http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-is-cair.html
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CAIR Problems
Below is a long speech presented by Rep. Frank Wolf on the house floor "Who Is CAIR? " on Friday, June 12, 2009 for you to think about it.
Most American Muslims, like all other Americans support organizations that stand up to protect their civil rights, it is time that they are re-assured that CAIR is above reproach – we do hear them and believe that they are a good organization, but we need to weigh in the "real and accused" reports we hear about them on the house floor.
CAIR has done a lot of good work for the civil rights of Muslims, but they are also accused of secretive agendas along with ISNA and ICNA and they were all named co-conspirators in the HLF case. Much of it was certainly the Neocon agenda, however the accusations are sustained, and it is a serious concern and we need to gravely face.
The moderate Muslims* are worried sick to donate funds to any organization, no one wants to be accused of wrong doing. However, every group must have a civil rights organization to protect their interests from the other extremists from within like the Necons** – there is a civil rights advocacy group for every group that I know –African American, Jews, Women, Hispanics, Arabs and several others.
Muslims have done exceptionally well in America to assertively stop hate sermons from being delivered from their Mosques. However, Jasser Zuhdi who is quoted in the report and Wall Street Journal have made false accusations about that, and I have asked them to produce facts, and they have not. They are giving it to the public at their most vulnerable moments in our history and it should not be acceptable, they need to produce facts and proof. Indeed, most of the hate sermons are delivered today are not in the Mosques in America, but from other pulpits. .
SUGGESTION
As Americans and as American Muslims, we need to demand transparency from our organizations, other communities may not do it, but let’s take the lead, we owe it our nation to contribute towards a safe, secure and a peaceful America.
Let’s ask every Muslim Organization to post their meeting transcripts on their websites and perhaps invite the media to the meetings. We need to condition our giving to transparency. We should have nothing secretive to discuss and we should not worry. I believe everything secretive usually ends up being evil. Let our meetings become a public record and let our Friday sermons be posted as well, let them become an instrument of Goodwill.
Muslims are in America to live their American dream as every other American, they do not have an agenda to dominate or impose Sharia Laws, let’s make that abundantly clear. Muslims are committed to the safety, security and well being of our chosen homeland; America
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, interfaith, Islam, India, Peace, political and civic issues. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed on his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net.
* Moderate Muslims form over 95% of Muslims, same stat should hold good for people of all faiths. They are the ones who want to get along with every one, the ones that believe God has created space for every human being and that we all have to co-exist in peace and harmony.
** Neocons are the extremists wearing different religious labels and believe that they have an exclusive right to exist, they believe peace comes to them by eliminating those who differ from them.
Different Articles in reference to this are listed below:
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Who Is CAIR?
by Rep. Frank Wolf
06/12/2009
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32280
The following is a speech given by Rep. Frank Wolf on the House floor Friday, June 12 on the
MADAM SPEAKER, As ranking member on the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee, which last week considered the FY 2010 appropriations bill, I have a keen interest in and oversight responsibility for a host of counterterrorism-related initiatives. The bill, which is expected to come before the full House next week, includes $7.7 billion to support the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), whose top priorities include protecting and defending the United States against terrorism and foreign intelligence threats.
The FBI was intimately involved in a 15-year investigation which culminated last fall in the Holy Land Foundation and five of its former organizers being found guilty of illegally funneling more than $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas.
A Department of Justice press release issued May 27, 2009, reported that “U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders following their convictions by a federal jury in November 2008 on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.” The sentences ranged from 15 years to 65 years in prison.
According to the Department of Justice, “From its inception, HLF existed to support Hamas….The government’s case included testimony that in the early 1990's, Hamas’ parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, planned to establish a network of organizations in the U.S. to spread a militant Islamist message and raise money for Hamas…The defendants sent HLF-raised funds to Hamas-controlled zakat committees and charitable societies in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Among the unindicted co-conspirators in the case is an organization which over the last several years has been granted access to the highest levels of the U.S. government -- an organization which is routinely elevated in the press as the voice of mainstream Muslim Americans. This organization is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.
Tawik Hamid, according to his bio, is an “Islamic thinker and reformer, and one-time Islamic extremist from Egypt. He was a member of a terrorist Islamic organization Jemaah Islamiya, with Dr. Aiman Al-Zawaherri who became later on the second in command of Al-Queda.”
In a May 25, 2007 Wall Street Journal op-ed Hamid wrote, “In America, perhaps the most conspicuous organization to persistently accuse opponents of Islamophobia is the Council of [sic] American Islamic Relations.”
The observations of Mr. Tawik, himself a Muslim, are particularly relevant in light of recent news reports.
On January 30, 2009, FOX News reported that the FBI was “severing its once-close ties with the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, amid mounting evidence that it has links to a support network for Hamas.”
Given that Hamas is on the current list of U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, this was obviously a serious claim and one which, if true, would rightly inform a shift in FBI policy.
However, the FOX News piece left me with some unanswered questions -- questions, which given the seriousness of the report, necessitated further inquiry. Such questions of the executive branch are common congressional practice and, in fact, are the responsibility of the legislative branch of government and the intended purpose of our system of check and balances.
For six years from 2001-2006, I served as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee with oversight of the FBI. This year I resumed a leadership role as the lead Republican on the subcommittee.
According to the Congressional Research Service, “[C]ongressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation…It is an integral part of the American system of checks and balances.”
A young Woodrow Wilson, before becoming president, put it this way: “Quite as important as legislation is vigilant oversight of administration.”
Needless to say, I take very seriously the responsibility of congressional oversight, especially in matters with potential national security implications.
In this spirit of oversight, I wrote to the FBI on February 2 seeking additional information and clarification regarding the bureau’s decision about its relationship with CAIR. I submit a copy of the letter for the record.
The FOX News piece which prompted my initial interest quoted the assistant director of the Office of Public Affairs at the bureau as saying: "The FBI has had to limit its formal contact with CAIR field offices until certain issues are addressed by CAIR's national headquarters."
I found this statement to be vague, and while perhaps sufficient from a public affairs vantage, I believed it to be an insufficient explanation for members of Congress, none of whom, to my knowledge, had been informed of this policy shift.
And it was just that -- a policy shift. The FOX piece noted later, the FBI has “long been close to CAIR. The agency has previously invited CAIR to give training sessions for agents and used it as a liaison with the American Muslim community.”
I was one of several members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, who wrote the bureau in the days following this report -- some, such as Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, voiced their support for the bureau’s decision, which was a step further than my initial letter. But they, too, desired to “understand the situation more fully” as Senators Kyl and Schumer wrote.
When I received a response from the FBI on March 9, only one of the 10 questions I posed was answered, which prompted me to send a second letter -- restating the original questions and pressing the FBI for a timely and detailed response. I submit a copy of that letter for the record.
Days after my second letter, CAIR launched a public attack against me claiming in a March 12 press release that I “abused” my “office” by “seeking to pressure the FBI to produce negative information” about the organization.
Those assertions are patently untrue and would not even warrant a response were they not symptomatic of what I believe to be a larger pattern of intimidation undertaken by CAIR -- intimidation which is of great consequence given the national security matters at stake.
As my letters to the FBI indicate, I was seeking to better understand the bureau’s position and access information about what led to this decision. It is a conclusion which I agree with my Senate colleagues is absolutely appropriate based on reports I have read for years, but which again marks a change in course for the bureau and as such deserved further explanation.
It is noteworthy that on April 28, following my initial unsatisfactory reply from the bureau, Senator Kyl received a more substantive response from the FBI to his letter.
In the letter to Senator Kyl, the bureau was more detailed in explaining, and validating, the original news reports regarding its relationship with CAIR.
The letter reads, “As you know, CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in the United States v. Holy Land Foundation et al. (Cr. No. 3:04-240-P (N.D.TX.). During that trial, evidence was introduced that demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders (including its current President Emeritus and its Executive Director) and the Palestinian Committee. Evidence was also introduced that demonstrated a relationship between the Palestinian Committee and HAMAS, which was designated a terrorist organization in 1995. In light of that evidence, the FBI suspended all formal contacts between CAIR and the FBI.
“The FBI’s decision to suspend formal contacts was not intended to reflect a wholesale judgment of the organization and its entire membership. Nevertheless, until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner…”
I submit a copy of the bureau’s response to Senator Kyl for the record.
I plan to take the remainder of my time to explore many of these same concerns and talk about why everything I’ve read, studied and observed has led me to believe that the bureau’s decision is not only defensible, but advisable, and ought to, in fact, inform the actions of other public officials, policymakers, and the press, many of whom consistently, and I would argue mistakenly, look to CAIR to speak for mainstream Muslim Americans.
Zhudi Jasser, himself a Muslim, and president of the Islamic Forum for Democracy, makes a critical distinction between Islam and Islamism. Islam is, of course, a faith which has an estimated worldwide following of over 1 billion people. Islamism, however, according to Jasser, is “a coercive governmental and political construct that seeks to impose shar’ia (Islamic jurisprudence) upon society.”
In 2007, in the publication Family Security Matters, Jasser wrote that CAIR uses “the protection of religion when the facts are not on their side. They use the discourse of politics when they want to push forth their Islamist agenda with the presumption of speaking for all Muslims. They will delve into the political only on their own terms in both foreign and domestic policy but when they are on the receiving end of political criticism they run for cover under the guise of victimization."
A dispassionate look at CAIR’s public posture shows that Mr. Jasser’s observations ring true.
In 1998 I authored the legislation that created the National Commission on Terrorism. That same year, in CAIR’s own words from a press release, it “asked Muslims to contact leaders of a House-Senate conference committee and urge them to amend or eliminate new legislation that would create a National Commission on Terrorism.” This was a misguided lobbying effort at best. Fortunately, it was unsuccessful and the bipartisan commission was authorized to conduct its work.
A Congressional Research Service report described the main finding of the commission this way: “It calls on the U.S. government to prepare more actively to prevent and deal with a future mass casualty, catastrophic terrorist attack.” Regrettably, the commission’s recommendations, sent to Congress in June 2000, were generally ignored until after the attacks on September 11, 2001, when 3,000 people were killed, including 30 from my congressional district.
Following the commission’s public report, CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad, said in a June 4 press release, “The fight against terrorism is one that should be undertaken. But that struggle should not be based on stereotypes, false assumptions or the political agendas of foreign governments. If the past is any indication, all or most of these new provisions will be used to target Muslims in this country and worldwide…It is American Muslim groups whose fundraising will be restricted. It is Muslim students who will be monitored…”
Indeed the FBI has restricted the fundraising of some Muslim groups -- but only when those organizations have been found to be a cover for terrorist financing -- as was true, most notably, with the Holy Land Foundation.
When the Holy Land Foundation was shuttered three months after 9/11, CAIR warned in a December 4, 2001 press release that this was an "unjust and counterproductive move [that] can only damage America's credibility with Muslims in this country and around the world and could create the impression that there has been a shift from a war on terrorism to an attack on Islam."
But this purported “attack on Islam” proved to be baseless in the face of the Holy Land Foundation verdicts.
A November 25, 2008, Department of Justice press release following the initial verdicts in the foundation case quotes Patrick Rowan, assistant attorney general for National Security: “For many years, the Holy Land Foundation used the guise of charity to raise and funnel millions of dollars to the infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization…This prosecution demonstrates our resolve to ensure that humanitarian relief efforts are not used as a mechanism to disguise and enable support for terrorist groups.”
As I noted earlier, CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case, which makes its cautionary word about the “injustice” of closing the “charity” suspect.
In a federal court filing from December 2007, federal prosecutors described CAIR as "having conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists." The government also stated that "proof that the conspirators used deception to conceal from the American public their connections to terrorists was introduced" in the Holy Land Foundation trial.
In a footnote government prosecutors points out: “(F)rom its founding by Muslim Brotherhood leaders, CAIR conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists…”
Further, according to Senate testimony, CAIR received a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation. Initially, in written testimony submitted September 10, 2003, to the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, CAIR denied that this was the case. Specifically, Mr. Awad said claims to the contrary were “an outright lie. Our organization did not receive any seed money from HLFRD.” But when confronted with the IRS form on which the Holy Land Foundation disclosed the contribution, Mr. Awad changed his position in supplemental testimony submitted to the subcommittee saying that “the amount in question was a donation like any other.”
CAIR ultimately filed an amicus brief seeking removal from the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case. In September 2007, prosecutors made several arguments in favor of maintaining CAIR’s status saying “CAIR has been identified by the Government at trial as a participant in an ongoing and ultimately unlawful conspiracy to support a designated terrorist organization, a conspiracy from which CAIR never withdrew.”
The Holy Land Foundation trial revealed more about CAIR than simply its ties to that particular entity. Rather, the trial brought to light, in the public square, the genesis of the organization.
According to an October 14, 2008, Dallas Morning News story, “Testimony has suggested that CAIR's founder, Omar Ahmad, and its current executive director, Nihad Awad, participated in a 1993 meeting of purported Hamas sympathizers. Some Holy Land defendants attended the Philadelphia meeting, bugged by the FBI.”
A day later, the Dallas Morning News reported that FBI Special Agent Lara Burns testified during the Holy Land Foundation case that CAIR “was formed in the aftermath of a 1993 meeting by Palestinian activists in America who brainstormed ways to spread the pro-Hamas message here without attracting too much attention.”
A Department of Justice press release issued November 24, 2008, when the Holy Land Foundation verdicts came down, stated similarly, “The government’s case included testimony that in the early 1990's, Hamas’ parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, planned to establish a network of organizations in the U.S. to spread a militant Islamist message and raise money for Hamas…HLF became the chief fundraising arm for the Palestine Committee in the U.S. created by the Muslim Brotherhood to support Hamas. According to a wiretap of a 1993 Palestine Committee meeting in Philadelphia, former HLF President and CEO Shukri Abu Baker spoke about playing down Hamas ties in order to keep raising money in the U.S. Another wiretapped phone call included Abdulrahman Odeh, HLF’s New Jersey representative, referring to a suicide bombing as ‘a beautiful operation.’”
According to a National Review article, in their pre-CAIR days, both Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad were top officers in the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). Former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver "Buck" Revell has called Awad's former employer, the Islamic Association for Palestine, "a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants."
A September 24, 2001, LA Times story described the connection between the Islamic Association of Palestine and the Holy Land Foundation this way: “The IAP and the Holy Land were founded and funded by Mousa abu Marzook…He’s also the political leader of the terrorist group Hamas.”
Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor who lead the 1995 prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the “blind sheik”) who was found guilty of planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, in a National Review article notes that there are “several persons connected to CAIR who have been convicted of federal felonies including terrorism.” McCarthy includes in this group Ghassan Elashi, one of the founding members of CAIR's Dallas-area chapter, and also co-founder and former chairman of the Holy Land Foundation. According to a July 9, 2007, Dallas Morning News report Elashi was sentenced to “nearly seven years in prison for doing business with a terrorist and violating export laws.”
In a 1994 forum discussion videotaped at Barry University, CAIR’s Mr. Awad said, “I'm in support of the Hamas movement.” CAIR has subsequently sought to discredit this video on its web site by saying that this quote was in response to a specific question, and that Hamas was only designated a “foreign terrorist organization” in January 1995 and did not commit its first wave of suicide bombings until late 1994 after Mr. Awad made the comment. It is noteworthy that Hamas’ 1988 covenant describes itself as “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and says that the “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.”
CAIR’s defense of Mr. Awad’s quote based simply on chronology is wanting in light of Hamas’ founding principles which clearly embrace violence. As the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen wrote in April 2009, “Read the Hamas charter. It is not some uplifting cry of a downtrodden people seeking its freedom but a repellent anti-Semitic screed.”
CAIR’s mission statement focuses on protecting the civil rights of Muslims in America and on improving Islam’s image. But CAIR’s actions under the umbrella of “civil rights” raise troubling questions.
In November 2006, US Airways removed six imams from a flight following passenger reports of unusual behavior. An Investor’s Business Daily piece described the imam’s actions this way: “At the gate before boarding, they angrily cursed the U.S. Then they bowed to Mecca and prayed ‘very loud,’ chanting ‘Allah, Allah, Allah,’ according to the gate agent and another witness. On the plane, they didn't take their assigned seats and instead fanned out to the front, middle and rear of the plane…Some ran back and forth speaking to each other in Arabic. Adding to suspicions, most of them asked for seat belt extensions even though they didn't need them -- or even use them.
”Following the incident, the imams and CAIR filed a lawsuit against US Airways, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission and "John Doe" passengers.
Omar Mohammedi, the New York attorney who represented the imams, was the former president of the Board of Directors for CAIR, New York. The suit charged that the “John Doe” passengers "may have made false reports against plaintiffs solely with the intent to discriminate against them on the basis of their race, religion, ethnicity and national origin."
CAIR subsequently called on the Department of Justice to investigate violations of civil liberties for the six religious leaders taken off the plane.
The then president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm protecting the free expression of all religious traditions, wrote the following in a letter to CAIR regarding the suit against the “John Doe” passengers: “This is a first for us. We have never opposed someone else’s claim for religious discrimination….But this tactic of threatening suit against ordinary citizens is so far beyond the tradition of civil rights litigation in the United States that we must oppose it to defend the good name of religious liberty itself.”
It is noteworthy that the Becket Fund has successfully argued cases for Muslims including securing a place for Muslim public school students in Texas to pray.
In March 2007, The Arizona Republic called the suit against ordinary citizens “intimidation by lawsuit.”
On April 9, 2007, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper had a notably different take, “[I]t is wrongheaded for observers to be suspicious of innocent behavior -- praying or asking for a seat-belt extension -- simply because a Muslim does it. ‘That Muslim is wearing a tie,’ Hooper scoffed. ‘He can take it off and strangle someone.’”
The U.S. Department of Transportation conducted an investigation following the passenger complaints and found that US Airways did not discriminate against the six imams when it removed them. In a letter to CAIR’s acting legal director, the assistant general counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings wrote the following:
"[W]e find the decision to remove the Imams from the aircraft was based on information available to the captain at the time and was reasonable…It appears that the captain decided to remove the Imams because of security concerns as a result of the sum of the Imams' actual and perceived behavior, not their race or ethnicity. The fact that the captain's concerns were not borne out in hindsight does not make the action that he took discriminatory."
CAIR’s approach in this case was not simply an inconvenience -- rather it had potential security implications as well. Airports nationwide implore travelers to report suspicious activity. Signs on major highways, bridges and tunnels throughout America do the same. New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority introduced an ad campaign which has been adopted by municipalities around the country as part of their own anti-terrorism campaign. The ad features the following admonition: “If You See Something, Say Something.”
But CAIR would have had Americans thinking, if you see something, think twice before you say something, lest you get mired in a lawsuit. As USA Today editorialized in the days following the imams’ suit, “This legal tactic seems designed to intimidate passengers willing to do exactly what authorities have requested -- say something about suspicious activity.” The paper went on to report that “the imams want to know the names of an elderly couple who turned around ‘to watch’ and then made cell phone calls, presumably to authorities…”
In response to the incident at the Minneapolis airport, Congressman Peter King, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, and Congressman Steve Pearce first moved to provide immunity to those on public transportation who report suspicious activities through a recommital motion to the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007, which the House overwhelming passed in March 2007 by a vote of 304-121.
Later in the 110th Congress, despite CAIR’s public lobby effort, Mr. King and Senator Joe Lieberman were successful in adding a section to the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act (P.L. 110-53) which provides legal immunity to individuals who report terrorist or suspicious activity which they see on trains or planes to law enforcement.
In what has become a familiar refrain, Nihad Awad, on FOX News March 31, 2007, said that Peter King’s legislative efforts were encouraging Islamophobia.
In fact, the bill language had the potential to encourage other “John Does” who encounter suspicious activity to report it to the authorities.
CAIR’s funding is also a source of interest. Apart from the financial link with the Holy Land Foundation, there is much that is unclear about whether and to what degree CAIR is receiving financial contributions from foreign governments.
In a March 2007 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago’s executive director, said, “Neither CAIR chapters nor the National office solicits or accepts money from any foreign government.”
A January 2007 open letter on CAIR’s Web site says they are “proud to receive support of every individual, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or of another faith background, who supports the mission of promoting justice and mutual understanding as long as they are not an official of any foreign government and there are no ‘strings attached’ to the bequest.”
Yet, in a sensitive but unclassified May 2006 State Department cable which was brought to my attention, U.S. embassy staff in Abu Dhabi cabled that the UAE press was reporting “that Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry has ‘endorsed a proposal to build a property in the U.S. to serve as an endowment for CAIR.’”
In another sensitive but unclassified June 2006 State Department cable, U.S. embassy staff in Saudi Arabia reported the following after meeting with a CAIR delegation: “One admitted reason for the group’s current visit to the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was to solicit $50 million in governmental and non-governmental contributions.”
I submit both cables for the record. According to the June 2006 cable, “The core delegation consisted of CAIR Board Chairman Dr. Parez Ahmed, Executive Director Nihad Awad, and Communications Director Cary (Ibrahim) Hooper.”
On an MSNBC talk show with Tucker Carlson in September 2006, just three months after the trip, Ibrahim Hooper claimed, “(T)o my knowledge we don’t take money from the government of Saudi Arabia.”
I want to make it clear that it is important to understand that American Muslims, like all Americans, are entitled to organize, advocate, and engage in the political process. Such are the markings of a vibrant democracy.
They have taken advantage of the opportunity America provides for people of every background. They are teachers, doctors, policemen. They are mothers, fathers and neighbors.
I am reminded of a young Pakistani American who is Muslim that I had the privilege of meeting during one of my visits to Walter Reed Hospital. I met him when he was in the midst of his physical therapy -- therapy that was necessary because he had lost both of his legs while in combat in Iraq. Despite his tremendous sacrifice he was committed to the hard work of rehabilitation in part because he hoped to get back to Iraq. He was a patriot of the sort that ought to give us pause and make us proud.
I want to be absolutely clear that the concerns I have with CAIR are specific to the organization, not to the Muslim faith. Even a passing glance at my record in Congress should put any thought to the contrary to rest.
In Sudan, Chechnya, China, Bosnia and Kosovo, I have spoken out in defense of people of the Muslim faith. I have been to Sudan five times, including leading the first congressional delegation to visit Darfur where nearly all of the victims of the genocide are Muslim. I was the only member of Congress to visit Chechnya during the fighting in 1995. When I returned, I condemned the violence against the Chechen people, most of whom are Muslim, and called for a ceasefire. I was one of the only members to visit Muslim men in a Serb-run prisoner-of-war camp in Bosnia where I saw evidence of a modern-day holocaust taking place. Very early on, I began speaking out against the ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide against the Bosnian people. I spoke out in favor of lifting the arms embargo against Bosnia so the Muslim Bosnian government could defend itself. I have visited Kosovo five times and I voted and spoke out on the floor to approve the bombing campaign to stop Serbian atrocities against Muslims in Kosovo. I was one of the first members to raise concern about the persecution of Muslims in China and continue to speak out when few others do.
Further, I was the author of the International Religious Freedom Act which created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as well as the International Religious Freedom Office at the State Department. Central to the act was the assertion that “Freedom of religious belief and practice is a universal human right and fundamental freedom.” The legislation and ultimately the offices it created, strengthen United States advocacy on behalf of individuals persecuted in foreign countries on account of religion, which, of course, includes persecuted Muslims.
America is an imperfect, but great nation. A “shining city on a hill” as described by our founders. A beacon of hope for persecuted and oppressed people. For centuries the “huddled masses” depicted in the iconic poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty have arrived on these shores seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
My grandparents immigrated to America from Germany. My father served in World War II. Part of the reason he did so was that he felt the need to show that his loyalty was to America. Even though my grandparents were both native German speakers, when World War I broke out my grandmother decided that from that day forward only English would be spoken in their home.
I share this bit of personal history to illustrate that I am sensitive to the challenges facing new immigrants, especially during times of war. There have been instances in our nation’s history, especially when our country has been under attack, where the civil liberties of certain groups of people have been violated because other people were afraid. This is inexcusable.
But this is the exception, not the rule.
Our experiment in self-governance has been marked by an unwavering commitment to basic freedoms for all people, among them the right to worship according to the dictates of your conscience. Many American Muslims left countries where such freedom is unimaginable. However, in a pluralistic society like ours, these principles are paramount. To silence or otherwise repress people of faith is inimical to the American way. In our public discourse, to accuse someone of religious bigotry or intolerance is a sure way to stifle debate.
On October 4, 2008, the editorial page editor of the The Columbus Dispatch spoke to CAIR’s bent toward accusation as a means of muzzling debate:
“For many years, CAIR has waged a campaign to intimidate and silence anyone who raises alarms about the dangers of Islamic extremism. CAIR's rationale is that discussions of Islamic extremism lead to animosity not just toward those who twist Islam into a justification for terrorism but toward all who practice Islam. CAIR's concern is understandable, but its response is unreasonable. The group acts properly when it hammers home the point that only a small number of Muslims support religiously motivated violence and that targeting law-abiding Muslims is wrong. Where CAIR errs is in labeling anyone who discusses Islamic terrorism a bigot and hatemonger, an Islamophobe, to use CAIR's favorite slur.”
Ironically, some of CAIR’s most pointed attacks have in fact been aimed at other Muslims who dare to have differing views.
In a 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer piece, CAIR’s Hooper is quoted as saying Zuhdi Jasser, president of American Islamic Forum for Democracy who has been critical of CAIR, was "providing others with an opportunity to advance an agenda that is hostile to the American Muslim community."
Given CAIR’s genesis, its associations with known terrorist entities and individuals, and its tactics -- namely attempting to discredit anyone who dares to speak out against its organization -- their cries of victimization and accusations of religious bigotry appear disingenuous.
And, given the dangerous world in which we live, any attempt to literally silence honest discourse about the nature of the threats facing our country is intolerable and must be addressed.
I stand today with other elected officials who have raised questions about CAIR. Senator Schumer describes CAIR as an organization "which we know has ties to terrorism." Democratic Senator Dick Durbin has said that CAIR is "unusual in its extreme rhetoric and its associations with groups that are suspect." Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer withdrew an award she gave to an official at a local CAIR chapter because she “had concerns about statements by some CAIR officials and about claims of financial links to terrorism.” And other senators, including Republicans Jon Kyl and Tom Coburn, have voiced support for the FBI’s actions in severing ties with CAIR.
I stand today with counterterrorism experts including Steven Pomerantz, the FBI's former chief of counterterrorism, who has stated that "CAIR, its leaders, and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups.”
And perhaps most importantly, I stand with thousands of American Muslims for whom CAIR does not speak.
In June 2007 the Washington Times published a report which analyzed CAIR tax documents and found that CAIR’s membership has declined 90 percent since 9/11. Zudhi Jasser, of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, was quoted in the article as saying, “This is the untold story in the myth that CAIR represents the American Muslim population. They only represent their membership and donors.”
In 1999, the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) issued an open letter to “all Muslims” after Shaykh Kabbani, chairman of the ISCA, spoke at a State Department open forum on Islamic extremism and subsequently came under public attack by several organizations including CAIR. In the open letter, ISCA says that the organizations attacking Kabbani, among them CAIR, “have not quoted a single statement of Shaykh Kabbani in full or in context. Moreover, the statements were augmented with emotionally-charged words like ‘promoted and generalized an allegation,’ ‘outrageous statements,’ and ‘Islamophobic,’ thereby thwarting his original intention and message.”
The letter goes on to say, “In their action alerts, CAIR has a chronic tendency to negatively juxtapose Islam and Americans…”
Consider, too, the words of Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi, then general secretary of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, who was quoted in a 1999 ISCA press release following this same incident. She remarked, "The carefully orchestrated and calculated plot to intimidate Shaykh Kabbani into retracting his statements only goes to prove the unwillingness to tolerate differences of opinion and belief; as well as the extent to which they would go to silence the voice of opposition…”
Or consider the testimony of Zeyno Baran, a prominent Turkish American scholar who is presently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. In July 2008 speaking before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, she stated that she believed CAIR “was created by MB [Muslim Brotherhood] to influence the US government, Congress, and NGOs, along with academic and media groups” and lamented that “despite being founded by leading Islamists, CAIR has successfully portrayed itself as a mainstream Muslim organization over the past 15 years -- and has been treated as such by many US government officials…”
Or most recently, an April 2009 advertisement in Weekly Standard, authored by “American Muslims,” applauded the FBI for rejecting CAIR. The signatories included representatives of six different organizations. I submit a copy of the ad for the record. The signatories wrote “We observe that they (CAIR) denounce ‘terrorism’ in general terms but not the specific actions of Islamist groups like Hamas or Hezbollah. They denounce violence but not the ideologies behind it.”
Further the group acknowledged CAIR’s “attempts to chill free speech by calling critics of radical Islam ‘Islamophobes.’”
Finally, I’d like to close my speech by recognizing the men and women of the FBI and the hard work they do every day to keep this country safe, and restate the FBI’s own words, “(U)ntil we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner…”
I completely agree.
# # #
Muslims in America, not interested in Sharia Laws
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/05/5000-reward.html
Our Mission - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Mission-Statement.asp
Cair Chairman resigns
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/07/cair-chairman-ahmed-resigns.html
Praying passenger removed
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/praying-passenger-removed.html
You are welcome to leave your comments below;
#
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Muslims Condemn display of hate at Holocaust Museum
Muslims Condemn display of hate at Holocaust Museum http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/06/muslims-condemn-display-of-hate-at.htmlAs Americans and as Muslims, we condemn this expression of hate; killing innocent people at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.
We all have a moral responsibility to protect and preserve life on earth, each time we see hate expressed in this fashion, we feel the responsibility to do our share of repairing the world. A lot of work needs to be done and we need to stand together and be a guard to each one of the 301 Million Americans. Our Obligation to one and all is to see us become one nation under the creator and be one community.
We mourn the loss of Stephen Johns, the security guard whose life was lost in protecting the lives of Members and the visitors to the Holocaust Museum.
As Americans we stand with the Jewish community and the symbols that represent the community including the Holocaust Museum.
Mike Ghouse
In behalf of the Muslim Community,
World Muslim Congress
# # #
Security Guard Dies in Attack at US Holocaust Museum
By Kent Klein
White House
10 June 2009
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-10-voa53.cfm
A man opened fire inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on Wednesday, killing a security guard before being shot by another guard. Local officials say the suspected gunman, who is believed to have ties to neo-Nazi groups, is in critical condition.
Washington police chief Cathy Lanier says the man walked into the crowded Holocaust Museum Wednesday afternoon and fired several shots.
"It appears that immediately as he entered the front doors of the museum, he raised the rifle and started shooting," said Cathy Lanier.
David Unroe was visiting the museum with his wife and grandchildren when the shots rang out.
"They yelled, 'Hit the floor, hit the floor!' So we did," said David Unroe. "We huddled up with another young family for what seemed like quite awhile, but was only a couple of minutes. At that time, we were scared, wondering what's next, if we're next. And at that time, they yelled, 'Get up and run out, run out!' So we did and followed the crowd."
Security guard Stephen Johns (undated photo)
Museum officials identified the guard who was killed as Stephen Johns. In an e-mail, the museum director said he "died heroically in the line of duty."
According to news reports, law enforcement officials are investigating the suspected gunman, James von Brunn - a man in his late 80s who is believed to have connections to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Von Brunn has a racist, anti-Semitic Internet website.
Police chief Lanier says there is no evidence that any threats had been made before the incident.
"We had no prior information," she said. "There were no prior threats of this nature about this incident. So it appears to be a lone gunman who entered into the museum and opened fire."
Rabbi Andrew Baker is the Director of International Jewish Affairs for the American Jewish Committee. He cautioned that U.S. Jewish groups need to be more vigilant about their security.
"This is something that all of us at Jewish organizations, for a long time, at least in the U.S., did not pay much attention to and particularly, if you contrasted it to what has been the norm in at least European capitals, at synagogues, Jewish organizations, where the security is much more secure, much more intense," said Rabbi Baker.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama is "saddened" by what happened and that he is monitoring the situation.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington condemned the attack.
#
Fatwa Factory
.
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/06/fatwa-factory.html
The Fatwa Factory
The straw that broke the camel - it was a negative comment about HH Aga Khan by an ignorant Muslim, that prompted me to write this opinion.
Please note that there are fanatics in every faith and every place of worship. The creator has built-in a fuse in everything, you will always find a few rogues in every group be it religious, civil, social, political, racial or ethnic. There is a formula I am working on - i.e., 1/10th of 1% of individuals in every group are plain destructive. The Fatwa’s are merely opinions most of the times but are dangerous a few times.
A philosopher had said; the evil exists in the world not necessarily because of the evil people, but because good people do nothing about it.
It is time for you and I to speak up and speak out loud and clear. If not we will be run over by the extremists among us.
1) Apparently a Fatwa was issued against Dr. Zakir Naik proclaiming him NOT to be a Muslim. I have not verified this statement, but the news (or rumor) is making rounds on the net. Dr. Zakir Naik is an Islamic Scholar with his own credentials and earned respect for his inclusive speeches (exceptions are always there).
2) His Highness Aga Khan, the Muslim leader gave an address at the University of Alberta, and I hope you do take a few minutes to read it. He represents the ideals what most Muslims desire. But, here we go again; a few Muslims are jumping again with their ignorance and making judgments.
3) Forget about these small voices, the Mufti of Mecca had declared that Shia’s are not Muslims and an Ayatollah in Iran gave it back to him that Sunnis are not Muslim either.
4) Three years ago, some one was ready to issue a Fatwa against me; it was the birthday of the Prophet and Buddha on the same day in 2005 or 04. I announced on the Radio “Peace be upon Buddha and Peace be upon the Prophet Muhammad”. Did these guys know Islam means peace?
We have a powerful book that teaches us how to conduct ourselves in the most civil manner. The chapter Sura Kafirun is one of the sura’s that shows us what a civil conduct is all about – take a look at one of the several versions at: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html
The Prophet (pbuh) told his daughter Fatima that she will not get a free pass to Jannah - she would have to earn it through good deeds. Allah also has assured that no one need to worry about Jannah, whosoever is good to his creation can be sure of his grace and kindness whether they are Sabeans, Christians or Jews. Qur’aan was abundantly clear in proclaiming that in God’s eyes an Arab is not superior to a black Man or a White man is not superior to another, all are same to God, only those who are pious – are regarded with privileges.
You don’t have to be a Muslim to earn God’s grace; you have to be a good human being who cares about his neighbors, life and the environment. All our prayers, fasting, Zakat and Hajj are pathways to get us to be a good human being.
The following two paragraphs are addressed a Farrukh Abidi, who has said things in ignorance. The idea is directed to those few Abidis who would possibly make those statements.
AA,
Dear Farrukh Abidi
May Allah bless you with peace.
I hope you pray five times a day, observe all the required fasting, pay the Zakat due, have performed Hajj and have taken care of your obligations to your family and to your community.
Please repent for the statement you have made and withdraw it, Allah is forgiving and loves those who repent, we are all willing to pray for you.
I hope you are not threatening God to take over his domain of judgment, he alone is the Malik-i-Yom-iddin and he alone can judge on the day of Qayamat. Should Muslims allow you to be the Judge instead of Allah?
I ask every one on the group to pray and be at peace. Hate, anger and maliciousness is not a virtue and Prophet's greater Jihad was precisely that - to reign in on one's own shortcomings.
May Allah give you the wisdom to respect every human being regardless of his belief? You have a choice and you make your call. We welcome you to be a good human being aka Muslim.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill – Our Mission - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Mission-Statement.asp
______________________________
______________________________
In a message dated 6/10/2009 3:25:06 P.M. Central Daylight Time, xxabidi@yahoo.com writes:
don't send me garbage mail, aga khani, ismaili, bhori are not muslim because of their false
believes, I kindly advice those who are belong to these sects to leave these sects and come into fold of islam and save yourselves from ultimate hell fire before it too late.
farrukh abidi
--- On Wed, 6/10/09, hasniessa@yahoo.comwrote:
Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Graduation Ceremony of the University of Alberta
09 June 2009
Eminent Chancellor
Madame President
Mr. Chairman of the Board
Your Worship the Mayor
Faculty, Graduates, Friends and Family
What a pleasure and privilege it is to be here today, as this great university moves into its second century. I am deeply grateful for your kind invitation, for the wonderful honour you have given me, and for the rich partnership which the Aga Khan University has enjoyed with the University of Alberta. I am pleased, too, that this partnership will be extended under the new Agreement we have just signed between our two universities, along with the institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network.
My warmest congratulations go to all who graduate today and to the families, friends and faculty members who share in your proud achievements.
I read recently about a graduation ceremony like this one which was marred, perhaps, by an excess of confidence. The editors of the class yearbook were great believers in technology and entrusted the final proofreading to the computer program called spell-check, something which you undoubtedly know a thing or two about!
Unfortunately, as The Week magazine reported, it was "a bad week for spell check," as the automatic program changed the names of several students. For example, Alessandra Ippolito was listed as Alexandria Impolite, while Max Zupanovic was rechristened Max Supernova. And Kathy Carbaugh's photo appeared next to the name Kathy Airbag.
After hearing this, you may want to check on how your own names are spelled on your programmes and diplomas and what mischief spell-check might do to your name if it had the chance. I for one decided that I should spell check my own name. I found that, while there was no "Aga Khan", there was something called an "Aga" Cooker. It was defined as one of England's oldest stoves and ovens …now somewhat outdated … but with a distinctive whistle every time it frizzled the food within!
As you may know, the Aga Khan is, in fact, the Imam, or spiritual leader, of the Ismaili Muslim community, a role I inherited from my grandfather over fifty years ago. Even as the University of Alberta was celebrating its 100th anniversary last year, I was marking my own golden jubilee. To mark both anniversaries, to express my profound thanks, and to celebrate our growing partnership, I am presenting a gift today which reflects both my Islamic heritage and your University traditions. I have just visited a parcel of land within the Devonian Gardens of the University, where we plan to create a traditional Islamic Garden. We hope this space will be of educational and aesthetic value, a setting for learning more about Muslim culture and design, as well as a place for public reflection.
Over these past five decades, much of my attention has been focused on the challenges of the developing world, and it is in this arena that our partnership with the University of Alberta has been most active. The University's commitment to the global context and the developing world has been inspiring, and the match between your areas of expertise and developing world requirements, as I understand them, has been nothing short of extraordinary.
For many years, your leaders have set priorities which intersect with vital development needs, including such areas as agricultural sciences and nutrition, public health and telemedicine, natural resource management, information technology, environmental and energy sciences, and so many others, including your respect for diversity, and for the rights and the roles of traditional societies. Roderick Fraser, your President Emeritus and a Trustee of the Aga Khan University, is one of the many Canadian visionaries who have helped forge this remarkable record.
I was pleased to read recently the University's own description of its continuing international goals: increasing joint programmes, encouraging semesters abroad and broadening exchange programmes, building international community service and internship opportunities, and creating new academic programmes with a global perspective.
What an impressive agenda! It represents precisely the sort of outreach from Western intellectual centres which I believe is essential for global progress. And it coincides with a period in which the developing world itself is recognizing, as never before, the centrality of education to its future - and the leading role of North American universities in that process.
Let me mention one more critical element in this picture. The international impact of this University's work is reinforced by the high regard in which Canada itself is held as a valued development partner. Canada comes to that challenge with impressive credentials; no history as a colonial power, a successful pluralist society, high standards of living, and a readiness to welcome a global leadership role.
In today's community of nations, a country's standing is no longer recognized simply by what it can achieve for itself, but just as much by what it can do for others. In this context, Canada has become a world "power" in the best sense of that word.
As young people with a Canadian education, you will be warmly welcomed by the global community if you should choose to spend some time in international activity, making the world your workplace. The path has been well prepared by eminent Canadians who have gone before you.
As I have thought about the challenge of international development and its relationship to education, I have come to identify four key areas of concern. These are issues which have engaged the Aga Khan Development Network for over two decades, including the innovative curricular planning of our schools and universities. I thought I might discuss them briefly with you today.
The first of these themes concerns the faltering instruments of government in many countries of Asia and Africa: Afghanistan and Pakistan, Kenya and Uganda, for example, are plagued by dysfunctional constitutional frameworks which ignore inherited traditions, poorly apportion responsibilities among central versus provincial authorities, fail to ensure equity and liberty for minority and tribal communities, and are unresponsive to their vast rural populations.
We are facing, I believe, years and even decades of continued testing among various forms of democratic governance. At the present moment, we may well be seeing more failures than successes.
I feel strongly that students of government from across the world can help address this situation, suggesting a creative range of constitutional options and best practices in places where governmental systems have not yet had time to mature. And educational institutions at all levels should give more attention to the disciplines of comparative government.
This does not mean the imposition of political systems from outside. But it is not enough to replace coercion from beyond one's borders with coercions from one's own capital city. Governments everywhere should reflect the will and the aspirations of all their peoples.
One central challenge here is that age-old traditions of the countryside often seem unrelated to the challenges of running a modern nation-state - and plugging it into a changing global economy. Reconciling the global and the local, the urban and the rural, the regional and the national, is one of the great political challenges of our time - and it is a challenge to which Canadians can speak with special insight.
We have also learned that simplistic systems don't work; whether built around the arrogance of colonialism, the rigidities of communism, the romantic dreams of nationalism, or the naive promises of untrammelled capitalism. But I do believe old governing methods can be improved, and that appropriate, effective new models can be created. And I know that great universities like this one can play an important role in that process.
The second topic I would raise today is the role of civil society in the development process. By civil society I mean an array of institutions which operate on a private, voluntary basis, but are driven by public motivations. They include institutions dedicated to education, to culture, to health, and to environmental improvement; they embrace commercial, labour, professional and ethnic associations, as well as institutions of religion and the media.
Even when governments are fragile, or even nearly paralyzed in their functioning, strong civil society organizations can advance the social and economic order as they have done in Kenya and Bangladesh. Civil society is a complex matrix of influences, but its impact can be enormous, especially in rural environments, where, for example, the need for stronger secondary as well as primary schools is dramatically evident. We have also learned that effective civil progress involves a multiplicity of inputs and a variety of partners - including universities. The broad scope of programmes here at the University of Alberta is a tremendous resource, actual and potential, for the development of civil society throughout the world.
My third theme today is ethics. Neither the political nor the civil sector can accomplish anything of value unless those who steer those institutions are motivated and directed by demanding moral standards.
When we talk about the ethical realm, when we attack corruption, we are inclined to think primarily about government and politics. I am one, however, who believes that corruption is just as acute, and perhaps even more damaging, when the ethics of the civil and private sectors deteriorate. We know from recent headlines about scoundrels from the American financial scene to the halls of European parliaments - and we can certainly do without either. But the problem extends into every area of human enterprise. When a construction company cheats on the quality of materials for a school or a bridge, when a teacher skimps on class work in order to sell his time privately, when a doctor recommends a drug because of incentives from a pharmaceutical company, when a bank loan is skewed by kickbacks, or a student paper is plagiarized from the internet - when the norms of fairness and decency are violated in any way, then the foundations of society are undermined. And the damage is felt most immediately in the most vulnerable societies, where fraud is often neither reported nor corrected, but simply accepted as an inevitable condition of life.
Again, universities are among the institutions which can respond most effectively to such threats. It seems to me to be the responsibility of educators everywhere to help develop 'ethically literate' people who can reason morally whenever they analyse and resolve problems, who see the world through the lens of ethics, who can articulate their moral reasoning clearly - even in a world of cultural and religious diversity - and have the courage to make tough choices. And it is clear that the quality of ethical leadership throughout society can in great measure be shaped by our educational institutions.
This analysis brings me to my fourth theme: the centrality of pluralism as a way of thinking in a world which is simultaneously becoming more diversified and more interactive. Pluralism means not only accepting, but embracing human difference. It sees the world's variety as a blessing rather than a burden, regarding encounters with the "Other" as opportunities rather than as threats. Pluralism does not mean homogenization - denying what is different to seek superficial accommodation. To the contrary, pluralism respects the role of individual identity in building a richer world.
Pluralism means reconciling what is unique in our individual traditions with a profound sense of what connects us to all of humankind.
The Holy Quran says: "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women." What a unique and profound statement about the Oneness of humanity!
And yet, just recollect the number of situations where pluralism has failed, dramatically and detestably, in just the last ten years: in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, in Kenya, Rwanda, Darfur and the Congo, in Iraq and in the Balkans and in Northern Ireland - and the list could go on. No continent has been spared.
A pluralistic attitude is not something with which people are born. An instinctive fear of what is different is perhaps a more common human trait. But such fear is a condition which can be transcended - and that is why teaching about pluralism is such an important objective - at every educational level.
In the final analysis, no nation, no race, no individual has a monopoly of intelligence or virtue. If we are to pursue the ideal of meritocracy in human endeavour, then its most perfect form will grow out of a respect for human pluralism, so that we can harness the very best contributions from whomever and wherever they may come.
President Obama cited his own country as a relevant example when he said last week in Cairo, and I quote: "the United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known … we are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the earth…"
All of these considerations have led me to create a new institution that you may have heard about - it is called the Global Centre for Pluralism - a joint project which we have established in Ottawa, in partnership with the Government of Canada. We hope that it will help us all to better understand and implement the pluralistic approaches on which our future now depends.
When peoples think pluralistically, there is no limit to what they can do together, joining forces across a wide variety of divides - and even across long distances - so that we can harness the very best contributions from whomever and wherever they may come.
President Obama cited his own country as a relevant example when he said last week in Cairo, and I quote: “the United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known … we are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the earth…”
All of these considerations have led me to create a new institution that you may have heard about - it is called the Global Centre for Pluralism - a joint project which we have established in Ottawa, in partnership with the Government of Canada. We hope that it will help us all to better understand and implement the pluralistic approaches on which our future now depends.
When peoples think pluralistically, there is no limit to what they can do together, joining forces across a wide variety of divides - and even across long distances - so that a University based in the far western reaches of North America can join hands and hearts with institutions which are, quite precisely, on the opposite side of the planet. As the world shrinks, and as contact among diverse peoples increases, some would argue that we face an inevitable “clash of civilizations.” My own conviction, however, is that we face today “a clash of ignorances.” It continually amazes me, for example, how little is understood about the Muslim civilizations and cultures in the non-Islamic world and how little is taught. When President Obama described the richness of that history in his Cairo speech, he was telling a story which is unfamiliar to many in the West. A pluralistic commitment will call upon educators, everywhere, to address such dangerous ignorances, in this and in other fields.
We live today in what has been called the Knowledge Society. But even as our knowledge advances at lightning speed, we also become more vulnerable to gaps in that knowledge, to what we might describe as Knowledge deficits. Each of the four themes I have outlined today points to a specific knowledge deficit, and each deficit constitutes a challenging obstacle to progress, justice and stability in many countries and for many decades.
The great universities of the world have a special mission - a high calling I believe - to take a leading role in the struggle to narrow and even to eliminate the knowledge deficits which challenge our world - a role which your University has been playing so well.
My congratulations once again. My prayer is that God will be with you, inspiring you and empowering you, in all the good things you will be doing in the days and years ahead.
Thank you.
__._,_.___
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/06/fatwa-factory.html
The Fatwa Factory
The straw that broke the camel - it was a negative comment about HH Aga Khan by an ignorant Muslim, that prompted me to write this opinion.
Please note that there are fanatics in every faith and every place of worship. The creator has built-in a fuse in everything, you will always find a few rogues in every group be it religious, civil, social, political, racial or ethnic. There is a formula I am working on - i.e., 1/10th of 1% of individuals in every group are plain destructive. The Fatwa’s are merely opinions most of the times but are dangerous a few times.
A philosopher had said; the evil exists in the world not necessarily because of the evil people, but because good people do nothing about it.
It is time for you and I to speak up and speak out loud and clear. If not we will be run over by the extremists among us.
1) Apparently a Fatwa was issued against Dr. Zakir Naik proclaiming him NOT to be a Muslim. I have not verified this statement, but the news (or rumor) is making rounds on the net. Dr. Zakir Naik is an Islamic Scholar with his own credentials and earned respect for his inclusive speeches (exceptions are always there).
2) His Highness Aga Khan, the Muslim leader gave an address at the University of Alberta, and I hope you do take a few minutes to read it. He represents the ideals what most Muslims desire. But, here we go again; a few Muslims are jumping again with their ignorance and making judgments.
3) Forget about these small voices, the Mufti of Mecca had declared that Shia’s are not Muslims and an Ayatollah in Iran gave it back to him that Sunnis are not Muslim either.
4) Three years ago, some one was ready to issue a Fatwa against me; it was the birthday of the Prophet and Buddha on the same day in 2005 or 04. I announced on the Radio “Peace be upon Buddha and Peace be upon the Prophet Muhammad”. Did these guys know Islam means peace?
We have a powerful book that teaches us how to conduct ourselves in the most civil manner. The chapter Sura Kafirun is one of the sura’s that shows us what a civil conduct is all about – take a look at one of the several versions at: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html
The Prophet (pbuh) told his daughter Fatima that she will not get a free pass to Jannah - she would have to earn it through good deeds. Allah also has assured that no one need to worry about Jannah, whosoever is good to his creation can be sure of his grace and kindness whether they are Sabeans, Christians or Jews. Qur’aan was abundantly clear in proclaiming that in God’s eyes an Arab is not superior to a black Man or a White man is not superior to another, all are same to God, only those who are pious – are regarded with privileges.
You don’t have to be a Muslim to earn God’s grace; you have to be a good human being who cares about his neighbors, life and the environment. All our prayers, fasting, Zakat and Hajj are pathways to get us to be a good human being.
The following two paragraphs are addressed a Farrukh Abidi, who has said things in ignorance. The idea is directed to those few Abidis who would possibly make those statements.
AA,
Dear Farrukh Abidi
May Allah bless you with peace.
I hope you pray five times a day, observe all the required fasting, pay the Zakat due, have performed Hajj and have taken care of your obligations to your family and to your community.
Please repent for the statement you have made and withdraw it, Allah is forgiving and loves those who repent, we are all willing to pray for you.
I hope you are not threatening God to take over his domain of judgment, he alone is the Malik-i-Yom-iddin and he alone can judge on the day of Qayamat. Should Muslims allow you to be the Judge instead of Allah?
I ask every one on the group to pray and be at peace. Hate, anger and maliciousness is not a virtue and Prophet's greater Jihad was precisely that - to reign in on one's own shortcomings.
May Allah give you the wisdom to respect every human being regardless of his belief? You have a choice and you make your call. We welcome you to be a good human being aka Muslim.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill – Our Mission - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Mission-Statement.asp
______________________________
______________________________
In a message dated 6/10/2009 3:25:06 P.M. Central Daylight Time, xxabidi@yahoo.com writes:
don't send me garbage mail, aga khani, ismaili, bhori are not muslim because of their false
believes, I kindly advice those who are belong to these sects to leave these sects and come into fold of islam and save yourselves from ultimate hell fire before it too late.
farrukh abidi
--- On Wed, 6/10/09, hasniessa@yahoo.com
Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Graduation Ceremony of the University of Alberta
09 June 2009
Eminent Chancellor
Madame President
Mr. Chairman of the Board
Your Worship the Mayor
Faculty, Graduates, Friends and Family
What a pleasure and privilege it is to be here today, as this great university moves into its second century. I am deeply grateful for your kind invitation, for the wonderful honour you have given me, and for the rich partnership which the Aga Khan University has enjoyed with the University of Alberta. I am pleased, too, that this partnership will be extended under the new Agreement we have just signed between our two universities, along with the institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network.
My warmest congratulations go to all who graduate today and to the families, friends and faculty members who share in your proud achievements.
I read recently about a graduation ceremony like this one which was marred, perhaps, by an excess of confidence. The editors of the class yearbook were great believers in technology and entrusted the final proofreading to the computer program called spell-check, something which you undoubtedly know a thing or two about!
Unfortunately, as The Week magazine reported, it was "a bad week for spell check," as the automatic program changed the names of several students. For example, Alessandra Ippolito was listed as Alexandria Impolite, while Max Zupanovic was rechristened Max Supernova. And Kathy Carbaugh's photo appeared next to the name Kathy Airbag.
After hearing this, you may want to check on how your own names are spelled on your programmes and diplomas and what mischief spell-check might do to your name if it had the chance. I for one decided that I should spell check my own name. I found that, while there was no "Aga Khan", there was something called an "Aga" Cooker. It was defined as one of England's oldest stoves and ovens …now somewhat outdated … but with a distinctive whistle every time it frizzled the food within!
As you may know, the Aga Khan is, in fact, the Imam, or spiritual leader, of the Ismaili Muslim community, a role I inherited from my grandfather over fifty years ago. Even as the University of Alberta was celebrating its 100th anniversary last year, I was marking my own golden jubilee. To mark both anniversaries, to express my profound thanks, and to celebrate our growing partnership, I am presenting a gift today which reflects both my Islamic heritage and your University traditions. I have just visited a parcel of land within the Devonian Gardens of the University, where we plan to create a traditional Islamic Garden. We hope this space will be of educational and aesthetic value, a setting for learning more about Muslim culture and design, as well as a place for public reflection.
Over these past five decades, much of my attention has been focused on the challenges of the developing world, and it is in this arena that our partnership with the University of Alberta has been most active. The University's commitment to the global context and the developing world has been inspiring, and the match between your areas of expertise and developing world requirements, as I understand them, has been nothing short of extraordinary.
For many years, your leaders have set priorities which intersect with vital development needs, including such areas as agricultural sciences and nutrition, public health and telemedicine, natural resource management, information technology, environmental and energy sciences, and so many others, including your respect for diversity, and for the rights and the roles of traditional societies. Roderick Fraser, your President Emeritus and a Trustee of the Aga Khan University, is one of the many Canadian visionaries who have helped forge this remarkable record.
I was pleased to read recently the University's own description of its continuing international goals: increasing joint programmes, encouraging semesters abroad and broadening exchange programmes, building international community service and internship opportunities, and creating new academic programmes with a global perspective.
What an impressive agenda! It represents precisely the sort of outreach from Western intellectual centres which I believe is essential for global progress. And it coincides with a period in which the developing world itself is recognizing, as never before, the centrality of education to its future - and the leading role of North American universities in that process.
Let me mention one more critical element in this picture. The international impact of this University's work is reinforced by the high regard in which Canada itself is held as a valued development partner. Canada comes to that challenge with impressive credentials; no history as a colonial power, a successful pluralist society, high standards of living, and a readiness to welcome a global leadership role.
In today's community of nations, a country's standing is no longer recognized simply by what it can achieve for itself, but just as much by what it can do for others. In this context, Canada has become a world "power" in the best sense of that word.
As young people with a Canadian education, you will be warmly welcomed by the global community if you should choose to spend some time in international activity, making the world your workplace. The path has been well prepared by eminent Canadians who have gone before you.
As I have thought about the challenge of international development and its relationship to education, I have come to identify four key areas of concern. These are issues which have engaged the Aga Khan Development Network for over two decades, including the innovative curricular planning of our schools and universities. I thought I might discuss them briefly with you today.
The first of these themes concerns the faltering instruments of government in many countries of Asia and Africa: Afghanistan and Pakistan, Kenya and Uganda, for example, are plagued by dysfunctional constitutional frameworks which ignore inherited traditions, poorly apportion responsibilities among central versus provincial authorities, fail to ensure equity and liberty for minority and tribal communities, and are unresponsive to their vast rural populations.
We are facing, I believe, years and even decades of continued testing among various forms of democratic governance. At the present moment, we may well be seeing more failures than successes.
I feel strongly that students of government from across the world can help address this situation, suggesting a creative range of constitutional options and best practices in places where governmental systems have not yet had time to mature. And educational institutions at all levels should give more attention to the disciplines of comparative government.
This does not mean the imposition of political systems from outside. But it is not enough to replace coercion from beyond one's borders with coercions from one's own capital city. Governments everywhere should reflect the will and the aspirations of all their peoples.
One central challenge here is that age-old traditions of the countryside often seem unrelated to the challenges of running a modern nation-state - and plugging it into a changing global economy. Reconciling the global and the local, the urban and the rural, the regional and the national, is one of the great political challenges of our time - and it is a challenge to which Canadians can speak with special insight.
We have also learned that simplistic systems don't work; whether built around the arrogance of colonialism, the rigidities of communism, the romantic dreams of nationalism, or the naive promises of untrammelled capitalism. But I do believe old governing methods can be improved, and that appropriate, effective new models can be created. And I know that great universities like this one can play an important role in that process.
The second topic I would raise today is the role of civil society in the development process. By civil society I mean an array of institutions which operate on a private, voluntary basis, but are driven by public motivations. They include institutions dedicated to education, to culture, to health, and to environmental improvement; they embrace commercial, labour, professional and ethnic associations, as well as institutions of religion and the media.
Even when governments are fragile, or even nearly paralyzed in their functioning, strong civil society organizations can advance the social and economic order as they have done in Kenya and Bangladesh. Civil society is a complex matrix of influences, but its impact can be enormous, especially in rural environments, where, for example, the need for stronger secondary as well as primary schools is dramatically evident. We have also learned that effective civil progress involves a multiplicity of inputs and a variety of partners - including universities. The broad scope of programmes here at the University of Alberta is a tremendous resource, actual and potential, for the development of civil society throughout the world.
My third theme today is ethics. Neither the political nor the civil sector can accomplish anything of value unless those who steer those institutions are motivated and directed by demanding moral standards.
When we talk about the ethical realm, when we attack corruption, we are inclined to think primarily about government and politics. I am one, however, who believes that corruption is just as acute, and perhaps even more damaging, when the ethics of the civil and private sectors deteriorate. We know from recent headlines about scoundrels from the American financial scene to the halls of European parliaments - and we can certainly do without either. But the problem extends into every area of human enterprise. When a construction company cheats on the quality of materials for a school or a bridge, when a teacher skimps on class work in order to sell his time privately, when a doctor recommends a drug because of incentives from a pharmaceutical company, when a bank loan is skewed by kickbacks, or a student paper is plagiarized from the internet - when the norms of fairness and decency are violated in any way, then the foundations of society are undermined. And the damage is felt most immediately in the most vulnerable societies, where fraud is often neither reported nor corrected, but simply accepted as an inevitable condition of life.
Again, universities are among the institutions which can respond most effectively to such threats. It seems to me to be the responsibility of educators everywhere to help develop 'ethically literate' people who can reason morally whenever they analyse and resolve problems, who see the world through the lens of ethics, who can articulate their moral reasoning clearly - even in a world of cultural and religious diversity - and have the courage to make tough choices. And it is clear that the quality of ethical leadership throughout society can in great measure be shaped by our educational institutions.
This analysis brings me to my fourth theme: the centrality of pluralism as a way of thinking in a world which is simultaneously becoming more diversified and more interactive. Pluralism means not only accepting, but embracing human difference. It sees the world's variety as a blessing rather than a burden, regarding encounters with the "Other" as opportunities rather than as threats. Pluralism does not mean homogenization - denying what is different to seek superficial accommodation. To the contrary, pluralism respects the role of individual identity in building a richer world.
Pluralism means reconciling what is unique in our individual traditions with a profound sense of what connects us to all of humankind.
The Holy Quran says: "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women." What a unique and profound statement about the Oneness of humanity!
And yet, just recollect the number of situations where pluralism has failed, dramatically and detestably, in just the last ten years: in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, in Kenya, Rwanda, Darfur and the Congo, in Iraq and in the Balkans and in Northern Ireland - and the list could go on. No continent has been spared.
A pluralistic attitude is not something with which people are born. An instinctive fear of what is different is perhaps a more common human trait. But such fear is a condition which can be transcended - and that is why teaching about pluralism is such an important objective - at every educational level.
In the final analysis, no nation, no race, no individual has a monopoly of intelligence or virtue. If we are to pursue the ideal of meritocracy in human endeavour, then its most perfect form will grow out of a respect for human pluralism, so that we can harness the very best contributions from whomever and wherever they may come.
President Obama cited his own country as a relevant example when he said last week in Cairo, and I quote: "the United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known … we are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the earth…"
All of these considerations have led me to create a new institution that you may have heard about - it is called the Global Centre for Pluralism - a joint project which we have established in Ottawa, in partnership with the Government of Canada. We hope that it will help us all to better understand and implement the pluralistic approaches on which our future now depends.
When peoples think pluralistically, there is no limit to what they can do together, joining forces across a wide variety of divides - and even across long distances - so that we can harness the very best contributions from whomever and wherever they may come.
President Obama cited his own country as a relevant example when he said last week in Cairo, and I quote: “the United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known … we are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the earth…”
All of these considerations have led me to create a new institution that you may have heard about - it is called the Global Centre for Pluralism - a joint project which we have established in Ottawa, in partnership with the Government of Canada. We hope that it will help us all to better understand and implement the pluralistic approaches on which our future now depends.
When peoples think pluralistically, there is no limit to what they can do together, joining forces across a wide variety of divides - and even across long distances - so that a University based in the far western reaches of North America can join hands and hearts with institutions which are, quite precisely, on the opposite side of the planet. As the world shrinks, and as contact among diverse peoples increases, some would argue that we face an inevitable “clash of civilizations.” My own conviction, however, is that we face today “a clash of ignorances.” It continually amazes me, for example, how little is understood about the Muslim civilizations and cultures in the non-Islamic world and how little is taught. When President Obama described the richness of that history in his Cairo speech, he was telling a story which is unfamiliar to many in the West. A pluralistic commitment will call upon educators, everywhere, to address such dangerous ignorances, in this and in other fields.
We live today in what has been called the Knowledge Society. But even as our knowledge advances at lightning speed, we also become more vulnerable to gaps in that knowledge, to what we might describe as Knowledge deficits. Each of the four themes I have outlined today points to a specific knowledge deficit, and each deficit constitutes a challenging obstacle to progress, justice and stability in many countries and for many decades.
The great universities of the world have a special mission - a high calling I believe - to take a leading role in the struggle to narrow and even to eliminate the knowledge deficits which challenge our world - a role which your University has been playing so well.
My congratulations once again. My prayer is that God will be with you, inspiring you and empowering you, in all the good things you will be doing in the days and years ahead.
Thank you.
__._,_.___
Sunday, May 31, 2009
$5000 REWARD
Muslims are in America to live their American dream, and NOT to dominate or impose Sharia Laws.
.
$5000 REWARD
The Neocons* are fabricating and propagating the idea that Muslims are invading America to dominate and impose Sharia Laws without any substantiation. Cashing in on fears is Neocons modus operandi. They know how to scare the devil out of those few self proclaimed conservative Americans, and get them to open their check books, and the poor suckers pay the ransom.
There are several websites out there, where they write a frightening article followed by requests for donations, or they will show a frightening documentary as a “fact” and watch and laugh at the men who crap in their pants and open their check books in a hurry to these ‘ugly’ defenders of their traditions. I wish, they spend half their time in promoting goodwill, and I pray that the scared ones don’t open the check books to these fear mongers who will mess up the world further.
Muslims are a fabric of America and are a part of the Moderate Majority of Americans of every hue, they are busy in participating and contributing towards nation building, and living the American dream.
Muslims have no ambitions of making Islam a dominant religion or imposing Sharia Laws in the United States. A few individual may say that for a few claps, but for every creep who runs his mouth with a Muslim label, you will find a lot more of them with other faith labels. The good news is that there are thousands of Muslims out there who will speak out against such non-sense and I am one.
Islam is not about domination; it is about mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill, and it is about working for just societies. If we find men who want to subvert peace in our societies, let’s lock them up as individuals. I guarantee you that you will find them in every faith.
The American Muslims have become aggressive and are not going to let any idiot jeopardize their chosen homeland with hate sermons in their mosques. They go to mosques to find peace, to pray and to appreciate the creator. In our society, we believe in one, many or no God, we need to watch every pulpit that allows delivery of hate sermons, it is our individual responsibility to speak up and perhaps be bold enough to stop it.
Here is a challenge for you - If you find mosques that allow hate sermons delivered from their pulpits and DO NOT find a church, synagogue or a temple to match it, you can earn a reward of $5000.00. This challenge goes to Wall Street Journal and all those fear salesmen who have failed to substantiate their claims. We cannot accept bullshit, we need the truth.
Extremism is the combined enemy of peace and security; we are all in it together and need to find solutions. We cannot become extremists ourselves to rid of extremists. I cannot leave peacefully when people around me don't.
We all need to stand up for the general goodwill of the society. Please take a stand that Muslims in America are no different than any one of the 301 Million Americans. They do what every American does; live the American dream; living a life and contributing and participating in the well being of America. The false propaganda that Muslims are here to dominate or impose Sharia must be strongly condemned; there is no substantiation to that.
There are several websites out there, where they write a frightening article followed by requests for donations, or they will show a frightening documentary as a “fact” and watch and laugh at the men who crap in their pants and open their check books in a hurry to these ‘ugly’ defenders of their traditions. I wish, they spend half their time in promoting goodwill, and I pray that the scared ones don’t open the check books to these fear mongers who will mess up the world further.
Muslims are a fabric of America and are a part of the Moderate Majority of Americans of every hue, they are busy in participating and contributing towards nation building, and living the American dream.
Muslims have no ambitions of making Islam a dominant religion or imposing Sharia Laws in the United States. A few individual may say that for a few claps, but for every creep who runs his mouth with a Muslim label, you will find a lot more of them with other faith labels. The good news is that there are thousands of Muslims out there who will speak out against such non-sense and I am one.
Islam is not about domination; it is about mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill, and it is about working for just societies. If we find men who want to subvert peace in our societies, let’s lock them up as individuals. I guarantee you that you will find them in every faith.
The American Muslims have become aggressive and are not going to let any idiot jeopardize their chosen homeland with hate sermons in their mosques. They go to mosques to find peace, to pray and to appreciate the creator. In our society, we believe in one, many or no God, we need to watch every pulpit that allows delivery of hate sermons, it is our individual responsibility to speak up and perhaps be bold enough to stop it.
Here is a challenge for you - If you find mosques that allow hate sermons delivered from their pulpits and DO NOT find a church, synagogue or a temple to match it, you can earn a reward of $5000.00. This challenge goes to Wall Street Journal and all those fear salesmen who have failed to substantiate their claims. We cannot accept bullshit, we need the truth.
Extremism is the combined enemy of peace and security; we are all in it together and need to find solutions. We cannot become extremists ourselves to rid of extremists. I cannot leave peacefully when people around me don't.
We all need to stand up for the general goodwill of the society. Please take a stand that Muslims in America are no different than any one of the 301 Million Americans. They do what every American does; live the American dream; living a life and contributing and participating in the well being of America. The false propaganda that Muslims are here to dominate or impose Sharia must be strongly condemned; there is no substantiation to that.
We owe it to ourselves and our kids to create a society of co-existence.
Mike Ghouse
Sounding off the voices of a majority of Muslims.
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. Mike is a frequent guest on talk radio and television network discussing Pluralism, interfaith, Islam, Peace, India and civic issues. He co-chairs the center for interfaith inquiry and presides the Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress with a simple theme; Good for Muslims and good for the world and vice-Versa. His comments, news analysis and opinions are placed on the Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net.
Mike is a Dallasite for three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
Go to main website: http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/
Ongoing comments at Facebook (50+): http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/note.php?note_id=95554357773&ref=mf
When individual men murder, rape and make off others, is it our constitution that is faulty or is it reflective on all Americans or is it the American Religion? Baloney! Crimes are committed by individuals regardless of the homes they are raised in; the religious values they are given or race them belong to. Let’s place the blame where it belongs; the individuals and bring justice instead of blaming the universe of that individual.
**
Neocons are those Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other extremists who make it their business to malign other groups for their gains.
Neocons are people who choose to wear a religious label but act and talk contrary to the very belief they claim to espouse. It is their way or no way. Their attitudes are shaped by the fear that their life is at risk if others exist, if they can, they will wipe every one off from the face of the earth who ever differs from them. They are intolerant and insecure group of men. They trust their Gun power but invoke God in vain, they do not want to dialogue, as they are afraid to lose. They are chaotic and desperate souls.
They believe God is on their side, and that God has given them the permission or at least they pose to the world that it is their God-given right to dominate, control, monopolize and influence the resources that God has created for the benefit of his creation. They want to have it all.
***
The most important step in doing peace work is to distinguish between the following opposites:
Extreme Islamists V. Islam
Extreme Zionists V. Judaism
Extreme Evangelists v. Christianity...
Extreme Hindutva V. Hinduism
The second most important step is to identify the ugly men amongst us, every group has bad guys, and every faith has bad guys, acknowledging it takes us little closer to the reality. We should have the audacity to speak out our point to elicit a response of knowledge and understanding and not denial. We should stick and fight and not run away.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Qur'aan and the Big Bang Theory
We have got to remember that God is neither a body nor a being. Giving a shape or a descripion would amount to limiting the unlimited and defining the undefinable. God is what one perceives guided by different religious beliefs. God is the name to that which causes, creates and sustains what we know - Mike GhouseThe following research is the work of Mohammad Irtaza.
[17:44] Glorifying Him are the seven universes, the earth, and everyone in them. There is nothing that does not glorify Him, but you do not understand their glorification. He is Clement, Forgiver.
[13:2] GOD is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see, then assumed all authority. He committed the sun and the moon, each running (in its orbit) for a predetermined period. He controls all things, and explains the revelations, that you may attain certainty about meeting your Lord.
[13:3] He is the One who constructed the earth and placed on it mountains and rivers. And from the different kinds of fruits, He made them into pairs - males and females. The night overtakes the day. These are solid proofs for people who think.
[40:57] The creation of the heavens and the earth is even more awesome than the creation of the human being, but most people do not know.
The whole world that is known to us and everything in it is our universe. Many astronomers think that everything in our universe was once packed together in one lump. Then, about 15 billion years ago, there was a gigantic cosmic explosion which they call the Big Bang. According to them, our universe was created from that explosion!
[21:30] Do the unbelievers not realize that the heaven and the earth used to be one solid mass that we exploded into existence? And from water we made all living things. Would they believe?
[49:18] GOD knows all the secrets in the heavens and the earth; GOD is Seer of everything you do.
According to the cosmology, The Big Bang explosion sent the young universe flying out in all directions. Over vast ages of time, bits came together to make galaxies. The galaxies are huge groups of stars in space. The galaxies are still speeding apart today, and our universe is getting bigger!
[41:11] Then He turned to the sky, when it was still gas, and said to it, and to the earth, "Come into existence, willingly or unwillingly." They said, "We come willingly."
[25:61] Most blessed is the One who placed constellations in the sky, and placed in it a lamp, and a shining moon.
[51:47] We constructed the sky with our hands, and we will continue to expand it.
No one knows where all the material to make the universe came from in the first place!
[6:73] He is the One who created the heavens and the earth, truthfully. Whenever He says, "Be," it is. His word is the absolute truth. All sovereignty belongs to Him the day the horn is blown. Know-er of all secrets and declarations, He is the Most Wise, the Cognizant.
The Milky Way is the galaxy we live in. It is made up of all the stars we can see in the sky at night, and lots and lots more we cannot see. The Milky Way looks a bit like whirlpool. Astronomers usually give galaxies numbers instead of names. Only a few have names that tell us what they look like-the Whirlpool, the Sombrero, and the Black Eye, for example. There are about 1,000 billion stars in the Milky Way. Astronomers have worked out how big our universe is and how many stars it has. There are about 100 million trillion stars, in around 100 billion galaxies!
[22:18] Do you not realize that to GOD prostrates everyone in the heavens and the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the animals, and many people? Many others among the people are committed to doom. Whomever GOD shames, none will honor him. Everything is in accordance with God's will.
[6:96] At the crack of dawn, He causes the morning to emerge. He made the night still, and He rendered the sun and the moon to serve as calculation devices. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.
Stars are made of gases. The two main gases in stars are called hydrogen and helium. They are the stars' fuel. Stars make heat and light from them. Sometimes huge flame-like sheets of glowing gas shoot out from a star. These are called prominences.
[34:9] Have they not seen all the things in front of them and behind them, in the heaven and the earth? If we willed, we could have caused the earth to swallow them, or caused masses to fall on them from the sky. This should be a sufficient proof for every obedient servant.
All stars are born, live for a very long time, and then die. Stars are being born all the time. All stars are born in huge spinning clouds of gas and dust. Our Sun is a star. It was born 4.6 billion years ago. Most stars are like our Sun and shine steadily for nearly all their lives. Toward the end of their lives, stars like our Sun swell up and became as much as 100 times bigger. They turn into red giants. When it has used up all its gas fuel, a red giant shrinks down into a white dwarf. It is then about 10,000 times smaller, but still very hot!
[6:97] And He is the One who made the stars to guide you during the darkness, on land and on sea. We thus clarify the revelations for people who know.
[10:5] He is the One who rendered the sun radiant, and the moon a light, and He designed its phases that you may learn to count the years and to calculate. GOD did not create all this, except for a specific purpose. He explains the revelations for people who know.
A black hole can happen when a massive star dies. The star falls in on itself, squashing all its material and becoming smaller and smaller. In the end all that is left is a place light cannot escape from a black hole.
[17:99] Could they not see that the GOD who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the same creations? (That) He has predetermined for them an irrevocable life span? Yet, the disbelievers insist upon disbelieving.
The planets are not big or as hot as stars, and they cannot make light of their own. They were made from the leftovers of the same gas and dust cloud that gave birth to our star, the Sun. Our planet Earth is the only one in the solar system with water and living things on it. That makes it very special. It is the 3rd planet from the Sun, and it get just right amount of heat and light to keep us alive! Any closer, and it would be too hot. Any farther away, and it would be too cold!
[54:49] Everything we created is precisely measured
[36:36] Glory be to the One who created all kinds of plants from the earth, as well as themselves, and other creations that they do not even know.
[71:16] He designed the moon therein to be a light, and placed the sun to be a lamp.
[36:38] The sun sets into a specific location, according to the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.
[36:39] The moon we designed to appear in stages, until it becomes like an old curved sheath.
[36:40] The sun is never to catch up with the moon - the night and the day never deviate - each of them is floating in its own orbit.
Everything in space has a pulling force called gravity - galaxies, star, planets like the earth, and even moons. Gravity holds things together and stops them floating off into space.
[35:41] GOD is the One who holds the heavens and the earth, lest they vanish. If anyone else is to hold them, they will most certainly vanish. He is Clement, Forgiving.
[25:45] Have you not seen how your Lord designed the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it fixed, then we would have designed the sun accordingly.
[25:46] But we designed it to move slowly.
[25:47] He is the One who designed the night to be a cover, and for you to sleep and rest. And He made the day a resurrection.
Like all stars, our Sun is a huge ball of super-hot gas. The outside temperature of the Sun is 10,000 deg. F. The Sun is the only star that is close enough to the Earth for us to feel heat. The next nearest star to Earth is called Proxima Centauri. Our Sun's light takes 8.3 minutes to reach us, but Proxima Centauri's takes 4.3 years!
[14:33] He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, continuously. He has committed the night and the day to serve you
[31:29] Do you not realize that GOD merges the night into the day and merges the day into the night, and that He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, each running in its orbit for a specific life span, and that GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do?
One day the Sun will use up all its gas fuel and die. Our planet, the Earth, has eight neighbors. Together they make a family of nine planets which travel around the Sun. We call the Sun, and all the space bodies that whirl around it, the solar system. Beside the Sun and the planets, the solar system includes moons, mini planets called asteroids, and comets.
[14:33] He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, continuously. He has committed the night and the day to serve you
Moons are rocky bodies that orbit planets. Jupiter has sixteen moons. Mercury and Venus are the only planets that do not have moons. All the other planets have at least one. Our Earth has one moon. The Earth's moon is dry, dusty and lifeless. There is no air to breath or water to drink. On July 20, 1969, two American astronauts became the first living trying ever to set foot on the moon. Astronauts left the moon in the lunar module containing 21 kg. of rocks that had belongs to the moon!
[54:1] The Hour has come closer, and the moon has split.
[67:3] He created seven universes in layers. You do not see any imperfection in the creation by the Most Gracious. Keep looking; do you see any flaw?
[65:12] GOD created seven universes and the same number of earths. The commands flow among them. This is to let you know that GOD is Omnipotent, and that GOD is fully aware of all things.
The size of our solar system is extremely insignificant in compare to our vast universe where it belongs. Our universe is the smallest and the innermost of all seven universes. Our universe is estimated to span distances in excess of twenty billion light years! The second universe surrounds our universe and is very large. The third universe surrounds the second universe and is even larger. The outermost universe is the seventh universe. No number exists to describe the size of this outermost universe! The incomprehensible vastness of these seven universes is within the fist of God's hand!
[39:67] They can never fathom the greatness of GOD. The whole earth is within His fist on the Day of Resurrection. In fact, the universes are folded within His right hand. Be He glorified; He is much too high above needing any partners
[41:12] Thus, He completed the seven universes in two days, and set up the laws for every universe. And we adorned the lowest universe with lamps, and placed guards around it. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient
[81:1] When the sun is rolled.
[81:2] The stars are crashed into each other.
[81:3] The mountains are wiped out.
[77:8] Thus, when the stars are put out.
[77:9] The sky is opened up.
[77:10] The mountains are blown up.
[77:11] The messengers are summoned.
[77:12] That is the appointed day.
[77:13] The Day of Decision.
Some astronomers think that the galaxies may one day start falling back toward each other until they crash together in a Big Crunch! In cosmology, the Big Crunch is a hypothesized collapse of the universe upon itself after its eventual stoppage of expansion! Is it not true that the Big Crunch is not a hypothesis, not a theory but an informidable law of God Almighty that will surely take place on the appointed day, the Day of Decision!
[7:187] They ask you about the end of the world (the Hour), and when it will come to pass. Say, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord. Only He reveals its time. Heavy it is, in the heavens and the earth. It will not come to you except suddenly." They ask you as if you are in control thereof. Say, "The knowledge thereof is with GOD," but most people do not know
[75:9] And the sun and the moon crash into one another.
[75:10] The human being will say on that day, "Where is the escape?"
[75:11] Absolutely, there is no escape.
[75:12] To your Lord, on that day, is the final destiny.
[10:5] He is the One who rendered the sun radiant, and the moon a light, and He designed its phases that you may learn to count the years and to calculate. GOD did not create all this, except for a specific purpose. He explains the revelations for people who know.
[10:6] Surely, in the alternation of night and day, and what GOD created in the heavens and the earth, there are proofs for people who are righteous.
[10:18] They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, "These are our intercessors at GOD!" Say, "Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?" Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.
[12:103] Most people, no matter what you do, will not believe.
[12:104] You are not asking them for any money; you simply deliver this reminder for all the people.
[12:105] So many proofs in the heavens and the earth are given to them, but they pass by them, heedlessly!
[12:106] The majority of those who believe in GOD do not do so without committing idol worship.
Thank you and God bless you,
M. Irtaza
Ref: 1. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/
3. http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/
4. Quran - translated by Dr. Rashad Khalifa
Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'
AMERICAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN BIGOTRYA Republican Senate challenger in Arkansas called Sen. Chuck Schumer "that Jew" at a campaign event and has spent a week backtracking, apologizing, and digging himself in deeper.
This kind of bigotry must be condemned. The senator needs to apologize and promise never to say anything like that ever again. Inclusion is the hallmark of civil societies and we need to let the world know we are a civilized people and a civilized nation. As American Muslims, we condemn this bigotry.
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/05/kim-hendren-calls-chuck-schumer-that.html
Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'
BY Michael Mcauliff
Schumer as 'that Jew.'
Sen. Kim Hendren
WASHINGTON - A Republican Senate challenger in Arkansas called Sen. Chuck Schumer "that Jew" at a campaign event and has spent a week backtracking, apologizing, and digging himself in deeper.
Kim Hendren, now the minority leader of the Arkansas state Senate, dropped his J-bomb last week after he got mad that Schumer described conservative Republicans as "hard right" in a TV interview.He almost got away with it, but conservative Arkansas blogger Jason Tolbert caught it, and called out Hendren, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
Hendren excused his remark by pointing to his reputation as a gaffe machine.
"I don't use a Teleprompter, and occasionally I put my foot in my month," he told Tolbert, then inserted it a little farther.
"I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on 'The Andy Griffith Show,'" Hendren said.
"I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as 'that Jew' and I should not have put it that way, as this took away from what I was trying to say."
Defending himself again to the Arkansas News, Hendren went further, saying he didn't know why the words "that Jew" came out of his mouth. He added that there is a Jewish person in history he admires - Jesus. He's also partial to Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.
"I ought not to have referred to it at all," Hendren told The Associated Press Thursday. "When I referred to him as Jewish, it wasn't because I don't like Jewish people."
Schumer declined to get involved with Hendren, taking his admission of idiocy at face value.
"Apology accepted," the senator said.
Other Jewish Democrats were less forgiving.
"The most shocking thing here is that this guy thinks it's privately okay to refer to Schumer as 'that Jew,' but has enough political sense to realize it probably isn't the best thing to say publicly," said Ira Forman, head of the National Jewish Democratic Council.
He noted that the GOP's tent has been getting smaller lately, with just one Jewish Republican left in Congress.
Hendren didn't get any love either from national Republicans Thursday.
"Comments like this are completely inappropriate and don't have any place in public or private discourse," said Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which plays a vital role funding Senate candidates. "It's right that he apologized to Sen. Schumer."
mmcauliff@nydailynews.com
Read more: "Oy vey! Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_oy_vey_arkansas_state_senator_kim_hendren.html#ixzz0FilgEJ3m&A
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_oy_vey_arkansas_state_senator_kim_hendren.html
Friday, May 15, 2009
Islamic Reform
The book is out now."Critical thinkers for Islamic reform" a collection of articles from contemporary thinkers on Islam. Your friend is one of the 35 people who have contributed towards the book.
The book is available at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinkers-Islamic-Reform-Yuksel/dp/0979671574/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242430729&sr=1-3
I am pleased to inform you that, the book "American Islam" will be out this fall. It is everything you always wanted to know about Islam and Muslims. Much of the inspiration is drawn from Sura Kafirun. http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html
It is encouraging to see the moderate Muslims speak up, they make up 99% of the Muslim population. Just like all other groups, they want to get along with every one, and see that every human is cared for and do the best one can do.
Insha Allah one of these days I may get financial support from a few Muslims in forming the "Moderate Muslim Majority" to reflect the voices of Muslims for the common purpose of working towards a world of co-existence, by mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill among nations and communities. The formation is not to be against any one, but for the peace and justice for every one.
When Allah says "submit to my will", what is the latent wisdom in it?
Perhaps we can understand that in the context of our own lives; the family we have nurtured, the work we do, the home we live in, the car we drive, the food we cook or anything we work for is very dear to us, we want that to be intact and not go helter skelter. That is God's will - to have his creation live in peace and harmony and sustain itself - and God has given us a beautiful formula to live by; the Qur'aan, the book of guidance.
What is God's will? To surrender to him is to become like him, when we do that, there is no more "you and I", it is all of us, one inclusive community. One world under God.
To become like him occurs when there is no distinctions between any one of his creation, the whole creation belongs to him and he belongs to all. God wills that we live in peace and harmony and nothing but that. Islam is a beautiful religious formulas to peace, tranquility and equlibrium through justice. Our role as Muslims is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill.
Mike Ghouse
Monday, May 11, 2009
Iran - What would the prophet do?
May 10, 2009
Christian Science Monitor.
We have to demonstrate and act peace and quit talking about it. I gave a lecture to an interfaith group few months ago - Muhammad the Peacemaker; ten models of peacemaking. I hope to concretize the other 9 items as Asma has done with the Hudaibiya treaty. The silent majority of Muslims are with the author and this article is an expression of them. We need to get them to speak over the voices of a few fanatics amongst us.
Mike Ghouse
# # #
A stark question for Iran: What would the Prophet do?
By Asma Afsaruddin Mon Apr 6, 5:00 am ET
South Bend, Ind. – If Iranian leaders do not come to grips with reality soon, they will have missed an historic opportunity to make a deal for peace with the United States. It takes courage and considerable moral integrity to reach out to an entrenched adversary; both attributes were amply displayed by President Barack Obama in his recent overture to the Iranians, which incurred the censure of right-wing US hawks.
Regrettably, the Iranian response has been unreflective, pugnacious – and most important – unIslamic.
A verse in the Koran states: "If they [the unbelievers] incline to peace, you should also incline to peace." Because believing Muslims revere the Koran as sacred scripture containing the very words of God, it is not unreasonable to expect that professed Muslims should take these words to heart.
Inclining to peace should manifest itself in a willingness to negotiate through diplomacy, especially when the an adversary indicates a preference for it. When the pagan Meccans sought arbitration with the Prophet Muhammad and his followers in 628, he concluded the treaty of Hudaybiyya with them. The treaty included provisions not entirely favorable to the Muslims, but the Prophet did not waver in his resolve to sign this agreement. Some of his companions grumbled about the unequal treatment of Muslims in this accord and a few were even opposed to the whole idea of peacemaking.
The arguments were familiar – the Meccans had driven the Muslims out of their homes, looted their belongings, and persecuted them for their beliefs. As far as one could tell, the Meccans remained committed to destroying the nascent faith and its adherents. How could one sit down with such trenchant enemies, whose intentions were suspect? The Koran answers those objections in the very next verse: "And if they intend to deceive you – then surely God is sufficient for you." Scripture had made it clear that Muslims should take a risk for peace, and if the opposing side should desist from hostilities, Muslims should reciprocate in kind.
The treaty was signed and was meant to guarantee 10 years of peace. As it turned out, the worst fears of Muhammad's followers proved to be true. The Meccans soon violated the agreement and fighting loomed. Further negotiations, however, brought about the peaceful surrender of Mecca and a general amnesty for the previous enemies of the Muslims.
Muhammad and his immediate successors implemented a principle known as "the joining of hearts," according to which the erstwhile enemies of Islam were to become reconciled with Muslims through charity and inclusion within the new community. The fact that Muslims throughout time have not always implemented these principles in no way makes them less normative for contemporary Muslims.
Both Sunnis and Shiites read the same Koran and both agree that its ideals were perfectly realized by their prophet. Thus Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation, is just as obligated to follow Koranic teaching as any other Muslim-majority country with a commitment to Islamic principles.
After eight years of relentlessly hawkish US policies toward the Middle East (and some would argue toward the Muslim world in general) under President Bush, Mr. Obama has clearly set a new course. He has expressed resolute good will toward the majority of Muslims in the world who also desperately – and audaciously – hope for change for the better, as global surveys and polls have repeatedly shown.
Why then has Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a religious man by all accounts, spurned Obama's outreach and rejected negotiations. He certainly cannot claim a scriptural imperative for his behavior.
From a realpolitik perspective, risking political capital for peace may appear to be a foolhardy venture and Mr. Khamenei will certainly be criticized by Iran's hawks for talking to "the Great Satan."
But morally speaking, he and other Iranian leaders owe it to their people and to the world to sit down at the negotiating table in view of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a principal actor in some of the major conflicts of our time.
It is not enough for Muslims to repeatedly affirm that Islam stands for peace; they need to demonstrate that Islam means peace. When valuable opportunities for peacemaking occur and it is Muslim leaders who fritter them away, they should expect scorn to be directed at them and at their hollow rhetoric.
In the popular American imagination, Muslims after Sept. 11 have become tarred by the brush of violence. Now we can add to this image an unholy lack of moral courage and intransigence in the face of a singular opportunity to put an end to a nuclear standoff that could engulf the whole world.
If Iranian leaders adhere to the faith for which they claim to have launched a revolution 30 years ago, they will put aside bellicose rhetoric and take up the work of peace.
Asma Afsaruddin is a professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies at the University of Notre Dame and is the author of "The First Muslims: History and Memory."
Christian Science Monitor.
We have to demonstrate and act peace and quit talking about it. I gave a lecture to an interfaith group few months ago - Muhammad the Peacemaker; ten models of peacemaking. I hope to concretize the other 9 items as Asma has done with the Hudaibiya treaty. The silent majority of Muslims are with the author and this article is an expression of them. We need to get them to speak over the voices of a few fanatics amongst us.
Mike Ghouse
# # #
A stark question for Iran: What would the Prophet do?
By Asma Afsaruddin Mon Apr 6, 5:00 am ET
South Bend, Ind. – If Iranian leaders do not come to grips with reality soon, they will have missed an historic opportunity to make a deal for peace with the United States. It takes courage and considerable moral integrity to reach out to an entrenched adversary; both attributes were amply displayed by President Barack Obama in his recent overture to the Iranians, which incurred the censure of right-wing US hawks.
Regrettably, the Iranian response has been unreflective, pugnacious – and most important – unIslamic.
A verse in the Koran states: "If they [the unbelievers] incline to peace, you should also incline to peace." Because believing Muslims revere the Koran as sacred scripture containing the very words of God, it is not unreasonable to expect that professed Muslims should take these words to heart.
Inclining to peace should manifest itself in a willingness to negotiate through diplomacy, especially when the an adversary indicates a preference for it. When the pagan Meccans sought arbitration with the Prophet Muhammad and his followers in 628, he concluded the treaty of Hudaybiyya with them. The treaty included provisions not entirely favorable to the Muslims, but the Prophet did not waver in his resolve to sign this agreement. Some of his companions grumbled about the unequal treatment of Muslims in this accord and a few were even opposed to the whole idea of peacemaking.
The arguments were familiar – the Meccans had driven the Muslims out of their homes, looted their belongings, and persecuted them for their beliefs. As far as one could tell, the Meccans remained committed to destroying the nascent faith and its adherents. How could one sit down with such trenchant enemies, whose intentions were suspect? The Koran answers those objections in the very next verse: "And if they intend to deceive you – then surely God is sufficient for you." Scripture had made it clear that Muslims should take a risk for peace, and if the opposing side should desist from hostilities, Muslims should reciprocate in kind.
The treaty was signed and was meant to guarantee 10 years of peace. As it turned out, the worst fears of Muhammad's followers proved to be true. The Meccans soon violated the agreement and fighting loomed. Further negotiations, however, brought about the peaceful surrender of Mecca and a general amnesty for the previous enemies of the Muslims.
Muhammad and his immediate successors implemented a principle known as "the joining of hearts," according to which the erstwhile enemies of Islam were to become reconciled with Muslims through charity and inclusion within the new community. The fact that Muslims throughout time have not always implemented these principles in no way makes them less normative for contemporary Muslims.
Both Sunnis and Shiites read the same Koran and both agree that its ideals were perfectly realized by their prophet. Thus Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation, is just as obligated to follow Koranic teaching as any other Muslim-majority country with a commitment to Islamic principles.
After eight years of relentlessly hawkish US policies toward the Middle East (and some would argue toward the Muslim world in general) under President Bush, Mr. Obama has clearly set a new course. He has expressed resolute good will toward the majority of Muslims in the world who also desperately – and audaciously – hope for change for the better, as global surveys and polls have repeatedly shown.
Why then has Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a religious man by all accounts, spurned Obama's outreach and rejected negotiations. He certainly cannot claim a scriptural imperative for his behavior.
From a realpolitik perspective, risking political capital for peace may appear to be a foolhardy venture and Mr. Khamenei will certainly be criticized by Iran's hawks for talking to "the Great Satan."
But morally speaking, he and other Iranian leaders owe it to their people and to the world to sit down at the negotiating table in view of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a principal actor in some of the major conflicts of our time.
It is not enough for Muslims to repeatedly affirm that Islam stands for peace; they need to demonstrate that Islam means peace. When valuable opportunities for peacemaking occur and it is Muslim leaders who fritter them away, they should expect scorn to be directed at them and at their hollow rhetoric.
In the popular American imagination, Muslims after Sept. 11 have become tarred by the brush of violence. Now we can add to this image an unholy lack of moral courage and intransigence in the face of a singular opportunity to put an end to a nuclear standoff that could engulf the whole world.
If Iranian leaders adhere to the faith for which they claim to have launched a revolution 30 years ago, they will put aside bellicose rhetoric and take up the work of peace.
Asma Afsaruddin is a professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies at the University of Notre Dame and is the author of "The First Muslims: History and Memory."
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Saudi Beauty Queen
Here She Comes: Miss Beautiful MoralsBy DONNA ABU-NASR, AP
posted: 1 HOUR 49 MINUTES AGOcomments:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (May 6) - Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side.
But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for "Miss Beautiful Morals" is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.
Khadra al-Mubarak, shown, helped organize Saudi Arabia's "Miss Beautiful Morals" pageant, which focuses on the female contestants' commitment to Islamic morals. Good looks won't win this crown -- the queen will be the one who exhibits the most love and respect for her parents. And since men aren't permitted to watch the event, woman can remove their veils and abayas.
"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak.
"The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."
So after the pageant opens Saturday, the nearly 200 contestants will spend the next 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including "Discovering your inner strength," "The making of leaders" and "Mom, paradise is at your feet" — a saying attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad to underline that respect for parents is among the faith's most important tenets.
Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact with their mothers, al-Mubarak said. Since the pageant is not televised and no men are involved, contestants can take off the veils and black figure-hiding abayas they always wear in public.
The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant is the latest example of conservative Muslims co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and satellite television.
A newly created Islamic music channel owned by an Egyptian businessman aired an "American Idol"-style contest for religious-themed singers this month. And several Muslim preachers have become talk-show celebrities by adopting an informal, almost Oprah-like television style, in contrast to the solemn clerics who traditionally appear in the media.
Now in its second year, the number of pageant contestants has nearly tripled from the 75 women who participated in 2008. The pageant is open to women between 15 and 25. The winner and two runners up will be announced in July, with the queen taking home $2,600 and other prizes. The runners up get $1,300 each.
Last year's winner, Zahra al-Shurafa, said the contest gives an incentive to young women and teens to show more consideration toward their parents.
"I tell this year's contestants that winning is not important," said al-Shurafa, a 21-year-old English major. "What is important is obeying your parents."
There are few beauty pageants in the largely conservative Arab world. The most dazzling is in Lebanon, the region's most liberal country, where contestants appear on TV in one-piece swimsuits and glamorous evening gowns and answer questions that test their confidence and general knowledge.
Our new toolbar integrates latest news into your Web browser and installs in seconds. Download It Now There are no such displays in ultra-strict Saudi Arabia, where until Miss Beautiful Morals was inaugurated last year, the only pageants were for goats, sheep, camels and other animals, aimed at encouraging livestock breeding.
This year's event kicks off Saturday in the mainly Shiite Muslim town of Safwa, and mostly draws local Shiite contestants. But it's open to anyone — and this year, 15 Sunni Muslims are participating, al-Mubarak said. "This is a beautiful thing," she added.
There have long been tensions between the two sects in the kingdom. Hard-liners in the Sunni majority consider Shiites infidels, and the Shiites often complain of discrimination and greater levels of poverty.
Al-Zayer, a 24-year-old international management student, said she signed up because she is the "spitting image" of her mother. "I'm proud of my devotion to my parents," she said.
What does she think of Lebanon's beauty contests?
"It's a matter of cultural differences," she said. "In Saudi Arabia, they are Islamically unacceptable."
Awsaf al-Mislim, another contestant, said if she does not win the crown, she will have won something more important.
"I will be proud to show everyone that I competed with the others over my devotion to my parents," the 24-year-old said.
posted: 1 HOUR 49 MINUTES AGOcomments:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (May 6) - Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side.
But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for "Miss Beautiful Morals" is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.
Khadra al-Mubarak, shown, helped organize Saudi Arabia's "Miss Beautiful Morals" pageant, which focuses on the female contestants' commitment to Islamic morals. Good looks won't win this crown -- the queen will be the one who exhibits the most love and respect for her parents. And since men aren't permitted to watch the event, woman can remove their veils and abayas.
"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak.
"The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."
So after the pageant opens Saturday, the nearly 200 contestants will spend the next 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including "Discovering your inner strength," "The making of leaders" and "Mom, paradise is at your feet" — a saying attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad to underline that respect for parents is among the faith's most important tenets.
Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact with their mothers, al-Mubarak said. Since the pageant is not televised and no men are involved, contestants can take off the veils and black figure-hiding abayas they always wear in public.
The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant is the latest example of conservative Muslims co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and satellite television.
A newly created Islamic music channel owned by an Egyptian businessman aired an "American Idol"-style contest for religious-themed singers this month. And several Muslim preachers have become talk-show celebrities by adopting an informal, almost Oprah-like television style, in contrast to the solemn clerics who traditionally appear in the media.
Now in its second year, the number of pageant contestants has nearly tripled from the 75 women who participated in 2008. The pageant is open to women between 15 and 25. The winner and two runners up will be announced in July, with the queen taking home $2,600 and other prizes. The runners up get $1,300 each.
Last year's winner, Zahra al-Shurafa, said the contest gives an incentive to young women and teens to show more consideration toward their parents.
"I tell this year's contestants that winning is not important," said al-Shurafa, a 21-year-old English major. "What is important is obeying your parents."
There are few beauty pageants in the largely conservative Arab world. The most dazzling is in Lebanon, the region's most liberal country, where contestants appear on TV in one-piece swimsuits and glamorous evening gowns and answer questions that test their confidence and general knowledge.
Our new toolbar integrates latest news into your Web browser and installs in seconds. Download It Now There are no such displays in ultra-strict Saudi Arabia, where until Miss Beautiful Morals was inaugurated last year, the only pageants were for goats, sheep, camels and other animals, aimed at encouraging livestock breeding.
This year's event kicks off Saturday in the mainly Shiite Muslim town of Safwa, and mostly draws local Shiite contestants. But it's open to anyone — and this year, 15 Sunni Muslims are participating, al-Mubarak said. "This is a beautiful thing," she added.
There have long been tensions between the two sects in the kingdom. Hard-liners in the Sunni majority consider Shiites infidels, and the Shiites often complain of discrimination and greater levels of poverty.
Al-Zayer, a 24-year-old international management student, said she signed up because she is the "spitting image" of her mother. "I'm proud of my devotion to my parents," she said.
What does she think of Lebanon's beauty contests?
"It's a matter of cultural differences," she said. "In Saudi Arabia, they are Islamically unacceptable."
Awsaf al-Mislim, another contestant, said if she does not win the crown, she will have won something more important.
"I will be proud to show everyone that I competed with the others over my devotion to my parents," the 24-year-old said.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Muslims Condemn oppression against Sikhs
Dallas, Texas
We the Muslims, condemn the oppression of Sikhs in Taliban held territory of Pakistan, and urge the government of Pakistan to immediately put these lawless individual men behind bars for evaluation and rehabilitation. It is the duty of every government to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen.
A Muslim stands up against oppression, and the harassment of Sikhs by the Taliban is one that needs to be checked immediately. This is an act of gross arrogance of those in power abusing religion to their own end; we should not let bad guys use religion for their gain, shame on us if we let these evil men act in the name of Islam again, as they did on September 11. Time has come to put an end to this bullyism.
Oppression is one of the most evil elements in Islam and we have an obligation to stand up for that value.
We welcome the statement by the Indian Muslim Leaders and urge the Muslims leaders around the world to add their name in the comments section below. We also invite all such condemnations for posting on this site.
Please add your name, organization name to the list by clicking this link.
Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
# # #
Joint Statement of Indian Muslim leaders
Pakistani Taliban’s treatment of Sikhs in tribal areas is illegal and barbaric
We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims, are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money from their Sikh compatriots as “Jizya” and demolition of the houses and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.
We would like to say that Jizya is a tax paid in an Islamic state for exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakat and have to perform military service as well.
Jizya was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas like Madina where during the time of the Holy Prophet no Jizya was ever imposed on non-Muslim citizens who enjoyed equal rights and duties under the Constitution of Madina. For many centuries Jizya has not been levied by Muslim states and today even the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islamic Republic of Iran do not levy Jizya on non-Muslims for the simple reason that non-Muslims in these states pay all taxes payable by others. Prominent Islamic scholars of the modern times like Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi are of the view that Jizya should not be imposed now as non-Muslims are equal citizens of Muslim states and pay all taxes paid by other citizens and shoulder all the duties.
We wish to make it clear that the imposition of the so-called Jizya is nothing more than extortion by an armed and lawless gang which does not constitute a sovereign government or state or even an organ thereof. Moreover, Pakistan’s tribal areas are not “conquered lands” as their non-Muslim population has been living there for centuries. These areas were part of the British India and became part of the new State of Pakistan as a result of peaceful transfer of power on Partition.
As regards the huge amounts in millions reported to be demanded, these are arbitrary and exorbitant as the amount of annual Jizya paid by non-Muslims in early Islam was merely one to one and a half dinar, which is 4.24 gram to 6.36 grams of gold. Moreover, this tax was payable only at the end of the year and not in advance.
We regard this as an act of injustice incompatible with the letter and spirit of Islam and the international covenants accepted by all Muslim states.
We demand that the Pakistani authorities must take earliest steps to retrieve the extorted sums and pay them back to their affected non-Muslim citizens and facilitate their peaceful return to their homes and properties in their traditional homelands and give them all due protection.
Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad
Shahi Imam, Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi
Hafiz Muhammad Yahya
President, All India Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees
Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani
Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
Syed Shahabuddin
Former PM & ex-President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Prof Tahir Mahmood
Member Law Commission of India
Mujtaba Farooq
Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi
President, Shah Waliullah Institute, Delhi
Maulana Waris Mazhari
Editor, Monthly Tarjuman, Delhi
Dr Zafar Mahmood
President, Zakat Foundation of India
Dr SQR Ilyas
Member, Muslim Personal Law Board
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Mirza Yawar Baig
President of Yawar Baig & Associates
Shahnawaz Ali Raihan
Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation
Issued at New Delhi on 2 May 2009
Issued by the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Delhi
For media comments only please contact zik@zik.in or phone 09811142151
# # #
We the Muslims, condemn the oppression of Sikhs in Taliban held territory of Pakistan, and urge the government of Pakistan to immediately put these lawless individual men behind bars for evaluation and rehabilitation. It is the duty of every government to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen.
A Muslim stands up against oppression, and the harassment of Sikhs by the Taliban is one that needs to be checked immediately. This is an act of gross arrogance of those in power abusing religion to their own end; we should not let bad guys use religion for their gain, shame on us if we let these evil men act in the name of Islam again, as they did on September 11. Time has come to put an end to this bullyism.
Oppression is one of the most evil elements in Islam and we have an obligation to stand up for that value.
We welcome the statement by the Indian Muslim Leaders and urge the Muslims leaders around the world to add their name in the comments section below. We also invite all such condemnations for posting on this site.
Please add your name, organization name to the list by clicking this link.
Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
# # #
Joint Statement of Indian Muslim leaders
Pakistani Taliban’s treatment of Sikhs in tribal areas is illegal and barbaric
We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims, are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money from their Sikh compatriots as “Jizya” and demolition of the houses and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.
We would like to say that Jizya is a tax paid in an Islamic state for exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakat and have to perform military service as well.
Jizya was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas like Madina where during the time of the Holy Prophet no Jizya was ever imposed on non-Muslim citizens who enjoyed equal rights and duties under the Constitution of Madina. For many centuries Jizya has not been levied by Muslim states and today even the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islamic Republic of Iran do not levy Jizya on non-Muslims for the simple reason that non-Muslims in these states pay all taxes payable by others. Prominent Islamic scholars of the modern times like Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi are of the view that Jizya should not be imposed now as non-Muslims are equal citizens of Muslim states and pay all taxes paid by other citizens and shoulder all the duties.
We wish to make it clear that the imposition of the so-called Jizya is nothing more than extortion by an armed and lawless gang which does not constitute a sovereign government or state or even an organ thereof. Moreover, Pakistan’s tribal areas are not “conquered lands” as their non-Muslim population has been living there for centuries. These areas were part of the British India and became part of the new State of Pakistan as a result of peaceful transfer of power on Partition.
As regards the huge amounts in millions reported to be demanded, these are arbitrary and exorbitant as the amount of annual Jizya paid by non-Muslims in early Islam was merely one to one and a half dinar, which is 4.24 gram to 6.36 grams of gold. Moreover, this tax was payable only at the end of the year and not in advance.
We regard this as an act of injustice incompatible with the letter and spirit of Islam and the international covenants accepted by all Muslim states.
We demand that the Pakistani authorities must take earliest steps to retrieve the extorted sums and pay them back to their affected non-Muslim citizens and facilitate their peaceful return to their homes and properties in their traditional homelands and give them all due protection.
Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad
Shahi Imam, Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi
Hafiz Muhammad Yahya
President, All India Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees
Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani
Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
Syed Shahabuddin
Former PM & ex-President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Prof Tahir Mahmood
Member Law Commission of India
Mujtaba Farooq
Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi
President, Shah Waliullah Institute, Delhi
Maulana Waris Mazhari
Editor, Monthly Tarjuman, Delhi
Dr Zafar Mahmood
President, Zakat Foundation of India
Dr SQR Ilyas
Member, Muslim Personal Law Board
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Mirza Yawar Baig
President of Yawar Baig & Associates
Shahnawaz Ali Raihan
Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation
Issued at New Delhi on 2 May 2009
Issued by the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Delhi
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CIVIL DIALOGUE
The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.
