government-run educational institutions, Hamied organised a strike at his school, Muir Central College. As a result, he was expelled from the university, then arrested when he tried to disrupt graduation ceremonies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hamied then returned to Aligarh, where Muslim nationalist leaders founded a new university, Jamia Millia Islamia, which refused government funding. Hamied taught chemistry there. He also supervised the production and sale of <i>khadi</i>, or homespun cloth, which Gandhi had made a central element of Indian nationalism. At his maternal uncle’s home, he first met Gandhi as well as Motilal Nehru and his son Jawaharlal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1bM1AAHf-xt3XQhaqHZu-UByi1vnrtLuqWoy28AMfkf8UljA1V2cV7tnNinfN-_r7F9xwBrhyphenhyphenSL4NePbJVutUw3eOmUqlRTWliiTdSeT1tJWUX0Nci47MWF1sew2WgpUnAVyNlocbLs/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="800" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1bM1AAHf-xt3XQhaqHZu-UByi1vnrtLuqWoy28AMfkf8UljA1V2cV7tnNinfN-_r7F9xwBrhyphenhyphenSL4NePbJVutUw3eOmUqlRTWliiTdSeT1tJWUX0Nci47MWF1sew2WgpUnAVyNlocbLs/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-6.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">KA Hamied was active in Indian Political affairs throughout his life</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-2jkGaegzgMUEwE1HcFcDAfLprDvMKDSaziWEbWhTiQaE8gNP-qtFHbw1fCrrO8OYyxiGEy9LlobewDOu57gbyinTIEIV5FWLiX6Vkdssr4rU7fhZbTH0MpvlTnPISjVNLTZ4z2lkHQ/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-2jkGaegzgMUEwE1HcFcDAfLprDvMKDSaziWEbWhTiQaE8gNP-qtFHbw1fCrrO8OYyxiGEy9LlobewDOu57gbyinTIEIV5FWLiX6Vkdssr4rU7fhZbTH0MpvlTnPISjVNLTZ4z2lkHQ/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-7.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">KA and Luba Hamied with his good friend Zakir Hussain (second from left) who became President of India</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While teaching at Jamia, KA Hamied began a lifelong friendship with Zakir Husain, who went on to become the President of India. Hamied and Hussain later left for Germany to pursue graduate studies. Hamied studied with one of the world’s leading chemists, Professor A Rosenheim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yusuf’s mother: Luba Derczanska (1903 - 1991)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One day in 1925, Hamied joined some friends on a lake cruise near Berlin. One of the passengers on the boat was a young woman named Luba Derczanska. Luba was born in Wilno in Russian Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) and had come to Berlin to study. From their first meeting, the romance between Abdul Hamied and Luba Derczanska blossomed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1928, Hamied married Luba in Berlin’s only mosque, and the following year they were again married in the Choral Synagogue in Wilno and the marriage was “solemnised” at a Register Office in London.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Footprints: <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1146350" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #4444aa;">In defiance of bigoted times</span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luba was active in Communist circles in Berlin, and sought to bring her Indian beau into the movement: the first gift that she ever gave Hamied was a postcard of Lenin and for a time the couple were regulars at party meetings (later in life, Hamied had very strong reservations and concerns about Communism). Hamied was a prominent member of Indian revolutionary circles in India.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDPF7wk8VBK-6TDQfXhMsBoL0XbMINwGKWbYFu4x5cme9YWucV1BypMn_g_IF6qWFTfHr8GqPe88pwxR6MeVQWD7dneyFiE9hhxYSlEPAFSVI0LKI4rKnM8PQ3m26SwFynwXUAvSWPfik/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="800" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDPF7wk8VBK-6TDQfXhMsBoL0XbMINwGKWbYFu4x5cme9YWucV1BypMn_g_IF6qWFTfHr8GqPe88pwxR6MeVQWD7dneyFiE9hhxYSlEPAFSVI0LKI4rKnM8PQ3m26SwFynwXUAvSWPfik/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-8.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Berlin, 1928: KA Hamied and Luba with Maulana Mahommad Ali (trademark crescent on his hat), the leader of the Khilafat Movement.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Their parents were open-minded and welcoming, and the warmth with which Luba’s parents Rubin and Paulina greeted Hamied on his first visit to Wilno was matched by the welcome extended to Luba by Abdul Ali and Masud Jehan when she went to Aligarh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zD3hAAUvsZXg8I_ov-it0MfpLKutYU_eb5Hoz31BvVKLcIA1aoZ7172P7r15_5U2XE1t7GkRL6PcCVvjMI1uVkRCkZTTMu6MSg3EJCoegrJ47tW5jzxEXuOVy-_dox3aqm6drLRGdjg/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="800" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zD3hAAUvsZXg8I_ov-it0MfpLKutYU_eb5Hoz31BvVKLcIA1aoZ7172P7r15_5U2XE1t7GkRL6PcCVvjMI1uVkRCkZTTMu6MSg3EJCoegrJ47tW5jzxEXuOVy-_dox3aqm6drLRGdjg/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-9.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The Hamieds with Luba’s family in 1929. In the centre are Luba’s brother Zorach and aunt. Zorach Derczanski came to India in 1934. The aunt came to India in 1938 and was joined there in 1946 by her non-Jewish husband Arthur Taenzler, a German flying ace in World War I.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Their son Yusuf was born in Wilno during his parents’ last visit there before the Holocaust. Yusuf is the Arabic form of the Hebrew name Joseph. It was the name of Luba’s grandfather, and hence pleasing to her family, as well as the first name of the Polish president, Józef Piłsudski, and so flattering to the Hamieds’ Polish friends. A month after his birth, Yusuf’s parents took him back to Bombay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjf77PH-aybsIF2r4iz_Xw4ohKi3te5VxWHGzXN60W_GX9U9_HBrpPcc9c_Ki0Bv95EtmrLD1EbkEY95gw9yoBEg6dC_XbsZGojHg7InJh030nPMH0nfdQWcnGTa7rnjMbPr5H7tE2VI/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjf77PH-aybsIF2r4iz_Xw4ohKi3te5VxWHGzXN60W_GX9U9_HBrpPcc9c_Ki0Bv95EtmrLD1EbkEY95gw9yoBEg6dC_XbsZGojHg7InJh030nPMH0nfdQWcnGTa7rnjMbPr5H7tE2VI/s640/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-10.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="458" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The Hamieds with her Jewish parents and their children – Yusuf and Sophie.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHVs8keW_xcKYS1s7uuW7lifO29-ufmoYzceQCju2w4p7KuW_gK-k-j4b9aBNI-8tINnT5QzICk3BYvF1p_hxkRBjExCitRhbiQ-TbeQH4ilZVPuXuPdrUy_lmdocin4aXY_SO7R8CaM/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="800" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHVs8keW_xcKYS1s7uuW7lifO29-ufmoYzceQCju2w4p7KuW_gK-k-j4b9aBNI-8tINnT5QzICk3BYvF1p_hxkRBjExCitRhbiQ-TbeQH4ilZVPuXuPdrUy_lmdocin4aXY_SO7R8CaM/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-11.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><br />Yusuf and Sophie with their paternal grandmother Masud Jehan Begum, who descended from the family of Amir Shuja ul-Mulk of Afghanistan.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though Luba was not an observant Jew, her son Yusuf chose to memorialise her in the most active Indian synagogue. He heavily supported the reconstruction of the Shaar Hashamaim Synagogue in Thane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1I6lpVgdg_Pr1uBAHlG8W5cXGQ6YGu4KG5P8MhgSezxfVt7WmS4b82UBP4L2OV6hv5XOBubtZUUgLZvpXA5IEDJ_CnICF8T7caEdYn_kYiN0P6UBFlvDbEOnxF3O8VE7NV_BzjwMRsQ/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="800" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1I6lpVgdg_Pr1uBAHlG8W5cXGQ6YGu4KG5P8MhgSezxfVt7WmS4b82UBP4L2OV6hv5XOBubtZUUgLZvpXA5IEDJ_CnICF8T7caEdYn_kYiN0P6UBFlvDbEOnxF3O8VE7NV_BzjwMRsQ/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-12.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Shaar Hashamaim Synagogue in Thane.</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Religious views<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KA Hamied defined himself as an Indian who happened to be a Muslim, and he became openly hostile to the Muslim League. He rejected the notion that Hindus and Muslims were “separate nations” as Muhammad Ali Jinnah argued. Unlike his brothers, who opted for Pakistan, he always hoped for reconciliation in India between Hindus and Muslims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Take a look: <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1046956" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #4444aa;">Karachi's 'Yahoodi Masjid'</span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a speech to the Inter-Religious Seminar in Delhi on October 18, 1971, KA Hamied said that the “study of religion is my special hobby” and that “the basic attributes of this mysterious power, by whatever name we call it, are the same in all religions.” He said that “an ideal man must be a good man by virtue of his actions in society (and) may belong to any religion so long as he follows the tenets of his religion”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrABzHSoxaJSTxRImVSkCN64TWgxev2c-pd-TP0ItAbGEnDU7_KFnzMQMO9Ox8iknvy28Dp2VNrycX-Pe5aa5bqUkNojKuNCOOQEcIhKfD6kRLAO-Vnojt1cx4HI1mybObGR3MB1Qq_HU/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="800" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrABzHSoxaJSTxRImVSkCN64TWgxev2c-pd-TP0ItAbGEnDU7_KFnzMQMO9Ox8iknvy28Dp2VNrycX-Pe5aa5bqUkNojKuNCOOQEcIhKfD6kRLAO-Vnojt1cx4HI1mybObGR3MB1Qq_HU/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-13.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">KA Hamied believed that there should be “no compulsion in religion”.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Hamied always enthusiastically urged a partnership between Jews and Muslims. He loved to talk about Islamic Spain, where Jews and Muslims had joined to create a golden age, and once said that “if the Jews, with their wealth, knowledge and scientific skill and Arabs made a common cause, they would have a strong empire covering West Asia and the entire coast of South Mediterranean”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He always emphasised that “the Arabs and Israelis should see the necessity of getting out of this whirlpool of Russian and Western power politics” and “sit together at a round table conference away from Western powers to thrash out their differences and carve out a new future based on ancient friendship, alliance and mutual regard”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Holocaust<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He regularly visited Germany, where he had many friends, as well as business dealings. Once, the Germans mistook him for a Jew and insulted him. He foresaw something far worse than discrimination and insults, and urged his Jewish friends to leave Germany. They insisted that as members of the intellectual élite, they had nothing to worry about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The horrors of the Holocaust were to touch Hamied and Luba directly. In June 1941, Nazi troops occupied Wilno, and almost immediately began the extermination of the city’s Jews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luba’s siblings survived: her brother Zorach was working for Hamied in Bombay, and her Communist sisters had escaped to Moscow before the coming of the Germans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, the Nazis murdered her elderly parents who were unable to emigrate. Hamied tried to obtain visas so his in-laws could come to India. The papers finally came through two weeks after the Derczanskis were killed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Take a look: <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1173898" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #4444aa;">The sole synagogue of Delhi</span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Their son Yusuf was very moved when in 2008, during a visit to his birthplace, Vilnius, he went to the Ponary Forest, where German units massacred up to 100,000 people, the great majority of them Jews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently, he commissioned statues of Gandhi and his Lithuanian Jewish disciple Hermann Kallenbach in Vilnius. In honour of his mother, he sponsored a concert there by his life-long friend, the conductor Zubin Mehta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yusuf, though focused on the lessons of the Holocaust, does not feel threatened personally as a Jew. He sees anti-Muslim mob violence in Bombay as particularly chilling, since to him it evokes the fear that Indian Muslims may share the same fate as European Jews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He remembers his father’s stories of Jewish friends who believed that their elevated place in society would protect them, and he says that Indian Muslims who echo this sentiment are as naive as European Jews were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Cipla journey<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After several years in India, Hamied gained success as a businessman, and in 1935 he founded the Chemical, Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratories or CIPLA. It has since become one of India’s most important pharmaceutical companies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ltv2N6xt_M5xjiXhRv5emxE2EvlyRTaDVdzAS7iHdo_T82BWdnPeyRKnISgyl-9FSNaPXfdECtwbxlXpbtsJANMDyP7ldoyg7_vjyN2uFfp62Wss-yR4xYxPepL23r7FhCJoCSwNpt0/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ltv2N6xt_M5xjiXhRv5emxE2EvlyRTaDVdzAS7iHdo_T82BWdnPeyRKnISgyl-9FSNaPXfdECtwbxlXpbtsJANMDyP7ldoyg7_vjyN2uFfp62Wss-yR4xYxPepL23r7FhCJoCSwNpt0/s640/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-14.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="460" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">KA And Yusuf Hamied created a successful multinational pharmaceutical company with a social conscience.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KA Hamied had written in <i>The Times of India</i> on December 11, 1964 that patent law should enforce “compulsory licensing” to other manufacturers to prevent monopolistic predatory pricing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Later, Yusuf picked up this same battle in the case of the astronomical pricing of AIDS medications by patent holders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By retro-engineering the first medication and antiretroviral cocktail effective against HIV and AIDS and selling them at a fraction of the price, he helped saved millions of lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM501AUXX1pxCKcwMaYTKwe2n2gjpue6kcgekIHyoDynPOVHXzWkyE2GKqHYHGqxppbKz__QoDpLw7MP6BVWFzs9CbLfVl1MJNYM78SYhZLo3doYoVXqWiVMmYIcKjOLN-xk3LPAzB31k/s1600/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="800" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM501AUXX1pxCKcwMaYTKwe2n2gjpue6kcgekIHyoDynPOVHXzWkyE2GKqHYHGqxppbKz__QoDpLw7MP6BVWFzs9CbLfVl1MJNYM78SYhZLo3doYoVXqWiVMmYIcKjOLN-xk3LPAzB31k/s400/Jewish-Muslim-Indian-15.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Yusuf Hamied addressing the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, 1976.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps with the murders of his own grandparents and six million other Jews in mind, Yusuf has called Big Pharma “global serial killers,” “traders in Death,” and “death profiteers”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He sees the lack of access to life-saving medication by poor people in the developing world due to cost as a form of “selective genocide in healthcare” driven by Big Pharma’s desire for profits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This article was originally published on <a href="http://cafedissensus.com/2016/01/07/a-story-of-the-holocaust-and-the-aids-epidemic-the-romance-of-an-indian-muslim-freedom-fighter-and-a-lithuanian-jewish-woman/" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4444aa;">Café Dissensus Magazine</span></a> and has been reproduced with permission.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.dawn.com/authors/5186/kenneth-x-robbins" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #0000bb;"></span></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr John McLeod holds a PhD in Indian history from the University of Toronto, and is Professor of History at the University of Louisville.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr Kenneth X. Robbins is a collector and independent scholar. He has curated more than a dozen Indian exhibits and five scholarly conferences.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.dawn.com/authors/5187/john-mcleod" style="color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #4444aa;"></span></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr John McLeod holds a PhD in Indian history from the University of Toronto, and is Professor of History at the University of Louisville.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr Kenneth X. Robbins is a collector and independent scholar. He has curated more than a dozen Indian exhibits and five scholarly conferences.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The views expressed by this writer and commenters below do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-65672381056943186192018-01-12T16:53:00.001-06:002018-01-12T16:53:17.343-06:00Can a Muslim Woman Marry a Non-Muslim Man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ABSTRACT</div>
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Can a Muslim Woman Marry a Non-Muslim Man</div>
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The scope of this article is limited to Interfaith Marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men.</div>
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The sole intent of this essay is to preserve the future of “American Muslims” and keeping them within the fold by expanding the fold to be reflective of Allah’s unlimitedness and extending Prophet Muhammad’s mercy to the entire universe.</div>
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The answer to the question has always been an emphatic NO. Guarding the flock is a human trait and no tradition wants to lose a member of their tradition to the other, whether you are a Hindu, Christian, Sikh or a Jew, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or new, indeed, any tradition for that matter. Muslims are no exception either and there is no need to beat up on Islam for a deficiency incomprehension.</div>
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This paper explores on possible causes for the no response, and what happens if that cause is no more applicable.</div>
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Some of us may not want to acknowledge it, but American Muslims have their own Islam that differs from others in other lands, but precisely the same as what Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) practiced; a religion committed to building cohesive societies and caring for life and the environment.<br />If God would have said no to a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man, it would have been said in the Quran, there is not even an inference. God does not make mistakes; instead, he empowers us to figure out our own equilibrium.</div>
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This essay is merely an expression of what many American Muslims are thinking but are afraid to express. I am pleased to present some thoughts to reflect on; ultimately the decision to marry rests in the hearts and minds of the individuals marrying. It is their life and it is God who puts love in their hearts for each other.</div>
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Continued after the pictures<br /><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">FAMOUS COUPLES</strong></div>
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Mike Ghouse</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: #993300; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Can a Muslim Woman Marry a Non-Muslim Man?</span></h1>
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Preface:</div>
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It is easy to stick to the traditions, on one hand we save the hassles and the agonizing process of thinking, doubting and worry about failed marriage or family. On the other hand the change is inevitable as evidenced by our eating, sleeping, communicating, housing, clothing, moving, romancing and living habits which have changed steadily over one’s life time.</div>
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We have accepted the changes in all aspects of our lives over a period of time, and if it was not for the progressives, we would still be living in caves and many of us would not have lived beyond 50. We are doing what our Grand Parents could not have even imagined, and hopefully we will prepare ourselves to gracefully accept what our Grand Children will do.</div>
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When God created the universe, the chief products were life and matter. He chose the matter to run precisely as he programmed it (Quran 55:5-11) ; the Earth going around the Sun with precision, and the moon circumambulating around the Earth, the change of seasons, and how a seed becomes food through a precise process. The Jupiter, Moon or the Seed don’t make decisions (55:5), they just act according to a well defined program, and they don’t think nor do they have a brain either (Q 55:6) to act independently, except the built-in defense mechanisms.</div>
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Unlike the matter, humans were not put on a trajectory; they were given the freedom to determine their own equilibrium along with guidance. Remember God did not compel Adam but gave him the choices and honored it, he could have stopped Adam from eating the fruit but he did not. He probably told his angels, “Look, I gave them (Adam & Eve) a choice and if I do not honor my own word, who will? Adam chose what suited him, and God decided to upload “Freedom” into Adam’s DNA.</div>
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Indeed, the freedom to choose, freedom to believe, freedom to speak and freedom to live his life with consequences for each action is an inalienable right of every human. You see that embedded in Quran verse 2:256 – <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">La Ikraha Fi din</em> – No one can force the other to believe against his or her will. This idea was beefed up again with another sage advice elsewhere in the Quran where God advices the Prophet to do his work and not worry if people would listen to him or not. God says, let me be the decider to put in their heart to listen to you or not. It is purely because of the freedom clause God has incorporated into us. Islam is also called a deen of <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fitra</em>; that is human nature.</div>
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A few Muslims are conditioned to think in binary terms – Halal or Haram, Zero and One, Day and Night, Black and White and they are comfortable with it. They need to stick to their belief if that works for them and let others go with what works for them. No one should be compelled to believe otherwise.</div>
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If God would have said no to a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man, it would have been said in the Quran, there is not even an inference. God does not make mistakes; instead he empowers us to figure out our own equilibrium.</div>
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This issue is not religious, but cultural and is common to all societies and groups. It is more of a man feeling he is superior to a woman and that he is entitled to her body soul and mind. That is not how Quran communicates – no one is responsible for other’s deeds.</div>
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Entitlement is indeed a cultural value – the scholars were driven by the need of the time and stamped their cultural understanding as religious values. Cultural values are time sensitive whereas religious values are immortal. Our needs are different today than were the needs of times when Muslims decided on their own that a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man.<br />It is time for Muslims to think and reflect instead of becoming judgmental. God would have made us into a piece of rock if he did not want to us to think and make our own decisions.</div>
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Dr. Azizah Al-Hibri, a Muslim scholar explains the idea of ‘Ilah” in her book, “An Introduction to Muslim Women’s rights” that, “Islamic law is usually based on an Illah- justification and reason for an act. By agreement of scholars, when the Illah disappears, so must the law, unless there is another Illah for it. Much of our heritage of ijtihad, however, was formulated hundreds of years ago and has not been reexamined recently to determine whether ilal (plural of Illah) for the related laws are still in place. The latter observation is especially significant because systems of Islamic law have often incorporated customs of local communities within them, so long as such customs were not viewed as contradicting the Quran. This practice, incidentally, is part of the Quranic philosophy of celebrating, rather than obliterating or punishing diversity.”</div>
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This principle of Illah gets violated regularly. Here is an analogy to make the point. In case of rape, witnesses are required to prove that the rape happened. The emphasis here is on “proof” and today the DNA test is the best proof one can get. In a fatwa given in 2016, the Pakistani Ulema rejected the “proof” and insisted on witnesses. This is a classic case of getting stuck in rituals instead of understanding the essence of the rituals.</div>
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And the same “Ilah” for preventing a marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim man does not exist anymore in American life. We have to do our ijtihad – reasoning and justification must exist to prevent such union.</div>
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By the way, it is dumb to think that I am advocating a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man, if that is your binary conclusion; this article is not for you. This article is for those who are about to enter into a conflict zone and this piece gives them information to make their own thoughtful decision.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SCOPE OF THIS ARTICLE</strong></div>
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The scope of this article is limited to Interfaith Marriages and Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men. The follow up article will address who are the believers and why limit it to people of the book? Accountability is the “Ilah” here.</div>
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The question, can a Muslim woman marry a non-Muslim man has been around for a long time, and the answer has always been an emphatic NO. Guarding the flock is a human trait and no tradition wants to lose a member of their tradition to the other, whether you are a Hindu, Christian, Sikh or a Jew, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or new, indeed, any tradition for that matter. Muslims are no exception either and there is no need to beat up on Islam for your comprehension deficiency.</div>
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I have dedicated 20 years of my life into learning and analyzing the role of religion in the society. There isn’t a single religious group out there which allows interfaith marriages without hassle. Thank God the goodness and ugliness is universal.</div>
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The interfaith marriage problems that we see now, may not be an issue in the near future, and we have to deal with them now. The core belief in Islam remains the same no matter which of the ‘72’ denominations you belong to, but the cultural diversity ranges from group to group.</div>
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As a Muslim thinker, I have consciously chosen to remain within the bounds of Quran, and explore the vastness and wisdom of God’s words.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">INTENT OF THE ESSAY</strong></div>
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The sole intent of this essay is to shape and preserve the future of “American Muslims” and keeping them within the fold by expanding the fold to be reflective of Allah’s unlimitedness (Aalameen), and extending Prophet Muhammad’s mercy to the entire universe (Aalameen).</div>
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Aren’t Muslims supposed to have a universal vision to embrace the whole humanity with its God given diversity? Allah is the Rab (creator) of Aalameen, and Prophet is the Rahmat to Aalameen? We should be humans for the Aalameen and such we have to find solutions to the past exclusions to make life easy for the next generation here in America.</div>
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This essay is merely an expression of what many American Muslims are thinking but are afraid to express. I am pleased to present some thoughts to reflect on; ultimately the decision rests in the hearts and minds of the individuals marrying. It is their life and it is God who puts love in the hearts for each other.</div>
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Please don’t forget, you live in the land of the free and home of the brave, and America loves everyone. She has her own culture that each one of us has subconsciously embraced and lives by her. The first generation and the subsequent generation of American Muslims are an integral part of America in every which way.</div>
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A new American Muslim culture is evolving while the layers of dust accumulated on the tradition is peeling off, and along the way Islam is being restored to what it was meant to be: a common sense religion. Some of us may not want to acknowledge it, but American Muslims have their own Islam that differs from others in other lands, but precisely the same as what Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) practiced; a religion committed to building cohesive societies and caring for life and the environment.</div>
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Dr. Azizah Al-Hibri writes on page 53 of her book, “The Quran states that God created humans, male and female, from the same <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">nafs</em> so that they may find tranquility, mercy, and affection for each other. The Quran also states that male and female believers are each others’ walis (protectors, Guardians). These themes permeate the Quran and make it very clear that there is no metaphysical, ontological, religious or ethical primacy for the male over the female. The Quran also makes it crystal clear that divine will contemplate a relationship of harmony, consultation, and cooperation, as opposed to conflicts and domination, between the two genders.”</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">VALUES OF ISLAM</strong></div>
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One of the most enduring values of Islam is accountability. God has created everything in balance and harmony (Quran 55:5-11), and has appointed us (all humans) to manage that balance effectively on a continual basis.</div>
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My Mother’s words echo frequently in my ears, “On the day of Hisab-Kitab, the day of Accountability, or the Day of Judgment, everyone is for himself or herself, I will be busy with my own deeds and you will be with your own, I won’t have time for you neither will you have time for me” and she would conclude, Son, be accountable and be responsible for what you think, say and do. If you have a nightmare, no one else can feel your fear as you do. Indeed, the narrative of the Day of Judgment is applicable in day today life. If you murder someone, it’s your Heine that goes to jail and not your husband or wife’s. She was right; we are individually responsible for who we are and what we do here. Islam has found its home in America.</div>
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Quran makes an individual acutely aware of one’s responsibility. Q 6:163-164: “All people will reap the harvest of their own deeds; no one will bear another’s burden. Ultimately, all of you will return to your Lord, and he will resolve your disputes.” Indeed, each one of us is responsible for our own thoughts and actions.</div>
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Quran places equal emphasis on men and women, a woman cannot excuse herself on the Day of Judgment or Day to Day living. Men need to get this straight; a woman is fully empowered and responsible for her actions and not the men.</div>
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Prophet Muhammad was obviously one of the first women’s liberators who restored her inalienable rights back to her. He further beefed it up by advising women, that if her husband commands her to do immoral things against her will, she has the right to refuse and if unbearable, the right to divorce. Such was the empowerment of women.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">INTERFAITH MARRAIGES</strong></div>
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According to the Pew Survey, nearly 40% of the marriages in the United States are interfaith marriages including Muslims and Hindus, and among Jews it is much higher, one out of two marriages is outside his or her faith. The trend is gaining momentum and has no reason to stop or slow down.</div>
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For a long time, Muslim men married women of the book – that is Jews, Christians and Muslims, but the Muslim woman rarely married outside her faith. However in our land, the land of the free and home of the brave, religious goal posts are pushed further out to accommodate more inclusion of God’s creation. If that does not come through, the couple always has an option to marry outside the scope of their religious traditions with no consequences, religious vigilantism has no place in America nor will it ever gain ground. Islam is about freedom, it is in our ‘ghutti’ – DNA.</div>
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Today with the God given freedom, religious barriers are coming down. It may take two more generations for interfaith marriages to become a norm, but norm it will become. Men and women become friends, fall in love with each other and take their relationship to its ultimate; marriage. We cannot deny the fact that Muhammad (before he became prophet) was employed by Bibi Khadija. She just did not propose to marry him out of the blue; she knew him over a period of time and believed he will be the right partner. She did not send her parents to his parents either, it was one on one.</div>
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God has created all species in pairs and has made one for the other, and when that union takes place, harmony is restored. God is about harmony, and marriage is a step to bring harmony between two people, and some even consider it to be a form of worship.</div>
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Quran 30:21. “And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind so that you might incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!”</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">LEGITIMATE CONCERNS</strong></div>
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A few concerns are addressed here and I will be happy to reflect on the new ones, ultimately the couple has to make their own decision.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Head of the household</strong></div>
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The resistance to a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man is based on the cultural practices, even though it has a religious tone to it. No one wants to lose members of their flock to others. An assumption was made that because man was the provider, he will direct which way the house hold runs and how children are raised. That is not the truth in America and perhaps in Canada and other democracies anymore. Women today are equal partners and frequently contribute more to the household than men.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Harmony</strong></div>
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If the man and woman are from different races, religions or regions, it will create problems for the couple. How would they raise their children? What religion would they follow? Will the society look down upon them? How would they celebrate their festivities or bury their dead? How will they handle divorce and their Children? It is still a problem with many societies but not in the United States and Canada, we have figured it out. There is a load of wisdom in Quran, Prophet’s nurturer and uncle did not become a Muslim and died as a Quraish, it is God’s design to set an example of learning to live and care for each other despite different religions. Prophet married Maria and Safia, Christian and Jewish women respectively, and he did not compel them to become Muslims either.</div>
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The questions are endless, but the answer is a powerful one, and that is accountability. In the traditional societies parents rightfully feel responsible to guard the happiness of their offspring, where as parents in North America are learning to believe that their kids are independent and know what they want in their lives, and will find their own happiness. Ultimately they have to live their own lives, you cannot babysit them forever. American Muslim parents trust their kids to do the right thing and let them run their own lives. Please note that this comparison is made with Muslims living elsewhere in the world.</div>
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There is one segment of single Muslim women that is reaching an enormous percent of all the single women. These women are in their late 40’s and 50’s, and are divorced and certainly not looking for a provider, nor do they entertain having children. They are simply looking to have a friend and a companion in their marriages and live their own lives. A friend of mine puts it crudely – look, no one in the family or work place would ever question the rituals you follow on the toilet seat, why should anyone question how one prays? In a pluralistic society, religion is increasingly becoming personal in nature applicable to the believers of that faith, just as it happened during the times of Prophet with the Madinah treaty. To you is your faith and to me is my faith, and together we can live in harmony.</div>
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Dr. Gail Saltz, New York based psychiatrists and author of “The Power of Different” writes, “In every marriage, there are plenty of issues that can divide couples, from differing cultures and religions to their stance on children, money and sex.”</div>
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Gwendolyn Seidman, associate professor of psychology at Albright College in Pennsylvania, adds that two individuals from different social strata will potentially face conflicts. “This could create conflicts where one partner thinks the other is not ambitious enough or one partner disapproves of the other’s scheming,”</div>
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“So if one partner is conservative and the other is liberal, but neither is particularly politically active, this difference is less likely to be a problem than if both partners are strong partisans.”</div>
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“An omnivore and a vegetarian can happily co-exist if the omnivore is content to cut down on meat.”</div>
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“But if he needs meat at every meal, there is going to be a problem,” Seidman said.</div>
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Seidman concludes, “The more alike you are, the less there is to fight about,” “But the good news is that, as couples spend more and more time together, they start to become more similar, both because of their many shared experiences and because of deliberate efforts to get along.”</div>
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This is the reason why Muslim Parents (Hindu, Sikh and Jain Parents too) take charge in finding the ‘suitable” husband for their daughters. They want their daughters to be happy. But a time comes when you have to trust your daughter to make her own decision; after all it is her own life.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Divorces</strong></div>
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A couple’s happiness is based on how they manage their affairs. Lack of communication is one of the reasons for divorce whether they are from same religion or from different religions or races. No one wants to hear this, but Islam, the religion of common sense has made room for divorce, so the individuals can continue to live on with their lives with least misery. Acknowledging this fact may actually strengthen the relationships and become an antidote to divorces. Remember, God does not prefer disharmony but would accept if harmony of each individual is preserved by divorce.</div>
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Harmony is a mental attitude. If the couple has enough love, the issues become stepping stones to figure out how to live with harmony. Dr. Abdul Hamid Abusulayman writes, “There is a clear distinction between doubts and problems. Doubts provoke obstruction, frustration and discouragement, whereas problems inspire motivation, action and diligence.” and solutions. To this, I will add, “Whatever you do in life, do it wholeheartedly, there is joy in it for everyone around including ourselves”</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Comfort Zone</strong></div>
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Our comfort zone is directly proportional to the predictability of our environment; the greatest conformity produces maximum comfort greater security and minimal conflict. It is in this context, I am addressing the issue of a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man.</div>
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On the face of it, it sounds like a discriminatory practice that a Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman; where as a Muslim woman cannot do the same. It is not only discouraged but declared to be wrong and some have gone on to say that you are out of the pale of Islam and even against Islam.</div>
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This discriminatory practice is cultural, and has worked in societies where women are economically and socially dependent, thus are subservient to men. However, our women, the American Muslims women are neither economically, nor socially dependent on men and nor should they be subservient to men. We are all created equal!</div>
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God is not bound by any culture, he sees it differently and says that a man and a woman are equally accountable for their actions, and they are each other’s garments (protectors, friends, defenders, secret keepers…..) and the relationship is not that of subserviency, but that of partnership with responsibilities and duties to each other with full dignity.</div>
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A woman is as independent as a man is. Indeed, our women, the American Muslim women live the life of Hazrat Khadija, prophet’s wife, who had her own business, her own wealth, her own home and her own comfort zone. Our women are blessed to live the life of Hazrat Khadija, and we thank God for that. Shouldn’t that help us knock out our security concerns and comfort zone issues?<br />Quran on a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim Man</div>
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There is no specific verse in Quran that bans a woman from marrying a non-Muslim man. How can it be? Islam is a religion of common sense, is it not? God says we are created into many nations and tribes from the same single couple; Adam and Eve. Thus we are all one large family of humans. Then he says, the best ones among you are the ones who learn about the other, and when we do, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</div>
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There is no other couple who follows God’s advice more than the Interfaith and Interracial couples. Their union is a declaration to the world, “Look we are different, but we can live in harmony, why don’t you do the same?</div>
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There are two layers to this issue – the people of the book (Jews and Christians) and the other filter is Mushrikoon; those who do not believe in oneness of God.</div>
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<a href="http://www.scholarofthehouse.org/oninma.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Shaykh Khaled Abou El Fadl</a>, a scholar of Islam writes, “This is the law as it exists or the legal legacy as we inherited it. In all honesty, personally, I am not convinced that the evidence prohibiting Muslim women from marrying a Kitab is very strong. Muslim jurists took a very strong position on this matter–many of them going as far as saying if a Muslim woman marries a Kitabi she is as good as an apostate. I think, and God knows best, that this position is not reasonable and the evidence supporting it is not very strong. However, I must confess that in my humble opinion, I strongly sympathize with the jurists that argued that in non-Muslim countries it is reprehensible (makruh) for a Muslim to marry a non-Muslim.”</div>
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I think that would be a political consideration in most other nations, but not in America. What we have witnessed in January 2017 is incredible, the whole nation stood up for Muslims, a tiny weenie minority. We are the nation of laws and our laws will guide us to be a just society with occasional digressions. As Americans Muslims we have placed our trust in our constitution and will defend it with our lives, if we have to. This is the best nation on the earth and we have to preserve it for every one of us.</div>
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The fear of losing the members of the flock to others drove the Jurist to make that call, which may not be valid any more. In an article “Seven things you don’t know about interfaith marriage” author Naomi Schaefer Riley offers the following information; “Children of interfaith couples are more than twice as likely to adopt the faith of their mother as the faith of their father.” Provided the mother follows certain faith.</div>
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Two out of five Muslims marry someone from other faith. This seems to be a major driver of the integration of American Muslims. Furthermore she adds this number increases to 67% for people in the age group of 36 and 45.</h3>
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Despite the passing phase of political chaos now, the young Muslims believe Islam is not a divisive religion but an all embracing religion of the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aalameen</em>, and it accepts the otherness of others through God’s own words, “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lakum Dinakum Waliaddin” </em>to you is your faith as mine is to me, it is a mutual acknowledgement of the otherness of others. They believe in freedom, and did not believe in pushing others to believe into your way. The Quran calls, <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">La Ikraha fid-din</em> – there is no compulsion in matters of faith. Indeed freedom of speech and freedom of faith are the values Islam Cherishes. Remember, it is a common sense faith.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Verses from Quran</strong></div>
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“Do not marry women who associate (others with God), until they believe (in God). A believing maidservant (amah) is better than a woman who associates (others with God,) even if she allures you. Do not marry men who associate (others with God) until they believe (in God). A believing male-servant is better than a man who associates (others with God,) even if he allures you…” (2:221).</div>
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The ‘Ilah’ or the cause of reason for discouraging marriage between two different people is to prevent disharmony given the several factors of economic dependency, social cultural and other factors. Ilah becomes discretionary here as the couple is determined to live in harmony and not let the other factors to affect their relationship. Please remember Quran is a book of guidance in most aspects of life, and commandments in a few areas such as stealing, lying, rape, incest, cheating etc. Do not steal. Do not lie. Don’t be unjust. Don’t cheat.<br />The verse 5:5 expressly allows a Muslim man to marry any believing woman regardless of religion. No argument about it. The verse, however, remains silent about whether a Muslim woman is free to marry a believing non-Muslim man as suggestive in the verse 2:221, which predates 5:5 in the revelation calendar. Please look at this from an American cultural perspective, and American Islam is gaining its own identity.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The issue is that of compatibility.</strong></div>
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When Quran talks about believing women over polytheists (Mushrikoon), a contrast is drawn to highlight the compatibility part of the relationship. God has created a mate for everyone and he is happiest when that union lives in harmony. God is within us, he is closer to us than our jugular vein, meaning he is aware of what goes on with us, as our conscience, he reminds us to consider someone who is compatible over someone who is not. At one time in history, the Mushrikoon and Muminoon (Muslims) could not live with each other, but that is not the case today in America.</div>
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Likewise, compatibility was the key factor in the verse to marry someone who is close to you (believing) than someone who is not (Mushrikoon).</div>
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Furthermore, the strife existed between the tribes; the ones who believed in the prevalent customs hated the idea of accountability that Islam was talking about, here the issue of trust was in play, particularly when the phrase “Charming, bewitching, allurements” were used. Don’t be beguiled with charms was the caveat.</div>
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The following two paragraphs were sent by someone, and I cannot trace back, thanks to whoever it was.</div>
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“This allusion to “slaves” (men and women) is quite indicative of the moral values that the Quranic Revelation tended to inculcate in people. On the one hand, the Qur’an showed ‘Tolerance’ towards the fact of slavery that was universally common at the time; on the other hand, it sought to break the first chains of social hierarchy by preferring these “poor” believing slaves to those wealthy people who formed the elite then.”</div>
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“Furthermore, the new believers needed to be protected from polytheists’ abuse who considered this new religion of Islam as a threat to their own interests. The Qur’an urges Muslim men and women to get married to believers who had, like them, such faith awareness and were conscious of justice on earth. The purpose was to absolutely avoid the marriage of Muslims to polytheists who made every effort to stand against a religion that was defending the most vulnerable people on earth.”</div>
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Thus the said verse stipulates that Muslim men and women are allowed to contract marriage with believers and prohibited to marry polytheists. Here the Quran takes an egalitarian approach in addressing both men and women on an equal basis.</div>
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The “proof” item in case of rape over “witnesses” can be applied here as well. We need to understand the essence of God’s wisdom rather than the words, as the words do expand and shrink in meaning.</div>
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The rejection of Polytheist has to do more with the specific people who were harassing and making the lives of Muslims difficult than Polytheists in general. That is not the case anymore. Everyone is a believer, whether you are a Pagan, Hindu, Wicca or a Buddhist, you do believe in accountability of your actions, and that is the key to nurturing harmony in the world, which is an Islamic value. The Sikhs, Baha’i and a few others are certainly the people of the book and so called monotheists that need to be included. Even the people without books are accountable and responsible, that is how the society works now. I always welcome the cautions in our holy books.</div>
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Why would God want you to say “to you is your faith and to me is my faith” in verse 109:6? Indeed, the entire chapter of Kafirun is loaded with wisdom. Allah wants us to learn about carrying a civil dialogue and the ground rule for that is to respect the otherness of others and giving equal value to others’ stance as you do your own. In each one of the six verses, the other is treated on an equal footing and zero denigration. God chose not to denigrate other’s faith and that is pure common sense.</div>
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By the way, almost every group has a book to follow, and they all should be Kitabi’s at large, but there should be no rejection for those who do not have a book to follow. God loves his creation, all of his creation; he does not make any distinction between one and the other. He declared in Quran 49:13 that he has deliberately made us into different tribes, communities and nations, and that we are all from the same couple. He does not stop there, in another verse he says he sent a messenger to every tribe and each nation to bring peace and harmony to the respective groups.</div>
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Then he wraps it up by saying the best ones among you are those who take the time to know the other individuals and other groups. What happens when you sit down and talk? Conflicts fade and solutions emerge leading to peace, and name for that actions is Islam and that is what God wants- Peace and harmony on earth. The best ones are those who care for the other.</div>
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Pope Francis is a genuine religious man; I believe he is one of the few individuals on earth who has understood God as a name to a system of harmony and balance. His understanding on some of the key issues resonate more with Islam. He believed in “Rabbul Aalameen”- Universal God, and embraced everyone into his fold including the Atheists, for the simple reason that they are not out to get you, to them is their belief and to me is my belief. Unlike the Atheists a few hundred years ago, the Atheists of today are responsible, and as accountable to their actions as any Muslim, Christian, Jew or a Hindu.</div>
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I hope you are still thinking. I urge you to think and see Islam as an all embracing religion to accommodate God’s entire universe. When we say Islam means peace, it is obligatory on us to make sure everything we say and do leads to peace and not conflict. Exclusion breeds conflict, inclusion builds bridges, and let’s build bridges and bring peace on earth. Let’s not subscribe to divisions and go against what God wants; Unity.</div>
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A Muslim is someone who is constantly seeking to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill for humanity to live in peace and harmony. Indeed my talk as a Muslim Speaker on Prophet Muhammad highlights 15 of his actions that led to conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance. Creating a better world is our duty.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DISAPPOINTMENTS</strong></div>
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It is disappointing to the potential brides and grooms that their clergy or a parent invariably insists on the other person to convert to their faith tradition, and some do, and some fake it and some are not comfortable with the idea at all.</div>
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When a couple is deeply committed to marry, they go ahead and get married any way but sorely miss out on the ceremony. Over the years, I have seen too many couples miss out on the joy of that additional sense of completeness that comes with a religious ceremony. Marriage is between two individuals, and their families and friends ought to be supporters and cheerleaders to celebrate and complete their joy.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">God bless the Interfaith and Interracial Couples!</strong></div>
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Despite their religious, racial or cultural differences, they are setting the new standards of civility by showing the world how to live in harmony. We have to cherish and honor the couples who embrace genuine humanity by accepting each other’s uniquenesses.</div>
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When people are showing extreme intolerance towards each other, the interfaith and interracial couples are showing the way to live in harmony and are contributing to the idea of one nation. They are indeed exemplary patriotic Americans.</div>
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You are who you are and I am who I am, and let’s acknowledge that and live in peace. As long as we don’t mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturance, and respect each other’s uniqueness, we all will do well. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</div>
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As a society, the least we can do is acknowledge them for their contributions towards the idea of one nation that is America.</div>
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God bless them!</div>
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Dr. Mike Ghouse is a pluralist, activist, newsmaker and an interfaith wedding officiant. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, motivation, and foreign policy and is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 65 links at <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MikeGhouse.net</a></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-41438586952916340252018-01-08T19:38:00.000-06:002018-01-08T19:38:28.174-06:00Sprinkling Islam where needed.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Jane McGarry is one of the popular TV anchors of Dallas, and popped this question on her facebook, “Does seductive clothing set a woman up for sexual harassment? </span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">I wanted to address this on TV this morning but didn’t get the chance to want to know what you think.” <br />
<br />I wrote, “</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">J<a href="https://www.facebook.com/JaneMMcGarry?hc_location=ufi" target="_blank"><span style="background: rgb(246, 247, 249); color: #365899; text-decoration-line: none;">ane McGarry</span></a></span><span style="background: #F6F7F9; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> - Prophet Muhammad's vision of a civil society was that a single woman loaded with Jewelry can to go Damascus and return back to Medina unharmed and un-harassed. Ultimately everyone should be civil enough to let other people's clothes, mannerisms, not be a license to harass them. Women should wear whatever they want like men should. Of course modesty when you are alone and are in non-public places ensures safety. I saw many pictures of you on the facebook and appreciated your looks and dressing up with nothing more than appreciation.<u1:p></u1:p>” </span></div>
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<br />The purpose of writing this piece is a continuous effort to build integrated societies, we need to be a part of the society and not apart from it. The issues that are common to Americans should be common to us to connect and to remove the barriers.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F6F7F9; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Dallas Morning News has over 250 article with a similar effort. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F6F7F9; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mike Ghouse</span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-19876195418344231392018-01-02T09:21:00.000-06:002018-01-02T09:21:04.055-06:00Interfaith Marriages - Lynslei weds Adam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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LYNSLEI WEDS ADAM ON JAN 1, 2018</div>
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January 1, 2018, Washington, DC – Dr. Mike Ghouse officiated the wedding ceremony today, and this is the first interfaith wedding of the year. Mike has been officiating the interfaith weddings for the last eight years and is a licensed interfaith wedding officiant in the United States.</div>
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When people find it difficult to listen to each other, let alone understand each other, Adam and Lynslei are setting a new standard – that of respecting the o<span class="text_exposed_show" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">therness of the other and accepting the God given uniqueness of each other. They will be showing us the way, in effect they are saying, “look we are different, but yet we are determined to create harmony.”</span></div>
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Lynslei’s faith of Islam brings the values of equality and dignity to the relationship, whereas Adam’s Christian tradition has taught him forgiveness, repentance and unconditional love in marriage.</div>
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How sweet it is, that these two traditions will bring fullness to their relationship, with values from Christian and Muslims traditions.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8R81kz2ddUbblDv3d2E0U3PcF8M3B2uN-2INDmhC5adG6gNl22WUlWEDjdHuSDdrCKnBG1bRYAiOYM8HklHhOcVdiAHdb5fosaSfDifMWUrjYUuTB9dz_QTWLUCyoVNhjIywzMPohw4/s1600/InterfaithMarriages.org.WeddingOfficiant-Lynslie-Adam-Ghouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8R81kz2ddUbblDv3d2E0U3PcF8M3B2uN-2INDmhC5adG6gNl22WUlWEDjdHuSDdrCKnBG1bRYAiOYM8HklHhOcVdiAHdb5fosaSfDifMWUrjYUuTB9dz_QTWLUCyoVNhjIywzMPohw4/s400/InterfaithMarriages.org.WeddingOfficiant-Lynslie-Adam-Ghouse.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(233, 233, 233); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
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When two people fall in love with each other, Marriage is the most important milestone of that relationship, and it is the biggest event of their life and must be celebrated and cheered by one and all.</div>
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Indeed, the Holy Quran says, God has created all species in pairs and has made one for the other, and he puts love between two souls which brings them together. And as that union takes place, God is the happiest. God is about harmony and marriage is a step to bring harmony between two people. Indeed, they are very patriotic Americans; they are contributing the idea of one nation under God by coming together.</div>
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Mike has officiated a range of weddings between people of different faiths including Atheists in a secular marriage. Wedding Sermons are customized to reflect the faiths of the individuals. More about it at <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.InterfaithMarriages.org%2F&h=ATMLR2j7HHXffGUfq7gtxkvaFHEZHZ18Wzdp_8-NgcmzzjZkpIvAmbSZVvixAv3gu1IzQnSSHd9VvmtUXeQD9Ls9ZVvXuEmIcnIg1uMTnAFEVqhv_rsxaSjsquDhGHi9fEaIjP-L-tn_R95fX55b08J0-crowe9Fxlzonu9V07Zi9-kLxlfxUG6d7e43nrrJH5apaaFe9wHp2hdi_qe7hhRgnuGSEPV1v_wfuND4eh-yY_hdJpdCAFVoOOzaGk666ygcUbqm0tfMrjPDh8-EJxJOW9nEcEhjYa8cSca4llxXwmF6tA" rel="noopener nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.InterfaithMarriages.org</a></div>
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Mike is a Community consultant actively engaged in research and activism and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He will continue to focus his energies on ensuring a safe and secure America for all, where no one has to worry about his race, faith, ethnicity or other God-given uniqueness and live his/her life without apprehensions.</div>
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<a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=851280248&extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/Dr.MikeGhouse?fref=mentions" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike Ghouse</a><br /><a href="http://www.interfaithmarriages.org/" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">www.InterfaithMarriages.org</a><br /><a href="mailto:Mike@InterfaithMarriages.org" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Mike@InterfaithMarriages.org</a><br />Wedding Officiant</div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-82890955087199006122017-12-31T21:24:00.001-06:002017-12-31T21:24:23.310-06:002018 Message of Optimism - Happy New Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">We wish you, your family and friends the very best of 2018. Each New Year is a milestone in one’s life. Indeed, it is as much a day of reckoning as it is of celebrations. Reckoning involves reflecting on the reasons you did not get what you had wanted in 2017, and celebrating for what you got by cheering for the effort you made to be where you are today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Let’s go forward, if I were to ask you on 12/31/2018, that is a year from now, how was your 2o18? You may respond in one of the following ways;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">1. Nothing Changed, same o same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">2. Things have gotten worse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">3. Celebrating the achievements<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">4. Lost or gained weight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">5. Relationship entanglements and distanglements<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">6. Financial soundness or mess<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">7. Spent good time with family and friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Let’s focus on two extremes; things that got worse and celebrating the achievements. The question is did you want it to be good or worse? Did you get what you want? Did you work for getting what you got? Did you at least plan?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Nothing happens by itself; things happen because someone causes them or drives them to happen. Did you let others drive your life or did you drive it yourselves? You cannot go on vacation unless your dream about it, think about it and plan on it. You cannot buy anything unless your start it with a want. Unlike the planets, stars and many other things in the universe which are programmed to function precisely, humans were given a free will to chart their own course. God does not do anything; He simply cannot do good things for you and not for others, God is not like that, God is an idea about justness, evenness and balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">He has laid everything out for you to pursue your own happiness and peace; it is up to you to get it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Here is a simple way of getting what you want! The first thing is to know what you want; you should know where you are driving to when you turn the ignition on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Buy a dozen 5x3 Cards or fold three regular blank white papers and cut them out into 12 pieces. Write the following down on top of each piece and place them in your pocket or purse. As you start driving, making coffee, watching TV or whatever you are doing, take one piece at a time and start thinking about that item, until you have clarity of what you want keep thinking. Pull the car over or go to a coffee shop and sit down and write your thoughts in bullets. Did you know you can day dream while taking a shower? You can think better sitting on the crown? Here are your 12 or more cards to jot down the points as to what you want out of each item of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Wf4jjurOPB4NX51pAl3bVWivx7mfL1fwNBCksHVenKZvTXoZ2ybb8XhtGYvmi1s-i8XNDK7xEuZSh1G62_ARDD8BQiY65qVdaFUoJ0ZXFoSppQ_z8iPD3oeJ5ip-iGbvM43BNr1jpGs/s1600/MikeGhousewithCardforHuffingtonPost.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Wf4jjurOPB4NX51pAl3bVWivx7mfL1fwNBCksHVenKZvTXoZ2ybb8XhtGYvmi1s-i8XNDK7xEuZSh1G62_ARDD8BQiY65qVdaFUoJ0ZXFoSppQ_z8iPD3oeJ5ip-iGbvM43BNr1jpGs/s400/MikeGhousewithCardforHuffingtonPost.JPG" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(233, 233, 233); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">1. Family<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">2. Friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">3. Profession<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">4. Income<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">5. Health<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">6. Vacation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">7. Volunteerism<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">8. Spirituality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">9. Retirement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">10. Self-improvement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">11. A new image<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">12. …..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">An on and on.....</span><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; line-height: 24px;"> Wake up to the day's most important news.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">At the end of the day or two, take a picture of each card/paper and save it on your cell phone. One evening sit down for a few hours and put it all together. This would be your guideline to go by, and this would be your plan for 2018. The more you stare at it, the more it becomes a part of you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">12/31/2018<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">If you were to receive my note on 12/31/18, and without any doubt you will. If you’ve received this note, you will get that one too unless you block me. You can proudly say that your life was as planned on 12/31/2017. Why do I do this? It is simply because my mission in life is to build cohesive work places, communities and nations and open people’s hearts minds and souls to fellow beings. Everyone has a purpose in life, find yours now. Mine is to make life meaningful to as many people as I can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">I am pleased to share what I do.</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Center for Pluralism is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 (as Foundation for Pluralism). It is based on a simple principle; the more we know about each other, fewer the misunderstandings would be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">CFP is committed to vigorously promoting and advancing pluralism in the realm of religion, politics, social and cultural aspects of life. We have published over 3500 articles on promoting harmony and reconciliation, appeared on 300 national TV shows, addressed in 700 national Radio talk shows and produced hundreds of programs. We need your wisdom, wealth and work to continue this work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">CFP will continue to focus its energies on ensuring a safe and secure America for all, where no one has to worry about his race, faith, ethnicity or other God-given uniqueness and live her life without apprehensions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Our programs are designed to prevent chaos and maintain coherence and stability with the ongoing changes. We need to prepare the next generation to cope with these changes and minimize potential conflicts with ease. No American needs to worry about losing his or her way of life. As Americans we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Center for Pluralism has established over 20 annual programs to bring Americans together on religious, social, political and cultural aspects of life. The more we know each other, the less conflicts we would have. Please review our programs and except the Religious workshops and Unity Day all other programs can be run as your sponsorship for $5,000/year, but you can contribute any sum that is in your budget. Please review them in this mini-Brochure at - <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/4.-CPF-Programs-4-Pages.pdf" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/4.-CPF-Programs-4-Pages.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">CFP will be an antidote to Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Hindu phobia, Xenophobia, Misogyny and other phobias. Through research and activism we are establishing a respectful space for Pluralism with the policy makers, interfaith groups, both Republicans and Democrats and of course the media and you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Center for Pluralism will become the energy to give a solid cohesive social structure to our nation. By the year 2025, there will not be an office, school, playground, college, restaurant, theater, train, bus or a work place where people of different faiths, races, ethnicities and national origins do not work, interact, play, live and marry together. This is bound to create conflicts in airports, public spaces, board rooms, and in bedrooms as well as places of worship, work places, politics, eateries, and schools.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">We have a responsibility to shape the future of our society so our kids, grandkids and us can retire in peace and live without apprehensions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Please donate today: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Are you ready for 2017 - <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/happy-new-year-are-you-ready-for-2017_us_5866d64fe4b04d7df167d49c" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/happy-new-year-are-you-ready-for-2017_us_5866d64fe4b04d7df167d49c</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">A Blueprint for a purposeful 2014 - <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/2014-a-blueprint-for-a-pu_b_4517662.html" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/2014-a-blueprint-for-a-pu_b_4517662.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Should Muslims Celebrate New Year? It is about building an integrated America<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fatwa-should-muslims-celebrate-new-year_us_5a465e47e4b06cd2bd03df69" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fatwa-should-muslims-celebrate-new-year_us_5a465e47e4b06cd2bd03df69</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Let’s stay focused on peace and prosperity and not conflicts and confusion. In 2018, you will see me a lot more of me on National TV and Radio shows, and lot more activism and research. Of course I will jump with both my feet in political campaigns to work to ensure checks and balances in our system. The House and Senate must be given a simple majority to two different parties and not the same, most of the evil decisions were made by our government when all the three; President, Senate and House were from the same party. We have to break this to make sure America remains the America we all want and dream. An America that is good for every one with no exceptions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2L8YqbAAbkF9CdyQQ3tRhb3j7bA_q5WjN1vIYHSgwA-OqvIZWryeYCNnpO8Jhq1ntGEU-XHBd2l0m7kCh9CdsIJbe7AW6zO4hTb_vkwwH601SR3xmNLRvaNuNdJrRFgP2cTXfPbAGQww/s1600/FoxNews.MegynKelly.MikeGhouse.BrigitteGabrielle-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2L8YqbAAbkF9CdyQQ3tRhb3j7bA_q5WjN1vIYHSgwA-OqvIZWryeYCNnpO8Jhq1ntGEU-XHBd2l0m7kCh9CdsIJbe7AW6zO4hTb_vkwwH601SR3xmNLRvaNuNdJrRFgP2cTXfPbAGQww/s400/FoxNews.MegynKelly.MikeGhouse.BrigitteGabrielle-a.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(233, 233, 233); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"># # #<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">A short Bio</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse is committed to his life mission of building cohesive work places, communities and nations. He works for an America where every one of the 322 million Americans should feel secure without apprehension or fear of the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">He is one of the 5 people in the world who is actively pursuing research, activism and teaching Pluralism. Just Google and find a tremendous amount of work on pluralism in religion, politics, society and culture. Mike defines Pluralism as an attitude of “respecting the otherness of other” and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">He is a pluralist, thinker, writer, activist and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, politics, Islam, human rights and foreign policy including India and Israel-Palestine. He is a news maker, interfaith wedding officiant and a community consultant and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Happy New Year ya’ll. God bless you and God bless America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse, President Center for Pluralism Washington</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-81546851538550740872017-12-31T21:19:00.002-06:002017-12-31T21:19:47.019-06:002018 Message of Optimism - Happy New Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">We wish you, your family and friends the very best of 2018. Each New Year is a milestone in one’s life. Indeed, it is as much a day of reckoning as it is of celebrations. Reckoning involves reflecting on the reasons you did not get what you had wanted in 2017, and celebrating for what you got by cheering for the effort you made to be where you are today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdvBW1QcgR1zwIjIEFZrQNE7yzNqr1ZNRzxVTIozBJDXC8ukqFKXqjUqm1URwRSxCvVgRUNff9YzThQxozxDBfSzxAK_qNuOIM1Hs2hvC4IbX5srHo-vEwvq5tGhlNCIcAzWcMg2dFOn8/s1600/Mike+Ghouse+-+Happy+New+Year.gif" imageanchor="1" style="color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="820" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdvBW1QcgR1zwIjIEFZrQNE7yzNqr1ZNRzxVTIozBJDXC8ukqFKXqjUqm1URwRSxCvVgRUNff9YzThQxozxDBfSzxAK_qNuOIM1Hs2hvC4IbX5srHo-vEwvq5tGhlNCIcAzWcMg2dFOn8/s400/Mike+Ghouse+-+Happy+New+Year.gif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(233, 233, 233); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Let’s go forward, if I were to ask you on 12/31/2018, that is a year from now, how was your 2o18? You may respond in one of the following ways;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">1. Nothing Changed, same o same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">2. Things have gotten worse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">3. Celebrating the achievements<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">4. Lost or gained weight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">5. Relationship entanglements and distanglements<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">6. Financial soundness or mess<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">7. Spent good time with family and friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Let’s focus on two extremes; things that got worse and celebrating the achievements. The question is did you want it to be good or worse? Did you get what you want? Did you work for getting what you got? Did you at least plan?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Nothing happens by itself; things happen because someone causes them or drives them to happen. Did you let others drive your life or did you drive it yourselves? You cannot go on vacation unless your dream about it, think about it and plan on it. You cannot buy anything unless your start it with a want. Unlike the planets, stars and many other things in the universe which are programmed to function precisely, humans were given a free will to chart their own course. God does not do anything; He simply cannot do good things for you and not for others, God is not like that, God is an idea about justness, evenness and balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">He has laid everything out for you to pursue your own happiness and peace; it is up to you to get it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Here is a simple way of getting what you want! The first thing is to know what you want; you should know where you are driving to when you turn the ignition on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Buy a dozen 5x3 Cards or fold three regular blank white papers and cut them out into 12 pieces. Write the following down on top of each piece and place them in your pocket or purse. As you start driving, making coffee, watching TV or whatever you are doing, take one piece at a time and start thinking about that item, until you have clarity of what you want keep thinking. Pull the car over or go to a coffee shop and sit down and write your thoughts in bullets. Did you know you can day dream while taking a shower? You can think better sitting on the crown? Here are your 12 or more cards to jot down the points as to what you want out of each item of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">1. Family<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">2. Friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">3. Profession<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">4. Income<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">5. Health<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">6. Vacation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">7. Volunteerism<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">8. Spirituality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">9. Retirement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">10. Self-improvement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">11. A new image<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">12. …..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">An on and on.....</span><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; line-height: 24px;"> Wake up to the day's most important news.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">At the end of the day or two, take a picture of each card/paper and save it on your cell phone. One evening sit down for a few hours and put it all together. This would be your guideline to go by, and this would be your plan for 2018. The more you stare at it, the more it becomes a part of you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">12/31/2018<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">If you were to receive my note on 12/31/18, and without any doubt you will. If you’ve received this note, you will get that one too unless you block me. You can proudly say that your life was as planned on 12/31/2017. Why do I do this? It is simply because my mission in life is to build cohesive work places, communities and nations and open people’s hearts minds and souls to fellow beings. Everyone has a purpose in life, find yours now. Mine is to make life meaningful to as many people as I can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">I am pleased to share what I do.</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Center for Pluralism is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 (as Foundation for Pluralism). It is based on a simple principle; the more we know about each other, fewer the misunderstandings would be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">CFP is committed to vigorously promoting and advancing pluralism in the realm of religion, politics, social and cultural aspects of life. We have published over 3500 articles on promoting harmony and reconciliation, appeared on 300 national TV shows, addressed in 700 national Radio talk shows and produced hundreds of programs. We need your wisdom, wealth and work to continue this work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">CFP will continue to focus its energies on ensuring a safe and secure America for all, where no one has to worry about his race, faith, ethnicity or other God-given uniqueness and live her life without apprehensions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Our programs are designed to prevent chaos and maintain coherence and stability with the ongoing changes. We need to prepare the next generation to cope with these changes and minimize potential conflicts with ease. No American needs to worry about losing his or her way of life. As Americans we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Center for Pluralism has established over 20 annual programs to bring Americans together on religious, social, political and cultural aspects of life. The more we know each other, the less conflicts we would have. Please review our programs and except the Religious workshops and Unity Day all other programs can be run as your sponsorship for $5,000/year, but you can contribute any sum that is in your budget. Please review them in this mini-Brochure at - <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/4.-CPF-Programs-4-Pages.pdf" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/4.-CPF-Programs-4-Pages.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">CFP will be an antidote to Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Hindu phobia, Xenophobia, Misogyny and other phobias. Through research and activism we are establishing a respectful space for Pluralism with the policy makers, interfaith groups, both Republicans and Democrats and of course the media and you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Center for Pluralism will become the energy to give a solid cohesive social structure to our nation. By the year 2025, there will not be an office, school, playground, college, restaurant, theater, train, bus or a work place where people of different faiths, races, ethnicities and national origins do not work, interact, play, live and marry together. This is bound to create conflicts in airports, public spaces, board rooms, and in bedrooms as well as places of worship, work places, politics, eateries, and schools.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">We have a responsibility to shape the future of our society so our kids, grandkids and us can retire in peace and live without apprehensions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Please donate today: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Are you ready for 2017 - <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/happy-new-year-are-you-ready-for-2017_us_5866d64fe4b04d7df167d49c" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/happy-new-year-are-you-ready-for-2017_us_5866d64fe4b04d7df167d49c</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">A Blueprint for a purposeful 2014 - <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/2014-a-blueprint-for-a-pu_b_4517662.html" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/2014-a-blueprint-for-a-pu_b_4517662.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Should Muslims Celebrate New Year? It is about building an integrated America<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fatwa-should-muslims-celebrate-new-year_us_5a465e47e4b06cd2bd03df69" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fatwa-should-muslims-celebrate-new-year_us_5a465e47e4b06cd2bd03df69</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Let’s stay focused on peace and prosperity and not conflicts and confusion. In 2018, you will see me a lot more of me on National TV and Radio shows, and lot more activism and research. Of course I will jump with both my feet in political campaigns to work to ensure checks and balances in our system. The House and Senate must be given a simple majority to two different parties and not the same, most of the evil decisions were made by our government when all the three; President, Senate and House were from the same party. We have to break this to make sure America remains the America we all want and dream. An America that is good for every one with no exceptions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"># # #<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">A short Bio</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse is committed to his life mission of building cohesive work places, communities and nations. He works for an America where every one of the 322 million Americans should feel secure without apprehension or fear of the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">He is one of the 5 people in the world who is actively pursuing research, activism and teaching Pluralism. Just Google and find a tremendous amount of work on pluralism in religion, politics, society and culture. Mike defines Pluralism as an attitude of “respecting the otherness of other” and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">He is a pluralist, thinker, writer, activist and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, politics, Islam, human rights and foreign policy including India and Israel-Palestine. He is a news maker, interfaith wedding officiant and a community consultant and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Happy New Year ya’ll. God bless you and God bless America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse, President Center for Pluralism Washington</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-67667563674513591062017-12-30T11:10:00.002-06:002017-12-30T11:10:39.463-06:00Fatwa: Should Muslims celebrate New Year? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: red;">Fatwa: Should Muslims celebrate New Year? </span><br /><span style="color: blue;">It is about building an integrated America. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A majority of Muslims celebrate New Year’s Eve like a majority of people in every group. However the orthodoxies in most faiths shun the celebrations. They falsely equate it with alcohol and lewdness and simply cannot think beyond their programmed binary mindset of Haram and Halal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, I urge fellow humans not to judge a people by the acts of a few. If you know 100 people closely, 97 of them would be good people and if you knew only those three, then you tend to be prejudiced, not a good thing for you or anyone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I urge fellow Muslims to think and act, and hold on to the temptations to react. Muslims can become relevant again by going back to the basics and start thinking and questioning every dished out belief. Doesn’t Quran point out repeatedly to read, to think and to see the signs?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the next two days many a fatwas will be hitting the market, and a “few” – yes absolutely only a few will take pride in amplifying and multiplying them on the net, as though it is an act of purifying Muslims. By the way sticklers to the traditions are a part of every faith group. No one can cast the first stone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This essay addresses the issue that has kept Muslims in silos, ghettos, clusters or in a tiny pond. The fatwas are indeed a problem but free speech must be valued over everything, free speech is a God-given right from the day Adam was given a choice. Let people believe in whatever they want, but let them not compel others to fall in line with them. You live your life and let others live theirs. Islam strictly prohibits compulsion of any kind against one’s will.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God’s words are universal and are applicable to all aspects of life. We should not pull tricks and discretion on God’s words, then his words would not be universal and truthful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The word Fatwa is nothing more than an “opinion” in English Language, and here is my opinion about New Year. Muslims should get out and celebrate it with fellow humans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My knowledge is based on the instructions from Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), who said that it is the responsibility of every individual to read and understand the book, Quran is the only reliable book he has left as guidance. All other books were invented later, we should no doubt seek wisdom but never put them on par with Quran.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bad Fatwas are the reason for Muslims to remain on side lines. Many of the Fatwas are a cause of ghettoization of Muslims. Do you recall the fatwa of the mufti of Ottoman Empire declaring it Haram to print Quran after the printing press was invented in 1450? That prevented ordinary Muslims from having direct knowledge of the Quran for 400 years, wasn’t it against Prophet’s instructions? There are many such stupid Fatwas that have been obliterated over the years, and a lot more need to go. Reason should take over. If it is not common sense, then it is not Islam. If it does not add to building cohesive orderly societies, then it is not Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Muslims should celebrate New Year’s Eve. Allah has created all things for the humans to enjoy, he has laid everything for the man between heaven and earth (Quran 55:10 “And the earth has He spread out for all living beings”) and man should be thankful and celebrate the gift of life and gift of sustenance on every possible occasion including New Year. New Year is a mile stone and should be a day of accountability of one’s action in the past year and correct the course for the next year, we should be grateful for this opportunity. Quran 55:13, ”Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(<i>Please read verses 1 through 16 of chapter 55, Sura Rahman to appreciate the creator and celebrate life</i>.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God calls himself “Rabbul Aalameen” (creator of universe) and calls the Prophet the Rahmatul Aalameen (source of mercy for universe). Should Muslims restrict themselves or should they be servers of the universe, of all people? Isn’t the role of Muslims to contribute towards peaceful societies and be a part of the society and not apart from it? Shouldn’t Muslims be a mercy to mankind? You cannot do anything if you are not a part of the society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.45px;"> </span>The reason Muslims have conflicts with fellow Americans is because they don’t mingle, and most of the relationships are shallow. How would anyone know them? How would people get rid of the myths about Muslims if they don’t get to know them closely in different aspects of life? Of course, every faith or political group has something or the other that holds them from being one with others and they all need to work on knowing each other. Indeed that is the case with most immigrants, one of my Hindu friends says she stopped dating a white guy because there was not much to talk with him.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ok, you don’t want to go to someone’s house for dinner or go to a party because they drink alcohol or eat pork. That should not be a barrier unless your will power is weak or you are incapable of holding yourselves. (Hindus, Jews, Jains, Buddhists, Bahais. Sikhs and all others have one problem or the other like Muslims, we all need to raise above this to build one integrated nation)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every human will be an angel if there was no opportunity to do wrong, an average human will resist all the temptations that go against his or her will. There is an unverified story that Buddha would sit nude among naked dancing girls and chose not to be tempted or have an erection, such was his will power. If you have a strong faith you can be anywhere and be with anyone and not get blown away with seductions. It is time to test your own faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me share an example from a few years ago, our group from Memnosyne Foundation went to Mexico to inaugurate the medicine garden that my philanthropist friend Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk had donated to the Mayan Indians to continue to traditions of shamanic healing. We stayed in an all paid resort near Chichen Itza with unlimited drinks and food at our disposal and every one in our group had a ball. Three of us did not drink Alcohol - Mary Ann, Tanaka (a Shinto Priest) and I. I did not make a big deal about it, nor did I stick religion into it. We just did not drink and had a good time knowing our friends. Of course they knew I was a Muslim and respected me for following my path without anything less about others. When we go to the dinner parties, others eat pork and I don’t, it is my choice. I am a part of the society and not apart from it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aren’t Muslims supposed to be peacemakers, harmony establishers, goodwill nurturers and contributors to cohesive societies? How do you do that if you don’t mix with people? How do they know that you are a good human being and not what Fox News had portrayed you to be? It behooves for Muslims to celebrate New Year along with friends. It is the right thing to do and that is how we create secure societies. The more we know about each other, the greater the trust would be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As believers in universal God and universal prophet, shouldn’t their humanity be universal as well? Isn’t what God clearly says in Quran? Whether you are a Jew, Christian, Muslim or whatever, if you are good to fellow beings (His creation) your reward is with Him. Look it up in Quran, this verse is repeated nearly a dozen times in different formats. If the early Muslims had lived aloof, no one beyond Arabia would have known them. This trend to live in silos began in 1969 and we need to reverse it. Caring for his creation is the highest form of worship and you can care only by being with them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let Muslims be a part of the whole, let them be with other people, this is an opportunity to build relationships, and opportunity to let fellow Americans know that Muslims are good human beings. The more we integrate the more we become one with fellow humans, bringing a sense of security to each one of the 322 Million of us; the Americans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let the New Year be celebratory. Gather up your neighbors who are not going to parties, bring your own food and drinks and get to know each other as fellow Americans who have a common destiny; safety, security, job, home, children, volunteerism, grand children and retirement in peace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Muslims must celebrate the New Year in a variety of ways within their comfort zone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How do you plan your next year? Look for the article on Huffington Post. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.45px;"># # #<br /><br />Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America where every American feels secure. </span>Mike Mohamed Ghouse is committed to his life mission of building cohesive work places, communities and nations. He works for an America where everyone of the 322 million Americans feels secure without apprehension or fear of the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He leads the Center for Pluralism in research and activism and brings Americans Together on the plane of religious, political, social and cultural pluralism. Pluralism is simply an attitude of respecting the otherness of other and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He is a pluralist, thinker, writer, activist and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, politics, Islam, human rights and foreign policy. He is a news maker, interfaith wedding officiant and a community consultant and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. Ghouse has appeared in over 300 national TV and 700 Radio shows including 125 on Fox News. He has published over 3500 articles on the topics he speaks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His Google profile has been visited by over 35 million individuals with thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, yahoo groups and personal lists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He is the founder and CEO of the Center for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress. The bottom line to his work is security- no one should feel insecure about his or her religion, race, ethnicity, or other God-given uniqueness. Each one of us should look forward to retiring in peace and living without apprehensions or fear of the other.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.45px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike's work is at: <a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">www.CenterforPluralism.com</a>, <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.org/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">www.WorldMuslimCongress.org</span></a>, <a href="http://www.interfaithspeaker.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">www.InterfaithSpeaker.com</span></a> and <a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</span></a></span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-49296009664849772912017-12-08T05:54:00.001-06:002017-12-08T06:15:08.247-06:00Anti-Semitism will increase with Jerusalem Decision<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Now, the rise of this ugly evil of Anti-Semitism can be squarely attributed to Prime Minister Netanyahu. He should be held accountable for the long term insecurities heaped on the people of Israel. Let me share the information in simple terms while my extensive research article is in the making.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Anti-Semitism is a wrong label in most cases, it is actually resentment born out of violation of international treaties by Israeli government. Please separate Judaism, Jews, Israel and the Israeli Government, the world has no problem whatsoever with the first three but resent the 4th one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Full story at Huffington Post<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anti-semitism-is-augmented-by-netanyahu-and-trump-jerusalem_us_5a2a6ea9e4b0d7c3f26221b6" style="color: #073763; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anti-semitism-is-augmented-by-netanyahu-and-trump-jerusalem_us_5a2a6ea9e4b0d7c3f26221b6</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br />Now this video:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse is committed to working towards building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on the Political, religious, cultural and societal and human rights issues of the day. He is the President of Center for Pluralism and can be reached at <a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="color: #073763; text-decoration-line: none;">www.CenterforPluralism.com</a> </span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-35345696237845992572017-09-26T15:37:00.000-06:002017-09-26T20:15:59.841-06:00Big Victory for Muslim Women <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">A BIG VICTORY FOR
WOMEN</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File Phot0: First Female Judge in Qatar </td></tr>
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Not only Muslims but Hindus, Christians, Jews, Sikhs and all others talk about
equality of women, but many don’t
practice what they preach. “What does she know” “Her place is home” and
invariably her knowledge is discounted. Religions were not the culprits, it was
the men who could not stand women being equal and have
resorted to a whole lot of demeaning things to feel secure.
Until 1919 women were considered a property even here in the United
States, we have come a long way and a whole lot more to go. I have heard shameful comments like “A woman
can preach in my church over my dead body.” Many conservative men and even
women had a problem with Hillary Clinton being a woman president.<br /><br />Prophet Muhammad released women from the bondage of men, when he declared that men and women will be treated equally by God. Her husband is not responsible for her deeds, she is, and she is free to own property, own business, marry and divorce out of her free will. It was revolutionary at that time and the world understood that 1300 years later. However, a few Muslim majority nations have gone against the very teachings of Islam. The invention of Sharia among Muslims really pushed back the egalitarianism of Islam, Sharia is bidda (invention) and we need to un-bidda it with common sense or God's laws of equality, justice, freedom and harmony.<br />
<br />
Being an interfaith wedding officiant, I do a lot of research in matrimonial
sites, women in general seem to seek approval of men, sort of pandering and usually
playing the secondary role in the households. This needs a change, women need to assert and need to safeguard their rights and not be dictated against their will for common good.<br />
<br />
A majority of people in all groups believe and practice equality - that simply means respecting the other person, her opinions and her presence.<br />
<br />
Here are 4 items of Good news at: <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2017/09/big-victory-for-muslim-women.html">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2017/09/big-victory-for-muslim-women.html</a><o:p></o:p><br />
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<h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: blue;">Saudi Arabia –
women can drive now, and their clergy to eat crow</span></span></h3>
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Saudi Arabia has finally taken the good step forward; they have announced that women
are permitted to drive in their country.
First of all every man and woman have the same God-given rights to be
accountable to their actions, Saudi did not give the right to women, but
released back what was usurped from them in the first place. <br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Here is the information release today, <a href="https://www.inshorts.com/en/news/saudi-arabia-lifts-ban-on-womens-driving-1506455034556" title="https://www.inshorts.com/en/news/saudi-arabia-lifts-ban-on-womens-driving-1506455034556"><span style="color: black;">Saudi Arabia lifts ban on
women's driving</span></a> : Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Tuesday
issued a royal decree allowing women to drive, ending its status as the only
country in the world to impose such a ban. The new rules will take effect
starting June 2018. This comes after years of campaigns against the ban that
was seen as a violation of women's rights.<br />
</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
To quote Reza Aslan used for another instance, it was a Saudi practice and had nothing
to do with Islam. My friends at Fox had falsely projected it as an Islamic practice
which I fought with Sean Hannity as not.
<b><br />
<br />
</b>The Saudi Muftis (those who issue fatwas) will fall flat on their faces; they
have to eat what they spat. They had
issued funny opinions on many issue. The
other non-sense that needs to go is fatwas against Shias and other Muslims as
no Muslim or less of a Muslim. Allah
does not care what you believe, how you worship, as long as you subscribe to
the idea that there is one earth, one universe and there is one “whatever” we are
accountable to and take care of fellow beings and create harmony in his
creation – that is what Islam in a nutshell means. <b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: blue;">
Indian Muslim Clergy fell flat on their faces</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-weight: normal;">The men claiming to
represent Islam in India also fell flat on their faces. They were adamant that a man has the right to
pronounce the word divorce three times in a row and that would end the marriage.
An evil practice that does not exist
anywhere in the world, it is neither Islamic nor the Quran supports it. The men hung on to it, despite innumerable
articles, some of them are at www.ShariaLaws.com. </span><br />
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The supreme court of India listened to Muslim women and said that practice must
go. The same Ulema will fall on their
face again if they do not abolish the evil practice of Halala and inheritance
and child custody laws.</span><br />
<br /><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-weight: normal;">
India’s Supreme Court wrecks the Triple Talaq tradition</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/indias-supreme-courts-wrecking-ball-wrecks-triple_us_599dac25e4b056057bddd005" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/indias-supreme-courts-wrecking-ball-wrecks-triple_us_599dac25e4b056057bddd005</span></a><br /><br /><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-weight: normal;">
# # #</span><br /><br /><span style="color: blue;">Female Genital </span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Mutilation</span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">The practice of FGM
(Female Genital Mutilation) will come to a grinding halt, but it still
continues in small groups. Once again it
is not an Islamic or Muslim practice as Ayan Hirsi Ali has propagated it to be.
It is practiced by one small sect within
the Muslim community, but largely by communities who are Christian and native
traditions in Africa. FGM was legal in
America until 1996. <br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-420Ux-bUOtU/WcrEj9p-z8I/AAAAAAAAl0o/UhGVt7nwmBQoQBkxtucV-8A4BzYwqFnygCLcBGAs/s1600/fgm%2BPETITION.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="236" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-420Ux-bUOtU/WcrEj9p-z8I/AAAAAAAAl0o/UhGVt7nwmBQoQBkxtucV-8A4BzYwqFnygCLcBGAs/s1600/fgm%2BPETITION.jpg" /></a></div>
The Doctor that was caught in Michigan in performing FGM is out on a bail of
$43 Million. There is an imam in
Fairfax, VA, who believes FGM was allowed in Islam, of course he is barred from
practicing now. I say, the lady doctor
who performed FGM and the Imam who said it is Islamic are innocent people –
they problem is source of their knowledge – the secondary books in Islam which
shamefully many a Muslims have elevated to the level of Quran. The solution is to establish a commission to
study these secondary books and label bad ideas in them and caution the reader
about it. Quran is flawless and is a book of guidance to create cohesive
societies where no human has to live in fear of the other. Freedoms to live and
breathe are its goals. <br />
<br />
Articles:<br />
<a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/11/female-genital-mutilation-among-bohra.html">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/11/female-genital-mutilation-among-bohra.html</a>
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Setting the record straight - <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/04/mutilating-facts-setting-record.html">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/04/mutilating-facts-setting-record.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: blue;">Muslim Woman can Marry a Non-Muslim man -Morocco declares</span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenOYzv9xn8rl7MiNA1rA4vc_PtpwYZyhk0tKXJ_I4bbIW12ajq6uWcIctR0EIuz5GYUdQxGrrNqWxbdj8hgv8nRQA2xoGHnoN5mP3iL5eWPsVrOccIdfWF9U-2pqSwnBMYG1rv31YMsQ/s1600/george-clooney-amal-alamuddin-post-wedding-italy-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="806" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenOYzv9xn8rl7MiNA1rA4vc_PtpwYZyhk0tKXJ_I4bbIW12ajq6uWcIctR0EIuz5GYUdQxGrrNqWxbdj8hgv8nRQA2xoGHnoN5mP3iL5eWPsVrOccIdfWF9U-2pqSwnBMYG1rv31YMsQ/s200/george-clooney-amal-alamuddin-post-wedding-italy-04.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U8eG9GTZAho/WcrFFiSn9EI/AAAAAAAAl00/8FFWmhtXL6QM1EumNXSV0PtRnyajAs7dQCLcBGAs/s1600/Michael%2BCaine%2Band%2BShakira.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="353" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U8eG9GTZAho/WcrFFiSn9EI/AAAAAAAAl00/8FFWmhtXL6QM1EumNXSV0PtRnyajAs7dQCLcBGAs/s200/Michael%2BCaine%2Band%2BShakira.jpg" width="140" /></a><br /><br />The problem is same with all groups of people, they don't want their daughters to marry outside their faith or even tradition - but have no problem if their sons marry women of other faiths. United States and Canada are about the only countries where you marry whoever you feel compatible with, such is our freedom. In India and other nations if you are a movie star or a rich man, no one will stop you but if you are an ordinary citizen, you will be invariably harassed and even killed. I am sure it happens in other nations, thank God America is the land of the free. You live in the pursuit of your happiness.<br /><br />Now, the Kingdom of Morocco just declared that their women (Muslim) can marry a
non- Muslim. This is a big official announcement in the history of Islam, even though the practice has been around. Muslims in general are
resistant to the change without looking at the reasons why such ruling was “added”
in the first place as Quran does not expressly prohibit a Muslim woman from
marrying a non-Muslim. nearly 40% of American Muslims and Hindus marry outside their faith, and of course Christians and Jews are about 50%. A day will come, when what you believe, eat, drink or wear does not matter, what would matter is can you be happy with the individual.<br />
<br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C72AiCrvfV8/WcrFZJjmiJI/AAAAAAAAl04/hxvArB87mmkxZfcOVs2gu7OyEh5cXIznQCLcBGAs/s1600/Shahrukh-Khan-Guari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="354" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C72AiCrvfV8/WcrFZJjmiJI/AAAAAAAAl04/hxvArB87mmkxZfcOVs2gu7OyEh5cXIznQCLcBGAs/s200/Shahrukh-Khan-Guari.jpg" width="163" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9zbUHbiRuzo/WcrFnXaNoSI/AAAAAAAAl08/GDu1GhDYlz4H4_b8RCBMG-bpG9RCYR1NQCLcBGAs/s1600/AamirKhan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="680" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9zbUHbiRuzo/WcrFnXaNoSI/AAAAAAAAl08/GDu1GhDYlz4H4_b8RCBMG-bpG9RCYR1NQCLcBGAs/s200/AamirKhan.jpg" width="139" /></a><br /><br /> Check this out: </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> It is a big article - 6000 words - Can a Muslim woman marry a non-Muslim man? </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #00bcd5; outline: none; padding: 0in;">: <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/can-a-muslim-woman-marry-a-non-muslim-man/">http://centerforpluralism.com/can-a-muslim-woman-marry-a-non-muslim-man/</a><br /><br />And this: <a href="http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/2017/09/bill-gates-daughter-is-dating-muslim-guy.html">http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/2017/09/bill-gates-daughter-is-dating-muslim-guy.html</a></span><o:p></o:p></span>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">Mike Ghouse<br />
Center for Pluralism<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-33085540174715575152017-06-30T08:09:00.000-06:002017-06-30T08:25:33.070-06:00July 4th event by Muslims for America and Center for Pluralism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 27.6px; padding: 0in;">PRESS RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916<br />President, Center for Pluralism, Washington, D.C.,<br />email: Mike@Centerforpluralism.com<br />Web: http://www.Centerforpluraism.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Washington, D.C., Jun 30, 2017 - The Center for Pluralism and its Board of Directors have every reason to be jubilant. Each successive year, they see the vision of the Founding Fathers coming to life, where every American is treated with dignity and respect. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Mike Ghouse, President of the Center said, “We are not a perfect union yet, but a perfect union we will be, as we can continue our efforts to be an inclusive society. The Fourth of July should not simply come and go; we must make it a remarkable day. It should be a great happening to augment National Integration, where Americans of all faiths, or no faith, races, ethnicities, nationalities, political, sexual and other orientations come together to celebrate the oneness of our nation. “<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">This year the Muslim contributions to America are highlighted. Each one of the Board Members is excited. Dr. Karen Hollie-Thibodeuax, Fatima Argun, Sam Madden, </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Dana Lankford-Russell</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 19.1667px;"> </span><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">and the supporting team members OS Modgil and Ali Azhar Fateh have provided extensive support. The encouragement and long term support for Pluralism came from Ambassador Sada Cumber, Mr. Farooq Wazir Ali and Professor Emeritus Dr. Harbans Lal who are genuinely committed to a cohesive America.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;"><br />Muslims have been contributors towards the wellbeing of the United States of America from the very beginning; the declaration of independence on July 4<sup>th</sup>, 1776. Morocco’s Sultan Muhammad III was the first world leader to recognize the sovereignty of the United States followed by Nederland’s Johannes de Graaf and Tipu Sultan of Mysore (India). The legend has it that Tipu Sultan had fire crackers going up in Sriranga Patna, his Capital cheering America’s independence. He faced the same enemy that the United States had faced: Lord Cornwallis.<br /><br /><br /><br />JOIN THE CELEBRATIONS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">What: July 4th Celebrations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">Time: 2-4 PM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">Where: Farragut Square, Washington, D.C. (right across from the Farragut West Metro) 912 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">FIRST 2 OF 3 LEADERS WHO RECOGNIZED OUR SOVEREIGNTY WERE MUSLIMS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">American Muslims uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in the U.S. constitution. Their faith reinforces the creed of "One Nation under God, with liberty and justice for all."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">“The more integrated we are, the safer it is for every one of the 322 million Americans to feel and live safely.” Mike Ghouse concluded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">Details: </span><a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/july-4th/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">http://centerforpluralism.com/july-4th/</span></a><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #444444; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0in;">Don't forget to bring your flags and chairs.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"> </span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-52110735387254118682017-04-29T07:28:00.001-06:002017-04-29T07:28:56.312-06:00Meet the Iranian tycoon smashing gender stereotypes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 150%;">Daneshvar’s
statement resonates with me, “</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 150%;">I fear nothing but God. That's why I always take risks
and do things that many people do not do.”
- Indeed, fearing God amounts to concerns about creating an imbalance,
and injustice in the society. I fear no Mullah, no Muslim and no no-one. I like
her spirit and would like to write a piece on what “fearing Allah” means, which
is generally mis-understood. You have a
knack for collecting great articles and extracting its essence and placing at.
Most times, I read the stuff in red and then read the rest. Thanks Imran. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">Courtesy -</span><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/megan-otoole.html" rel="author" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: initial; color: #2575bc; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: bottom;" title="http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/megan-otoole.html"><span style="font-size: small;">Megan
O'Toole</span></a><br /> with AlJazeera<br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/04/meet-iranian-tycoon-smashing-gender-stereotypes-170425083206166.html" title="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/04/meet-iranian-tycoon-smashing-gender-stereotypes-170425083206166.html">http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/04/meet-iranian-tycoon-smashing-gender-stereotypes-170425083206166.html</a><table border="0" class="gmail-image" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: initial; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><tbody style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 150%;">43, has spent years pursuing a successful career in the male-dominated mining
industry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Tehran - Fatemeh Daneshvar moves easily around the room as she speaks of her accomplishments, pausing at one point to admire a photo of her children, and at another to flip through a glossy magazine packed with images of some of the thousands of women her charity has aided.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar, 43, now counts seven major businesses to her name, having spent years pursuing a successful career in the male-dominated mining industry. She serves on Tehran's city council and the Iranian chamber of commerce, and has authored dozens of reports on the social problems plaguing Iran, from addiction to child labour. She donates one-fourth of her income to her own charity, Mehrafarin, which supports women and children whose fathers have abandoned them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">http://www.aljazeera.com/curated/</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But of all that Daneshvar has achieved over the years, she is proudest of her work with Iran's street kids. She runs a programme to train and support dozens of exceptional orphans, giving them a chance to succeed in the broader community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Once, they were just yearning for a basket of fruit; now, they want to be astronauts, the best physicists of the world," Daneshvar tells Al Jazeera from inside her Tehran office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar has done all of this while raising four young children alongside her husband and business partner, and she openly acknowledges that it has not always been an easy road. Along the way, she faced resistance from traditionalist members of Iran's business community - but she persisted, citing a need to send a message to other women in the country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar recently sat down with Al Jazeera to speak about how she found success in a male-dominated industry, while also challenging Western stereotypes of what it means to be a woman in Iran.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Al Jazeera: What initially drew you to the business world?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Fatemeh Daneshvar: I did my MA in the field of business management and later decided to do business for myself. I was single at the time, but it wasn't quite something normal in Iranian culture, which was male-dominated in the business field - especially in mining and importing/exporting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But I entered the mining industry sector and started exporting mining materials to different countries. My business took off and I got very successful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Later on, I realised I'd gotten a lot of attention as the only woman active in this field. I realised that I'm quite different from others because of some of the virtues I have, like self-confidence, risk-taking and audacity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The first business deal I made, I made a $2m deal, but all I had was $200. People wanted to know how on Earth I did that. I explained that it was through the art of negotiations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Al Jazeera: What challenges have you faced while navigating this male-dominated world?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar: I was always committed to setting goals and prioritising my goals, and I tried to look at them from above. Then, I always told myself: "That's nothing, let's do it."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Among those objectives was bringing four children into the world. I made those children at the height of my business and I was quite busy, but it happened and I am very happy for that - two boys and two girls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">It was like an earthquake across the country, that in a totally male-dominated field, a woman has gotten this vote. It was like a thunderbolt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">At that time, it came to my mind to become a member of the business chamber of Iran. There was no female member of the mining industry at the chamber. When I signed up, the senior members made fun of me, saying no such "young lady" should come to this field. They teased me that I should leave; I was pregnant at the time with twins and very busy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But in the election of the chamber, I got the second-highest vote. It was like an earthquake across the country, that in a totally male-dominated field, a woman has gotten this vote. It was like a thunderbolt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I received a lot of calls from male members of the chamber that I should resign, and that they could not accept a woman presiding over them. I sometimes got very tired and fed up with these kinds of calls, but I thought if I do resign, it's a kind of betrayal to the women in our society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Instead, I made way for others: There are currently three other women chairing specialised committees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Al Jazeera: Do you believe there are misconceptions in the West about what life is like for women living under Islamic rule?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar: There is a huge misconception about women in Iran from a Western perspective. When I've travelled to different countries, I've realised that Iranian women are extremely highly educated and enjoy many more freedoms that in some of these other countries. But these misconceptions persist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In a country like Iran, women have a delicate conduct with their husbands. They shouldn't weaken their husband to strengthen themselves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">My husband has been a great partner, especially for raising children. When I've had to be away from home dealing with my business, he has filled that gap for me. He has been a great father and is wonderful with the children. This is another key to success, having a supportive partner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Al Jazeera: What would you say are the most pressing social problems facing Iran today?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar: Addiction and unemployment. These two are the root causes of many of the problems that I personally have seen, the social crimes and social harms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">TALK TO AL JAZEERA: Ahmadinejad - Iran can be better managed (22:16)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Our country is neighbouring Afghanistan, where many of the drugs are produced, and it is a transit route for drugs to Europe and Western countries. In the process, a lot of Iranian youth can become addicted to these types of drugs, and this leads to many social problems and social issues. We have divorce, we have family problems; we have many, many issues resulting from this. What is especially worrisome is the addiction among women, which should be tackled very seriously, because they are involved in child-bearing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The country's senior authorities have always been very sensitive to this, but recently senior officials have paid a lot more attention to the issue, and many rehabilitation camps have been launched. Such efforts have been cumulatively increasing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Al Jazeera: What's your advice for women and girls who want to follow in your footsteps?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Daneshvar: I always advise them, the number one enemy is fear. Do not be scared, no matter what. And always think about yourself - set goals and objectives for yourself. Try to know thyself first.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I'm indebted to my spiritual intelligence. Because of the way my family raised me, I fear nothing but God. That's why I always take risks and do things that many people do not do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">This Q&A was adapted from a translated interview and has been edited and condensed for clarity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Follow Megan O'Toole on Twitter: @megan_otoole</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-4456532434741237412017-02-10T18:53:00.000-06:002017-02-10T18:53:11.161-06:00Can a Muslim Woman Marry a Non-Muslim Man - 6000 words<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scope of this article is limited to Interfaith Marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sole intent of this essay is to preserve the future of “American Muslims” and keeping them within the fold by expanding the fold to be reflective of Allah’s unlimitedness and extending Prophet Muhammad’s mercy to the entire universe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer to the question has always been an emphatic NO. Guarding the flock is a human trait and no tradition wants to lose a member of their tradition to the other, whether you are a Hindu, Christian, Sikh or a Jew, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or new, indeed, any tradition for that matter. Muslims are no exception either and there is no need to beat up on Islam for a deficiency in comprehension.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This paper explores on possible causes for the no response, and what happens if that cause is no more applicable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of us may not want to acknowledge it, but American Muslims have their own Islam that differs from others in other lands, but precisely the same as what Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) practiced; a religion committed to building cohesive societies and caring for life and the environment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />If God would have said no to a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man, it would have been said in the Quran, there is not even an inference. God does not make mistakes; instead he empowers us to figure out our own equilibrium.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This essay is merely an expression of what many American Muslims are thinking but are afraid to express. I am pleased to present some thoughts to reflect on; ultimately the decision to marry rests in the hearts and minds of the individuals marrying. It is their life and it is God who puts love in their hearts for each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continued after the pictures<br /><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">FAMOUS COUPLES</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-372" height="953" sizes="(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px" src="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/George-Clooney-Amal-Alamuddin-Celebrity-200x300.jpg" srcset="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/George-Clooney-Amal-Alamuddin-Celebrity-200x300.jpg 200w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/George-Clooney-Amal-Alamuddin-Celebrity-768x1152.jpg 768w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/George-Clooney-Amal-Alamuddin-Celebrity-683x1024.jpg 683w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/George-Clooney-Amal-Alamuddin-Celebrity-624x936.jpg 624w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/George-Clooney-Amal-Alamuddin-Celebrity.jpg 1000w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="635" /><br /><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-373" height="944" sizes="(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px" src="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Michael-Caine-Shakira-Caine-200x300.jpg" srcset="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Michael-Caine-Shakira-Caine-200x300.jpg 200w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Michael-Caine-Shakira-Caine.jpg 396w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="629" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-374" height="523" sizes="(max-width: 627px) 100vw, 627px" src="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/al_weiner_Human_abedin-300x250.jpg" srcset="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/al_weiner_Human_abedin-300x250.jpg 300w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/al_weiner_Human_abedin.jpg 485w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="627" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-375" height="679" sizes="(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px" src="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/nargis-sunil-dutt-279x300.jpg" srcset="http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/nargis-sunil-dutt-279x300.jpg 279w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/nargis-sunil-dutt-624x671.jpg 624w, http://interfaithmarriages.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/nargis-sunil-dutt.jpg 700w" style="border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="632" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike Ghouse</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Can a Muslim Woman Marry a Non-Muslim Man?</span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preface:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is easy to stick to the traditions, on one hand we save the hassles and the agonizing process of thinking, doubting and worry about failed marriage or family. On the other hand the change is inevitable as evidenced by our eating, sleeping, communicating, housing, clothing, moving, romancing and living habits which have changed steadily over one’s life time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have accepted the changes in all aspects of our lives over a period of time, and if it was not for the progressives, we would still be living in caves and many of us would not have lived beyond 50. We are doing what our Grand Parents could not have even imagined, and hopefully we will prepare ourselves to gracefully accept what our Grand Children will do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When God created the universe, the chief products were life and matter. He chose the matter to run precisely as he programmed it (Quran 55:5-11) ; the Earth going around the Sun with precision, and the moon circumambulating around the Earth, the change of seasons, and how a seed becomes food through a precise process. The Jupiter, Moon or the Seed don’t make decisions (55:5), they just act according to a well defined program, and they don’t think nor do they have a brain either (Q 55:6) to act independently, except the built-in defense mechanisms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike the matter, humans were not put on a trajectory; they were given the freedom to determine their own equilibrium along with guidance. Remember God did not compel Adam but gave him the choices and honored it, he could have stopped Adam from eating the fruit but he did not. He probably told his angels, “Look, I gave them (Adam & Eve) a choice and if I do not honor my own word, who will? Adam chose what suited him, and God decided to upload “Freedom” into Adam’s DNA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed, the freedom to choose, freedom to believe, freedom to speak and freedom to live his life with consequences for each action is an inalienable right of every human. You see that embedded in Quran verse 2:256 – <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">La Ikraha Fi din</em> – No one can force the other to believe against his or her will. This idea was beefed up again with another sage advice elsewhere in the Quran where God advices the Prophet to do his work and not worry if people would listen to him or not. God says, let me be the decider to put in their heart to listen to you or not. It is purely because of the freedom clause God has incorporated into us. Islam is also called a deen of <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fitra</em>; that is human nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few Muslims are conditioned to think in binary terms – Halal or Haram, Zero and One, Day and Night, Black and White and they are comfortable with it. They need to stick to their belief if that works for them and let others go with what works for them. No one should be compelled to believe otherwise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If God would have said no to a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man, it would have been said in the Quran, there is not even an inference. God does not make mistakes; instead he empowers us to figure out our own equilibrium.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This issue is not religious, but cultural and is common to all societies and groups. It is more of a man feeling he is superior to a woman and that he is entitled to her body soul and mind. That is not how Quran communicates – no one is responsible for other’s deeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entitlement is indeed a cultural value – the scholars were driven by the need of the time and stamped their cultural understanding as religious values. Cultural values are time sensitive whereas religious values are immortal. Our needs are different today than were the needs of times when Muslims decided on their own that a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man.<br />It is time for Muslims to think and reflect instead of becoming judgmental. God would have made us into a piece of rock if he did not want to us to think and make our own decisions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Azizah Al-Hibri, a Muslim scholar explains the idea of ‘Ilah” in her book, “An Introduction to Muslim Women’s rights” that, “Islamic law is usually based on an Illah- justification and reason for an act. By agreement of scholars, when the Illah disappears, so must the law, unless there is another Illah for it. Much of our heritage of ijtihad, however, was formulated hundreds of years ago and has not been reexamined recently to determine whether ilal (plural of Illah) for the related laws are still in place. The latter observation is especially significant because systems of Islamic law have often incorporated customs of local communities within them, so long as such customs were not viewed as contradicting the Quran. This practice, incidentally, is part of the Quranic philosophy of celebrating, rather than obliterating or punishing diversity.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This principle of Illah gets violated regularly. Here is an analogy to make the point. In case of rape, witnesses are required to prove that the rape happened. The emphasis here is on “proof” and today the DNA test is the best proof one can get. In a fatwa given in 2016, the Pakistani Ulema rejected the “proof” and insisted on witnesses. This is a classic case of getting stuck in rituals instead of understanding the essence of the rituals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the same “Ilah” for preventing a marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim man does not exist anymore in American life. We have to do our ijtihad – reasoning and justification must exist to prevent such union.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, it is dumb to think that I am advocating a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man, if that is your binary conclusion; this article is not for you. This article is for those who are about to enter into a conflict zone and this piece gives them information to make their own thoughtful decision.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SCOPE OF THIS ARTICLE</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scope of this article is limited to Interfaith Marriages and Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men. The follow up article will address who are the believers and why limit it to people of the book? Accountability is the “Ilah” here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The question, can a Muslim woman marry a non-Muslim man has been around for a long time, and the answer has always been an emphatic NO. Guarding the flock is a human trait and no tradition wants to lose a member of their tradition to the other, whether you are a Hindu, Christian, Sikh or a Jew, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or new, indeed, any tradition for that matter. Muslims are no exception either and there is no need to beat up on Islam for your comprehension deficiency.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have dedicated 20 years of my life into learning and analyzing the role of religion in the society. There isn’t a single religious group out there which allows interfaith marriages without hassle. Thank God the goodness and ugliness is universal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The interfaith marriage problems that we see now, may not be an issue in the near future, and we have to deal with them now. The core belief in Islam remains the same no matter which of the ‘72’ denominations you belong to, but the cultural diversity ranges from group to group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a Muslim thinker, I have consciously chosen to remain within the bounds of Quran, and explore the vastness and wisdom of God’s words.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">INTENT OF THE ESSAY</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sole intent of this essay is to shape and preserve the future of “American Muslims” and keeping them within the fold by expanding the fold to be reflective of Allah’s unlimitedness (Aalameen), and extending Prophet Muhammad’s mercy to the entire universe (Aalameen).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aren’t Muslims supposed to have a universal vision to embrace the whole humanity with its God given diversity? Allah is the Rab (creator) of Aalameen, and Prophet is the Rahmat to Aalameen? We should be humans for the Aalameen and such we have to find solutions to the past exclusions to make life easy for the next generation here in America.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This essay is merely an expression of what many American Muslims are thinking but are afraid to express. I am pleased to present some thoughts to reflect on; ultimately the decision rests in the hearts and minds of the individuals marrying. It is their life and it is God who puts love in the hearts for each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please don’t forget, you live in the land of the free and home of the brave, and America loves everyone. She has her own culture that each one of us has subconsciously embraced and lives by her. The first generation and the subsequent generation of American Muslims are an integral part of America in every which way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new American Muslim culture is evolving while the layers of dust accumulated on the tradition is peeling off, and along the way Islam is being restored to what it was meant to be: a common sense religion. Some of us may not want to acknowledge it, but American Muslims have their own Islam that differs from others in other lands, but precisely the same as what Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) practiced; a religion committed to building cohesive societies and caring for life and the environment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Azizah Al-Hibri writes on page 53 of her book, “The Quran states that God created humans, male and female, from the same <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">nafs</em> so that they may find tranquility, mercy, and affection for each other. The Quran also states that male and female believers are each others’ walis (protectors, Guardians). These themes permeate the Quran and make it very clear that there is no metaphysical, ontological, religious or ethical primacy for the male over the female. The Quran also makes it crystal clear that divine will contemplate a relationship of harmony, consultation, and cooperation, as opposed to conflicts and domination, between the two genders.”</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">VALUES OF ISLAM</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the most enduring values of Islam is accountability. God has created everything in balance and harmony (Quran 55:5-11), and has appointed us (all humans) to manage that balance effectively on a continual basis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Mother’s words echo frequently in my ears, “On the day of Hisab-Kitab, the day of Accountability, or the Day of Judgment, everyone is for himself or herself, I will be busy with my own deeds and you will be with your own, I won’t have time for you neither will you have time for me” and she would conclude, Son, be accountable and be responsible for what you think, say and do. If you have a nightmare, no one else can feel your fear as you do. Indeed, the narrative of the Day of Judgment is applicable in day today life. If you murder someone, it’s your Heine that goes to jail and not your husband or wife’s. She was right; we are individually responsible for who we are and what we do here. Islam has found its home in America.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quran makes an individual acutely aware of one’s responsibility. Q 6:163-164: “All people will reap the harvest of their own deeds; no one will bear another’s burden. Ultimately, all of you will return to your Lord, and he will resolve your disputes.” Indeed, each one of us is responsible for our own thoughts and actions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quran places equal emphasis on men and women, a woman cannot excuse herself on the Day of Judgment or Day to Day living. Men need to get this straight; a woman is fully empowered and responsible for her actions and not the men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prophet Muhammad was obviously one of the first women’s liberators who restored her inalienable rights back to her. He further beefed it up by advising women, that if her husband commands her to do immoral things against her will, she has the right to refuse and if unbearable, the right to divorce. Such was the empowerment of women.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">INTERFAITH MARRAIGES</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the Pew Survey, nearly 40% of the marriages in the United States are interfaith marriages including Muslims and Hindus, and among Jews it is much higher, one out of two marriages is outside his or her faith. The trend is gaining momentum and has no reason to stop or slow down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a long time, Muslim men married women of the book – that is Jews, Christians and Muslims, but the Muslim woman rarely married outside her faith. However in our land, the land of the free and home of the brave, religious goal posts are pushed further out to accommodate more inclusion of God’s creation. If that does not come through, the couple always has an option to marry outside the scope of their religious traditions with no consequences, religious vigilantism has no place in America nor will it ever gain ground. Islam is about freedom, it is in our ‘ghutti’ – DNA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today with the God given freedom, religious barriers are coming down. It may take two more generations for interfaith marriages to become a norm, but norm it will become. Men and women become friends, fall in love with each other and take their relationship to its ultimate; marriage. We cannot deny the fact that Muhammad (before he became prophet) was employed by Bibi Khadija. She just did not propose to marry him out of the blue; she knew him over a period of time and believed he will be the right partner. She did not send her parents to his parents either, it was one on one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God has created all species in pairs and has made one for the other, and when that union takes place, harmony is restored. God is about harmony, and marriage is a step to bring harmony between two people, and some even consider it to be a form of worship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quran 30:21. “And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind so that you might incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!”</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LEGITIMATE CONCERNS</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few concerns are addressed here and I will be happy to reflect on the new ones, ultimately the couple has to make their own decision.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Head of the household</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The resistance to a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man is based on the cultural practices, even though it has a religious tone to it. No one wants to lose members of their flock to others. An assumption was made that because man was the provider, he will direct which way the house hold runs and how children are raised. That is not the truth in America and perhaps in Canada and other democracies anymore. Women today are equal partners and frequently contribute more to the household than men.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harmony</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the man and woman are from different races, religions or regions, it will create problems for the couple. How would they raise their children? What religion would they follow? Will the society look down upon them? How would they celebrate their festivities or bury their dead? How will they handle divorce and their Children? It is still a problem with many societies but not in the United States and Canada, we have figured it out. There is a load of wisdom in Quran, Prophet’s nurturer and uncle did not become a Muslim and died as a Quraish, it is God’s design to set an example of learning to live and care for each other despite different religions. Prophet married Maria and Safia, Christian and Jewish women respectively, and he did not compel them to become Muslims either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The questions are endless, but the answer is a powerful one, and that is accountability. In the traditional societies parents rightfully feel responsible to guard the happiness of their offspring, where as parents in North America are learning to believe that their kids are independent and know what they want in their lives, and will find their own happiness. Ultimately they have to live their own lives, you cannot babysit them forever. American Muslim parents trust their kids to do the right thing and let them run their own lives. Please note that this comparison is made with Muslims living elsewhere in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is one segment of single Muslim women that is reaching an enormous percent of all the single women. These women are in their late 40’s and 50’s, and are divorced and certainly not looking for a provider, nor do they entertain having children. They are simply looking to have a friend and a companion in their marriages and live their own lives. A friend of mine puts it crudely – look, no one in the family or work place would ever question the rituals you follow on the toilet seat, why should anyone question how one prays? In a pluralistic society, religion is increasingly becoming personal in nature applicable to the believers of that faith, just as it happened during the times of Prophet with the Madinah treaty. To you is your faith and to me is my faith, and together we can live in harmony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Gail Saltz, New York based psychiatrists and author of “The Power of Different” writes, “In every marriage, there are plenty of issues that can divide couples, from differing cultures and religions to their stance on children, money and sex.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gwendolyn Seidman, associate professor of psychology at Albright College in Pennsylvania, adds that two individuals from different social strata will potentially face conflicts. “This could create conflicts where one partner thinks the other is not ambitious enough or one partner disapproves of the other’s scheming,”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“So if one partner is conservative and the other is liberal, but neither is particularly politically active, this difference is less likely to be a problem than if both partners are strong partisans.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“An omnivore and a vegetarian can happily co-exist if the omnivore is content to cut down on meat.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“But if he needs meat at every meal, there is going to be a problem,” Seidman said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seidman concludes, “The more alike you are, the less there is to fight about,” “But the good news is that, as couples spend more and more time together, they start to become more similar, both because of their many shared experiences and because of deliberate efforts to get along.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the reason why Muslim Parents (Hindu, Sikh and Jain Parents too) take charge in finding the ‘suitable” husband for their daughters. They want their daughters to be happy. But a time comes when you have to trust your daughter to make her own decision; after all it is her own life.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Divorces</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple’s happiness is based on how they manage their affairs. Lack of communication is one of the reasons for divorce whether they are from same religion or from different religions or races. No one wants to hear this, but Islam, the religion of common sense has made room for divorce, so the individuals can continue to live on with their lives with least misery. Acknowledging this fact may actually strengthen the relationships and become an antidote to divorces. Remember, God does not prefer disharmony but would accept if harmony of each individual is preserved by divorce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harmony is a mental attitude. If the couple has enough love, the issues become stepping stones to figure out how to live with harmony. Dr. Abdul Hamid Abusulayman writes, “There is a clear distinction between doubts and problems. Doubts provoke obstruction, frustration and discouragement, whereas problems inspire motivation, action and diligence.” and solutions. To this, I will add, “Whatever you do in life, do it wholeheartedly, there is joy in it for everyone around including ourselves”</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comfort Zone</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our comfort zone is directly proportional to the predictability of our environment; the greatest conformity produces maximum comfort greater security and minimal conflict. It is in this context, I am addressing the issue of a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the face of it, it sounds like a discriminatory practice that a Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman; where as a Muslim woman cannot do the same. It is not only discouraged but declared to be wrong and some have gone on to say that you are out of the pale of Islam and even against Islam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This discriminatory practice is cultural, and has worked in societies where women are economically and socially dependent, thus are subservient to men. However, our women, the American Muslims women are neither economically, nor socially dependent on men and nor should they be subservient to men. We are all created equal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God is not bound by any culture, he sees it differently and says that a man and a woman are equally accountable for their actions, and they are each other’s garments (protectors, friends, defenders, secret keepers…..) and the relationship is not that of subserviency, but that of partnership with responsibilities and duties to each other with full dignity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A woman is as independent as a man is. Indeed, our women, the American Muslim women live the life of Hazrat Khadija, prophet’s wife, who had her own business, her own wealth, her own home and her own comfort zone. Our women are blessed to live the life of Hazrat Khadija, and we thank God for that. Shouldn’t that help us knock out our security concerns and comfort zone issues?<br />Quran on a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim Man</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no specific verse in Quran that bans a woman from marrying a non-Muslim man. How can it be? Islam is a religion of common sense, is it not? God says we are created into many nations and tribes from the same single couple; Adam and Eve. Thus we are all one large family of humans. Then he says, the best ones among you are the ones who learn about the other, and when we do, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no other couple who follows God’s advice more than the Interfaith and Interracial couples. Their union is a declaration to the world, “Look we are different, but we can live in harmony, why don’t you do the same?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are two layers to this issue – the people of the book (Jews and Christians) and the other filter is Mushrikoon; those who do not believe in oneness of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.scholarofthehouse.org/oninma.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Shaykh Khaled Abou El Fadl</a>, a scholar of Islam writes, “This is the law as it exists or the legal legacy as we inherited it. In all honesty, personally, I am not convinced that the evidence prohibiting Muslim women from marrying a Kitab is very strong. Muslim jurists took a very strong position on this matter–many of them going as far as saying if a Muslim woman marries a Kitabi she is as good as an apostate. I think, and God knows best, that this position is not reasonable and the evidence supporting it is not very strong. However, I must confess that in my humble opinion, I strongly sympathize with the jurists that argued that in non-Muslim countries it is reprehensible (makruh) for a Muslim to marry a non-Muslim.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that would be a political consideration in most other nations, but not in America. What we have witnessed in January 2017 is incredible, the whole nation stood up for Muslims, a tiny weenie minority. We are the nation of laws and our laws will guide us to be a just society with occasional digressions. As Americans Muslims we have placed our trust in our constitution and will defend it with our lives, if we have to. This is the best nation on the earth and we have to preserve it for every one of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fear of losing the members of the flock to others drove the Jurist to make that call, which may not be valid any more. In an article “Seven things you don’t know about interfaith marriage” author Naomi Schaefer Riley offers the following information; “Children of interfaith couples are more than twice as likely to adopt the faith of their mother as the faith of their father.” Provided the mother follows certain faith.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Two out of five Muslims marry someone from other faith. This seems to be a major driver of the integration of American Muslims. Furthermore she adds this number increases to 67% for people in the age group of 36 and 45.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the passing phase of political chaos now, the young Muslims believe Islam is not a divisive religion but an all embracing religion of the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aalameen</em>, and it accepts the otherness of others through God’s own words, “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lakum Dinakum Waliaddin” </em>to you is your faith as mine is to me, it is a mutual acknowledgement of the otherness of others. They believe in freedom, and did not believe in pushing others to believe into your way. The Quran calls, <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">La Ikraha fid-din</em> – there is no compulsion in matters of faith. Indeed freedom of speech and freedom of faith are the values Islam Cherishes. Remember, it is a common sense faith.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Verses from Quran</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Do not marry women who associate (others with God), until they believe (in God). A believing maidservant (amah) is better than a woman who associates (others with God,) even if she allures you. Do not marry men who associate (others with God) until they believe (in God). A believing male-servant is better than a man who associates (others with God,) even if he allures you…” (2:221).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ‘Ilah’ or the cause of reason for discouraging marriage between two different people is to prevent disharmony given the several factors of economic dependency, social cultural and other factors. Ilah becomes discretionary here as the couple is determined to live in harmony and not let the other factors to affect their relationship. Please remember Quran is a book of guidance in most aspects of life, and commandments in a few areas such as stealing, lying, rape, incest, cheating etc. Do not steal. Do not lie. Don’t be unjust. Don’t cheat.<br />The verse 5:5 expressly allows a Muslim man to marry any believing woman regardless of religion. No argument about it. The verse, however, remains silent about whether a Muslim woman is free to marry a believing non-Muslim man as suggestive in the verse 2:221, which predates 5:5 in the revelation calendar. Please look at this from an American cultural perspective, and American Islam is gaining its own identity.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue is that of compatibility.</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Quran talks about believing women over polytheists (Mushrikoon), a contrast is drawn to highlight the compatibility part of the relationship. God has created a mate for everyone and he is happiest when that union lives in harmony. God is within us, he is closer to us than our jugular vein, meaning he is aware of what goes on with us, as our conscience, he reminds us to consider someone who is compatible over someone who is not. At one time in history, the Mushrikoon and Muminoon (Muslims) could not live with each other, but that is not the case today in America.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Likewise, compatibility was the key factor in the verse to marry someone who is close to you (believing) than someone who is not (Mushrikoon).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, the strife existed between the tribes; the ones who believed in the prevalent customs hated the idea of accountability that Islam was talking about, here the issue of trust was in play, particularly when the phrase “Charming, bewitching, allurements” were used. Don’t be beguiled with charms was the caveat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following two paragraphs were sent by someone, and I cannot trace back, thanks to whoever it was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“This allusion to “slaves” (men and women) is quite indicative of the moral values that the Quranic Revelation tended to inculcate in people. On the one hand, the Qur’an showed ‘Tolerance’ towards the fact of slavery that was universally common at the time; on the other hand, it sought to break the first chains of social hierarchy by preferring these “poor” believing slaves to those wealthy people who formed the elite then.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Furthermore, the new believers needed to be protected from polytheists’ abuse who considered this new religion of Islam as a threat to their own interests. The Qur’an urges Muslim men and women to get married to believers who had, like them, such faith awareness and were conscious of justice on earth. The purpose was to absolutely avoid the marriage of Muslims to polytheists who made every effort to stand against a religion that was defending the most vulnerable people on earth.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus the said verse stipulates that Muslim men and women are allowed to contract marriage with believers and prohibited to marry polytheists. Here the Quran takes an egalitarian approach in addressing both men and women on an equal basis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The “proof” item in case of rape over “witnesses” can be applied here as well. We need to understand the essence of God’s wisdom rather than the words, as the words do expand and shrink in meaning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rejection of Polytheist has to do more with the specific people who were harassing and making the lives of Muslims difficult than Polytheists in general. That is not the case anymore. Everyone is a believer, whether you are a Pagan, Hindu, Wicca or a Buddhist, you do believe in accountability of your actions, and that is the key to nurturing harmony in the world, which is an Islamic value. The Sikhs, Baha’i and a few others are certainly the people of the book and so called monotheists that need to be included. Even the people without books are accountable and responsible, that is how the society works now. I always welcome the cautions in our holy books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why would God want you to say “to you is your faith and to me is my faith” in verse 109:6? Indeed, the entire chapter of Kafirun is loaded with wisdom. Allah wants us to learn about carrying a civil dialogue and the ground rule for that is to respect the otherness of others and giving equal value to others’ stance as you do your own. In each one of the six verses, the other is treated on an equal footing and zero denigration. God chose not to denigrate other’s faith and that is pure common sense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, almost every group has a book to follow, and they all should be Kitabi’s at large, but there should be no rejection for those who do not have a book to follow. God loves his creation, all of his creation; he does not make any distinction between one and the other. He declared in Quran 49:13 that he has deliberately made us into different tribes, communities and nations, and that we are all from the same couple. He does not stop there, in another verse he says he sent a messenger to every tribe and each nation to bring peace and harmony to the respective groups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then he wraps it up by saying the best ones among you are those who take the time to know the other individuals and other groups. What happens when you sit down and talk? Conflicts fade and solutions emerge leading to peace, and name for that actions is Islam and that is what God wants- Peace and harmony on earth. The best ones are those who care for the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pope Francis is a genuine religious man; I believe he is one of the few individuals on earth who has understood God as a name to a system of harmony and balance. His understanding on some of the key issues resonate more with Islam. He believed in “Rabbul Aalameen”- Universal God, and embraced everyone into his fold including the Atheists, for the simple reason that they are not out to get you, to them is their belief and to me is my belief. Unlike the Atheists a few hundred years ago, the Atheists of today are responsible, and as accountable to their actions as any Muslim, Christian, Jew or a Hindu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you are still thinking. I urge you to think and see Islam as an all embracing religion to accommodate God’s entire universe. When we say Islam means peace, it is obligatory on us to make sure everything we say and do leads to peace and not conflict. Exclusion breeds conflict, inclusion builds bridges, and let’s build bridges and bring peace on earth. Let’s not subscribe to divisions and go against what God wants; Unity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Muslim is someone who is constantly seeking to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill for humanity to live in peace and harmony. Indeed my talk as a Muslim Speaker on Prophet Muhammad highlights 15 of his actions that led to conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance. Creating a better world is our duty.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DISAPPOINTMENTS</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is disappointing to the potential brides and grooms that their clergy or a parent invariably insists on the other person to convert to their faith tradition, and some do, and some fake it and some are not comfortable with the idea at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a couple is deeply committed to marry, they go ahead and get married any way but sorely miss out on the ceremony. Over the years, I have seen too many couples miss out on the joy of that additional sense of completeness that comes with a religious ceremony. Marriage is between two individuals, and their families and friends ought to be supporters and cheerleaders to celebrate and complete their joy.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God bless the Interfaith and Interracial Couples!</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite their religious, racial or cultural differences, they are setting the new standards of civility by showing the world how to live in harmony. We have to cherish and honor the couples who embrace genuine humanity by accepting each other’s uniquenesses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When people are showing extreme intolerance towards each other, the interfaith and interracial couples are showing the way to live in harmony and are contributing to the idea of one nation. They are indeed exemplary patriotic Americans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are who you are and I am who I am, and let’s acknowledge that and live in peace. As long as we don’t mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturance, and respect each other’s uniqueness, we all will do well. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a society, the least we can do is acknowledge them for their contributions towards the idea of one nation that is America.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God bless them!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a pluralist, activist, newsmaker and an interfaith wedding officiant. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, motivation, and foreign policy and is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 65 links at <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MikeGhouse.net</a></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-52255557270267265292012-08-28T23:46:00.004-06:002012-08-28T23:47:46.816-06:00Ahmadiyya Muslims translate Quran into Yiddish<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I admire the Ahmadiyya Muslim community for the peaceful work they have been doing, where ever they go. They bring a good name to Islam and Muslims.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, no Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Hindu community is free from arrogance and hints that they are better, peaceful, scientific, old... to claim superiority over the others does not make religious sense. The very first principle of religion, any religion is humility, where every one feels there is a greater power, and that we all have equal opportunity to excel. Muslims are no exception - its a shame that one tribe claims to be better, legitimate or otherwise, as if God has secretly signed a deal with them - that is non-sense. I was happy to read the work of Ahmadiyya Muslims in spreading positive thoughts about Islam every place they do their work and I salute them for the same. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things Ahmadiyya community needs to resist is telling others that "we are the Muslims who advocate peace" not like the other ones. We condemn terrorism, etc etc." It is not a good statement, you got that wrong, All Muslims advocate peace, fewer than 1% of Muslims don't; same formula applies to all religions. It is not just Ahmadiyya, every group has such men, who denigrate the other as if it is going to make them superior. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please note the following sentence in the article is not kosher, "You don't hear about us because we don't throw rocks at buses," Odeh said. Its like Romney saying they don't ask my birth certificate because they know I am from here" By the way, with the limited time I have in a given day, I do note thoughtless comments like the one above. As a persecuted minority, I understand, but still cannot justify such comments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">As a Muslim I am continually embarrassed by the Muslim behavior in Pakistan and elsewhere, whose Islam is not based on being a good Muslim, but denying others their Muslimness. Muslim are so eager to deny Ahmadiyya their Muslimness, as if they own Islam and God has made them his deputies to render judgments. What a shirk! Things have to change. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike Ghouse</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Group's Israeli leader says aim was to show different face of Islam.</span></span></h1>
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<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/muslim-sect-celebrates-25-years-since-koran-translated-into-yiddish.premium-1.461072#.UDzgL7zo210.facebook" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/muslim-sect-celebrates-25-years-since-koran-translated-into-yiddish.premium-1.461072#.UDzgL7zo210.facebook</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Members of a Muslim sect that translated parts of the Koran into Yiddish are marking 25 years since that translation was published.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Ahmadiyya Muslim Community leader Muhammad Sharif Odeh with the Yiddish text in Haifa " class="" height="231" src="http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.461080.1346110637!/image/2737274333.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/2737274333.jpg" style="border-style: none;" title="Ahmadiyya Muslim Community leader Muhammad Sharif Odeh with the Yiddish text in Haifa " width="400" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="imageText" style="color: white; line-height: 18px; min-height: 18px; overflow: visible; padding-right: 11px;">Ahmadiyya Muslim Community leader Muhammad Sharif Odeh with the Yiddish text in Haifa in August 2012. 'We had to make sure our neighbors could read the Koran too.'</span> <span class="imageCredit" style="color: white; display: inline-block; min-height: 18px;">Photo by Haggai Frid</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Israel, Muhammad Sharif Odeh, said the group translated select parts of the Koran into Yiddish in order to present a different face of Islam. In addition, said Odeh, "We decided we had to make sure that our neighbors could also read the Koran."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic community that believes the Messiah has come. Adherents believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, born in 1835, was the "metaphorical second coming of Jesus ... whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad," according to the website. "God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace," say believers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are some 2,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Israel; most of them reside in Haifa's Kababir neighborhood. The sect says it has tens of millions of followers in more than 200 countries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community translated parts of the Koran into Yiddish in 1987. The sect chose Yiddish, one of 100 languages into which it has translated parts of the sacred book of Islam, so that "Yiddish speakers who wanted to know about us would be able to do so without language being an obstacle," Odeh explained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The decision to translate the Koran into Yiddish was made by the community's religious leader at the time, the fourth Caliph, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, who was living then in Pakistan. The current Caliph, the fifth, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Odeh said the particular selections that were translated show that Islam is "not the way it is presented in Afghanistan." He noted, for example, "Before the Koran, women did not have rights. The Koran gives women full protection on the spiritual level and gives her an independent status." Odeh has been head of the local Ahmadiyya community for 13 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most Israelis know little about the sect, which is considered peaceful and non-proselytizing. Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav has gone so far as to call them "Reform Arabs." The community's motto is "Love for all, hatred for none."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"You don't hear about us because we don't throw rocks at buses," Odeh said. "We believe that nothing can be achieved through hatred and hostility." He said he is very worried about the talk of a possible war with Iran, and that the Caliph recently appealed to all world leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to avoid a war. "Netanyahu didn't respond, Queen Elizabeth actually did," Odeh reported.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Odeh said the concept of secularism is foreign to the Ahmadiyya community. "Everyone prays, some come to the mosque and others pray at home." Believers express their faith in concrete ways as well. Wealthier members tithe at least 10 percent of their monthly income to the community; everyone else gives six percent. The sect does not accept government funds, on principle. One quarter of the money collected from local members is passed on to fund the sect's international activities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kababir is considered a mixed neighborhood, with a significant minority of Jews in addition to the Ahmadiyya majority, and city officials view it as a model of coexistence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Haifa is an example par excellence of living together," Odeh said, adding, "It's not coexistence, it's monoexistence, as it were. What is coexistence? In my view it's when everyone keeps their distinctiveness and does not seek to assimilate. Residents of the neighborhood don't feel different, it's a matter of education, that's the idea of Ahmadiyya." According to Odeh, there is a growing trend of West Bank Palestinians joining the Ahmadiyya community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Ideology is not fought with weapons," he said. "Even if you're under occupation Islam does not allow you to hurt others. Nothing can be solved with hatred."</span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-42716785573757608802012-08-28T15:08:00.003-06:002012-08-28T15:11:47.986-06:00Gov. Christie: Tonight, Speak up for American Muslims at the RNC<br />
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I hope Chris does speak, he has the courage to speak it like it is. It takes a few good men to highlight the goodness and forbid evil. I am a Republican and will stay as a Republican, but have decided to vote for Obama. <a href="http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/08/2016-obamas-america-disgustingly.html" style="background-color: transparent;">http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/08/2016-obamas-america-disgustingly.html</a></div>
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Mike Ghouse</div>
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<a href="http://blog.nj.com/dr_aref_assaf/2012/08/gov_christie_tonight_speak_up_for_american_muslims_at_the_rnc.html" style="background-color: transparent;">http://blog.nj.com/dr_aref_assaf/2012/08/gov_christie_tonight_speak_up_for_american_muslims_at_the_rnc.html</a></div>
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Chris Christie: Defend American Muslims New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been an outspoken critic of Muslim haters in the US. Whether it was the lunatics who opposed the so-called Ground Zero mosque in lower Manhattan, the Quran burner, the anti-Sharia legislation "crazies", Congressman Peter King's 'radicalization' hearings, the NYPD's spying on millions of American Muslim citizens or his public support of Paterson's Imam Mohammad Qatanani - on all these fronts, Governor Christie has defied the public sentiments and even sidestepped his own party's rhetoric when he chastised bigoted statements and polices aimed at American Muslims. Now that he is set to deliver the keynote speech at this year's Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, we expect his continued leadership on this topic. To remove the stigma of <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mSpGIoGZPVMV3KkveXmUeIYyLOPNfjbIiPR4yKNKwxnUDAfrG-ObuizESscdcU1dkDv0SPRHZAVGd9v5XtXp6nv4pbbs4paZab5CW7HKQ-XxFcE4oRgxOz0wdX2TzMSPaIbhvJbC2Vkf6A5NxxmnB7THHV8RtKtxehng-2t6CFU=" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Republican hate for everything Muslim</a>, it will require a giant like Chris Christie. </div>
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The question will be of timing rather than conviction. Can Christie speak truth to his political core? The GOP platform, approved recently, will include a plank supporting a ban on the use of foreign law (including Sharia, or Islamic law) in U.S. courtrooms. Christie is on record for having opposed such legal maneuverings to restrict the use of Islamic code under limited conditions and where the protagonists are consenting Muslims. </div>
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Supporters have long argued that, and the planks sponsors readily admit, targets the religious beliefs of American Muslims. A cursory review of the anti Sharia plank reveals that it modeled on the more than 78 or so bills introduced in state legislatures nationwide based on draft legislation originally promoted by<a href="http://www.cair.com/Portals/0/pdf/David-Yerushalmi.pdf" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">David Yerushalmi</a>, an infamous Islamophobe with a history of making bigoted statements targeting women, African Americans, and people of the Jewish faith. It is worth noting that the passage of the anti Sharia plank in this year's Republican platform only confirms the growing anti Muslim rhetoric espoused by so many Republican politicians and other public officials. </div>
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All the anti-Sharia bills introduced in state legislatures were sponsored by Republican legislators- without exception. <a href="about:blank" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Only 14% of Americans, however, believe</a> that American Muslims ultimately want to establish Sharia or Islamic law as law of the land. Muslims resort to certain Sharia codes in limited commercial and matrimonial cases, so long as the decisions rendered do not supersede or conflict with the US Constitution. Extensive legal and academic coverage of this topic has begun in earnest.</div>
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The anti-Sharia plank was adopted without argument or debate during a meeting of the Republican Party's platform committee. The policy statement was introduced by Kansas Secretary of State<a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mSpGIoGZPVNKJ5A4QP1twwCs1UsqzGqdROV1lo8fe0_udZUu5vz5ohuo6R0EBMYMFiKLvQqXcOnZWEGCOIO4iVuilVpoH4TP5HuqJCkNoj3h4cWjj9Ejoep1Xm05XXzEtBqMK4CaFcRE8EBv_pW-xg==" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Kris Kobach</a>, an anti-immigration activist who also wrote Arizona's controversial SB 1070 "papers please" law. (<a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mSpGIoGZPVNKJ5A4QP1twwCs1UsqzGqdROV1lo8fe0_udZUu5vz5ohuo6R0EBMYMFiKLvQqXcOnZWEGCOIO4iVuilVpoH4TP5HuqJCkNoj3h4cWjj9Ejoep1Xm05XXzEtBqMK4CaFcRE8EBv_pW-xg==" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch video here</a>) The Kansas law Kobach spoke of at the platform committee meeting, which Muslim organizations have already challenged as unconstitutional and discriminatory, was derived from Yerushalmi's template. Kansas legislators acknowledged that the bill targeted Muslims. In March of 2012, we <a href="http://www.aafusa.org/Antishariabill.aspx" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">successfully dissuaded</a> the NJ state legislature to withdraw a similar bill she introduced.</div>
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While RNC platforms rarely make into the official position of the elected president of the United States, the inclusion of such clearly anti Muslim language, especially with little or no objections, portends a serious divide between the rank and file republicans and their leaders on the one hand, and American Muslims on the other - many of whom are also Republican voters. Christie has the opportunity to reclaim the moral compass of not only the Republican Party, but also that of America.</div>
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Included in the State's delegation to the Convention is <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/08/jerseys_delegation_shows_new_d.html" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Sherine Al-Abd</a>, An Egyptian Muslim delegate. She will be listening to her hero governor erase her doubts about the party's anti Muslim stance. I, the of America and indeed the Muslim world will be watching. As quoted in the <a href="http://link.nyobserver.com/4fc58aa862047742c96d6f17ltcn.2vp/UDyitqgvtQYA7jMhB05ee" style="color: #305cb6; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Record</a>, "They didn't pick me and think I was going to come here and be something different than what I've been." Amen!</div>
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Aref Assaf, president of American Arab Forum</div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462242975774901312.post-32589868968005603202012-08-24T02:38:00.002-06:002012-08-24T02:38:40.125-06:00Blasphemy Law has NO Qur'anic Basis<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">More articles on the topic at <a href="http://www.blasphemylaws.com/">www.BlasphemyLaws.com</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">Some Muslim countries have legislated punishment for blasphemy. This draws on the Classical Sharia (Law) of Islam that evolved in the medieval ages and was inevitably informed by the historical realities and entrenched customs and practices of the era. However, with a sea change in civilizational paradigms,</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">many of its rulings suffer anachronism, stand in conflict with international human rights charters and conduce to injustice, anarchy and barbarism in today's politically volatile and globalized world. All such rulings need to be examined in light of the universal message of the Qur'an which is by far the highest and incontestable authority in Islam. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">This essay - an exercise in ijtihad (intellectual scrutiny with the limits set by God) investigates the case of blasphemy. It draws on a recently published focused exegetic work, the Essential Message of Islam [Amana Publications, USA- 2009] that is duly approved by al-Azhar al-Sharif and endorsed and authenticated by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Qur'anic pronouncement "not to insult those whom others (lit., 'they') invoke besides God" (6:108) is a clear reminder against profaning any deity, idol or symbols held sacred by other people. The Qur'an, however, does not prescribe any punishment for the offenders. It warns humanity that there will always be some people who will hurl seductive remarks at the Prophet (6:113) or be inimical to him (25:31) for fun or cupidity and asks the believers to simply ignore them. In other words, the Qur'an treats blasphemy as a moral vice and does not regard it as a punishable/ criminal offence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Meccan enemies of the Prophet called him impostor, a madman (30:58, 44:14, 68:51), and an insane poet (37:36). They ridiculed the Qur'anic revelation (18:56, 26:6, 37:14, 45:9), which they declared to be strange and unbelievable (38:5, 50:2), a jumble of dreams(21:5) and legends of the ancients (6:25, 23:83, 25:5, 27:68, 46:17, 68:15, 83:13). They accused the Prophet of forging lies and witchcraft (34:43, 38:4), forging lies against God, forgery and making up tales (11:13, 32:3, 38:7, 46:8), witchcraft (21:3, 43:30, 74:24), obvious witchcraft that was bewildering (10:2, 37:15, 46:7), and of being bewitched or possessed by a Jinn (17:47, 23:70, 34:8). By definition, all these accusations were blasphemous. Nowhere in its text does the Qur'an prescribe any punishment for those who uttered these blasphemies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The advocates of blasphemy law may raise the following points:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The slanderer and maligner of the Prophet can upset peace and harmony like priests of Cordova (Spain, 851-859) [1].<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Maligning any religion, religious leader, text etc. purports to demonize and dehumanize it and can fuel hatred, religious bigotry and animosity, and in the present day context, feed Islamophobia and Islamofacism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The arguments appear convincing but there are more compelling grounds against prescribing any punishment for blasphemy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highly porous and subjective character of the 'offense' (blasphemy) can lead to a chaotic situation within the Muslim community and persecution of the minority community as is happening in Pakistan these days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An uncouth citizen can use it to settle a score with a non-Muslim or even a Muslim neighbour or financially exploit him by a threat of blasphemy charge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An Islamic State can use it for political repression of dissidents.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By strict application of blasphemy law in a broader sense, a Sunni Sharia Court can charge the entire Shia community of blasphemy for their invectives against the Prophet's close relatives - the first three Caliphs, who were either his father-in-law (Abu Bakr and Umar) or son-in-law (Uthman).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The theologians in the Islamic heartlands can issue an endless stream of fatwas for the heads of the countless Islam bashing scholars and writers, whose speech, writing and symbolism can sometimes be construed as blasphemous.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The very notion of killing a person for blasphemy contradicts the Qur'anic cardinal principle of justice that relates only to offences committed against fellow humans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conclusion: The relativism and porosity in the definition of 'blasphemy' can open a floodgate of blasphemy charges against unsuspecting individuals, members of the minority, Muslim sects and Islam.critcal scholars and writers. Since the Qur'an, conceivably cognizant of these caveats, does not prescribe any punishment for blasphemy, the blasphemy law needs to be repealed. Blasphemy symbolizes and epitomises hatred that inevitably breeds hatred - regardless of any law against it. This can in turn feed radicalisation, foster terrorism, and trigger communal riots. Muslim jurists will do better by insisting on getting a firm Security Council Code of Conduct and may be limited punishment for blasphemy depending upon the gravity and potential impact of the offence and the attitude of the offender, rather than legislating a capital punishment or even, any punishment for blasphemy - which remains a porous act of misconduct and moral turpitude.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[1]. Between 851 and 859, some priests in Cordova, now southern Spain, used to utter in public places highly insulting and abusive remarks against the Prophet deliberately seeking capital punishment. They were an embarrassment to both the Christian community and the Emir and were executed by application of Sharia law as this was the only way to prevent them from a highly provocative behaviour in public.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Muhammad Yunus, a Chemical Engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, and a retired corporate executive has been engaged in an in-depth study of the Qur'an since early 90's, focusing on its core message. He has co-authored the referred exegetic work, which received the approval of al-Azhar al-Sharif, Cairo in 2002, and following restructuring and refinement was endorsed and authenticated by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl of UCLA, and published by Amana Publications, Maryland, USA, 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 24, 2012.</span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0