In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue

In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue

Here is an opportunity for you to write a comment after the article at Dallas Morning News. Let the public know that a majority of us care for the world and every life.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/DN-blow_19met.ART.West.Edition1.356a575.html -

There is one more article in Dallas Morning News today, which I cannot find, I am in Louisville today with my wife.

If you wish to share this article, this is the link: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-defense-of-islam-pursuing-civil.html

Please read the following from a thinker’s point of view in how we can change perceptions of the media in America and perceptions of the key allies. The ideas are explored in the following article link listed at the very bottom. If Muslims are serious in actions, rather than talking about Islam meaninglessly among ourselves, we need to get out and do things. Whoever talks big, it is time to tell them to act and not talk.

Insha Allah, I will complete the chapter “Blue print for Muslims, a 20 year planning” by the end of this year in my upcoming book on Islam. Those who criticize, please ask them to shut up, as the funds will go to the development of Muslim Agenda for the good of mankind. Remember, what is good for Muslims has got to be good for others and vice-versa, if it benefits us and not others, the idea will fail.

How Media has worked with Muslims

We have to recognize individuals who have been fair and just in the societies and support them and encourage them for the outstanding job they have done, “From a journalism point of view, unconscionably, we have accepted the inclusion of sensationalists and propagandists as journalists. They are generating ratings and revenues for the media barons. I believe this aspect of destructive propaganda journalism will also start correcting itself toward responsible journalism, which can restore the social cohesion of our society. This week's topic for the Texas Faith panel is an indication of such a movement.

The media in Dallas has acted responsibly this week, when Pastor Jeffress made incendiary remarks about Islam, whether one agrees or not. Steve Blow of the Dallas Morning News took on the responsibility to seek another opinion from someone like Pastor Bob Roberts. Blow offered an equally powerful, but peace making perspective, which the public has welcomed. “
The above two paragraphs are at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/texas-faith-the-media-and-reli.html

Steve Blow – article one : Dallas pastor's broad-brush criticism of Islam goes way too far http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/090510dnmetblow.19e1646.html
Steve Blow – article one : Dallas pastor's broad-brush criticism of Islam goes way too far http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/090510dnmetblow.19e1646.html
Steve Blow - follows up with Bob Roberts, a recipient of the “Pluralist” award at the Unity day in 2009: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/DN-blow_12met.ART.West.Edition1.356b027.html

Two other Journalists we have recognized at the Unity day USA program, and who have become champions in standing up for the rights of all others, and Muslims are beneficiaries of such stand – they are Jeff Weiss and Sam Hodges. Look up at Dallas Morning News, particularly their anti-Islam stance and later the fair positions they have taken.

George Mason is another recipient of the Unity Day USA Award, who has spoken out… Rev. Bill Matthews is another one.

Here is what George Mason write - http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/07/texas-faith-is-a-mosque-at-gro.html

Now the First Baptist Church is making overtures towards me, thank God, I am glad we did not take the stands of pushing people to dig in their heels. I believe, firmly believe the role of Muslims is to mitigate conflicts and nurture good will. Give room to people to step up and be normal.

Please take a look at the following 2 videos and the article as a response to the video llinks below.
1 of 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMN8Zy1kc64

2 of 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZOFLQSAOhA&feature=channel

Article: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2010/09/rev-robert-jeffress-challenged-on.html

Sunday Morning on Fox http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/christians-and-muslims-meet

Monday Morning on Fox http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/091310-pastor,-muslims-meet-to-discuss-quran

MUSLIMS, HINDUS, JEWS ARE GOING TO HELL http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/091310-pastor%2C-muslims-meet-to-discuss-quran

We cannot let a few destroy the social cohesiveness of our nation

My write ups at Dallas Morning New

http://www.dallasnews.com/blcS.sc?search=mike+ghouse&cat=all

This is the one I have talked about in the top of this write up
http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2009/04/are-muslims-part-of-american-story.html

Your comments

Muslim iftaar Schedule

A Muslim's Iftaar Schedule
http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-iftaar-schedule.html

My fasting and my prayers are my personal business, however, to encourage diversity and understanding of others, I am writing this Blog, God has created each one of us and expects to know each other. Knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance of a different point of view and respecting the otherness of other amounts to honoring God, for it is he who created diversity intentionally. Indeed, knowing each other mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill resulting in peaceful societies. (Reference Quraan 49:13).

True fasting is self-purification; and from this, a rich inner life brings about values such as justice, generosity, patience, kindness, forgiveness, mercy and empathy - values that are indispensable for the success of the community.Consciousness of behavior and vigilance over action are the most profound dimensions of fasting: the fasting of the heart focuses on the attachment to the divine.

That is when Ramadan really becomes a source of peace and solace, just as Christmas goes beyond the rituals to bring forth kindness, charity and caring. For fasting to be truly universal, its benefits must extend beyond the fraternal ties of Muslims and must extend to forging a common humanity with others. Fasting is meant to impart a sense of what it means to be truly human, and its universality is reflected by its observance in Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Wiccan, Zoroastrian, other faiths and importantly the native traditions.

Last year, I had invited a people of diverse religions to my house for Iftaar, this year, Insha Allah I will visit diffrent Mosques. I have not sought permission from the Ismaili Jamaat Khana and the Bohra Mosque and I do hope I get the permission to break the fast with them.

Aug 11 - Fox TV Studios, Dallas
Aug 12 - Carrollton Mosque, Carrollton
Aug 13 - Ahmadiyya Mosque, Allen,
Aug 14 - FunAsia and friends, Richardson,
Aug 15 - Shia Mosque..., Carrollton,
Aug 16 - Deen Mohammad Mosque, Dallas,
Aug 17 - Irving Mosque, Irving
Aug 18 - Undecided
Aug 19 - Airport/Frankfurt
Aug 20 - Mosque/ Tel Aviv
Aug 21 - Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem
Aug 21 - undecided
Aug 22 - Mosque, Jerusalem
Aug 23 - undecided
Aug 24 - undecided
Aug 25 - New York
Aug 26 - Richardson Mosque
Aug 27 - Ismaili Jamat Khana, Plano
Aug 28 - Bohra Mosque, Irving
Aug 29 - Madina Masjid, Carrollton
Aug 30 - Makkah Masjid, Garland

And on September 11, if Ramadan still continues, Insha Allah, I will break the fast across the Church in Florida, where they are burning the Quraan and pray for Pastor Jones good will. Can some one go there and do the right thing? Or I will be happy to make the pilgrimage, does any one has miles that can buy me the ticket to go to Florida - in the afternoon, and hope to return right back or first things Sunday Morning to do the Unityday progam in Dallas on 12th - http://www.unitydayusa.com/

About Quraan Burning:
http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/08/quraan-burning-church-and-solutions.html

Ramadan Mubarak - Happy Ramadan

Muslims around the world will begin fasting from Wednesday, August 11, 2010 and for a whole month thereafter.

Thanks to Washington post, they will publish three articles on Ramadan; The Politics of Ramadan, The Rituals of Ramadan and the Spirit of Ramadan towards the third of Ramadan.

True fasting is self-purification; and from this, a rich inner life brings about values such as justice, generosity, patience, kindness, forgiveness, mercy and empathy - values that are indispensable for the success of the community.

Consciousness of behavior and vigilance over action are the most profound dimensions of fasting: the fasting of the heart focuses on the attachment to the divine. That is when Ramadan really becomes a source of peace and solace, just as Christmas goes beyond the rituals to bring forth kindness, charity and caring.

For fasting to be truly universal, its benefits must extend beyond the fraternal ties of Muslims and must extend to forging a common humanity with others. Fasting is meant to impart a sense of what it means to be truly human, and its universality is reflected by its observance in Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Wiccan, Zoroastrian, other faiths and importantly the native traditions.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer on Islam and Pluralism and is a frequent guest at Media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. His work is listed on 22 of his blogs and two websites listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Ahmadiyya, right to choose your own religion

The right to choose your own religion

By N. Mahmood Ahmad

Recently Israel, the only liberal-democratic state in the Middle East, attempted to adopt legislation granting a minority of ultra-Orthodox rabbis the legal right to define who is Jewish. Alarmed at this sweeping move within Israel, many Jews who are not Orthodox - a category that includes most American Jews - were able to prevent immediate passage of the bill. In doing so, they won a temporary victory for millions of Conservative and Reformed Jews who would otherwise effectively be designated as non-Jewish by the Israeli state.

Governments have sought to impose such restrictions on individual religious identity throughout history. In 360 C.E., the Roman Empire issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making Nicene Christianity the only official religion. All other forms of Christianity were declared heresies, and anyone caught professing them would be punished by death. Since then, state control over religion has been the impetus for the wars of religion in Europe, the Inquisition in Spain, and closer to home, the burning of witches in Salem, Massachusetts.

About sixty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, seeking to turn over a new leaf by guaranteeing that "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion." Nevertheless, world governments still trample upon the right to declare oneself a member of a particular faith.

In the Muslim world in particular, the right to choose one's own religion is already being denied to millions. Even in purportedly democratic countries such as Malaysia and Pakistan, a minority of religious extremists are able to dictate matters of conscience. In 2007, the Malaysian Federal Court ruled that a woman who had converted from Islam to Christianity could not legally do so because as a member of the traditionally Muslim Malay ethnic group, she was constitutionally required to be a Muslim. Similarly, Article 260 of Pakistan's Constitution defines who is a "Muslim" and a "non-Muslim". In 1974, the Parliament approved a constitutional amendment specifically designating members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, as non-Muslims. The Pakistani Government has, in fact, mandated that anyone applying for a passport who declares himself a Muslim must swear that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is an impostor and that his followers are non-Muslim. Constitutions are intended to limit the power of the state and guarantee basic freedoms - for example, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees free exercise and prohibits establishment. By contrast, the Malaysian and Pakistani Constitutions do precisely the opposite - they force a state-imposed faith upon their citizens, while also limiting free exercise of their own chosen creed.

Such legislation creates a culture of hatred, emboldening religious extremists to commit atrocities with impunity. In May, Pakistani Taliban slaughtered 86 Ahmadi Muslims in a coordinated attack on two of the Community's mosques in Lahore, Pakistan. Meanwhile, Article 260 and other laws remain, including Pakistan's notorious anti-blasphemy laws. Indeed, the trend in other countries, including Malaysia, and most recently Israel, is toward increased state control over individual religious identity. Israeli Jews are fortunate to have influential compatriots living in the United States, a country founded on the principles of religious freedom and remains the freest place in the world today. By contrast, the Muslim community in the United States has remained conspicuously silent on this issue. Notably, even in the wake of the attacks on Ahmadi Muslims, no Muslim organization spoke out against Pakistan's archaic laws.

It is high time that governments around the world live up to their obligations under the United Nations human rights charter, and get out of the business of dictating who may or may not call herself a Jew, Christian, or Muslim.

N. Mahmood Ahmad is a member of the Executive Board of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Lawyers Association USA. He is a lawyer based in Washington, D.C. and served on the Virginia Law Review editorial board.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/08/the_right_to_choose_your_own_religion.html

# # #
MAHMOOD AHMED,

Had you googled, you probably would not have made that blanket statement that No Muslim organization spoke out against the Hudood laws.

Plug in Ahmadiyya when you open this link, you will find seven articles defending the rights of Ahmadiyya to be Muslims - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/05/all-articles-list.html

There is an article pending with post about Politics of Ramadan, where in I wrote, "The conflict is the same every where on the earth. Each group subscribes to one of the four systems mentioned above. America is no different; you will find celebrations on one or three different days in any given city, the Sunnis, being the largest group has the greater division within, while the Shias, Ismailis, WD Mohammad, Bohra and Ahmadiyya follow the pre-determined dates. The consensus may be attributable to having central spiritual leadership in all groups except the Sunni. However like the American Public wishes to see the Republicans and Democrats drop the party lines and focus on what is good for America, the Muslims also wish they could celebrate the Eid on one single day. It ain’t going to happen, it is human to differ."

In the worldmuslimcongress@yahoogroups.com , check it out, as always a few right wingers create issues, but there are more Muslims out there to tell them that they are wrong.

There are many Muslims out there who do not like the judgments right wingers pass... I have always included Ahmadiyya Muslims as Muslims in every program I do in Dallas, and that is a lot of programs, they are always a part of it.

There were imams visiting from Middle East, I invited the Ahmadiyya rep to be a part of it, the Ahmadiyya man did not want to pray behind the other Imam, I was taken back.

It your intention that counts not others. Both sides need to open and I have offered the venues, and at times literally beg them to be a part of it. There was a celebration of an Imam in Dallas, I got a table to put Muslims of all denomination on it. The Ahmadiyya man did not show up.

I understand the oppression they are weathering in Pakistan and else where, but thank God in America, we are free, free to be ourselves and the Ahmadiyya community need to step up.

Mike Ghouse
WorldMuslimCongress
Dallas

Burqa - Panipat to Paris

We need to be pro-choice, i.e., respecting the right of woman to make that choice and not impose on them or ban them for wearing. Who are we do that? We must honor every one's freedom to wear what they want to wear, as long as it is not obstructive to some elses' functioning. French commies want to force women not to wear whereas the Talibans force them to wear, who the heck are these idiots - Mike Ghouse

From Panipat To Par
is: Muslim Women And The Veil
http://wfsnews.org/
Dr. Syeda Hameed

In 1947, my mother and other women of the family decided to shed the 'burqa' (veil). Our family comes from Panipat, which was at the time a flourishing district of Punjab, with a large population of Muslims. The distinguishing feature of this erudite, sufi-dominated town was the primacy of women. Our homes were known by the name of the woman of the house, for example 'Bi Maimuna ki Haveli' (much later I was pleasantly surprised to see in Marrakesh [Morocco] the same formulation: 'Riad dar Maimuna'). Their decision to remove the veil was accepted and respected by the men of my family.

The Panipat women were agents of their own fate. When several of these women reached Pakistan (per force they had to migrate) they did not revert to the veil. In either case, no one asked them to wear or remove; neither the State nor the family.

Sixty three years later, on July 13, 2010, France's lower house of Parliament voted to ban the wearing of face covering veils in public places. The vote was passed, 336 to 1, with the left parties abstaining. In its report, the French parliamentary committee said that requiring women to cover their faces was against the French Republican principles of secularism and equality - "It is a symbol of the repression of women and of extremist fundamentalism."

What is the link between Panipat and France on the issue of Muslim women and the 'burqa'?
France is the classic upholder of human rights. I, as many of my generation, grew up on stories of the French Revolution, Storming of Bastille, 'Liberty Equality, Fraternity', Montesquieu, Robespierre, Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, and the ubiquitous Guillotine.

Panipat was the place where caravans of Sufi scholars migrated from Afghanistan and Iran to spread their teachings among a populace, which was ready and willing to learn. Many schools of Islamic jurisprudence flourished there; people openly debated religion and followed their own maslak, each according to his or her light.

Today, Panipat is a flourishing town where all the obvious signs of development hit you in the face. But the very fact for which it was distinctive has become its greatest bane; its neglect of gender issues has given it some of the lowest sex ratios in the country. From the high regard in which women were held, it has become the district with one of the worst CSR (Child sex ratio) in the country.

And France, the upholder of the rights of the marginalised has decreed that of the quarter million Muslim women, the 1,900 who wear the face veil will be fined $190 if they emerge in public wearing the veil. Men who force women in their family to wear full face veils will be fined $37,754 and a one-year jail term. If this Bill is cleared by the senate, it will become law of the land. In this manner, it will irretrievably 'disempower' at least some French citizens

In the 1960's when their economy was booming, France waived all visa requirements and opened its doors to immigrants from its erstwhile colonies. These immigrants contributed cheap labour to France's service industry and as is convenient and customary, were concentrated on the outskirts of the capital in ghetto settlements. They were relatively few opportunities for social and economic integration. Many of these immigrants were Muslims. It is the women from these areas, the poorest, who will be hard hit by the ban.

Muslim women in France will thus be caught between two hardships; hardship at home, where they prefer to adhere to 'traditional' dress codes for a variety of reasons, and hardship outside, where the State requires them to throw off the very same dress code. This fallout is certainly not going to fulfill the avowed objective of the French government of empowering and dignifying Muslim women.

The assumption is that Muslim women wear the 'burqa' always as a result of coercion. Such a construct strips women of all agencies. Sometimes, Muslim women choose to veil themselves not as a symbol of their religious identity (nor in protest against Western Imperialism) but because they want to become more pious. The body becomes a site for action. Is it not possible that the act of veiling is reflective of an inner dialogue with the self (whether we agree with the finer points of the dialogue is quite another matter)? Is it not a coercive State, which quells that inner dialogue? Is it also not a rather ignorant State, which interprets bodily embodiments in such simplistic ways? If a Muslim woman's conscience impels her to wear the veil as an act of piety, the veil is no longer a symbol; it becomes an integral part of her. What role does the State have in violating her integrity?

There is the story of the Muslim doctor in Amsterdam (The Netherlands). She is one of the thousands of veiled women of Europe. After she donned the 'burqa', she noticed that everyone around her became more patronising. Shop attendants spoke to her slowly, repeating words as to a child. If she went to return a faulty gadget to a shop, she was scolded by the manager for her inability to operate something 'modern.' While the manager's Islamophobic attitude will remain untouched, it is the woman who, if she stays true to herself, who will be unable to go to the shop. One of France's few Muslim politicians, senator Bariza Khairi fears that some of the women, thus targeted will withdraw into themselves, stay in the house. "Instead of doing education projects, we are doing a ban, which I regret," she said.

As a believing practicing Muslim woman, I choose not to wear the 'burqa', 'hijab' or veil. It is my choice. Islam is very clear in its injunction 'La ikrafiddin'. There is no compulsion in religion. There is no dress code in Islam. Its only injunction is that woman and man should dress in a dignified manner. I, therefore, protest any edict imposed by any body or organisation about my practice or dress code.

If a Muslim woman chooses to practice Islam within the 'hijab' she should be free to do so; if she wants to practice without the 'hijab', there should be nothing preventing her. Hazrat Ali, the 4th Caliph of Islam said: "Be wary of him/her who has nothing to lose". These women who are being deprived are the poorest Muslims; they have nothing to lose. Their sensitivities are being needled by such discriminatory legislation. The State needs to engage with those who wear the 'burqa' as well as with those who abhor the 'burqa'. A culture of engagement might be more empowering than a decontextualised recourse to human rights and secularism. The example of Panipat, that place of religious engagement and debate, is before us.
07/30/2010

Related articles:

Burqa to no Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html

Sick of French commies, Talibans and Iranians
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sick-of-french-commies-talibans-iranian.html

Burqa Ban on Hannity and Fox News
http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/burqa-ban-hannity-gabrielle-and-ghouse.html

Bikini to Burqa, which offers more
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/bikini-or-headscarf-which-offers-more.html

Burn the Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/01/burn-burqa.html

Lifting the Veil on the Niqab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/02/lifting-veil-on-niqab.html

Me without my Hijab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/06/me-without-my-hijab.html

Canada should not ban burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/10/canada-should-not-ban-burqa.html

Sick of French Commies, Talibans & Iranian Clergy

On one hand we have the French commies and Turkish intolerant who want to tell a woman what she can wear or not wear; on the other hand we have the Talibans, Wahhabi and Ayatollavi clergy telling and forcing a woman what to wear. Similar intolerance is propagated by a few right winger rogues in America.

Who the xxck are the these men to tell what a woman should wear or not wear? It is time we all stand up for women's right to choose and let's learn to live and let live, let's be pro-choice when it comes to the veil. God guides a woman in Quraan to do what is right, and if the husband tells her to the contrary, she has a right to do the right thing and take a walk than put up with it.

Women are indeed putting up with it, is there a race, ethnic, religious, cultural or nationalistic group that does not oppress women? In most of the countries women are economically and socially dependent on men shamelessly take advantage of it.

Google it, no one is capable of casting the fist stone. It is time we stand up for the rights of women and just tell the guys to behave.

The Tehran News paper had published two of my articles before, and I hope to write to them and encourage sensitive peole to bring some sanity to these injustices.

Iranian clerics lash out on veiling

One top leader criticizes Ahmadinejad for suggesting a cultural campaign would better address the issue of 'badly-veiled women,' not morality police.

Young women argue with a conservative man about women's rights at a rally in Tehran. Morality police are cracking down against a trend of looser, less strict head scarves and tight overcoats. (Patrick Baz, AFP/Getty Images / June 21, 2005)

Iranian clerics lash out on veiling

One top leader criticizes Ahmadinejad for suggesting a cultural campaign would better address the issue of 'badly-veiled women,' not morality police.
By Meris Lutz, Special to the Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2010

Reporting from Beirut
Hard-line Iranian clerics determined to reverse the trend of what they regard as "badly veiled women" took aim Friday at an unlikely target: conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In a televised interview last week, Ahmadinejad suggested a "cultural campaign" against interpretations of Islamic dress that have been deemed improper by authorities rather than the humiliating high-profile police crackdown already underway.

His comments came weeks after law enforcement agencies stepped up efforts to curb what many within the regime see as a threat to the ruling ideology. Morality police have been stopping cars carrying women and shutting down stores that sell clothing considered immodest.

But Guardian Council chief Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshipers during his Friday sermon that to stay silent on the issue of improper hijab, or veil, amounts to a mortal sin. He likened women whose hair peaks out from under their scarves to hardened criminals.

"Drug traffickers are hanged, terrorists are executed and robbers are punished for their crimes, but when it comes to the law of God, which is above human rights, [some individuals] stay put and speak about cultural programs," Jannati said, referring to Ahmadinejad.

"Shall we let badly-veiled women be free in the society corrupt our youth?" he added.

Jannati called on other clergy in Iran to join his campaign, and at least some were heeding the message. In the city of Mashhad, Ayatollah Ahmad Alam Hoda said that improperly veiled women represent "a corrupt minority."
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

Related articles:

Burqa to no Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html

Sick of French commies, Talibans and Iranians
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sick-of-french-commies-talibans-iranian.html

Burqa Ban on Hannity and Fox News
http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/burqa-ban-hannity-gabrielle-and-ghouse.html

Bikini to Burqa, which offers more
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/bikini-or-headscarf-which-offers-more.html

Burn the Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/01/burn-burqa.html

Lifting the Veil on the Niqab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/02/lifting-veil-on-niqab.html

Me without my Hijab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/06/me-without-my-hijab.html

Canada should not ban burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/10/canada-should-not-ban-burqa.html

Canada should not ban Burqa.

We need to be pro-choice, i.e., respecting the right of woman to make that choice and not impose on them or ban them for wearing. Who are we do that? We must honor every one's freedom to wear what they want to wear, as long as it is not obstructive to some elses' functioning. French commies want to force women not to wear whereas the Talibans force them to wear, who the heck are these idiots -








Canada should not ban Burqa.
We must support freedom over imposition.
To save the women from oppression of one kind,
The Muslim Canadian congress is pushing the other oppression;
denial of the right of women who genuinely want to wear the Burqa.

Societies do not change overnight; let the change happen in the open market,
Let MCC compete with the Wahhabis and educate the Muslims otherwise.
What if the Wahhabis gain the influence?
Turn MCC reccomendation upside down?

Solutions should be sought through freedom and education.
We certainly should oppose any compulsion on women; left or right.

I do understand and acknowledge that Burqa is not a religious requirement.
But I stand opposed to MCC's stand to ban the Burqa,
and request them to reconsider their eagerness to prevail.
Let the freedom prevail, that is the essence of Islam
There should be no compulsion, there is great wisdom in it.

Opinion is my own,
you are welcome to your opinion at:

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/10/canada-should-not-ban-burqa.html#comments

Mike Ghouse
http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/10/canada-should-not-ban-burqa.html
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html

# # #

October 7, 2009

Muslim Canadian Congress wants
Canada to ban the Burka in public
Top cleric in Egypt says face covering has nothing to do with Islam

TORONTO - The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) is asking Ottawa to introduce legislation to ban the wearing of masks, niqabs and the burka in public.

In a statement, the MCC said, not only is the wearing of a face-mask a security hazard and has led to a number of bank heists in Canada and overseas, the burka or niqab are political symbols of Saudi inspired Islamic extremism.

The MCC dismissed the argument that wearing of a face-mask by Muslim women is protected by the Charter's guarantee of religious freedom. The MCC said, there is no requirement in the Quran for Muslim women to cover their faces. Invoking religious freedom to conceal one's identity and promote a political ideology, is disingenuous.

The MCC pointed to the the recent decision by Egypt's highest Muslim authority, Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, who said he will issue a Fatwa (religious edict) against the niqab and burka.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Yom quoted Sheikh Tantawi as saying the niqab was merely a cultural tradition and had no connection to religion or the Quran.

The MCC said if there is any doubt about the religiosity of the burka, one should take a look at the holiest place for Muslims — the grand mosque in Mecca. For over 1,400 years, Muslim men and women have prayed in what we believe is the House of God, and for all these centuries, female visitors have been explicitly prohibited from covering their faces.

Farzana Hassan, communications director of the MCC said, "Islamists are defending the burka as if it was the central pillar of Islam. They consider Muslim women who do not cover their heads and faces--the vast majority -- as sinners or lesser Muslims.

"It is of utmots impritance that the Canadian government take the lead and end this medieval misogynist practise once and for all," Ms. Hassan added.

The MCC statement regretted that while the rest of the world is moving toward the goal of gender equality, right here in Canada Islamists are pushing back the clock, convincing educated Muslim women, they are no more than sexual objects and a source of sin, if they reveal their faces in public.

Related articles:

Burqa to no Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html

Sick of French commies, Talibans and Iranians
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sick-of-french-commies-talibans-iranian.html

Burqa Ban on Hannity and Fox News
http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/burqa-ban-hannity-gabrielle-and-ghouse.html

Bikini to Burqa, which offers more
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/bikini-or-headscarf-which-offers-more.html

Burn the Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/01/burn-burqa.html

Lifting the Veil on the Niqab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/02/lifting-veil-on-niqab.html

Me without my Hijab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/06/me-without-my-hijab.html

Canada should not ban burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/10/canada-should-not-ban-burqa.html


#

Burqa to no Burqa

We need to be pro-choice, i.e., respecting the right of woman to make that choice and not impose on them or ban them for wearing. Who are we do that? We must honor every one's freedom to wear what they want to wear, as long as it is not obstructive to some elses' functioning. French commies want to force women not to wear whereas the Talibans force them to wear, who the heck are these idiots - Mike Ghouse

Burqa to no Burqa
Mike Ghouse, July 4, 2007

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html

Updates added on July 7, appended at the bottom

When the President of the United States abuses the authority given to him and violates the constitution and trust of the people (low approval ratings), when the Pope abuses his authority and utters words that create gratuitous chaos, when the Mufti of Saudi Arabia abuses his authority in pre-empting God’s authority and issues a fatwa declaring another Muslim as a non-Muslim, and when people in power abuse their authority; the people in power over their family also abuse the imposition of Burqa as an instrument of control. However, not all the Presidents, not all the Pope’s, not all the Clerics and not all the people abuse the privileges, some do and I estimate that to be no more than 1/10th of 1% when it comes to the general public.

A majority of Muslim women wear the Burqa out of their own volition, there is no doubt that there are a few men who compel them to wear, and it is certainly an oppressive situation. When you take a principled stand, women are indeed oppressed by all societies, The insecure men; whether it is a Bubba, Mullah or a Prince, be it in China, United States, India, Brazil or Saudi Arabia, they all behave the same, take it out on their women and always prey on the weak or the dependent. They are the one’s that need education and not the Burqa elimination.

Burqa is used from the Shuttle-Cock format in Afghanistan to the Hijab format (a bare scarf in the United States, Canada, India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Pakistan and some other nations. The Original Islamic idea was for a woman to be modest in public places, hold on from jumping to conclusions, it is not only women, it is men as well. Men in most Muslim societies do not wear shorts, they wear full length pants, they do not go bare chested even in their homes. That is range of modesty in practice. For an average American to understand this concept of modesty, all they have to do is compare the society of a higher threshold where, some families walk around the house with barely any clothes on, but most American families have modesty, what they wear in front of their children, especially of the opposite gender, when their sister, daughters or cousins are around is not the same.

If some woman wants to drop the Hijab, she can, but she has to feel comfortable with it. It would be hypocritical of us to impose our values onto others, let alone our own relatives.
We have an obligation to maintain a balance in the society and it is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each individual, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
Prejudice against any one is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our duty to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. if we let hate mongers, hate sermons and hate lectures creep in our societies, we lose that desired balance in the society.
First, we have to believe that the societal balance begins with each one of us; we see goodness around if we upload good values in ourselves. It is in our interest to treat the world as one nation under God, one family and one people with liberty and justice for all. We are on the bus.

Another column on the topic in Feb: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/02/to-veil-or-not-to-veil.html

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio, discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He founded the World Muslim Congress with a simple theme: "good for Muslims and good for the world." His personal Website is www.MikeGhouse.net and his articles can be found on the Websites mentioned above and in his Blogs: http://MikeGhouseforAmerica.Blogspot.com and http://MikeGhouse.Sulekha.com . He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com . Mike lives in Carrollton with his family and has been a Dallasite since 1980

Related articles:

Burqa to no Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html

Sick of French commies, Talibans and Iranians
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sick-of-french-commies-talibans-iranian.html

Burqa Ban on Hannity and Fox News
http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/burqa-ban-hannity-gabrielle-and-ghouse.html

Bikini to Burqa, which offers more
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/bikini-or-headscarf-which-offers-more.html

Burn the Burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/01/burn-burqa.html

Lifting the Veil on the Niqab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/02/lifting-veil-on-niqab.html

Me without my Hijab
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/06/me-without-my-hijab.html

Canada should not ban burqa
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/10/canada-should-not-ban-burqa.html

Two articles to refer to following the update on July 7th

July 7th update:

Dear Ahmed, Allyternity, Bharat Born, Sabiha and Mariam,

All your comments and questioned can be contained in the following paragraph;

I have always wondered about the "own volition" part of the wearing of the veil. Do women really do it on their own or are they conditioned to ?" Do majority Muslim women wear the "burqa" (or some modification). Is this really true? And what is the basis for your statement that majority women who wear the burqa do so because they want to?

We have to take a principle stand on the subject and test it out.

The various formats as the pictures have suggested are determined by culture and within each culture there is diversity. In any given Muslim community, you may find the whole range of practices with varying ratios.

The Saree; Are the women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka or the diaspora forced to wear the Saree or conditioned to wear? Can we get a traditional woman to wear a skirt instead of the Saree? Would most of them jump at the opportunity?

Are Men at work forced to wear pants and shirt or conditioned to wear. Is police forced to wear the uniform or conditioned to wear? Is the clergy forced to wear the head gear or conditioned? Are we conditioned to eat medium rare steak or well done? Are we forced to eat the meals we grow up with any opportunity we get or we conditioned to?

A traditional American woman would be reluctant to wear a bikini in presence of her sons and brothers, and a conservative American father would not run around the house bare naked, where as a Norwegian or dutch would be comfortable with that... nothing is wrong or right about it, it is the level of comfort one develops or conditioned to. We can even label it conservative or liberal, but one has to be comfortable to be in either classification.

As with all habits, including the habit forming taught by Stephen Covey, it takes effort and conditioning at the beginning, but later on it becomes a practice, it become part of your daily living and personal or family culture.

The form of Burqa may have similar beginnings as Covey's habits and Muslim women are used to it now. The Shuttle Cock Burqa (Leftmost picture) is mainly used in Afghanistan and NW frontier of Pakistan, however you still see it co-exists in different communities here and there, I have seen that in India also. The dominant one is with an openable flap on the face in most conservative places. The very rural and very urban women across the world except in Saudi Arabia and Iran wear just the Hijab, a small piece of cloth covering their hair, it is simply a scarf. America and Canada is developing it's own fashionable clothing. Mother Mary wore full clothing with fully covered hair, it is a symbol of purity, the practice has continued in Islam.

Do most Muslim women wear Hijab in one form or the other? Yes, they do and do it out of their own volition with a few exceptions (please refer to the original article appended below) It is a symbol of modesty and they are comfortable with it. Even though I may not see the need for it, but as a pluralist and as person who believes in democracy and rights of individuals, I would not force any woman to wear or not wear, let it be her choice.

The fallacious assumption that she would drop it instantly if she had a choice, falls flatly on its face. Let's go back to our principle stand, and ask the same question to the liberals and moderates.

Men: Would you cut your hair short or long if you do the opposite? Would you change because some one tells you to, or would you retain what you have because you are conditioned to?

Women: Would you drop the Saree if some one tells that it is primitive and wear revealing clothes that shows you are on par with the society? Can a Hollywood girl tell you to drop the traditions and wear like them as they do on Oscar night?

Except a few, most working Muslim women have adopted to the environment, I honor them and also honor the right of those who want to wear what is good for them. You can wear a Saree, Burqa or a Skirt, that is entirely your choice.

Personally, I would like to see all Men and Women wear clothing that are modest, which would facilitate the person to focus on other's thoughts, talks, emotions and ideas rather than the appearance.


Mike Ghouse

------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Mike,

Thanks for sharing your interesting. I'd like your feedback on the following question: Your article seems to imply that majority Muslim women wear the "burqa" (or some modification). Is this really true?

And what is the basis for your statement that majority women who wear the burqa do so because they want to?

Aloha,
Saleem
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Allyternity,

I have always wondered about the "own volition" part of the wearing of the veil. Do women really do it on their own or are they conditioned to ?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burqa to no Burqa
Mike Ghouse, July 4, 2007


http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/07/burqa-to-no-burqa.html



Pakistani cleric captured under Burqa

By MUNIR AHMED, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 34 minutes ago
Security forces besieging a radical mosque in the Pakistani capital captured its top cleric Wednesday as he tried to sneak out of the complex in a woman's Burqa, and more than 1,000 of his followers surrendered.

But heavy gunfire raged into the night, and it was unclear if his capture would lead other hard-liners to give up the fight at the mosque.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf deployed the army to subdue the militants holed up at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, whose clerics have boldly challenged the government for months with a drive to impose a Taliban-style version of Islamic law in Islamabad.

The peaceful arrest of the mosque's prayer leader, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was a coup for the government. The firebrand Aziz has been a vociferous opponent of Musharraf and threatened suicide attacks to defend the mosque. His thousands of male students have been at the forefront of anti-government and anti-U.S. rallies.

Tensions exploded into a daylong battle Tuesday between security forces and militant students, some heavily armed and masked. Officials said 16 people died, including militants, security officers and bystanders. Mosque leaders put the death toll among just students at 20.

The government ordered the militants to lay down their arms and surrender by Wednesday morning as it positioned armored vehicles and helicopters around the mosque in a show of strength.

A security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists, said Aziz was captured when he tried to get away disguised as a woman, wearing a full-length black burqa, and a female police officer tried to search him.

The officer began shouting "This is not a woman," the official said, prompting male officers to seize Aziz. "The suspect later turned out to be the mosque's chief cleric," the official said.
An AP Television News cameraman saw plainclothes police bundling the gray-bearded cleric into the back of a car, which sped away.

Javed Iqbal Cheeman, an Interior Ministry official, said Aziz's wife, the principal of the mosque's religious school, was also arrested.

"The entire operation will end in further success, and we will be able to give you and the nation more good news," Deputy Interior Minister Zafar Iqbal Warriach said.

He said the whereabouts of the mosque's deputy leader, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who is Aziz's brother, was unclear. Ghazi said earlier Wednesday that "we will continue to defend ourselves."

Cheema said at least 1,100 people surrendered during the day, with some of the women in tears. All women and children will be granted amnesty, but males involved in killings and the top mosque leaders will face legal action, Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim said.
Cheema claimed that "not many more" people were left inside the mosque complex.
One who decided to give up, 15-year-old Maryam Qayyeum, said those who stayed in the seminary "only want martyrdom."

"They are happy," she said. "They don't want to go home."
Qayyeum said mosque leaders were not trying to stop students from giving up. But her mother, who had come to take her home, disputed that "They are making speeches. They want to incite them," she said of the leaders.

Over the past six months, the Red Mosque clerics have challenged the government by sending students to kidnap alleged prostitutes and police in an anti-vice campaign.
The bloodshed has added to a sense of crisis in Pakistan, where Musharraf — a major ally of President Bush — already faces emboldened militants near the Afghan border and a democracy movement triggered by his botched attempt to fire the country's chief justice.
The mosque siege sparked street protests Tuesday in the cities of Lahore and Quetta organized by radical religious parties.

On Wednesday, officials said a suicide car bomber rammed a vehicle into a Pakistan army convoy near the Afghan border, killing five soldiers and five civilians. In northwestern Pakistan, unidentified assailants fired a rocket at a police station, killing one officer and wounding four, and an explosive killed four people and injured two district officials.
It was not known if the incidents were linked to the mosque crisis.
___
Associated Press reporters Sadaqat Jan and Stephen Graham in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.

.____________________

International Herald Tribune.

Head-to-toe Muslim veils test tolerance of stridently secular Britain
By Jane Perlez
Thursday, June 21, 2007

LONDON: Increasingly, Muslim women in Britain take their children to school and run errands covered head to toe in flowing black gowns that allow only a slit for their eyes.
Like little else, their appearance has unnerved Britons, testing the limits of tolerance in this stridently secular nation. Many veiled women say they are targets of abuse. At the same time, efforts are growing to place legal curbs on the full Muslim veil, known as the niqab.
The past year has seen numerous examples: A lawyer dressed in a niqab was told by an immigration judge that she could not represent a client because, he said, he could not hear her. A teacher wearing a niqab was told by a provincial school to go home. A student who was barred from wearing a niqab took her case to the courts, and lost. In fact, the British education authorities are proposing a ban on the niqab in schools altogether.

David Sexton, a columnist for The Evening Standard, wrote recently that Britain has been "too deferential" toward the veil. "I find such garb, in the context of a London street, first ridiculous and then directly offensive," he said.

Although the number of women wearing the niqab has increased in the past several years, only a tiny percentage of women among Britain's two million Muslims cover themselves completely. It is impossible to say how many exactly.

Some who wear the niqab, particularly younger women who have taken it up recently, concede that it is a frontal expression of Islamic identity, which they have embraced since Sept. 11, 2001, as a form of rebellion against the policies of the Blair government in Iraq and at home.

"For me it is not just a piece of clothing, it's an act of faith, it's solidarity," said a 24-year-old program scheduler at a broadcasting company in London, who would allow only her last name, Al Shaikh, to be printed, saying she wanted to protect her privacy. "9/11 was a wake-up call for young Muslims," she said.

At times she receives rude comments, including, Shaikh said, when a woman at her workplace told her she had no right to be there. Shaikh said she planned to file a complaint.
When she is on the street, she often answers barbs. "A few weeks ago a lady said: 'I think you look crazy.' I said: 'How dare you go around telling people how to dress,' and walked off. Sometimes I feel I have to reply. Islam does teach you that you must defend your religion."
Other Muslims find the niqab objectionable, a step backward for an immigrant group that is under pressure after the terror attack on London's transit system in July 2005.

"After the July 7 attacks, this is not the time to be antagonizing Britain by presenting Muslims as something sinister," said Imran Ahmad, author of "Unimagined," an autobiography of growing up Muslim in Britain, and the head of British Muslims for Secular Democracy. "The veil is so steeped in subjugation, I find it so offensive someone would want to create such barriers. It's retrograde."

Since South Asians started coming to Britain in large numbers in the 1960s, a small group of usually older, undereducated women have worn the niqab. It was most often seen as a sign of subjugation.

Many more Muslim women wear the headscarf, called the hijab, covering all or some of their hair. Unlike in France, Turkey and Tunisia, where students in state schools and female civil servants are banned from covering their hair, British Muslim women can wear the headscarf, and indeed the niqab, almost anywhere, for now.

But that tolerance is eroding. Even some who wear the niqab, like Faatema Mayata, a 24-year-old psychology and religious studies teacher, agreed there were limits. "How can you teach when you are covering your face?" she said, sitting with a cup of tea in her living room in Blackburn, a town in the north of England, her niqab tucked away because she was within the confines of her home.

She has worn the niqab since she was 12, when she was sent by her parents to an all-girls boarding school. The niqab was not, as many Britons seemed to think, a sign of extremism, she said. The niqab, to her, was about identity. "If I dressed in a Western way I could be a Hindu, I could be anything," she said. "This way I feel comfortable in my identity as a Muslim woman."

No one else in the family wore the niqab. Her husband, Ibrahim Boodi, a social worker, was indifferent, she said. "If I took it off today, he wouldn't care."

When she is walking, she is often stopped, she said. "People ask, 'Why do you wear that?' A lot of people assume I'm oppressed, that I don't speak English. I don't care, I've got a brain."

Some commentators have complained that mosques encourage women to wear the niqab, a practice they have said should be stopped. At the East London Mosque, one of the largest in the capital, the chief imam, Abdul Qayyum, studied in Saudi Arabia and is trained in the Wahhabi school of Islam. According to the community relations officer at the mosque, Ehsan Abdullah Hannan, the imam's daughter wears the niqab.

At Friday prayers recently, the women worshipers were crowded into a small upstairs windowless room away from the main hall for the men.

A handful of young women wore the niqab and spoke effusively about their reasons. "Wearing the niqab means you will get a good grade and go to paradise," said Hodo Muse, 19, a Somali woman. "Every day people are giving me dirty looks for wearing it, but when you wear something for Allah you get a boost."