Pakistan's Prime Minster takes the right step

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

This is really a good start and good step forward, resting the legalities and politics aside.New Prime Minister of Pakistan says his Motto is "Love for All Hatred for None" !!- Isn't that what Muslims living in America, UK or elsewhere crave for? That they be treated like every American? Well I do believe it will happen, if we mean it and work for it. 

"Love for All Hatred for None" is a beautiful slogan mascot of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. I hope the Prime Minister means it. When Obama became the President, the whole world cried with joy - for the first time in human history a man from the minority was freely elected to be their president. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad said that in his last sermon... I hope Pakistan can move into this direction where no Pakistani - be it Sunni, Shia, Ahmadi, Bohra, Ismaili, Sikh, Hindu, Christian, Parsee and others need not live in fear. That would be an Islamic government, wouldn't it? If your head bobble from left to right with a no, look up the Madinah Charter.

Alhumdullilah our Motto 'Love for All Hatred for None' has reached some people's tongues, lets Pray that it reaches their Hearts.

http://www.arynews.tv/english/Newsdetail.asp?nid=60755

Monday June 25, 2012

Peace in Karachi is my priority, says Ashraf

Prime Minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said the maintenance of peace in Karachi is one of the foremost priorities of his government. "We want to take along all to serve the people."

The prime minister was talking to media after meeting Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) chief and spiritual leader of Hurr community, Pir Pagara Sibghatullah Rashdi at Kingri House in Karachi.

He asked Pir Pagara to pray for him that he could achieves big goals in his short tenure, he said. Ashraf said, “I hope to do something that solves the problems of the people of Pakistan.”

Ashraf also thanked Pir Pagara for the “delicious food” he offered him at the meeting.

“PML-F, as our coalition partner, played a very positive and strong role in my election as the prime minister, for which I have come to thank Pir Pagara on behalf of my party’s co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari.”

The prime minister said that Pir Pagara prayed for us and was very hospitable towards him and his party.

“Our motive is – love for all hatred for none,” said Ashraf. “With the help of our coalition partners and with the vision of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and President Zardari, we would like to take Pakistan towards progression.”

He said that the two big challenges faced by his government were energy crisis and security situation, particularly in Karachi. “We are striving to bring peace to Karachi which is the economic hub of Pakistan.”

Responding to a question regarding the Opposition’s resistance in his election, he said, “I am here till the party and coalition partners have confidence in me and till God wills so. Nobody elects themselves as a PM. This is all God-willing. He can provide to anyone, anytime.”

IS THIS THE PAKISTAN YOU WANT?

A few Pakistanis have asked me to work on making a movie

about building a cohesive Pakistan. Insha Allah, if they

gather the funds, we will take that step... a small step.

Here is the Original in making, an American Version

No American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other.
There are solutions, here is a trailer of the movie in making:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8&feature=youtu.be

Please let me know if you wish to you have more information.
Thank youMike Ghouse
America Together Foundation
www.AmericaTogetherFoundation.com
Dallas, Texas  

Day 5 of Ramadan 2011

http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-5-of-ramadan-2011.html

Friday, August 5, 2011 | Ramadan 5, 1432

PURPOSE: To share and appreciate the diversity within Islam.

THE PLAN: Iftaar at a mosque from every denomination including: Ahmadiyya, Bohra, Ismaili, Shia, Sufi, Sunni, Warith Deen Muhammad, Wahabbi and others. You are welcome to join me or experience it yourselves, we have to learn to respect the differences and appreciate the uniqueness of each tradition. God says the best among you is the one who knows each other for peaceful co-existence.

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

God willing, I will highlight the uniqueness of each tradition on a daily basis and I hope we as Muslims can cherish it. I encourage each one of you to experience it and write about it.

DAY 5 OF RAMADAN

Terms: Listed below

Sahri (Pre-dawn meal): Oat meal in Soya Milk
Iftaar (refreshments): Dates, Chana Masala (spiced Chickpeas) and Milk
Iftaar (Dinner): Fresh Salad, Pita Bread, Rice and Chicken Korma (curry)
Mosque: Shia Masjid, Momin Center, Irving
Culture: Urdu Speaking Muslims from India and Pakistan and others

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Praise the lord, they have expanded the Shia Mosque in Irving, it’s almost double the size from last year and they have added a room, a beautiful sanctuary with hardwood floors. Several picture frames were set on the wooden cabinets with the names of twelve Imams in the Shia tradition with the name of Abbas son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib (first Shi'a Imam and fourth Rashidun Caliph) placed prominently in the middle and a brass plate with hand symbols hung in the middle. I believe they call the sanctuary the Imam Bara. I just could not resist noting my Dad’s election symbol which was the hand when he ran for the Mayor of Yelahanka Town Municipality in the early fifties.

Of all the Mosques I have been to, this Mosque has the best carpet with inlaid design for the prayer rows demarcations, and I loved the color of the carpet – it’s kind of greenish Khaki. Mujahid, one of the leaders of the community said that it was imported from Turkey and they had placed heavy padding under the carpet. Indeed, it was a luxury to sit on that carpet.


Iftaar:

The breaking of fast occurs nearly 20 minutes after the sunset; the dusk is interpreted as the disappearance of light after the sunset an uniquely Shia Tradition. The fast ends with Azan (Adhan) the prayer call and everyone breaks the fast with dates and other refreshments, water or the Milk followed by the prayers. The Iftaar dinner is after the prayers and they had the delicious Chicken Korma (curry) that reminded me of my Taiba Uncle's curry, which will never fade out of my memory. Apparently it was cooked by the Aunt of Abbas a friend I have known for nearly 16 years. Compliments to her for the wonderful Chicken Korma.

The 2^nd Prayer call is to gather the worshippers for the ritual prayer called Namaz or Salat. During this call, when the name of the Prophet Muhammad is recited, the Muezzin (the reciter) and the congregation both recite the full Darood (Peace prayer to the Prophet and his progeny). This practice is unique to the Shia branch of Islam.

As the people gather up, the prayer begins, unlike the Sunni Mosques where the Imam invariably asks the congregation to stand in straight lines and shoulder to shoulder, this Mosque assumed that they do and did not make the call.

Another unique item is the biscuit size round clay tablets placed on the floor to rest the forehead during the prostration posture.

As the prayer begins, the worshippers drop their hands to their sides while the Sunnis bring their folded hands together on the abdomen. At the end of the recitation of first chapter of Quraan, the word “Amen” is uttered silently.

During the Ruku (kneeling) the Imam (prayer leader) recites out in audible voice the name of God three times along with sending peace and blessings (darood) to the Prophet, a Shia Tradition. The process is repeated during the prostration as well.

On the 2^nd Unit of the prayers, in the standing position, after reciting the first chapter of Quraan and an additional chapter, the Shias lift their hands and do the supplication prayers, the only other place I have seen that practice is at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Finally at the end of the 3^rd Unit of prayer – they do not turn their head to the right or the left while saying As-salaamu aliakum o Rahmatullah as the Sunnis do.

During the month of Ramadan, most mosques bring guest Imams and here at the Momin Center, Imam Nabi Raza was visiting from San Jose, California. He is from Richmond Town, Bangalore, and a fellow Bangalorean and has been in the states for nearly 20 years. He was excited about my visit to every mosque during Ramadan so we can learn to respect the uniqueness of each tradition. He talked about the extensive programs they have in the bay area Mosques where all the Sunnis and Shias gather up on occasions. He mentioned that they gather up 15-20,000 Audience in Bangalore to celebrate Prophet’s birthday (Maulood, Milaad). Insha Allah, God willing we may coordinate visiting Bangalore as I give a talk “Prophet the peace maker” every act of the prophet had one thing in common – conflict mitigations and goodwill nurturance.

Nabi Raza’s talk topic was Sura Baqara, verse 2:183

Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2:183

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (2:183)

2:183 (Asad) O YOU who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God: -

He talked about what constitutes Muttaqeen, the pious one and he honed on Hazrat Ali’s speech, the number one item (of the 101) is to “speak precisely and to the point” He referenced Prophet Muhammad’s saying where he had said, the most important gift to human beings is intelligence and the tongue (ability to speak) and must be used discreetly, as it is the tongue that can hurt others, can bring troubles in the communities and families.

One of the final attainments in the stage of piety is the ability to receive guidance from God – he used the word Wahi, the revelations. When you have achieved the purity of your being, all that comes to you is God’s wisdom. Indeed, I believe in that as the Sufis do and most Christians subscribe to that whereas it is not a part the Sunni tradition.

The most appealing item of his talk was – God does not need your prayers or fasting, it’s for your benefit that you do. He said if all the humanity abandons God, it does not make any difference to him, or if the whole humanity worships him every minute of the day, it does not make any difference to him, we are a speck (Carl Sagan?) in his unlimited Universe. Indeed the Bhagvad Gita says, even serving others, helping other is for selfish reason; it is an act of self preservation and self balancing. Just the other day, I was sharing with a few friends that I am a Muslim for me and not for anyone else. Several of my Sunni friends attempted to correct me – You are a Muslim for the sake of God. I reiterate that I am a Muslim to be in tune with the universe to seek my own balance in the whole.

Islam is not a monolithic religion and it will take another generation of constant exposure for Muslims to learn to accept and respect the otherness of other. The same goes with the Christian denominations, they are in the same boat of not accepting the other denominations as legitimate and you will find that in every religious tradition. That is not religion; religion is indeed about humility and not arrogance. Together we all have to grow up to enjoy the beauty of humility and valuing the God given uniqueness of each one of us.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer and a thinker nurturing the pluralistic values of Islam. More at: http://www.mikeghouse.net/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.asp
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MESSAGE: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/07/ramadan-message.html
POLITICS OF RAMADAN: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/08/politics-of-ramadan-on-moon-sighting.html
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TERMS:

Sahri - Pre-Dawn meal before early Morning Prayer (fajr).
Iftaar - Sunset Meal as a conclusion of the fast.

Sawm - fasting from sunrise to sunset - No food, no water, no nothing and no intake of any food or water. More critically it is a practice to abstain from ill-will, malice, anger, temptations and human desires. Don't hear, see, speak or act less than goodness.

Rituals - There are several variations in rituals and they vary from place to place. In Bangalore where I am from, the whole family gets up early around 4:00 AM and together cook extensive meals for Sahri /Suhoor, while others choose to cook earlier night and just warm it up and eat in the morning. The Iftaar is done elaborately at mosques, homes or other gatherings where friends from different faiths are invited to break bread and nurture goodwill. 

Day 2 of Ramadan 2011

Please visit the site http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/ to see three years of visiting some 90 Mosques for Iftaar.

Thank you.

Mike

http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-2-of-ramadan-2011.html

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 | Ramadan 2, 1432

PURPOSE: To share diverse cultural experience of Ramadan.

THE PLAN :: Iftaar at a mosque from every denomination including: Ahmadiyya, Bohra, Ismaili, Shia, Sufi, Sunni, Warith Deen Muhammad, Wahabbi and others. You are welcome to join me or experience it yourselves. Cherish the differences.

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

TODAY’S EXPERIENCE
Terms: Below the note

Sahri (Pre-dawn meal): Rotisserie Chicken and Bananas
Iftaar (refreshments): Dates, Haleem (Ground meat and lentil) & watermelon
Dinner (on my own): Taco bell’s beef baja chalupa and crunchy taco supreme
Mosque : Makkah Masjid in Garland
Dominant Culture: Gujarati and Sindhi Memons.
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During the work week, very few can make it to the Mosque for Iftaar (breaking the fast with refreshments and at times combined with meals). I went in early to the Mosque in Garland, which is predominantly frequented by Memons, a group of Muslims from Gujarat and Sindh areas of India and Pakistan.

A group of about 18 people gathered in the eating area of the mosque and sat down on the floor in a circle. After the grace prayers, every one breaks the fast in unison. Dates are the most common item the world over, indeed, if all the 1.5 billion Muslims were to fast, that’s at least 5 billion dates consumed in one evening. The other items are usually Milk or Yogurt products and a fruit or two with varied items, here in this mosque Haleem (ground lentil and meat) was on the plate. Refreshments are shared to prepare the stomach to receive full meals after the prayers.

Ritual prayers: The same three units of prayers are prayed in congregation throughout the world, however, the rituals vary, and Muslims are as diverse as they can be.

In the standing position, one stands with his or her hands folded over chest, tummy or navel while the Imam (prayer leader) recites the first chapter of the Qur'an in Arabic. At the end of this recitation, in most mosques the entire congregation says “Ameen” out loud in melodious unison. However, in this Mosque, the Ameen was said silently. It reminded me of the Mosque in my town where we followed the same practice, however it has changed there now. In last November I was in Bangalore, the practice was to say Ameen out loud. I felt like Rip Van Winkle.

At the end of the prayers, God’s name is recited in three versions on the fingers or the worry beads for a total of 100 times followed by the common prayers, where the Imam says short verses followed by Ameen by the congregation on each verse. This is not common in all the Mosques where everyone gets up at the end of the prayers. I will chronicle the uniqueness of each group and sub-group as I visit a mosque a day for the Iftaar, Insha Allah.

On a slow day, I will share the pictorial diagrams of various prayer postures.
....................

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer and a thinker nurturing the pluralistic values of Islam. More at: http://www.mikeghouse.net/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.asp
..................................


MESSAGE: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/07/ramadan-message.html
..................................

TERMS:

Sahri - Pre-Dawn meal before early morning prayer (fajr).
Iftaar - Sunset Meal as a conclusion of the fast.

Sawm - fasting from sunrise to sunset - No food, no water, no nothing and no intake of any food or water. More critically it is a practice to abstain from ill-will, malice, anger, temptations and human desires. Don't hear, see, speak or act less than goodness.

Rituals - There are several variations in rituals and they vary from place to place. In Bangalore where I am from, the whole family gets up early around 4:00 AM and together cook extensive meals for Sahri /Suhoor, while others choose to cook earlier night and just warm it up and eat in the morning. The Iftaar is done elaborately at mosques, homes or other gatherings where friends from different faiths are invited to break bread and nurture goodwill.

Day 1 of Ramadan 2011

Ramadan MubarakMonday, August 1, 2011 | Ramadan 1, 1432
Sahri - Pre-Dawn meal before early morning prayer (fajr).
Iftaar - Sunset Meal as a conclusion of the fast.

Sawm - fasting from surise to sunset - No food, no water, no nothing and no intake of any food or water. More critically it is a practice to abstain from ill-will, malice, anger, temptations and human desires. Don't hear, see, speak or act less than goodness.

Rituals - There are several variations of the terms, and rituals vary from place to place. Whole family gets up early around 4:00 AM and together cook extensive meals for Sahri /Suhoor and some just pre-cook earlier night and choose to eat on time. The Iftaar is done elaborately at mosques, homes or other gatherins places where friends from different faiths are invited to break bread and nurture goodwill.

Purpose of this site: To share diverse experience of Ramadan with our friends and families Muslims and others.

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

PERSONAL EXPERIENCESahri - Bagel Sandwich
Iftaar - Grilled Fish

Alhamdu Lillah, (Praise the Lord) today is the first day of fasting in the month of Ramadan 2011. It's Monday, Yasmeen my wife, dropped me off early in the morning at Louisville Airport, and on the way we grabbed a Bagel sandwich from McDonald's for Sahri aka suhoor (early morning meal). I reached Dallas at 8:00 AM

Theoretically Ramadan should commence on the same day for all Muslims, but it seldom happens. It is the same moon that every one follows, but sighting technicalities makes it different for different groups, usually a day or two apart. Most Muslims wish it were on the same day. I suggest that we learn to appreciate that wish, but ask people to resist the temptation to think anything less of others who begin a day earlier or later. The article “Politics of Ramadan” is about to be published, God willing I will share that on this blog. Ramadan is about humility.

For Iftaar (meal to break the fast) I went to Richardson Mosque, the oldest Mosque in Dallas built in the mid eighties. I was early and went straight to see Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci (links below) in his chambers. He is such a delight to talk with and he has more than once said that he finds that he could talk with me about anything comfortably.


Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci has been recognized as one of the 500 influential Muslim leaders in the world. He is a lawyer, a scholar of Islam and an Imam. He has now established an institution with his name to impart education to the youth born and raised here in the D/FW Metroplex. The future American religious scholars will be influenced by his wisdom and he has both male and females students learning to be the future leaders. One of them is Rashad Hassan, US Ambassador to OIC, Organization of Islamic countries. 

We talked about the Sharia conference briefly and the need for Muslims to have a plan, rather than react to situations. The situation in Murphree, Terry Jones and other topics and ended up talking the Chapter I am writing on Muslim Agenda which puts together a blue print for Muslims to define where we need to be twenty years from now and how we are going to get there. The need to become participants and contributors towards the safety, security and prosperity of America is crux of the Agenda. He was enthused about the plan and mentioned about the Late Dr. Dilnawaz Siddiqui who was planning on writing one. The phrase Insha Allah jumped quickly and repeatedly out of my mouth. I panicked.

Well, he and I shared his fruit plate and yogurt for breaking the fast. I enjoyed it very much. He is a great host!

Being the work day, there were about 150 people at the congregational evening (Maghrib) prayers which he led.

After the prayers I ate my meal in the car which I had picked up from Silver Spoon Restaurant I used to frequent some 15 years ago. Waqar and Ursula have run that operation for over 20 years and I enjoy their home cooked meals, listened to NPR while I enjoyed the curried grilled fish.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer and a thinker nurturing the pluralistic values of Islam. More at: http://www.mikeghouse.net/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.asp

* * I did not realize that I have written at least 7 articles about him.

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Honoring Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci today http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/04/honoring-imam-dr-yusuf-zia-kavakci.html

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Article dedicated to Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/04/there-is-only-one-islam.html
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Can Muslim pray in Cordoba Masjid?
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/01/can-muslims-pray-in-cordoba-masjid.html
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THE PLAN :: Iftaar at a mosque from every denomination including: Ahmadiyya, Bohra, Ismaili, Shia, Sufi, Sunni, Warith Deen Muhammad, Wahabbi and others.
..................................

MESSAGE: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/07/ramadan-message.html