Wall Street Journal - Should Muslims play the Game?

The Wall Street Journal - Should Muslims play the Game?
Mike Ghouse, November 15, 2008

“Muslims, you are puppets, and you will do exactly what we want you to do, and not what your Prophet or God wants. You will play our game”

Today’s Wall Street Journal: Professor Kalisch delivers a jolt; he thinks it's likely that Prophet Muhammad Never Existed. Fellow Muslims, Just let it go. No need to react, it will die down on its own.

Muslims, we want you to burn our effigies;
Muslims, we want you to take up protests on the street;
Muslims, we want you to open up a fatwa factory and issue fatwas;
Muslims, we want you to get your women folk carry banners death to some one or the other
Muslims, we want you to.....

“Guess what, we will irritate you more”, and we will keep you suckers busy in doing thing we want you to do”; “we will prevent you from doing good things to humanity that your prophet wants you to do”. Are you ready to react to the statement of Professor Muhammad Sven Kalisch?

STOP IT

Those who want to obey the masters, please feel free to do it, and do it as your own act and NOT as a directive of Islam or a Muslim act.

Whoever loudly claims to be a Muslim and a follower of Islam has a responsibility to preserve the good name of the faith, and those around him have a greater responsibility NOT to let that man abuse the faith. He does not need to be on the TV; instead he can go and pray. Prayer must bring peace and tranquility and not anger. Keep praying until prayer it makes you peaceful.

The more you react to Prophet’s cartoons, the more the agitators will have fun. You are merely a pawn to them. The professor in Germany thinks that the Prophet may not have existed.

THE TRUTH

Continued at: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Should-Muslims-Play-the-Game-The-Wall-Street-Journal.asp

An Open letter to Barack Obama

Open letter to Barack Obama
Aijaz Zaka Syed Aijaz.syed@hotmail.com
http://www.arabnews.com

Dear Mr. Obama,

Salaam, I am not sure if this will ever pass your eyes. At a time when the whole world is excited about your landmark election, this is likely to be dismissed as just another outpouring of emotions from the Middle East. But write I must. And I hope to God it does find its way to your table. Even if it doesn't, I'll at least have the consolation of having tried to persuade you what the world, especially the Middle East, expects from you and what a great opportunity you have of changing it for the better.

I may be ridiculed for my naïve idealism and for daring to hope the agenda of the reigning superpower could be influenced by individuals sitting thousands of miles away in Dubai. But there's no harm in trying, is there? Besides, after your own incredible victory riding on a wave of idealism and message of hope, no one can ever suggest idealism doesn't work. You wouldn't be where you are today without idealism and faith and the incredible power of dreams. It's this power that can take a "skinny kid with a funny name" to White House. By now you must be conscious of the impossibly high expectations the Americans and the rest of the world have of you.

These hopes are only natural considering what the world has been through over the past eight years under the current incumbent. Your predecessor has somehow managed to gang up the whole world against America, a feat that eluded even Richard Nixon. From the total destruction of Iraq to the shame of Abu Ghraib, from spying on Americans to abduction of innocents by CIA, and from dumping hundreds of civilians as enemy combatants down the hole called the Guantanamo Bay, this administration has never been short on ever-new ideas of violating human dignity.

But to give your predecessor his due, he's been equally indifferent to the business of governance at home. So while New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, was being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the leader of the free world went biking. Ditto the current economic crisis. W. slept while the Wall Street burned.

Dear Mr. Obama, the Americans have elected you hoping you could put out the Bush fires. They believe you could clear this spectacular mess.

By electing you they have in one stroke changed global perceptions about America, restoring the world's faith in the land of the free.

Because at heart we are all Americans and love America and all that it stands for - or once stood for. Your election proves, as you argued in the thrilling election night speech in Chicago, that all things are possible inAmerica. But if your victory was groundbreaking, the hopes and expectations it has generated in and outsideAmerica and challenges you face now are equally formidable.

If anyone can meet these daunting tasks confronting America and the world at large, it's you. Your unusual life story is a celebration of the audacity of hope. You are after all the blessed one. Barack in Arabic, as you must know, means blessing. So perhaps there's a design in your being chosen for this most difficult of all jobs. I am sure you can, and will, successfully negotiate your great country through the minefield of difficult times ahead.

But your responsibility does not end with America. There's a message in the frenzied adulation for you and celebrations around the world over your victory: The world sees you as its leader and expects leadership from you.

Which is why it's heartening to see you move with remarkable alacrity to put America back on track. Even though you are yet to formally take over from Bush, you already have your team in place and are taking steps to reverse the divisive and most disastrous policies of this administration.

The world is already delighted by your decision to shut the Guantanamo Bay and either free the detainees or try them in the US courts. This is something that your heroes Lincoln, Emerson and King would all approve. But in all honesty, most of those men at the Bay have already suffered enough for crimes they did not commit.

Did you know that one of them, Omar Khadr, was captured in Afghanistan during the US invasion in 2001 when he was only 15? He has spent six years of his life in a hole. His crime? Being the son of parents who had been working in Afghanistan. There are hundreds of Omar Khadrs out there. And all of them deserve justice.

Others who demand your attention are Palestinians. They too have been paying for crimes they did not commit for nearly seven decades now. Or rather, they've been paying for someone else's crimes. The Palestinians are being victimized for Europe's crimes against Jews, as Ahmadinejad says. Today, prisoners in their own land and their ghettos, they are fighting for survival, literally! Throughout your campaign, you've talked of hope and change and America believed in you. It has embraced you because it knows it needs someone like you to bring it the change it badly needs.

Mr. Obama, we in the Middle East believe in you too. I know there are some who are already nervous about your choice for the White House chief of staff. But I would rather look at the big picture. A Jewish chief of staff doesn't necessarily mean you are anti-Arab or anti-Muslim. What matters is the general direction and outcome of your policies.

I still believe that if anyone can bring hope and change to the world's most volatile region, it's you. With your unusual background, representing both Christianity and Islam, both black and white and both East and West, you are uniquely placed to bring hope and change to the region that has been the cradle of civilizations and three great faiths. And you must begin this mission right away, before you get used to power; or power and its compulsions get the better of you. The Middle East, more specifically Palestine, is the key to world peace. From the war in Iraq to militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, everything is linked to Palestine. You bring peace to the Middle East and the world will find its peace. You change the Middle East and you'll change the world.

Jewish Muslim Dialogue; a necessity

Jewish Muslim Dialogue; a necessity
INSPIRED BY THE DOCUMENTARY "THE MONSTER AMONG US"
Mike Ghouse, Dallas, Texas

The Jewish Community Center in Dallas recently screened a documentary called “The Monster among us”, produced and directed by Dallas filmmakers Allen and Cynthia Mondell.

I have captured the highlights of the film, and will pen a few here;

First of all, let me acknowledge, that it is a well made documentary and I commend the integrity of the producer for presenting his particular perspective which he twice clarified to me was a strictly "Jewish" perspective with no attempt made to present any other side of the story. That is fair.....until we have all points of view on the table, the dialogue to find solutions would be inadequate and thus will not be sustainable.

I did not find the movie to be offensive; however there were three major flaws in the movie that needed to be re-edited or tagged with comments to rectify them. Our allegiance ought to be to the truth. Continue

http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Jewish-Muslim-dialogue-a-necessity.asp

Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/11/saudis-dubious-interfaith-agenda.html

The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN
________________________________________

The article follows my comments:

While the facts presented in the article below are correct, we have to keep this as a record and encourage the Saudi’s to continue to tread on the path of Pluralism they are embarking on. If we fail to stoke the good, even if it is pretended at this moment, we would be discouraging any such initiatives, and become the blockade for progress. Saudi’s have taken a few good initiatives and hopefully, it would shame them to look at themselves and cause a gradual change.

If the Saudi’s are pursuing their own agenda, they need to clean their house first, they need to reign in on their fringe elemental clerics who shot their reckless fatwa’s on the microphones declaring Shia’s as non-Muslims, they need to orient their religious police that if a Hindu was worshipping Ganesha in the privacy of his own room, he should be left alone, the religious police need harass women who do not wear Hijab. Let the women have the choice to wear or not wear. Qur’aan never said to force any one to do things against their will, let alone compel them.

We may need to think the validity and sustainability of enacting new laws, similar to the effect in the US and Europe along the lines of Criticism of Holocaust, which will land you in Jail. Should the Criminal Laws include provisions where one cannot spread hate, which will consume the society into violence, examples would include denigration of the names of the spiritual masters in other faiths, using religious Icons on foot wear etc. No more derogatory comments about Pagans, Animist and Wicca.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer on Pluralism, interfaith, terrorism, peace, interfaith, Islam and Multiculturism and India. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at Ghousemike@gmail.com

________________________________________

The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN
The country's lack of religious freedom betrays its lofty rhetoric. The real aim of its 'dialogue' is to promote a global blasphemy law.
By Donald H. Argue and Leonard A. Leo from the November 13, 2008 edition


Washington - World leaders gathering at the United Nations this week for a special session of the General Assembly to advance interfaith dialogue should have no illusions that their efforts will miraculously promote mutual respect between religious communities or end abuses of religious freedom.

Saudi King Abdullah, who initiated this week's special session, is quietly enlisting the leaders' support for a global law to punish blasphemy – a campaign championed by the 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference that puts the rights of religions ahead of individual liberties.

If the campaign succeeds, states that presume to speak in the name of religion will be able to crush religious freedom not only in their own country, but abroad.
The UN session is designed to endorse a meeting of religious leaders in Spain last summer that was the brainchild of King Abdullah and organized by the Muslim World League. That meeting resulted in a final statement counseling promotion of "respect for religions, their places of worship, and their symbols ... therefore preventing the derision of what people consider sacred."

The lofty-sounding principle is, in fact, a cleverly coded way of granting religious leaders the right to criminalize speech and activities that they deem to insult religion. Instead of promoting harmony, however, this effort will exacerbate divisions and intensify religious repression.

Such prohibitions have already been used in some countries to restrict discussion of individuals' freedom vis-à-vis the state, to prevent criticism of political figures or parties, to curb dissent from prevailing views and beliefs, and even to incite and to justify violence.
They undermine the standards codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the keystone of the United Nations, by granting greater rights to religions than to individuals, including those who choose to hold no faith – or who would seek to convert.

Another stark irony hangs over the UN special session this week. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's worst abusers of religious freedom, a fact recognized by the Bush administration when it named it a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act in 2004. The king couldn't hold such a conference at home, where conservative clerics no doubt would purge the guest list of Jews from Israel, Baha'is, and Ahmadis.

The Saudi government permits the public practice of only one interpretation of Islam. This forces the 2-to-3 million Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and other expatriate workers there to leave their convictions at the border, since non-Muslim places of worship are prohibited, non-Muslim religious materials risk confiscation, and even private worship is affected by the strictures.

It also violates the rights of the large communities of Muslims who adhere to Islamic traditions other than the one deemed orthodox by Saudi clerics. In the past two years, dozens of Shiites have been detained for up to 30 days for holding small religious gatherings at home. One Ismaili, Hadi Al-Mutaif, is serving a life sentence after being condemned for apostasy in 1994 for a remark he made as a teenager that was deemed blasphemous. The alleged crime of apostasy, in fact, can be punished by death.

The government's policies are enforced by the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, a roving religious police force, armed with whips, that regularly oversteps its authority and is unchecked by the judiciary.

Women seeking to exercise basic freedoms of speech, movement, association, and equality before the law have experienced particularly severe abuse.

In a particularly egregious recent case, a woman was gang-raped as punishment by seven men who found her alone in a car with a man who was not her relative. She escaped the sentence of 200 lashes and six months in prison only because of a pardon by King Abdullah, yet he also said he believed the sentence was appropriate.

Holding a session on advancing interfaith dialogue abroad is a pale substitute for hosting it in the kingdom, where the message of respect for freedom of religion and belief is most needed.

Against the background of Saudi repression and the kingdom's role in exporting extremism, including through school textbooks preaching hatred of "unbelievers," the UN and every world leader attending the special session should be demanding an end to severe violations of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia.

Dialogue is no substitute for compliance with universal human rights standards.
The monarch would make a far greater contribution by exponentially increasing his efforts to promote religious freedom at home, where religious intolerance reigns. A welcome first step would be to release Hadi Al-Mutaif and all other religious prisoners who remain behind bars in Saudi Arabia.

• Donald H. Argue and Leonard A. Leo are members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.


Find this article at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1113/p09s02-coop.html

Republican Women took the bold step

GOP women's board resigns in Alamogordo over Muslim remarks

A Majority of crimes happen when good people do nothing about it, rapes in the subways, in the bars have occurred in presences of many a good for nothing people.

So what if they are Muslims? So what if they are African Americans, so what if they are Baptist? If you allow prejudice towards one, it is bound to go to others and some day to you.

I am proud of these GOP women for standing up. The process of fixing our party begins tonight and hope the public flushes out all the bad boys and the bad girls. I will do my part in bringing moderation and common sense to the GOP.

Mike Ghouse
Moderate Republican
________________


GOP women's board resigns in Alamogordo over Muslim remarks
From the Current-Argus

Article Launched: 11/04/2008 11:13:04 AM MST


ALAMOGORDO — The head of the Republican Women of Otero County refused to resign after calling Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama a ''Muslim socialist'' — so the rest of the group's board quit, the county GOP chairwoman says.

Marcia Stirman, a 56-year-old interior decorator, wrote a letter published Oct. 21 in the Alamogordo Daily News in which she wrote, ''I believe Muslims are our enemies.''
The letter prompted a quick response from the New Mexico Republican Party, which said she does not speak for the party and that her comments do not reflect its values and beliefs.
The executive board of the Otero County Republican Party and the Republican Women of Otero County asked Stirman to resign last week, county GOP Chairwoman Sassy Tinling said.
Stirman refused, and Tinling said the rest of the board of the Republican Women's group immediately gave their resignations to Stirman.

Tinling also said the county party's executive committee ''has chosen to disassociate itself from the RWOOC as it exists today'' and that the Otero County GOP will no longer recognize Stirman's position on its board.

While people are entitled to their opinion, when they head an organization their views reflect on the entire group, she said.

''It is unfortunate that Mrs. Stirman used the RPOC and RWOOC as a conduit for her personal views,'' said Tinling, who apologized on behalf of the Republican Party of Otero County and its board ''to anyone offended by Mrs. Stirman's comments.''

Stirman said last week her comments have been misunderstood. She said she never meant to suggest all Muslims are enemies of the U.S., only those ''who are trying to kill us.''
She added: ''Can you say that all Christians are good? Absolutely not.''

Stirman said she regrets that the executive committee disassociated itself from the women's group, which has set elections for officers Wednesday.

''There has been a long standing cooperation between the two groups,'' she said. ''I have great respect for all Republicans, as I share core values with many of them.''

Although Obama has professed his Christianity repeatedly and explained how his Christian faith shapes his politics, he battled Internet-fueled rumors throughout the campaign that he is Muslim.

New Magazine: Islam, Muslims & the World

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-magazine-islam-muslims-world.html

ISLAM, MUSLIMS & THE WORLD

Committed to building a purer, healthier and more peaceful world; and highlighting the contributions of Islam and Muslims to this Cause

Owner & Chief Editor
Dr. Javed Jamil

Introduction

The launching of the magazine, registered under the title ‘Islam, Muslims & the World’ is planned. The magazine will be refreshingly different in its content from what we find in the general run-of magazines and newspapers. It will not be restricted to issues of concern to Muslims, it will rather focus on the role – present and prospective – of Muslims in the present day. It will seek to highlight how Islam can be invoked to resolve the problems being faced by the world by focusing on the role of Islam and Muslims in the current world – their achievements, their positive and potential contributions and the analysis of the world developments in the context of Islamic principles. It will present Islam and Muslims as the Solution and not the problem. The world today will be viewed from the Islamic point of view rather than viewing Islam and Muslims from the point of view of current world ideologies. The magazine will try to restore confidence in our community and will assure them that they are playing and can play a much more important and constructive role than they are credited with. It will not deal with controversial issues related to sects within Islam; it will avoid communal issues and will try to bring all religions together against the evils and forces of evil destroying the collective equanimity of mankind.

Islam, Muslims & the World is designed to be an international magazine dealing with international issues. It will present Islam as a System for the World and Muslims as a Dynamic Community that can provide a proper and resurgent leadership to mankind.

Islam, Muslims & the World will pass the test of global standards and acceptability. It will primarily target Muslims but will be of considerable interest to non-Muslims who are interested in finding a viable alternative to the systems that have failed.

Vision Document
Aims and objectives

1. To promote the comprehensive definition of peace, consistent with Islam, which includes physical, mental, social and spiritual health of individuals, family peace (proper relationship between all members of family and Social Order (social and economic security of all) in this world and Pleasure of God in Hereafter;
2. To show through statistics that the true peace is on continuous decline;
3. To disseminate awareness about the dangers of the ideology of economic fundamentalism, which refers to the dominance of economics in all the spheres of life;
4. To highlight the adverse impact of Fundamental Prohibitions on society including alcohol, gambling, smoking, drugs, commercialization of sex leading to promiscuity, prostitution and pornography, violence, economic, political and social exploitation, etc.
5. To highlight the role of Islam in building a purer, healthier and more peaceful world. This will help in the emergence of Applied Islamics as a full-fledged discipline of Islamic sciences;
6. To bring Muslims out of the inferiority complex that has seized them partly due to their own deficiencies but more so due to creation and promotion of false criteria by the vested interests
7. To show to the world that Muslim societies have much lesser degrees of crimes, problems due to alcohol, drugs and sexual corruption, family peace in Muslim societies outscores others and as followers of Islam they enjoy much greater mental peace;
8. To highlight the achievements of Muslims as individuals, organizations and countries;
9. To provide basic information about Islam, its symbols, Fundamental Rights, Duties and Prohibitions, its important figures, its institutions, its history, etc
10. To disseminate the knowledge of Quran and Sunnah in a way that appeals to the modern day man;
11. To bridge the gulf between different religions and societies particularly between West and Muslims and between Hindus and Muslims;
12. To bring all religions on a common platform against social evils, economic disparity and moral depravity;
13. To build up a campaign at the national and international level against the economic and political fundamentalisms;
14. To develop among Muslims a national and global perspective, and to augment their impact at the global level;
15. To diffuse communal and sectarian tensions by diverting attention to more pressing issues;
16. To conduct surveys and studies for the purpose of attaining its objectives;
17. To develop a strong and effective media;
18. To bring about integration and understanding among intellectuals, religious Scholars and pontiffs to create inter-faith harmony for the benefit of humanity and to save humanity from the impact of unhealthy social and cultural trends promoted by vested interests;
19. To effectively answer the misstatements and misgivings about Islam;
20. To expose war mongers, riots engineers, terrorists and other non-humanitarian activists being committed by unscrupulous people in the name of any religion, ideology or concept
Strategy for self-financing
The first target will be to have a circulation of 100,000 copies. With the kind of the format designed for it, it is hoped that the magazine will attract funds from several sources:

1. Advertisements

Good number of advertisements are expected to flow, especially from
* Airlines, especially related to countries that are being featured and the countries whose heads are being profiled
* Touring Agencies
* Companies that are being profiled
* Celebrities that are being profiled
* Companies that have interests in the countries which are being focused in the issues and whose heads are being profiled
* Muslim business houses
* Muslim schools and colleges;
* Islamic Financial Institutions
* Muslim hotels

For the first issue, contacts and credentials of the people associated with the magazine will be utilized. Afterwards, the advertisements will start automatically flowing in. If the sales are good, almost all the advertisers will develop interest in the magazine.

2. through the contributions from philanthropists

The concept of the magazine is revolutionary; the aims and objectives of the magazine are sure to strike the imagination of peace loving and Islam loving people. These contributions will be of immense help in sustaining the magazine especially in its first year.

3. Sponsored feature

One of the regular features of the magazine will be regarding the up coming entrepreneurs who want their work to be recognized. They will pay a specific amount for getting their profiles published in the magazine

4. Messages
For the first issue, congratulatory messages will be invited from people with the request ti pay Rs 3000. It will be accompanied by a small photograph and their designation. If we get 50 messages, it will be a good boost for the magazine.

4. Subscription Drive

Immediately after the publication of the first issue, at least 50 sales representatives will tour big cities to make annual subscribers. Cost of the issue will be Rs 25/- and the annual subscription Rs 250/- 6 month subscription will be 130/- These 50 representatives are expected to collect 2000.- each per day which will be a substantial sum for future successes.

Circulation

Apart from the sales in public, the copies of the magazine will reach
1. More than 2000 public libraries
2. Libraries of all the universities
3. Libraries of all Engineering Colleges
4. Libraries of all medical colleges
5. Libraries of all management colleges
6. Libraries of Muslim degree colleges
7. Departments of all Muslim universities
8. Library of Parliament and all Assemblies
9. Library of Supreme court and all High Courts
10. District Judges of all districts
11. Libraries of organizations like UNICEF, WHO
12. All embassies in New Delhi
13. All the major Muslim companies
14. All the major political and non political organizations
15. Muslim organizations in different countries
16. All the members of Parliament and Assemblies
17. Writers and columnists
18. All the major channels, magazines and newspapers in India
19. Major NGOs
20. Bar Council libraries of all districts

Electronic Version will reach
1. Islamic scholars all over the world;
2. Islamic organizations all over the world;
3. Other sociologists, economists, philosophers and scientists
4. Institutions and universities

Rates of Advertisements and sponsored column

Full Cover Back Page (Coloured) Rs 100, 000
Full Inside pages of the cover(coloured) 75000
Full Internal ages 30,000
Half pages 16,000
Quarter pages 8,000
Sponsored profiles (Half page with one photograph) 20000
Messages (congratulations, one photo, designation and address) 3000
Life Membership 5000
Life Membership for foreign residents 20, 000
Matrimonial (25 words) 1000
Continuity of the project
Once the first issue is out, the subscription drive will help in the stabilization of the project. The contents of the magazine, the format, get up etc will help the magazine get more and more advertisements. We can then launch a subsequent patron-ship and life membership drive.
Cost estimation and expected resources
The initial expenses are mainly related to the printing and launching ceremony. Printing will require around Rs 8, 00, 000. (This may become more if we have a large number of interviews under the India Election Scene, which in that case will be published as a separate supplement, and is expected to earn its cost through contributions from these political leaders themselves.) The launching ceremony at New Delhi will require around Rs 100,000. This amount is to be collected through personal contacts. It is expected that India Islamic Cultural Centre will help in this regard.
3) International Panel of Experts:
We have already a few names and more names are expected to be added soon. The expected list includes the following

Patrons: Maulana Rabey Nadvi, Nazim Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, Maulana Salim Qasmi, Nazim Darul Uloom Deoband (Waqf) Maulana Abdullah Ajrarvi, Mr Rasheed Masood, MP, Mr K. Rahman Khan, MP, Mr. Obaidullah Khan Azmi, MP, , Mr. Sanjay Garg, Minister, Govt of UP, Mr. Siraj Qureshi, Chairman India Islamic Cultural Centre, Mr. Syed Farooque, Industrialist, Mr. Nadeem Tareen, Industrialist, Mr. Amanullah Khan, Islamic Develop Bank representative in India, Mr. Hamdard Foundation

International Experts

Mr SGP Jafry, Canada, Mr. Mike Ghouse, Chairman, World Muslim Congress, USA, Ms Anisa Abdel Fattah, Chairwoman of the National Association of Muslim American Women, Syed Hamid, Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard,Farid Chaudhary, Kuwait, Dr Shahnaz Hasan, Prof Emeritus, Chicago, US, Dr Mohsin Raza, Tehran University, Dr Irafan Khan, Chicago, Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, Chairman IFEW, Australia, Mr Zahid Jamil, Australia
Editorial Advisors: Mr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, renowned columnist, Mr. Basir Khan, Pro VC IGNOU, Dr Masood Hasan, Prof. Emeritus, Manglatan University, Mr. Kamruddin, Bangalore, Prof, Lalit Mohan Nath, Former Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, Stephanie Crane, US
Some of them have already accepted. Others are expected to confirm soon. The list is expected to grow substantially.

a) Names of Writers who will be contributing articles. Under Process: The first issue will have articles from Mike Ghouse, USA, Ms Stephanie Crane, USA, Mr. Shamim Siddiqui, USA, Ms Anisa Abd Fateh Ali, USA, Mr. GP Jafry, Canada, Mr. Zahid amil, Australia, Mr. Bharat Jhunjuhunwala, Mr. Yogesh Chibber, Mr. Wasi Nomani, Mr. Rahman Khan, MP, Mr Rashid Masood, MP, Mr. Saiyid Hamid and many others

b) Correspondents: As the magazine is monthly based mainly on information, profiles and essays, separate full time correspondents will not be required. Services of some correspondents can be availed for specific purposes.

5) Research and identification:
Potential readership and targeting them to seek subscription.
Our target is to reach every educated Muslim home, those non-Muslims who have slightest inclination to understand the world issues from the Islamic or Muslim point of view, every institution, every university and college, every NGO, every business group, every intellectual. A big subscription drive will be launched immediately after the launching ceremony. Initially, this will cover major cities and then smaller cities.

Addresses of thousands of educated persons are being collected through Internet. The first issue will be sent to them as a complimentary copy and subsequently they will be approached for annual subscriptions. People will be informed also through Emails and Net groups about the launching of the magazine. Later on, advertisement about the magazine issues can be given in popular newspapers and magazines.

6) Full time Editorial Responsibility
Dr Javed Jamil: Chief Editor
Syed Adil: Editor
Yogesh Chhibber: Associate Editor
Jalal Umar: Associate Editor
Full time Marketing responsibility: To be decided

First Issue
The First Issue will focus on (not necessarily in the same order)

1. Ka’ba: the Symbol of Unity and Universal Brotherhood: History, Importance & Structure
2. Encyclopedia of Islam: Allah
3. Dr. Abdul Kalam: the Architect of India as a Major Global Power
4. Applied Islamics: Are Muslims Enemies of Peace?; Sexual revolution: Nemesis of Civilisation
5. President of UAE: A Man with a Mission
6. Malaysia: A Unique Blend of Islam and Modernity
7. Islamic Development Bank: Making a Global Impact
8. Ayatollah Khamenei: the Most Influential Islamic Aalim
9. Muslims of America: Important Muslim organizations, Muslim achievers, Opinion of Muslims about America and its internal and external policies, cultural issues, religious issues, etc.
10. India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi: Serving the People in Style
11. Shoeb Akhtar, International Cricketer: Immensely Talented, Equally Undisciplined
12. Debate: Bridging the Gulf: West and Islamic World: Opinions of Important personalities from all over the world
13. Indian Election Scene Supplement I: Interviews with Outgoing Muslim MPs
14. The World of Chaos: Causes of Avoidable Deaths in last 25 years (In Figures)
15. Jamia Millia: Students in Action for Pride
16. Selection from Urdu Poetry
17. Rising High: Profiles of Entrepreneurs and other eminent Personalities and emerging greats: Sponsored Feature
18. Monthly Diary of Events
19. Public opinion: letters: Messages for the first issue
20. From the world press
21. Children’s and Women’s sections

Address: 10, Bhagwati Colony, Behat Road, Saharanpur, 247001, (UP), INDIA Phones: 91-132-2680440, 6980356
Noida Office: B-76, II Floor, Sector 64 NOIDA, Phone: 9312908522, 9810610115;
Email: javedjamil@rediffmail.com, doctorforu123@rediffmail.com

22. Editorial: Towards a purer, healthier and more peaceful world
23. Ka’ba: the Symbol of Unity and Universal Brotherhood: History, Importance & Structure
24. Encyclopedia of Islam: Allah: Etymology, Theories, Comparative study with other religions, Functions of God, Allah in Quran
25. Dr. Abdul Kalam: the Architect of India as a Major Global Power
26. Applied Islamics: Are Muslims Enemies of Peace?; Sexual revolution: Nemesis of Civilisation
27. Malaysia: A Unique Blend of Islam and Modernity
28. Islamic Development Bank: Making a Global Impact
29. Ayatollah Khamenei: the Aalim who also rules
30. Muslims of America: Important Muslim organizations, Muslim achievers, Opinion of Muslims about America and its internal and external policies, cultural issues, religious issues, etc.
31. India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi: Serving the People in Style
32. Shoeb Akhtar, International Cricketer: Immensely Talented, Equally Undisciplined
33. Debate: Bridging the Gulf: West and Islamic World: Opinions of Important personalities from all over the world
34. Religious and Scientific Education: Dilemma
35. Indian Election Scene Supplement I: Interviews with Outgoing Muslim MPs
36. The World of Chaos: Causes of Avoidable Deaths in last 25 years (In Figures)
37. Jamia Millia: Surging Ahead in Excellence
38. Selection from Urdu Poetry
39. Rising High: Profiles of Muslim Entrepreneurs and other eminent personalities and emerging greats: Sponsored Feature
40. Monthly Diary of Events
41. Public opinion: letters: Messages for the first issue

Hope for America, hope for Muslims

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/10/hope-for-america-hope-for-muslims.html
HOPE FOR MUSLIMS, HOPE FOR AMERICA

Edmund Burke said something to the effect that the crimes continue unabated NOT necessarily because of the criminals but because of the good people not doing anything about it.

When we hear wrong things, we may remain silent, because it may suit our agenda; wrong or right. What if every one remains silent because it suits them? I am sure you are aware of the Martin Niemöller’s poem he wrote during the World War II - He said, first they came for the communists and I did not say anything about it because I was not a communist, then they came for Jews, I did not say anything because I was not a Jew..... And it continues on and ends with.... finally they came after me and there was no one left to speak for me.

The McCain gang is doing just that, being silent when some one is abused. Thank God, General Collin Powel spoke, and then Campbell Brown has spoken up. We need more of them, as ultimately peace and prosperity comes when we are just and not consumers of evil.

Watch the Fox news, the men there find it convenient to ignore the evil words as it suits their evil agenda of creating chaos. Are they evil? You judge when you hear O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh and their likes talk. I have no idea why CNN has kept a hate spreader Beck among them.

Here is a wake up call from Gen. Collin Powell to the opportunist Republicans who have no shame in silently watching hate take over and destroy ournation. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27265490#27265490

Here is Campbell Brown of CNN tearing the hate mongers apart. The Journalists owe it to themselves to learn to question and not be the sycophants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LXMMmfd1lw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ICqo1RZ5Eo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LXMMmfd1lw&feature=related


God bless Collin Powell and Campbell Brown

Please do read the comments - which will include article on the same subject.

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

Domestic Violence in Muslim Families

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN MUSLIM FAMILIES
The Resources and material for peaceful families

It is not just the Muslim thing, it is a human thing, it has nothing to do with the faith, race, ethnicity or gender. Insecure individuals in general and men in particular resort to violence to express their in-capabilities. They find sources to justify their behavior. No religion, including Islam permits such behavior. Let's refrain from placing the blame on intangibles like religion, it is not the religion, instead let's work on bringing justice to individuals.

Men in general including Muslim Men dig in their heels when they hear the technical words describing their behavior, they receive these words as loaded with blame rather than knowledge, and they get defensive. We need not touch this issue as an issue of the community, but rather as an issue of a couple living in a stressed environment.

It ought to be handled as an effort towards making families to live in peace, or efforts to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill between members of the families. The reception to this language is little more open from Men or women. That should be the goal of our efforts to communicate with the family to live a better life.

The man or woman should feel that seeking the friendly guidance is a joy to receive from a neutral person, who is not blame prone. And both of them ought to feel that it not about finding the blame, but finding the solutions for the wellbeing of both. I have had some success in playing this role with my friends in a variety of communities as a friend to them.

It’s nice to see the consistent passion to serve the needs of the community with enthusiasm. My support for this effort will remain intact and Insha Allah will be on the e-groups as well as the websites.

Let the emphasis be on Muslim families and highlight the individual responsibility for the well being of the families. We cannot blame Muslims, Islam or cultures, as the wrong is done by individual. You, I and our friends are product of the same faith and culture and we have not done wrong, what some others have done.

Here are some resources found at this website http://www.peacefulfamilies.org/publications.html
Please share other resource to share with others at this website.

Taqlid, Ijtihad and Democracy

I have read a few articles by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, and each one was filled with wisdom. It is so enlightening to read. Thanks to Yogi Sikand to bring this to the fore. The article Taqlid, Ijtihad and Democracy follows my comments.

A few self proclaimed guardians of Islam by virtue of their heading Shari’ah and Fiqh councils have been able to keep the lid on the box and do not show any sort of independence. They do not believe that Shari’ah was man-made interpretations of God’s words and Hadiths. To them Shari’ah is the absolute law from God, and they have successfully dumped this idea on to average Muslims (ones who does not have the time to question, but gulp what is given) who believe in it. Continue

Wary of Islam, China tightens rules

Wary of Islam, China tightens a vise of rules
By Edward Wong

Saturday, October 18, 2008

KHOTAN, China: The grand mosque that draws thousands of Muslims each week in this oasis town has all the usual trappings of piety: dusty wool carpets on which to kneel in prayer, a row of turbans and skullcaps for men without headwear, a wall niche facing the holy city of Mecca in the Arabian desert.

But large signs posted by the front door list edicts that are more Communist Party decrees than Koranic doctrines.

The imam's sermon at Friday Prayer must run no longer than a half-hour, the rules say. Prayer in public areas outside the mosque is forbidden. Residents of Khotan are not allowed to worship at mosques outside of town.

One rule on the wall says that government workers and nonreligious people may not be "forced" to attend services at the mosque a generous wording of a law that prohibits government workers and Communist Party members from going at all.

"Of course this makes people angry," said a teacher in the mosque courtyard, who would give only a partial name, Muhammad, for fear of government retribution. "Excitable people think the government is wrong in what it does. They say that government officials who are Muslims should also be allowed to pray."

To be a practicing Muslim in the vast autonomous region of northwestern China called Xinjiang is to live under an intricate series of laws and regulations intended to control the spread and practice of Islam, the predominant religion among the Uighurs, a Turkic people uneasy with Chinese rule.

The edicts touch on every facet of a Muslim's way of life. Official versions of the Koran are the only legal ones. Imams may not teach the Koran in private, and studying Arabic is allowed only at special government schools.

Two of Islam's five pillars the sacred fasting month of Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Mecca called the hajj are also carefully controlled. Students and government workers are compelled to eat during Ramadan, and the passports of Uighurs have been confiscated across Xinjiang to force them to join government-run hajj tours rather than travel illegally to Mecca on their own.

Government workers are not permitted to practice Islam, which means the slightest sign of devotion, a head scarf on a woman, for example, could lead to a firing.

The Chinese government, which is officially atheist, recognizes five religions Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Taoism and Buddhism and tightly regulates their administration and practice. Its oversight in Xinjiang, though, is especially vigilant because it worries about separatist activity in the region.

Some officials contend that insurgent groups in Xinjiang pose one of the biggest security threats to China, and the government says the "three forces" of separatism, terrorism and religious extremism threaten to destabilize the region. But outside scholars of Xinjiang and terrorism experts argue that heavy-handed tactics like the restrictions on Islam will only radicalize more Uighurs.

Many of the rules have been on the books for years, but some local governments in Xinjiang have publicly highlighted them in the past seven weeks by posting the laws on Web sites or hanging banners in towns.

Those moves coincided with Ramadan, which ran from September to early October, and came on the heels of a series of attacks in August that left at least 22 security officers and one civilian dead, according to official reports. The deadliest attack was a murky ambush in Kashgar that witnesses said involved men in police uniforms fighting each other.

The attacks were the biggest wave of violence in Xinjiang since the 1990s. In recent months, Wang Lequan, the long-serving party secretary of Xinjiang, and Nuer Baikeli, the chairman of the region, have given hard-line speeches indicating that a crackdown will soon begin.
Wang said the government was engaged in a "life or death" struggle in Xinjiang. Baikeli signaled that government control of religious activities would tighten, asserting that "the religious issue has been the barometer of stability in Xinjiang."

Anti-China forces in the West and separatist forces are trying to carry out "illegal religious activities and agitate religious fever," he said, and "the field of religion has become an increasingly important battlefield against enemies."

Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, accounting for 46 percent of the population of 19 million. Many say Han Chinese, the country's dominant ethnic group, discriminate against them based on the most obvious differences between the groups: language and religion.

The Uighurs began adopting Sunni Islam in the 10th century, although patterns of belief vary widely, and the religion has enjoyed a surge of popularity after the harshest decades of Communist rule. According to government statistics, there are 24,000 mosques and 29,000 religious leaders in Xinjiang. Muslim piety is especially strong in old Silk Road towns in the south like Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan.

Many Han Chinese see Islam as the root of social problems in Xinjiang.
"The Uighurs are lazy," said a man who runs a construction business in Kashgar and would give only his last name, Zhao, because of the political delicacy of the topic.

"It's because of their religion," he said. "They spend so much time praying. What are they praying for?"

The government restrictions are posted inside mosques and elsewhere across Xinjiang. In particular, officials take great pains to publicize the law prohibiting Muslims from arranging their own trips for the hajj. Signs painted on mud-brick walls in the winding alleyways of old Kashgar warn against making illegal pilgrimages. A red banner hanging on a large mosque in the Uighur area of Urumqi, the regional capital, says, "Implement the policy of organized and planned pilgrimage; individual pilgrimage is forbidden."

As dozens of worshipers streamed into the mosque for prayer on a recent evening, one Uighur man pointed to the sign and shook his head. "We didn't write that," he said in broken Chinese. "They wrote that."

He turned his finger to a white neon sign above the building that simply said "mosque" in Arabic script. "We wrote that," he said.

Like other Uighurs interviewed for this article, he agreed to speak on the condition that his name not be used for fear of retribution by the authorities.

The government gives various reasons for controlling the hajj. Officials say that the Saudi Arabian government is concerned about crowded conditions in Mecca that have led to fatal tramplings, and that Muslims who leave China on their own sometimes spend too much money on the pilgrimage.

Critics say the government is trying to restrict the movements of Uighurs and prevent them from coming into contact with other Muslims, fearing that such exchanges could build a pan-Islamic identity in Xinjiang.

About two years ago, the government began confiscating the passports of Uighurs across the region, angering many people here. Now virtually no Uighurs have passports, though they can apply for them for short trips. The new restriction has made life especially difficult for businessmen who travel to neighboring countries.

To get a passport to go on an official hajj tour or a business trip, applicants must leave a deposit of nearly $6,000.

One man in Kashgar said the imam at his mosque, who like all official imams is paid by the government, had recently been urging congregants to go to Mecca only with legal tours.
That is not easy for many Uighurs. The cost of an official trip is the equivalent of $3,700, and hefty bribes usually raise the price. Once a person files an application, the authorities do a background check into the family. If the applicant has children, the children must be old enough to be financially self-sufficient, and the applicant is required to show that he or she has substantial savings in the bank. Officials say these conditions ensure that a hajj trip will not leave the family impoverished.

Rules posted last year on the Xinjiang government's Web site say the applicant must be 50 to 70 years old, "love the country and obey the law."

The number of applicants far outnumbers the slots available each year, and the wait is at least a year. But the government has been raising the cap. Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that from 2006 to 2007, more than 3,100 Muslims from Xinjiang went on the official hajj, up from 2,000 the previous year.

One young Uighur man in Kashgar said his parents were pushing their children to get married soon so they could prove the children were financially independent, thus allowing them to qualify to go on the hajj. "Their greatest wish is to go to Mecca once," the man, who wished to be identified only as Abdullah, said over dinner.

But the family has to weigh another factor: the father, now retired, was once a government employee and a Communist Party member, so he might very well lose his pension if he went on the hajj, Abdullah said.

The rules on fasting during Ramadan are just as strict. Several local governments began posting the regulations on their Web sites last month. They vary by town and county but include requiring restaurants to stay open during daylight hours and mandating that women not wear veils and men shave their beards.

Enforcement can be haphazard. In Kashgar, many Uighur restaurants remained closed during the fasting hours. "The religion is too strong in Kashgar," said one man. "There are rules, but people don't follow them."

One rule that officials in some towns seem especially intent on enforcing is the ban on students' fasting. Supporters of this policy say students need to eat to study properly.
The local university in Kashgar adheres to the policy. Starting last year, it tried to force students to eat during the day by prohibiting them from leaving campus in the evening to join their families in breaking the daily fast. Residents of Kashgar say the university locked the gates and put glass shards along the top of a campus wall. After a few weeks, the school built a higher wall.

Sharia Laws in America

Sharia Laws in America

For the sake of convenience, Sharia Laws can be divided into private and public – The private Sharia deals with how one performs prayers, observes fasts, performs Hajj, and participates in Zakat (tithe – charity). Individuals follow those guidelines and appreciate the existence of such guidelines.

Whereas the Public Sharia deals with the community affairs; such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, conversion, apostates and other rules that deal when more than one individual is involved in the issue. The intent is always Justice and fairness to members of the society. The American civic laws are founded on Justice and most Muslims feel that the American laws work for them and are a great substitute. Hence, they do not feel the need for another set of laws for public governance. It ain’t going to happen. The Neocons need not fear and create imaginary war scenarios to cash in from the gullibles.

Continue: http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/2008/10/shariah-in-america.html

Mike Ghouse

This Qazi is a woman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CAIR, ISNA and Huffington Post

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/10/cair-isna-and-huffington-post.html

Farzan Hassan wrote in the Huffington post, the article is produced below my published and non-published comments. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/farzana-hassan/conservative-elements-of_b_134620.html

MY COMMENTS AT HUFFINGTON POST

The federal government, rather the Bush-Cheney regime has concocted one lie after the other, from WMD to just about every thing. They have fabricated and slapped the phrase "co-conspirators" to both ISNA and CAIR. They do not have any damned proof and it will not stick. The courts in Dallas will reject those charges for lack of any substantial evidence, as they have rejected several charges. We should not be gullible enough to buy this charge; every one is innocent until proven guilty, that is our heritage.

The fallacy of the media is buying in to the definitions of the Neocons. They define who is a Hindu, Jew, Christian or a Muslim, and every nincompoop buys it without questioning it. Their definition of a Moderate Muslim is some one "who opposes everything that an average Muslim does, their litmus is how much one hates Sharia or the Qur'aan.

CAIR and ISNA have taken initiatives to include people of all faiths. They are subject to criticism like anyone else, but they are not co-conspirators.

A majority of Muslims, like any other group are moderates and their focus is their family, job, home, kids schooling, neighbors and work.

To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence of humanity. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; Life and Matter.

Below was the full comment, above is 250 words requirement

Mike Ghouse
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com,
www.FoundationforPluralism.com,
www.MikeGhouse.net

The federal government, rather the Bush-Cheney regime has concocted one lie after the other, from WMD to just about every thing. They have fabricated and slapped the phrase “co-conspirators” to both ISNA and CAIR. They do not have any damned proof and it will not stick. The courts in Dallas will reject those charges for lack of any substantial evidence, as they have rejected several charges. We should not be gullible enough to buy this charge; every one is innocent until proven guilty, that is our heritage.

A majority of Muslims, like any other group are moderates and their focus is their family, job, home, kids schooling, neighbors and work. Their life revolves around this and most of them don't care to watch CNN, MSNBC, FOX or Sheep, they watch the family shows on ABC, NBC or CBS.

Their attitudes are inclusive, they don't look to people of other faiths, race, ethnicity as “other”; they look to them as simply people living a life, just as they are.

It is the 1/10th of 1% of any group that is involved in the idea of displacing, annihilating and invading the space of other, be it Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist or others.

Whether it is a corporation, city council, a professional, religious, sports or a cultural organization, the story is same. The one who speaks the loudest runs the show. Opposition comes from the extremes; liberal or conservative. Moderates don't do anything about it.

I am glad Huffington post is not run of the mill copy cat site. The fallacy of the media is buying in to the definitions of the Neocons. They define who is a Hindu, Jew, Christian or a Muslim, and every nincompoop buys it without questioning it. Their definition of a Moderate Muslim is some one ‘who opposes everything that an average Muslim does, their litmus is how much one hates Sharia or questions the Qur’aan. I will write about Sharia and Qur’aan in a separate essay.

CAIR and ISNA have taken initiatives to include people of all faiths. ISNA has a full interfaith department. The WorldNet is going after CAIR for the last ten years that one Ahmed said that Sharia will be their ultimate goal, he has denied saying it, instead of producing the proof, the World Net has maintained that they believe their report without any back up. Regardless the hooters in McCain rally do not represent the moderate Americans or the American values. CAIR and ISNA are represented by most Muslims and they are subject to criticism like any one else, but they are not what they are portrayed to be.

In Dallas, the world Muslim Congress is committed to promoting pluralism and co-existence. We are driven by the Qur'an, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: "O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of God is the best in conduct. Allah Knows and is Aware."

Our Mission is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it.

Indeed we aspire to promote goodwill amongst people of different affiliations, regardless of their faith, gender, race, nationality, culture or any other uniqueness blessed by the creator.

To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence of humanity. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; Life and Matter.

Mike Ghouse

Article in Huffington post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/farzana-hassan/conservative-elements-of_b_134620.html

The relationship between US presidential candidates and the American Muslim community is hardly as seamless as it is with other religious or ethnic minorities. This at least, is true in the tense climate of the post 9/11 era. Muslims across the world are watching the current US election campaign with great interest, as well as a degree of trepidation, for the outcome of the election would be critical in determining foreign policy issues that affect Muslims the world over in significant ways.

Thorny issues such as Gitmo, The Iraq war, the proverbial "war on terror", the status of Muslims in the West and the continued controversy over the true message of Islam in the Western media affect American Muslims almost universally. Some therefore, have taken it upon themselves to influence the political process by participating and campaigning in the current presidential bid.

But to the constant chagrin of secular and liberal Muslim, it is the more conservative elements of the Muslim community that have come forward with a plan and agenda to galvanize the Muslim vote in the forthcoming election. While secular Muslims may feel the need to be heard in the political sphere, they are hardly as organized or politically engaged as their more radical counterparts. For example, no organization of the caliber of the Muslim Canadian Congress, just north of the border, exists in the United States. This Canadian organization has taken Islamists head on. It has worked hard to ensure the preservation of secular society in Canada, often at great risk to the safety and security of its avante garde. On the other hand, the doctrinaire orthodoxy among Muslims has made inroads into the social, political and economic fabric of American society, pushing for greater religious accommodation through increased visibility in the political process.

CAIR, an orthodox Muslim organization with suspected links to radical elements, recently issued a statement urging Muslims to vote because "Voting gives voice to concerns of particular interest to all people of conscious. From the war in Iraq to the Palestinian Israeli conflict, the Patriot Act to Gitmo, many Americans hold strong views regarding domestic and foreign policy. Constructive criticism in that regard falls on deaf ears unless gift-wrapped in a package like a ballot."

Another politically active organization which has come under suspicion for its alleged links with extremists, is the Islamic Society of North America, commonly known by its acronym "ISNA". Ingrid Mattson, its current female president, worked in Afghanistan with the Mujahideen and at one time proudly claimed to have represented the Afghanistan Islamists at the UN. Incidentally, the same Ingrid Mattson was present at the 2008 Democratic national convention.

And it is in this arena that American politicians have shown considerably naivete. They have blindly accepted whoever claims to be a moderate Muslim as being genuinely so. The truth is somewhat different. ISNA, for example believes in the introduction of Sharia, the all-inclusive Islamic law, a position which is undoubtedly absolutist in its political and social ramifications.

Additionally, these organizations have attempted to stifle First Amendment rights, such as the freedom of speech, conscience and religion, often targeting any one who dares oppose their absolutist ideology. They continually work to modify existing legal structures by proposing parallel legal courts, with obvious negative repercussions for women. They also support the doctrine of jihad privately while paying lip service to the cause of peace and harmony in the world publicly.

A few prominent American Muslims have warned against this cultural assault on American institutions by local Islamist organizations.

They have come forward to support Sen. Obama as opposed to John McCain as they view the forty-seven year old senator as a voice for peace and stability. Himayun Mirza from Boston writes

" There are rich Arabs and other Muslims who come from the privileged and ruling classes, hence they vote with Republicans. On the other hand, the have-nots like Palestinians and other progressive and secular Muslims always see more in common with the Democrats"

Mohammad "Mike" Ghouse writes in his blog "Obama believes in a strong America, both morally and militarily. He will restore our lost dignity in the community of Nations, and without shedding the American blood he will seek the cooperation of Nations to work with us for a prosperous world with least conflicts. McCain will not get this in his life-time. We cannot be secure if we keep threatening others nor can we have the peace when we frighten others."

The challenge for whoever is elected to the White House, lies in recognizing true moderate voices among Muslims. These are Muslims who applaud American values, as they are staunch advocates of freedom, democracy and pluralism. Sadly, the more conservative elements, errantly seen as the only authentic Muslims have been courted by American politicians for too long. Perhaps both Senators Obama and McCain need a fresh look at the many complex dynamics of intra-religious conflict among Muslims. They are certainly not united in their support for any one particular candidate and their vote on election day will reflect such deep-rooted fissures.

Mission Statement

Our Mission ::

Our Mission is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it. Indeed we aspire to promote goodwill amongst people of different affiliations, regardless of their faith, gender, race, nationality, culture or any other uniqueness blessed by the creator.
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Are Muslims a part of the American story?

Are Muslims a part of the American story?
Mike Ghouse

We are not connected enough with the mainstream society for vast majority of Americans to stand up for us, empathize with us or even understand the truth about us that we are no different than them in our endeavors and aspirations. We must however express our gratitude to the millions of Americans who have stood up for us, compelled by their sense of justness and fair play. Continue