By Sumayyah Meehan, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

The Ramadan season in Kuwait is in full swing with shops being jostled by last minute shoppers and eager children. The whole country has taken on a new appearance with shops adorned with colorful Ramadan lanterns offering everything from sweets to special drinks for iftar. The air is filled with a sense of universal brotherhood, a united love for Allah and anticipation for racking up as many good deeds as possible during this precious holiday.

I have spent every single Ramadan, for the past eleven years, in Kuwait. I could not imagine spending Ramadan anywhere else but in a Muslim country. The feeling of this most pious occasion is simply amazing when you know that just about everyone in your community is going through the same hunger pangs and joys of breaking the fast as you are. I especially love the time just prior to the ‘Suhoor’ meal, which is eaten right before the time for Al-Fajr, or the Dawn, prayer. It is literally the middle of the night. Yet if I look out my window I can see that everyone’s lights are on! And I can smell the scent of delicious warm bread floating in the air and sneaking into my home through the open window. And when the adhan comes it is so loud that my windows actually rattle and makes me want to race to perform the prayer. I make it a habit to sneak a peek outside my balcony door a few minutes after the adhan every morning of Ramadan. The scene is just amazing! The streets are filled with grown men and young boys running down the streets with their prayer mats swung over their shoulders and swinging in the musky air as they head to the nearest mosque to worship Allah. Now, that is what I call one ‘Amazing Race’!

The iftar meal in Kuwait is a whole other matter! My doorbell starts ringing a few minutes before iftar every few days during Ramadan. Some of my neighbors in my building send delectable treats from their own cultures which fills my iftar table with an international feast featuring cuisine from countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Syria. I also try my best to include my own country, the U.S., on my neighbors tables by sending them funnel cakes, pumpkin pie and macaroni & cheese over the course of Ramadan. Inevitably I lose some of their dishes or accidentally break some in the hustle and bustle of cleaning up before the taraweeh prayers. Amazingly enough I have not gotten rebuked yet! But I won’t be surprised if this year all my neighbors send their Ramadan treats on PLASTIC plates!

One of the negative aspects of the Ramadan season in Kuwait is the advent of crimes that occur only during the month of fasting. Non-Muslims in Kuwait are required by law to respect fasting Muslims by not eating or drinking in public. Restaurants are often closed until after sundown and the ones that remain open cover their windows with heavy curtains. The punishment for breaking this law is the imprisonment of violators until Ramadan ends and then deportation back to their home country. Some poor non-Muslims expatriates actually seize Ramadan as a free ticket to go home. Often some will have picnics, in public, in the last week or so of Ramadan during the fasting hours. They inevitably are arrested and sent home which is just what they wanted!

Another crime is the incidence of begging. Poor GCC nationals’ often travel to Kuwait to beg during Ramadan. They will approach you as you get out of the car or ring your doorbell right before Iftar. Often, they will keep pushing the bell until they get what they are after. They make a ‘killing’ during Ramadan by begging for cash and the authorities are kept busy the entire month trying to stamp out begging. I have had many beggars land on my doorstep some of which have torn at my heart and others have given me a giggle! Whenever I find a mother with her children standing on my doorstep I always try to be charitable. But when I see someone who is clearly just taking advantage of the season I never open the door. Last year a woman rang my bell for over ten minutes. When I looked through the peephole she had a hijab haphazardly wrapped around her head with hair sticking out in all directions. It’s sad to say but some non-Muslims don the hijab when they beg because they think they will get more handouts from Muslims.

However, I must say the worst crime that occurs during Ramadan is price gouging. Grocery stores and specialty shops often raise their prices by 15-25% during Ramadan. This adds an unnecessary burden to families already struggling with increased rent and school fees. The public in Kuwait has no choice but to pay the outrageous prices to ensure that their cupboards and refrigerators are full to feed their families and Ramadan guests. As always, in Kuwait, it is hard if not impossible to ever catch a break.

Ramadan comes but once a year. Regardless of your location spend this month in devoted worship to Allah and in the arms of your loving friends and family. May Allah Almighty make this month a success for you and may all of your duas be answered!

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By Bob Wood, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

As I write this article on Friday, September 7, the stock market is reeling from the announcement of disappointing new job creation numbers for August. As you undoubtedly know by now, that number showed the first loss in monthly jobs for the past four years. What is surprising is, not that jobs were lost but, the apparent astonishment of those in the financial media who regularly offer positive opinions about the U.S. economy.

Doesn’t it seem that every time we hear some piece of bad economic news, the Bulls react with surprise to the reports indicating that conditions are not close to perfect? Yet, the Perma-bulls push back by citing a long list of economic data points that clearly bolster their case for a strong economy. Have you seen a pattern developing?

Why bullish promoters are so taken aback at what is occurring in our economy defies common sense. Anyone with the objectivity to simply look around at what has been happening should have seen significant problems in our economic picture.

How is it that the sub-prime mortgage meltdown comes as such a surprise to people touted as experts on the economy? Or that job growth would be affected, considering the miserable state of the housing market, which is one of the largest job creators in the country?

Am I the only one wondering why so many stock market promoters continue to recommend buying domestic large-cap stocks to the exclusion of much better performing emerging markets with their stronger economic fundamentals?

Let’s face facts: if I know that such factors spell trouble for the stock market, how can the media promoters not know? The way I see it, they should know more about the economy and how it works than I do. So where is the disconnect between what they know and what they are recommending?

Do you remember the old adage that helps explain what’s going on? “Do not expect a man to believe something when his paycheck depends on his not believing it.”

Let’s face it, people who work on Wall Street managing mutual funds have a job to do. Their job is selling stocks or shares in their funds. If they truly believe that the country is on the cusp of serious change of direction in the markets and admit it, that might be bad for business!

Of course, it may be hard for investors to believe that people working in the financial industry would appear on television and simply lie to the audience. After all, why would they lie? Who stands to gain from it?

But it’s not just stock market promoters endorsing issues they surely wouldn’t bet on as true. Our President recently called our economy ‘’the envy of the developed world.’’ To speak the truth, he might need to say that his government is essentially bankrupt and in need of infusions of over $2 billion/daily, just to keep the doors open.

Just yesterday, in an appearance on CNBC, one of Bush’s economic advisors smiled into the camera and pronounced that ‘’a strong dollar is in our best interests,’’ so that is the policy of the Bush administration. Let me say this: that is one big lie! Do you remember when John Snow, former Treasury secretary, proudly told us the same thing, as Tresaury offices were making plans to discontinue weekly releases of the broadest measure of the money supply, M3, in an apparent effort to hide how quickly the money supply would be increasing?

And we’re seeing more blatant manipulation of economic statistics, such as the latest job creation number. While the official number shows a loss of 4,000 jobs, the actual number would have been much higher without use of the statistical gimmick created by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the “birth/death model.’’ This number simply assumes that new jobs have been created somewhere else in the economy, based on how many small businesses have folded!

In a truly strong economy, this “statistic” might be a valid assumption. But in a weak economy, it is a real stretch. Without this “pumping up” of jobs numbers, several months in the past year would have shown negative jobs numbers. But did you see the reaction of the CNBC morning team, expressing shock at the negative number? How could they possibly think that our troubles in housing markets — and now in auto sales, too – would not, at some point, affect jobs?

Now, stock promoters are calling for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. While many knowledgeable people are predicting that doing so would be problematic for the value of the dollar, those calling for rate cuts see the falling dollar as the least of our problems. But if the dollar tanks, will they also express surprise at that development — when it is already so obvious to many?

Now that the U.S. has sold off our manufacturing base and all the good jobs that go with it, now that we have sold our national security for loans from global competitors to keep consumers shopping at the mall, where is our economy headed long term? To many of us, the future does not look good.

This country is deeply in debt; our currency is losing value steadily; and the cost of food, health care and other basic necessities is soaring. Yet we are reminded daily that these are all positive signs of a healthy economy. But how can they be?

We have also heard that tax cuts for the rich would stimulate the economy in ways that we could all share. That hasn’t happened, according to nearly two thirds of those polled recently by The Wall Street Journal; most think we are, or will soon be, in recession. Yet we hear repeatedly, almost daily, that those tax cuts are a good thing.

Based on what? That’s what I’d like to know! Absolutely no credible evidence shows that the tax cuts have done anything but enrich those who were already doing better than ever. Now you wouldn’t think we are hearing lies over and over again because the richest among us are doing so well under current economic policies, do you? Those wouldn’t be the same policies that appear to be running our economy off a steep cliff, would they?

And you don’t suppose those lies leading us into a disastrous war in Iraq were told just because the war has been so profitable for so many defense oriented companies, do you? Nah! That certainly seems like a stretch, though those same defense companies surely are not calling for a pullout of our forces in Iraq, are they?

Is it just my thinking that this much lying has a reason behind it? If it’s in the interest of helping the rich get richer, that may be all the reason needed. In another news item appearing in the latest Financial Times newspaper, I read that the fine folks at Goldman Sachs have made a fast $300 million from their investments in an in-house hedge fund that had run into trouble making big bets on sub-prime mortgages. The trouble is that this investment was meant to rescue the fund that has hit outside investors with a 25% loss.

Some things never change, do they? The business of America is — business, and that means more profits for the wealthiest among us. But when those profits come at such a steep price for the rest of us, someone had better start telling the truth — very soon!

Have a great week…
Bob

Bob Wood ChFC, CLU Yusuf Kadiwala. Registered Investment Advisors, KMA, Inc., invest@muslimobserver.com.

Journalist Mickey Alam Khan joins eMarketer

New York, NY–eMarketer has hired Mickey Alam Khan as editor in chief, a new position reporting directly to CEO Geoff Ramsey. Mr. Alam Khan will manage the editorial operations of the market research firm, leading the analyst team and overseeing more than 80 reports a year, as well as the content of the daily newsletter.

“eMarketer is continually looking for ways to expand and enhance its analytical coverage of the online marketing landscape,” Mr. Ramsey says. “We believe that Mickey, with his proven editorial leadership, deep experience in the industry and wealth of professional contacts, will help us deliver an even higher level of intelligence to our clients.”

Mr. Alam Khan brings to his new role the experience and knowledge of a career editing and writing about marketing and new media. He had been editor-in-chief of DM News, a top print and online weekly publication for direct and interactive marketers. Before running the newsroom, he covered interactive marketing, media, e-commerce and advertising agency news for DM News and its iMarketing News spinoff.

Previously, he had been a foreign correspondent for Advertising Age magazine.

“Because of emerging technologies and a rapidly changing online marketplace, companies have less time than ever to make savvy decisions,” Mr. Alam Khan says. “It helps them to have a resource like eMarketer, which aggregates, filters, organizes and analyzes data from multiple sources and boils the information down to its essence. Add the thinking of our plugged-in analysts and you have the tools to make smart online marketing decisions.”

Youngstown mosque opens doors for insight and education

YOUNGSTOWN, OH–The Masjid Al-Khair mosque held a open house last week to demonstrate the similarities between Muslims and people who belong to other religions, the Vindicator reported.

“We want the community at large to be aware that the Muslim community exists here and has for 40 years,” Saeeda Yasmin Ghani, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Youngstown said.

“We are peace-loving and ask that people not condemn the whole Muslim nation because of a few fanatics,” she said as the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., nears.

“That was a horrendous act … for which there was no justification,” Ghani told the paper.

Among the non-Muslim visitors at the open house were friends, Nancy Schulz of Canfield and Cathy Reinard of Youngstown, and Nancy’s daughter, Erin Kriss of Austintown.

“After all the stuff you hear and read [about Muslims], we wanted to come and learn for ourselves,” Schulz said.

“It makes sense,” said Kriss, after learning why Muslim men and women pray separately. She found it amazing that the Quran, the Muslim’s holy book, has never changed, while there are several versions of the Christian Bible.

Day of Service held in Alabama

HUNTSVILLE, AL–The Day of Service is held in Alabama each year to bring cultural harmony. This year a group of students from Catholic High School attended the Huntsville Islamic Centre as part of the observance, the Huntsville Times reported.

The students from Catholic High had been at the Islamic Center for about two hours when they took off their shoes and entered the prayer hall.

After a few minutes, the students were asked if they had any questions.

“We will tell you the truth.” said the man leading the session. “In Islam, we have nothing hidden. We would like to answer any questions you have. No embarrassment.”

At the back of the prayer hall, a girl raised her hand.

“How long do the prayers last?” she asked.

“Good question,” the man replied. “When you’re here, you might think about somebody who’s sick. It has to be short.”

Near the end of the morning, Nick Balch, a junior at Catholic High, addressed the crowd. He said he discovered “there were a lot more similarities than differences’’ between the two cultures.

“Will we invite our friends to come next time?” he said. “Yes, it was a good experience.’”

March in solidarity with Muslim scheduled for September 23rd

ANTIOCH, CA–The Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County is inviting all congregations to march in support of the East Bay’s Islamic community later this month in Antioch.

The event is a chance for outreach organizations to encourage tolerance after a fire this month destroyed an Antioch mosque, organizers said. The march and rally are planned for Sunday, Sept. 23.

The Islamic Center of the East Bay was the target of an arson fire Aug. 12 that gutted the building and caused an estimated $200,000 in damage. The mosque had been broken into and vandalized in three prior incidents this year. Police are still investigating the fire.

Participants will meet at 1 p.m. outside Antioch City Hall, 3rd and H streets, and march to the burned mosque at 311 W. 18th St.

For more information, call McGarvey at 925-597-9797 or Rahman at 925-727-4211.

Jewish, Arab groups launch joint internship

A Jewish-American and an Arab-American group are launching a joint intern program.

Students will divide their internship between Americans for Peace Now and the American Task Force for Palestine.

“Many Americans often assume that Arab Americans and Jewish Americans are at opposing ends of advocacy initiatives that seek to influence U.S. policy,” Rafi Dajani, executive director of the American Task Force for Palestine, said in a joint statement with Americans for Peace Now. “The truth is that there are silent majorities in both communities who share a vision of Israel and Palestine living at peace. Partners for Peace will give young people a chance to mobilize these majorities.”

Rally to shut immigration facility down

HOUSTON, TX–Protestors rallied in Taylor to shut down the Don T.Hutto immigration detention facility here. The residential facility incarcerates and detains families and children deemed to be “illegal.”

Protestors carrying signs that read “Free the Children,” “Toddlers are not Terrorists,” and “Shut Hutto Down” marched 1.5 miles from Heritage Park in Taylor to the Hutto detention facility. The march took activists through the mostly abandoned downtown, across railroad tracks, and through a neighborhood near the facility. The facility is located at the end of the Martin Luther King Memorial Drive.

A group called Free the Children has been organizing the monthly protests against Hutto. Next month’s protest will be Saturday, September 29th. The protestors also allege that Muslim detainees are being forced to eat pork at the facility as alternate meals are not available.

Provincial award for Canadian youths

BRAMPTON, CANADA–A group of Brampton youth dedicated to keeping the city clean and green has won a provincial award.

The Clean City Youth Ambassadors, a group of 20 youth in Grades 9 to 12, have won the 2007 Award of Excellence for Children and Youth. Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO) will present the award in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 28.

The ambassadors have spent the past two summers in city parks, picking up litter twice a week during the summer and once a week in the fall. The group of volunteers attends special events around the city encouraging others to put litter in garbage bins.

“Taking responsibility for the environment at such a young age makes these individuals role models for our youth,” said Regional Councilor Elaine Moore, who also chairs the Clean City Committee. “Brampton is proud to have the community represented by such an exceptional group of individuals.”

The ambassadors, who range in age from 14 to 18 years, include Asma Ahmad, Asma Khan, Faiyad Khan, Hanny Ali.

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By Geoffrey Cook, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

Berkeley–This piece is based on the perceptive Palestinian-oriented opinions of the Jewish-American, Anna Balter, who has been living for the past year in the occupied territories. Many of the perceptions of these musings are my own, though.

The contest within the Holy Region is a mixture of religion and cultural struggle. Progress is possible, but religion when it becomes exclusive, is most dangerous as we see in the Arab-Israeli context.

“I hope we [can keep] to our vision…[of] empowerment. Neutrality is not an option. Hamas and the suicide bombers avoid the meaning of violence. Our efforts to empower women to understand violence are often misunderstood by the opposition as

Terrorism itself! Violence has cut us off…from life. Yet “I can’t accept domination …Reconciliation has collapsed into despair!” The ridiculous sanctions against both Hamas and to a lesser extent the PA (the Palestinian Authority) are counterproductive! The cultural and environmental structures only encourage more aggression!

Power, when shared, can become a positive relationship! Along with the spiritual, we require a healthy economy and moral material advancement. We have to overcome the force of defeat!

Because of our Jewish-dominated media, America is ignorant of Ramallah’s efforts at peace. We assume all Arabs are hatefully violent!

“For reconciliation, we should make a pact with the present!”

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ROSEMONT: ‘Stand up and say who you are and be proud of it,’ he tells packed house

Courtesy Susan Hogan/Albach–Religion Reporter/shogan@suntimes.com

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told American Muslims gathered in Rosemont to think beyond voter registration drives.

“You need to run for political office,” Dean said Saturday. “The only way you can achieve your goals is to stand up and say who you are and be proud of it.”

Those in the packed house rose to their feet and applauded.

Dean was one of several prominent Democrats on Saturday to address the nation’s largest gathering of American Muslims. Republicans declined invitations, organizers said.

The annual Labor Day weekend gathering of the Islamic Society of North America is expected to draw up to 40,000 Muslims before it ends Monday.

It’s a family event full of spiritual and educational seminars. Saturday, many Muslims found inspiration from politicians.

“Be heard. Don’t be silent. Tell it like it is,” said Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress.

“If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. And you may be the villain in their story,” the Minnesota Democrat said.

Ellison, too, received a standing ovation.

While Muslims are changing America’s religious landscape, they’re being encouraged to find their political voice, too.

“There are people who want to see Muslims not only at the table but on the ticket,” said Malik Mujahid, president of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, which sponsored the “Take Back America Rally” involving Dean.

Nabeel Razzaki, a financial analyst from Portland, said many American Muslims became fearful of political participation after 9/11.

“I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I was scared,” Razzaki said after hearing Dean. “Now, I feel inspired to run for a local office.”

Muslims here say they share a common faith, but their religious and political views are hardly monolithic. Some want to concentrate only on local politics. By building slowly at the grass-roots level, the day will come when Muslims can influence the bigger races, they say.

But Omer Abid of west suburban Lyons said now, more than ever, Muslims need a voice in national politics.

“We can’t sit back. We must speak up,” Abid said. “The current president led America to war in Iraq, which was a huge disaster for the world. We can’t stay silent.”

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Cavium Networks, a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing for networking, communications, storage and security applications, today announced that it has received SonicWALL’s Supplier of the Year award for 2006. This award, which is provided annually to one SonicWALL supplier, recognizes Cavium for consistently delivering excellent product quality, timely delivery, flexible service and advanced technology during 2006. SonicWALL uses a wide range of Cavium’s products, including NITROX® security processors, NITROX Soho MIPS32® processors and OCTEON(TM) multi-core MIPS64® processors, across its various product lines.

“Cavium Networks is honored to receive this award from SonicWALL,” said Syed Ali, president and CEO of Cavium Networks. “We are committed to superior execution and customer service, while providing leading technology with the highest quality and reliability standards to our customers.”

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Ron Paul says martial law provisions in place to deal with economic discord

Courtesy Paul Joseph Watson, Prison Planet

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul says that attempts to rescue an ailing stock market last week, during which the Fed pumped in billions in liquidity, were merely a stop gap measure – and that an economic collapse is all but inevitable.

“They think that they can control it but eventually they can’t, as powerful as they are eventually the markets are more powerful,” the Congressman told the Alex Jones Show yesterday.

“The dollar can’t be kept in check because eventually it will come unwound,” he added.

“But I think the most significant figure we’ve heard in the last few weeks is the measurement between 2000 – 2005, the clear cut admission that real income has gone down, which is a reflection of the dollar.”

Paul explained that recent attempts to pump liquidity into the markets are only a temporary fix and that the long-term effects of doing so spell disaster for the economy.

“The dollar is plunging no matter what you read and hear about and no matter how hard they work to keep the bubble going the only way they can do that is creating more money….causing the dollar to go down even faster, the market seems to be reassured – there’s a contrivance to try to hold this together….but it won’t last, eventually it’s going to collapse,” said Paul.

The Texas Congressman cited the repeal of the Insurrection Act as opening the door to a declaration of national emergency and martial law which could be instituted for any number of reasons, including civil disobedience in the event of an economic downturn and a run on the banks.

“If in 6 months or a year there is total chaos who knows what they might try to do,” said Paul.

The presidential candidate also slammed the abolition of Habeas Corpus as a “very dangerous sign” that plans were being laid for martial law.

“Why would they change them (the laws) if they didn’t plan to use them,” concluded Paul.

Suspicions were raised last week when a mystery trader risked billions of dollars after buying 245,000 put options on the Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index, in effect a speculation that the market would crash by a third before September 21st.

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By Nilofar Suhrawardy, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

NEW DELHI – Even before the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has resolved the nuclear crisis, raging over objections voiced by the left bloc on the much-publicized India-US civilian nuclear deal, a new political storm has begun brewing. This refers to Muslim leaders having dismissed the hype raised by the government over its follow-up action plan on Sachar Committee recommendations as mere “tokenism.” While Muslims seem unwilling to be satisfied by such promises, till they are confined to paper, Hindu extremist parties have threatened to launch a nation-wide agitation if the government tries implementing the same.

Tabling the 15-point follow-up action plan in Lok Sabha last week (August 31), Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay said: “It is a historic occasion and it is a historic statement.” In its report, submitted to Lok Sabha last year in November, the Sachar Committee went into details about social, economic and educational status of Indian Muslims, and their low percentage of employment in government sectors. The committee also made several recommendations, including reservation for Muslims, to improve their conditions. Of late, Muslim leaders from various sectors had begun accusing the government for sleeping over the Sachar report and for not doing anything for development of the community. In an apparent attempt to silence such criticism, the government tabled the statement on its follow-up plan. Antulay told the House that the government has already issued guidelines to improve representation of minorities in government, public sector enterprises, public sector banks and other services.

In keeping with concerns expressed by Sachar panel regarding anomalies in representation of Muslims in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, a high-level committee would review the Delimitation Act, Antulay said. For 90 minority concentration districts, selected by government, which are backward in terms of various developmental parameters, the government has announced targeted intervention for improvement of basic amenities and employment opportunities. Besides, in 338 identified towns and cities where the minorities’ population is substantial, appropriate measures will be taken to improve deficiency in civic amenities and economic opportunities. In addition to opening more branches of public sector banks in Muslim concentration areas, efforts would be made to enhance priority-sector lending to minorities from the present level to 15 percent in three years, Antulay said.

In the educational sector, referring to three scholarship schemes exclusively for minorities, Antulay said: “A merit-cum-means scholarship for 20,000 students from minority communities for pursuing technical and professional courses has been approved already. The other two, a pre-matric and a post-matric scholarship scheme will be introduced shortly.” The corpus of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation will be increased and its operations expanded and streamlined. More schools, including ones for “girls only,” will be opened in areas with substantial Muslim population. The madrasa modernization program will be revised, with focus on ensuring equivalence of qualifications from madrasas for subsequent access to higher education, Antulay said.

Referring to Wakf-issue, in addition to government considering a comprehensive amendment of Wakf Act to address its deficiencies, there will soon be a suitable agency for development of Wakf properties so that the augmented income is utilized for purposes intended, Antulay said. There was no reference to Sachar Committee’s recommendation favoring reservation for Muslims.

When questioned about the government’s claim of having unveiled a “historic package” for Muslims, the general reply was that promises and proposals would remain meaningless till some effective action is taken to implement the same. Describing the government’s plan as a “political deception,” All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM), headed by former legislator Syed Shahabuddin said in a statement that this is nothing less than a cover-up for refusal of the government to do anything concrete for the upliftment of the Muslim community in a time-bound manner.

Criticizing the seven-page report as mere “tokenism,” Mohammed Salim of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said: “The Muslim community has been treated with tokenism since Independence. This is also one of them.” “We hope that the government would implement it in letter and spirit,” National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) Chairperson Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui said. “These are mere announcements. We will be satisfied when serious attention is paid to implementing them,” Abdul Hameed Noumani, spokesperson of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, said.

Describing these as “mere promises,” Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Ahmed Bukhari said: “It is one year since the report came. They do not want to do anything. If they wanted to, they would have done something by now. We will not welcome the report till something happens.”

While the Muslims are least likely to be satisfied till the government actually implements the proposals, Shiv Sena has threatened to launch an agitation if the government moves in this direction. Describing the follow-up report as “nothing but appeasing Muslims for votes,” Sena leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Manohar Joshi said: “A delegation of all Sena MPs, led by Uddhav Thackeray would meet the Prime Minister and apprise him of our stand on the issue. If the government continues with this appeasement, we will launch a wide-ranging agitation.” “We believe facilities should be given on the basis of economic status and to every poor person, whether a Hindu, Muslim or a Christian,” Joshi said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided last week (September 1) to form a committee under its former president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, to organize a countrywide agitation against the implementation of the Sachar Committee report on the status of Muslims.

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By Bob Wood, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

At the end of August, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush announced plans to help the U.S. recover from the worst results of the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Suddenly, both seem concerned about something that, a few weeks ago, they labeled as nothing more serious than a soft landing.

Earlier, the president had said that our economy ‘’was the envy of the rest of the developed world.’’ Isn’t it strange, so soon after that pronouncement, that he is now looking for ways to save thousands of home owners from the possibility of foreclosure?

Back in May, Bernanke said, “Importantly, we see no serious broader spillover to banks or thrift institutions from the problems in the sub-prime market; troubled lenders, for the most part, have not been institutions with federally insured deposits.”

Now with fallout from our housing bubble spreading all over the world, such as hedge funds in Europe and Australia blowing up and their shares becoming worthless, our leaders, inept as they appear to be, are now offering a renewed assessment of what’s to come.

How many times are we hearing panicked calls for interest rate relief from market promoters who, in the very recent past, were calling our economy ‘’just right, not too hot and not too cold; Goldilocks!’’? Now they are crying for an interest rate cut, or several of them, to ward off recession.

Isn’t it amazing that so many of our leading lights and economic experts seem surprised at how quickly the U.S. economy is looking nothing like what they’ve said it would be? Perhaps they have discovered that printing money at a record setting pace and lending it to anyone with a hand out might not be a sound, long-term economic policy, after all.

And now that free lunch that so many enjoyed suddenly comes with a cost, and that cost appears to be shocking many. How could all that great economic news suddenly take a back seat to worries of inflation, a cratering housing market and fears that consumers are tapped out?

Of course, many investors still tune into CNBC, looking for clues about where the U.S. economy is heading. There they find no shortage of promoters or government spokespersons who promise that the worst is almost over. And, naturally, the promoters have plenty of great stock picks to recommend, too. Given how poorly their previous calls and advice have fared, we could assume mounting reasons for skepticism. So this might be a really good time to consider other opinions about the future of the U.S. economy.

Plenty of people are willing to take either side of the debate about the health of our economy and the wisdom of buying stocks. For Bulls, too much of what the Bears have been telling us for the past couple years seemed extreme and beyond rational. But more and more, Bears’ predictions, such as harmful developments in the housing market, are proving right, much like their warnings about stocks, especially in the tech sector, a few years earlier.

For anyone predicting that the Nasdaq 100 would lose nearly 80% of its value after the market peak in early 2000, I’m sure a parade of bullish promoters on CNBC called them all sorts of bad things. I am equally sure that for any Bears predicting that the housing market would come to a standstill so soon after its high-flying days (that now mark the top in that market), the derisive retorts have been equally shrill.

So what are we now hearing from the outer edges of the Bear camp regarding the near-term outlook for our economy? I think considering this viewpoint makes sense, since what was considered extreme, almost irrational, pessimism just a few months ago doesn’t seem so far fetched now.

Let’s start with an opinion from a rather mainstream speaker, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a candidate for the presidency. In an August 28 appearance on the Alex Jones Show, he said that recent Fed attempts to rescue the mortgage and fixed income markets “were merely a stop gap measure – and that an economic collapse is all but inevitable.’’

Paul, a fan of real money, or currencies backed by tangible assets like gold, is as troubled that the U.S. prints money at an alarming rate, ignoring the consequences of flooding our economy and reserve accounts around the world with dollars. About the attempt to calm the markets with huge infusions of ‘’liquidity,’’ he says:

‘’The dollar is plunging no matter what you read and hear about and no matter how hard they work to keep the bubble going, the only way they can is creating more money…causing the dollar to go down even faster… the market seems to be reassured – there’s a contrivance to try to hold this together…but it won’t last, eventually it’s going to collapse.’’

Then we find Michael Panzner, author of Financial Armageddon, who writes, ‘’Meanwhile, newfound transparency in the wake of the unfolding financial crisis will expose a scale of fraud, corruption and self-dealing that many will find almost impossible to comprehend.

‘’Day in and day out, reports will surface about hidden losses, false accounting, inflated appraisals, sizable off-balance-sheet obligations, valuation discrepancies, unregulated offshore entities, phantom profits, insider trading, and businesses bled dry to enrich a few individuals at the expense of employees, investors, bankers and bondholders.’’

Next comes the opinion of author James Howard Kunstler, whose work can also be read at his web site, www.kunstler.com. (Be forewarned about his salty language before clicking on his site!)

‘’Terrible shocks are going to rip through the socioeconomic fabric of the USA as we turn the corner past these late summer doldrums. The fiasco of bad debt won’t be contained. The choices for those who find themselves financially underwater in the fall of ‘07 will be 1.) liquidation, 2.) bankruptcy, or 3.) destroy whatever remains of confidence in the US dollar in order to erase debt by hyperinflation.

‘’People holding power don’t like the first two, which translate into Depression (let’s make it capital “D.”) When a nation turns into a fire sale from sea to shining sea, and bankrupt citizens don’t even have enough cash-on-hand to buy things desperately cheap — well, that’s a Depression. Everybody from Fed officials to news editors have favored the softer term “recession” the past half century because it implies a mere pause in the inexorable march of progress toward economic nirvana. That’s not what we’re heading into.

‘’There will be so many assets up for sale across the USA in the months and years ahead that the very sun in the heavens will take on a K-Mart blue-light-special glow. Houses with miles of granite countertops, Maybach automobiles, cabin cruisers that burn thirty gallons of diesel an hour, and much much more.

‘’There will be so much slightly used (or barely “pre-owned”) stuff for sale that manufacturing another unit of anything (or importing it) will seem like a sick joke. Alas, there may be very few buyers, at least here among the current natives of North America. And so you get “new pricing,” and a deadly downward spiral.’’

To me, that opinion seems much closer to where we are heading than anything Bush or Bernanke have been promising for these past few months!

So the task at hand for investors is to consider which side will be proven right in the coming months. Do you believe what you hear from those like Bush and Bernanke, who say we’ll be over this speed bump in the road soon and that stocks are the way to go?

Or will you think long and hard about what Bears are saying, even those taking extreme views about where we’re headed? Try to imagine what will happen if you bet against the promoters like our government and Fed officials — and are wrong. Then, what if you bet the other way — against the extreme Bears — and are wrong?

In the first case, you’ll have sat on the sidelines for a few weeks or months while the markets head higher, but you will have preserved your capital. In the second, you may incur large losses as the worst case scenarios play out. Which side will you follow?

I’ve made my decisions and am more strongly hedged against a market fall then I have ever been. What you do is your call, but backing the bullish predictions of our government and economic leaders seems awfully risky to me, given their recent track records!

Have a great week.
Bob

Bob Wood ChFC, CLU Yusuf Kadiwala. Registered Investment Advisors, KMA, Inc., invest@muslimobserver.com.

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Bruce Lawrence to speak at Lakeforest College

Duke University Professor of Religion Bruce B. Lawrence will deliver a talk titled “Islam at the Crossroads: In the Media, in the Academy, at Home and Abroad” at Lake Forest College Sept. 9, as part of the College’s Sesquicentennial Lecture Series. Professor Lawrence’s presentation will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel. The public is invited to attend free of charge. For information, call (847) 735-6011 or visit the Web site at www.lakeforest.edu

Woman sues Orange County Sheriff’s Department

ORANGE COUNTY, CA–A Muslim woman from Anaheim has sued the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, alleging that her religious rights were violated when deputies forced her to remove her hijab, reports the Orange County Register.

Souhair Khatib, 33, was being booked into a county jail in connection with a probation violation when the incident occured. According to the lawsuit Khatib was seen by deputies and other men from her mosque without the hijab causing her extreme emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.

“For Souhair, to have her head uncovered in public – particularly in the presence of men who are not part of her immediate family – is a serious breach of faith and a deeply humiliating and defiling experience,” the suit says.

The ACLU later filed a public records request with the sheriff’s department, seeking a policy statement for religious clothing for the incarcerated, but were told there was no document, said Hector Villagra, director of the ACLU’s Orange County office. Villagra said he found that “astonishing” since the U.S. Department of Justice has a policy that allows Muslim women to have three hijabswhile in custody.

“If it can be accommodated in the federal system we don’t understand why it can’t be accommodated here in Orange County,” he said.

The suit seeks unspecified damages and a change in the department’s policy.

Professor Davis honored for paper on Islam and Economics

Nancy J. Davis, Lester Martin Jones Professor of Sociology at DePauw University, is the co-recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Article Award from the American Sociological Association’s Sociology of Religion section. Dr. Davis and Indiana University’s Robert V. Robinson were honored for their article, “The Egalitarian Face of Islamic Orthodoxy: Support for Islamic Law and Economic Justice in Seven Muslim-Majority Nations.”

In the article, published in the American Sociological Review in 2006 (Vol. 71, pages 167-190), the authors “test two theories linking religion and economic beliefs in predominantly Muslim nations using data from national surveys of Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” notes a synopsis of the work. “Moral Cosmology theory posits that because the religiously orthodox are theologically communitarian in viewing individuals as subsumed by a larger community of believers subject to timeless laws and God’s greater plan, they are disposed toward economic communitarianism, whereby the state should provide for the poor, reduce inequality and meet community needs via economic intervention. Modernists are theologically individualistic in seeing individuals as having to make moral decisions in a temporal context and as responsible for their own destinies. As such, modernists are inclined to economic individualism, whereby the poor are responsible for their fates, wider income differences promote individual initiative, and government should not interfere in the economy.”

It continues, “An alternate hypothesis, based on Islamic scripture’s discussion of economic matters, limits the effects of orthodoxy versus modernism to the one clear economic directive of Islam: the state’s responsibility to care for the poor.”

It is the finding of Davis and Robinson “that Islamic orthodoxy — measured as the desire to implement Islamic law (the shari’a) — is associated in every country with support for such economic reforms as increasing the responsibility of government for the poor, reducing income inequality, and increasing government ownership of businesses and industries.”

Minneapolis convention urges Muslims to follow the Prophet (SAW)

MINNEAPOLIS, MN–Attendees at the seventh annual Islamic conference at the Minneapolis Convention were urged to emulate the Prophetic example in all their affairs to live a succesfull life. Shaikh Abdilbary Yahya,Imam of the Seattle Mosque in Washington state, told the gathering that Muslim teachers especially have the call to propogate with humility the message of Allah to others.

Sheikh Yahya said it was incumbent upon Muslims who wish to teach the religion of Allah to emulate the Prophet’s way characterized by love and wisdom.

He said Prophet (s) was a successful teacher because he showed respect and love for his students. He was kind, showed humility, was merciful, desired best results from his listeners, used wisdom in his messages and did not scold or cane anyone, but treated everyone as “best friend [and] companion.”

Another leading Islamic scholar, Sheikh Hamdy El-Sawaf of Minnesota warned that if Muslims do not obey the guidance of Allah on matrimonial matters, the marriage institution would collapse leading to adverse consequences such as poor parenting and the disintegration of families.

Sheikh El-Sawaf, who has counseled many Muslim married couples, said available statistics in America today show that approximated 50 percent of all contracted marriages end in divorce. He said the emerging trend was troubling and Muslims, who have clear guidelines from Allah’s laws on how matrimonial and family relations can be sustained, should adhere to their religious teachings to maintain strong family ties.

Arabic school opens in New York

NEW YORK, NY–Khalil Gibran International Academy, the Arabic themed public school, opened its doors in New York this week amidst even as the controversy surrounding it refuses to subside. “We know that there have been lots of unfair attacks, but what people need to focus on, if they’re fair minded and balanced about how they see it, they will see the school that we see, which is vibrant, inclusive and focused on excellence in public education,” said Garth Harries of the Department of Education.

While there are 70 dual-language schools in the city, Khalil Gibran is the first to focus on Arab language and culture. The school has been met with plenty of opposition since it was announced earlier this year, the NY1 news channel reported.

The school has jumped many hurdles to open its doors. Some parents protested initial plans to have it share a building with an existing school in Park Slope, so the DOE moved it to its current home in Boerum Hill. Then, the school’s founder, Debbie Almontaser, came under fire for the clothes she wore, her connections to Muslim groups, and her downplaying concerns over a t-shirt with the word Intifada printed on it.

She stepped down and was replaced by a Jewish principal who speaks no Arabic, infuriating some parents.

“We want her back,” said Mona Eldahry, a supporter of the school. “It’s an outrage that she was in a position where she had to resign because of racist attacks.”

Khaill Gibran shares space with two other schools, but will be relocated to a permanent facility as is grows from just the 6th grade to, eventually, a high school.

On day one, there were 55 registered students – up from about 40 just two weeks ago. Education officials hope more students will sign up as the school continues an open enrollment.

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