Big Victory for Muslim Women

A BIG VICTORY FOR WOMEN

File Phot0: First Female Judge in Qatar 

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.

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.

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.

A majority of people in all groups believe and practice equality - that simply means respecting the other person, her opinions and her presence.

Here are 4 items of Good news at: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2017/09/big-victory-for-muslim-women.html

 Saudi Arabia – women can drive now, and their clergy to eat crow

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.

Here is the information release today, Saudi Arabia lifts ban on women's driving : 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.

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. 

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.  

 

Indian Muslim Clergy fell flat on their faces

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.

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.

India’s Supreme Court wrecks the Triple Talaq traditionhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/indias-supreme-courts-wrecking-ball-wrecks-triple_us_599dac25e4b056057bddd005

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Female Genital Mutilation

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.

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.

Articles:
 http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/11/female-genital-mutilation-among-bohra.html

Setting the record straight - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/04/mutilating-facts-setting-record.html

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Muslim Woman can Marry a Non-Muslim man -Morocco declares

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.

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.



 Check this out:  It is a big article - 6000 words - Can a Muslim woman marry a non-Muslim man?  : http://centerforpluralism.com/can-a-muslim-woman-marry-a-non-muslim-man/

And this: http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/2017/09/bill-gates-daughter-is-dating-muslim-guy.html

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism

Muslim women and Gender issues in Mosques

At a school in Canada, the volunteers put a temporary barrier between high school boys and girls within the same cafeteria space for the Friday congregational Prayers. A Canadian Muslim organization is plugging the gender issue here to complicate the matters. You cannot tag that as a gender issue if you understood the culture of not only Muslims, but Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Zoroastrians. Full story at- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/muslim-women-and-gender-i_b_896904.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on Islam, Pluralism, interfaith and cohesive societies – All his work is indexed at www.mikeghouse.net

Women Friendly Mosques

Don't miss this conference listed below.

It is good to see inclusion of the topic "Developing Women and Youth Friendly Mosques"

However, I did not see any women speaker names in this program; and I know it is an oversight, and hope it is. We need to make a conscious effort to be inclusive, at least in the USA. Women need to make sure nothing will be done without their partnership.

Asra Nomani, Dr. Amina Wadud and several other women have gone through the painful process of standing out and calling for the change. As men, several of us have condemned those demeaning shameless demonstrations against these women. One of them condemned them to hell - as if the Master of the day of Judgment had turned over his role to them. The men should know that, they recite the Maliki yomiddin phrase at least 50 times a day from Sura Fateha and that they cannot condemn anyone to hell, it is God's business.

I would suggest women who have the resources to be there, to please be there.


Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress

The American Muslim Studies Program (AMSP) at the

The American Mosque in the 21st Century

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), Georgetown University, cordially invites you to attend: A ONE DAY CONFERENCE ON

Georgetown University --- Copley Formal Lounge

37th & O St., NW – Washington, DC 20057


Thursday, February 19, 2009 -- 9 AM – 5 PM

Since the early twentieth century, the Muslim communities in the USA have been establishing mosques in various parts of the country. With the passage of time, these mosques have assumed new functions and roles. They have been transformed from places of worship to community centers, to schools, and finally to forums for Muslims' involvement in public policy issues. They have also become the backbone of the fundraising drives of the American Muslims for local and international projects. In a post-9/11 era, however, mosques and Islamic centers have received extra attention, and sometimes scrutiny, from law enforcement agencies, media personnel and policy makers. The question is how these mosques and Islamic centers can be equipped to face the new challenges and demands of the 21st century? A group of academics, architects and religious scholars will address these issues.

The Conference is FREE and open to the public. However, seating is limited.

Please register before February 15, 2009 at: http://www12.georgetown.edu/sfs/rsvp/index.cfm?Action=View&EventID=2196

Contact: Adam Holmes at ach64@georgetown.edu or 202-687-8375. For more info, visit: http://cmcu.georgetown.edu

Cosponsored by Helping Hand for Relief and Development
_________________________________________________

08:45 AM: Registration/Coffee
09:15 AM: Introductory Remarks by John Voll and Zahid Bukhari, Georgetown University
09:30 AM: Panel 1 – Mosque, Community and Society

Sulayman Nyang, Howard University, "Mosque and Society"
Imam Mohamed Magid, ADAMS Center, "Mosques and American Religious Landscape"
Ihsan Bagby, University of Kentucky, "Statistical Overview of the American Mosques"
Khalid Blankinship, Temple University, "Historical Footprints of the American Mosques"

Chair: Iqbal Unus, Fairfax Institute

11:15 AM: Break
11:30 AM: Keynote Speaker, Muzammil Siddiqi, Islamic Center of Orange County, CA, "American Mosques: Future Trends'
12:30 PM: Break for Lunch and Zuhr Prayer
01:30 PM: Panel 2 – Space, Design and Function

Riad Ali, MuslimGuide.Com, "Evolution of the American Mosques: Space and Functionality"

Mazen Ayoubi, AIC, "Designing the American Mosques; Balancing Tradition with Modernity"

Christopher McCoy, McCoy Architects, "Mosque and Church in a Neighborhood: A Comparative Perspective"

Imam Khalid Griggs, Community Mosque, "Urban and Suburban Experiences of American Mosques"


Chair: Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Georgetown University

03:15 PM: Panel 3 – Education and Empowerment

Altaf Husain, Howard University, "Developing Women and Youth Friendly Mosques"

Imam Amir Mukhtar Faezi, Baitul Ilm Academy, "Educating the Community: Problems and Prospects"

Louay Safi, ILDC, "Effective Leadership and Good Governance"

Imam Johary Abdul Malik, Darul Hijra, "Making Mosques Financially Sustainable"

Chair: Imam Yahya Hendi, Georgetown University

05:00 PM: Closing Remarks by Sulayman Nyang, Howard University

This Qazi is a woman

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/10/this-qazi-is-woman.html

This Qazi is a woman - A Muslim woman making history.
Mike Ghouse

The story is not if a Muslim woman can oversee a wedding, or if the wedding is between a Shia or a Sunni denomination. It is about Men in general who need to feel secure in themselves in accepting women as equals. Every one is a Muslim who pledges in the existence of God and Muhammad (pbuh) as his prophet. If we don’t speak out against these, we are not fulfilling our obligation as a Muslim.

Activist Ms. Syeda Hameed in New Delhi, India has challenged the fortress traditionally guarded by men; The Qazi-ship, a function that oversees the ritual wedding vows and ceremony of Muslims. She performed the wedding ceremony of a Muslim couple, making history in the Muslim world.

The burden of proof lies with the rejecters of the idea; Men. They have to prove that a woman cannot be a Qazi. There are plenty of mis-translations to support them but that should not cut it. It has to be reviewed in the light of what is fair and just with participation from both Men and Women.

We have to work to create societies of justice and this is a good first step. Morocco has led the world in opening a seminary to train women to be scholars and Imams. It is time for us to think about this issue seriously. Rejecting an idea is an easy thing to do; debating it is the hallmark of civil societies.

Please remember that, the insecure men are afraid to lose control over the only thing left for them; religion. Muslim Men are no different in their insecurities than Jews, Hindus, Jain, Christians, Americans, Arabs, Zulus, Mongolians or the Mayans. In the ugly words of a few cultures “Women need to be put in their place” and other statements like “woman is like man’s footwear”. I am embarrassed even to write this, but these statements are real and are made in the subcontinent regardless of their religion.

If men cannot square with women on common sense and logic, they will resort to quoting, rather misquoting traditions or the holy book. Men have to learn to shed years of conditioned attitudes and become free again. Life would become more enjoyable.

Men and women are each others protectors, saviors and serve each other in living a purposeful life. One is incomplete without the other, adds the Qur'aan, "Men and Women are each others garments". Just as the garments shield one from the cold and heat, the metaphor encompasses every aspect of life including the vows; in happiness and sorrow, sickness and health, poverty or wealth, weakness or strength, difficulties and comforts, men and women are indeed each other's garment. No matter what faith or culture you follow, the essence of the vows is the same; justice.
Justice is the basis for peace, be it between spouses, family members, business partners, stockholders and consumers, president and the public, minorities and majorities, communities, nations or the globe. Whenever one takes advantage of the other, the balance is lost and the unit is crippled. In personal relationships, the disadvantaged ones are patiently waiting for the moment to get even or get justice. Justice is the hope that keeps the life moving forward.

For a relationship to flourish and be sustainable, it must be anchored in justice. The feeling where neither one feels being taken advantage of or taken for granted. Islam is about justice where not only men and women are equal in the eyes of God, but all other humans are to be treated as equals.

The article is reported in Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sunday_Specials/This_Qazi_is_a_woman/articleshow/3585185.cms

References:
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/09/remnants-of-muslim-jahilya.html
And http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/03/gender-equality-now.html

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He is the founding president of World Muslim Congress with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website http://www.mikeghouse.net/. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@aol.com

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This Qazi is a woman
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12 Oct 2008, 0239 hrs IST,

Mohammed Wajihuddin,TNN http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sunday_Specials/This_Qazi_is_a_woman/articleshow/3585185.cms

Yojana Bhavan, at leafy Parliament Street in Lutyen's Delhi, is known more for planning the nation's destiny than housing a person whose heart beats for poetry. But enter Room Number 111 at the Planning Commission's headquarters, and a poetic aura engulfs you. On a wall, complementing photographs of a woman captured in many moods are Urdu couplets by poet Kamla Bhasin. A couplet ponders: 'Desh mein aurat agar beaabru nashaad hai/Dil par rakh kar haath kahiye desh kya azaad hai? (If the country's women feel belittled and disheartened/ Put your hand on your heart and tell me if the country is free).'

It is in this room that Planning Commission member and activist Syeda Hameed spends most of her waking hours; that is, when she is not touring the backwaters of Muzaffarnagar in UP and Mewat in Haryana, chronicling the horror of 'honour' killings or scouring the villages of Orissa to fight the communal fires stoked by Hindutva's hate brigade. And it was in this room that she got a call from a Lucknow-based fellow activist, Naish, a couple of months ago. "She sounded desperate," Syeda recalls. "She told me that if I didn't agree to solemnise her nikaah with Imraan, also an activist, she would opt for a civil marriage."

What followed next was a historic and path-breaking step in the annals of Islam in India. On August 12 this year, after solemnising Naish's nikaah with Imraan, Syeda officially became India's first woman Qazi. The nikaah was also unusual because it had four women as witnesses instead of the traditional two male witnesses. A male witness was added at the last moment lest orthodox clerics declared the nikaah null and void.

Controversy trailed the event from word go. As the cameras rolled and flashbulbs popped, a frenzy gripped the lanes of Lucknow. Uninvited guests, including an intrusive media, showed up, sensationalising what was supposed to be a private affair. Someone approached an orthodox maulvi. "A nikaah solemnised by a woman Qazi is impractical and therefore not advisable," declared Maulana Khalid Rashid from Lucknow's Firangi Mahal,, a religious organisation. Despite the severe criticism from orthodox clerics, Syeda remains steadfast: "It sent across a message that the time for change has come. Women can no longer be subjugated."

When the clergy couldn't find a convincing alibi because neither the Quran nor the Hadith (Prophet Mohammed's traditions) enjoins that only a male can officiate as a Qazi, a maulvi protested that some of the women at the ceremony had not covered their heads. "That is also an insinuation because the photographs and the videos of the marriage ceremony prove that all the women had their heads well covered," says Syeda. Another maulvi declared that the nikaah was not legitimate because the Qazi was a Shia while the couple were Sunni Muslims. Syeda's reply is that in her family Shia-Sunni marriages were common. "My illustrious ancestor Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali was a Sunni. My mother was Shia while my father belonged to the Sunni sect. My sister is married to a Sunni. For the first time, I was made to realise that I am a Shia," explains Syeda who ensured that her three children, while growing up, imbibed Islam's eclectic spirit, not the divisive dogma propagated by some clerics.

Syeda says nothing inspires her more than the works of Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, the 19th-century Urdu poet. Musaddas-e-Hali (also called Ebb And Tide In Islam as it chronicles Islam's history in poetry) and Munaajat-e-Bewa (Lament Of The Widow) are some of his better known works. Hali's Munaajat, says Syeda, lambasts patriarchy and upholds the rights of women. "He was undeniably India's first feminist poet," she declares. And as we prepare to leave, hums another couplet on the wall: 'Chup hain lekin yeh na samjho hum sada ke haare hain/Raakh ke neeche abhi jal rahe angare hain (If I am silent, don't mistake it for my defeat/The embers beneath the ashes are burning).

mohammed.wajihuddin@timesgroup.com My Click here to comment on this story.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sunday_Specials/This_Qazi_is_a_woman/articleshow/3585185.cms#write

God's Grace for Najma Ghouse

God has been good to us.

After 9 months of good medical care and God's grace, Najma, my wife is now completely under God's care and surviving with Allah’s grace, your wishes and prayers.

In the foot steps of Prophet Muhammad, as a Muslim, I draw inspiration from all faiths and share this beautiful precise expressive phrase from Jainism “ Michami Dukadam”, the essence of which is, on this day, let’s forgive and ask for forgiveness and start the next breath of life with a clean slate, free from guilt, free from anxiety, free from hate, malice, anger and all those enslaving emotions. ..... The Qur'aan says that God’s favorite person is the one, who forgives and seeks forgiveness. It is also an idea central to the teachings of Jesus Christ. I want to thank every one who has participated and will participate in this heart and mind purifying process with Najma and I..Please say "Michami Dukadam", it will complete the transaction.

Click the link to continue: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2008/05/gods-grace-for-najma-ghouse.html

Islam's Women Scholars

Islam's Women Scholars
By Yoginder Sikand

One indicator of the development of a society is its
female literacy rate and, related to this, the number
of its female scholars. On both these fronts, India's
Muslims are among the lowest of all the communities in
the country. This unfortunate fact provides a basis
for negative stereotyping of the community,
particularly in matters related to inter-gender
relations. This, however, is ironical, given that
Islam is one of the few religions to have declared
education to be a duty binding on all its followers,
men as well as women. The irony is further heightened
by the fact that early Islamic history provides
examples of numerous Muslim women scholars who made
valuable contributions to the intellectual life of
their communities.

That little known story is precisely what an Urdu book
I recently read with avid interest is all about.
Penned by a Pakistani alim, Maulana Syeed Ghulam
Mustafa Bukhari Aqeel, the book, titled 'Muslim
Khawatin Ki Ilmi Khidmat' ('The Intellectual
Contributions of Muslim Women') contains vignettes
about scores of early Muslim women scholars, who could
serve as major sources of inspiration to Muslims,
including Muslim women, today if only they were more
widely known, a task that the Maulana takes upon
himself.

Many of these early Muslim women scholars were experts
in various Islamic sciences, in contrast to today's
case where we have few, if any, such female scholars.
The book refers to Ibn Hajar Asqalani as writing that
the early centuries of Islam record more than 1500
female scholars of Hadith, traditions attributed to
the Prophet Muhammad, including several wives of the
Prophet and his companions as well as women in
succeeding generations. Many of these were also
narrators of Hadith reports. Fatima bint Qais is said
to have had long debates with the caliph Umar on an
issue related to fiqh, and, so the book says, the
majority of the ulema gave preference to her view.
Similarly, the noted historian Khateeb Baghdadi
mentions 32 famous female scholars of his times, and
one of them, Karina Bint Ahmad Maruzia, taught him the
collection of Hadith by Imam Bukhari. Likewise, the
noted Muhaddith Imam Zahri described Umra Bint Abdur
Rahman, a woman brought up by Hazrat Ayesha, as 'an
unending sea of knowledge'.

Several of these women scholars had male students,
something quite inconceivable for many Muslims today.
Thus, Ayesha Bint Sad bin Al-Waqas, a scholar of
Hadith, had a large number of students, including the
great Imam Malik. Imam Shafi, so the book tells us,
would attend the lectures of Hazrat Nafisa,
grand-daughter of Imam Husain. The Abbasid Caliph
Malik Marwan would sometimes attend the lectures of a
woman scholar Sahima Bint Yahya al-Osabia.

Other women wrote books on religious and other
subjects, many of which, unfortunately, have been now
lost. Fatima Nishapuri wrote a tafsir or commentary on
the Quran; Zainab Bint Usman bin Muhammad authored
several books on fiqh; Razia, sister of al-Hakim of
Andalusia, wrote extensively on History and Geography;
Aisha Khas, a noted calligrapher and musician,
translated several books from Sanskrit and Greek and
so on. The book also mentions several Indian Muslim
families from royal families who were accomplished
authors, mainly in the fields of Sufism, history and
royal biography.

In this early period of Islamic history, numerous
women founded madrasas, including some specifically
for Muslim women. Thus, says the book, the first
madrasa, as separate from a mosque as a centre for
education, was founded by a woman, Fatima Bint
Muhammad al-Fahari, in Morocco in the mid-ninth
century. The enormous structure of the madrasa could
accommodate some thirty thousand worshippers praying
together.

Other notable women founders of madrasas in this
period included Maryam Bint Yaqub, who established a
girls' madrasa in Seville, where besides the Islamic
sciences, subjects like Philosophy, History,
Geography, Mathematics, Astronomy and various crafts
were taught; Bint Qazi Shihabuddin al-Tabari, whose
madrasa catered to orphans; Tazkira Rabai Khatun's
madrasa in Egypt for poor girls; a school for training
women in martial arts set up by Geti Ada Begum,
daughter of Murad Khan, ruler of Zabulistan; and the
Dar ul-Zubaida, a madrasa built on the spot of the Dar
ul-Arqam, the place outside Mecca where the Prophet
would himself teach his followers, built by Talib
ul-Zaman Habshia, a female slave of the Abbasid Caliph
Nasirbillah.

These early Muslim women show how Islam, as they and
the men who supported their endeavours understood it,
positively facilitated women's scholarship and
intellectual pursuit. In a context as in India today,
where the number of female Islamic scholars is
negligible and even books on Islam and women are still
written almost wholly by men and are often shaped by
patriarchal prejudices, these women provide numerous
lessons that we could well profit from.

Muslims & Harvard University

Muslim traditions stir debate at Harvard University
International Herald Tribune, Friday, March 21, 2008
By Neil MacFarquhar

Mike Ghouse - Article follows my comments;

Most of the conflicts stem from a fear of loss, or the fear that some one is taking advantage of the situation. In this case, a few at Harvard University feel that Muslims students are having privileges like the exclusive time given to Muslim women at gym, or the Adhan, a prayer call. If these other students ask for similar privilieges and are denied, they have every right to complaint, otherwise, the fear is baseless.

The Muslim students on the other hand, need to really weigh in the purpose of the Adhan, it was to call the believers to prayer. A hundred years ago when people did not have the watches and could not make to the prayer on time, the Adhan would remind them for prayers, today, that call is symbolic and not a real call any more, as it is one's own responsibility to attend the prayer.

We have to respect other's need for quiteness or must be willing to listen to similar calls by other faiths.

The Students must focus on the very basic of Islam - Peace, i.e., removing conflicts and nurturing good will. To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker; one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for co-existence and world peace - God wants his creation to be in peace and harmony, and that is the chief purpose of Islam; peace.

Lasting peace comes when what is good for one is good for the other and vice-versa.

More about Adhan below the article:
http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/

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Muslim traditions stir debate at Harvard University
International Herald Tribune,
Friday, March 21, 2008
By Neil MacFarquhar

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: A small controversy over how Harvard practices tolerance has been sparked by two issues relating to Muslim belief - whether the call to prayer should ring out across Harvard Yard and whether women should be granted separate gym hours.

Heated discussions have erupted on dormitory chat rooms, students said, while various opinion articles in the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, have denounced both practices.

"I think that because Harvard is a secular campus, there is a fear among some students that religious beliefs or practices might be imposed on people who don't want anything to do with them," said Jessa Birdsall, a sophomore who said she thought the university should accommodate the beliefs of all students.

The debate began in early February, when the undergraduate college restricted one of the three largest gyms on its main campus, the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center, to women on Mondays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The college spokesman, Robert Mitchell, would not describe how the decision was reached, but various students said a small group of Muslim women undergraduates living in the Leverett House dormitory had asked for the change.

The group of women felt that workout clothes violated the Muslim prescription that both sexes wear appropriate dress in shared environments. So they asked the dormitory to set aside its minigyms for women a few hours each week. The request eventually made its way to the Harvard College Women's Center and it was decided that the Quadrangle center, which Mitchell called the college's least-used athletic facility, would be reserved for women at certain times.

He said the change was an experiment that would be evaluated in June.
The second controversy occurred after the adhan, or call to prayer, was once again broadcast across Harvard Yard at noon from the steps of the Widener Library for several days in late February. The broadcast was part of Islam Awareness Week, sponsored by the Muslim student club, the Harvard Islamic Society.

On March 13, an op-ed article by three graduate students denounced the practice, which has been going on for several years. They wrote that while pluralism was fine, the adhan espouses Muslim intolerance toward other faiths by stating that the Prophet Muhammad is the messenger of God. Calling it proselytizing, the op-ed article said, "The adhan, it seems, is the exception to Harvard's unspoken rule of religious tolerance and respect."

The arguments over both issues boiled down to whether Harvard was being admirably tolerant or was disrupting the lives of the majority to placate a vocal minority.
Rauda Tellawi, a senior who veils her hair, said that during the animated arguments about the gym hours that unrolled on her dorm's in-house chat room, it was noted that even some men felt intimidated by the presence of women in the gym if they were, say, not bench-pressing as much as a buddy. Tellawi said she habitually left the gym if men were hovering nearby while she ran or did sit-ups.

"Even if you have loose clothing on, they are going to see things that we are not supposed to let them see," she said. "Islam doesn't encourage you to physically lie down in front of men."

Tellawi did not consider it discriminatory to set aside some hours at the gym for women. Instead, she viewed it as a healthy accommodation. She noted that students who follow kosher eating rules have a separate area in her dining hall and said that some many non-Muslim women supported the separate gym hours.

The new system has been criticized for not attracting enough women to warrant separate hours, and several students said perhaps only 15 people use the center during peak periods at night, despite the fact that it offered its own locker rooms, squash and basketball courts, weights and aerobic machines.

Nicholas Wells, a junior who used to work out in the morning, said he thought the change was "unfair to men and inconvenient for women." While he was all for supporting Muslim women, he said there had to be a more practical solution whereby Quad residents did not lose access to their main gym.

A junior, Lucy Caldwell, echoed those arguments. She criticized the women-only hours as too drastic an accommodation to make for a religious minority, dismissing the idea that many non-Muslim women supported it.

When word of the new gym hours became public, Harvard was attacked on blogs for being a bastion of liberalism run amok.

As to the call to prayer, Muslim students said the adhan was a basic statement of their creed and had nothing to do with denying other faiths. The debate focused mostly on whether Muslims were getting a right denied to followers of other religions.

One student wrote in the comments section of The Crimson's Web site that Harvard Yard was not a comparative religion class, while another said that if students could romp there naked and urinate on the statue of John Harvard, surely forbearance toward other cultures was warranted.

Many students seemed oblivious to either issue, saying they were preoccupied with midterm examinations.

Taha Abdul-Basser, the Muslim chaplain at Harvard, said both episodes were indicative of the growing number of Muslims in the United States.

"There are some people who are just not comfortable that Muslims, by virtue of the change of demographics, are going to become more and more visible," he said.

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Adhan

(أَذَان) is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is ʼḏn "to permit", and another derivative of this word is uḏun, meaning "ear." Adhan is called out by the muezzin from a minaret of a mosque five times a day summoning Muslims for fard (mandatory) salah (prayers). There is a second call known as iqama that summons Muslims to line up for the beginning of the prayers.

Note - Please not that Allah is the name used for the word God. When there is a sentence that there is no lord except Allah - i) It is simply stating that the creator of all of us, called God is the one we are grateful to and ii) "no lord" except Allah does not negate other names of God.

Adhan can be easily a Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Bahai, Jain, Sikh, Jewish, Wicca or Jewish call to prayer. Except the acknowledgement that Muhammad is the prophet of God, all other stuff can be used by any one.

Text (Sunni)
Recital Arabic Transliteration Translation

4x الله اكبر Allah Akbar
Allah is The Greatest*

2x اشهد ان لا اله الا الله Ash-hadu an lā ilāha illallāh
I bear witness that there is no lord except Allah

2x اشهد ان محمدا رسول الله Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasūlullāh I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

2x حي على الصلاة Hayya 'alas-salāt Make haste towards prayer

2x حي على الفلاح Hayya 'alal-falāh Make haste towards welfare [success]

2x الله اكبر Allah u akbar Allah is greatest

1x لا اله الا الله Lā ilāha illallāh There is no lord except Allah

* Followers of the Maliki madhab say this line twice instead of four times.
** The line "Prayer is better than sleep" is used only for the first prayers of the day at dawn (fajr Prayer; Salat al-fajr).

Text (Shi'a)
Recital Arabic Transliteration Translation

4x الله اكبر Allah u Akbar Allah is the Greatest

2x اشهد ان لا اله الا الله Ash-hadu allā ilāha illallāh

I bear witness that there is no lord except Allah

2x اشهد ان محمدا رسول الله Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasūlullāh I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

2x حي على الصلاة Hayya 'alas-salāt Make haste towards prayer

2x حي على الفلاح Hayya 'alal-falāh Make haste towards welfare

2x حي علی خير العمل Hayya 'alā Khair al-'amal Make haste towards the best thing

2x الله اكبر Allah u Akbar Allah is the Greatest

2x لا اله الا الله Lā ilāha illallāh There is no Lord except Allah

According to Shi'a scholars, "Ashhadu ana Alian waliullah" ("I testify that Ali is the associate of Allah") is not a part of Adhan and Iqamah but it is recommended (Mustahabb) to say that.[1]