Controversy could have been avoided by dedication to Muslim victims of 9/11.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks before the announcement of a commitment pledge at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York September 22, 2010.
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
President Bill Clinton has a unique genius, an ability to look at situations and clarify, understand, and explain them beautifully. This is a part of his unique and overwhelming political charisma, and the most recent fruit of this special quality of his is his analysis of the Park 51 project, known to opponents as the Ground Zero Mosque and by its original name, the Cordoba House project.
In a three minute Youtube video, conducted by Citizentube, Clinton answered a “call-in†video question regarding the Park 51 mosque. Clinton began by describing his “almost radical view on the 1st Amendment,†saying “I believe people should be free to practice their faith.â€
He explained the facts of the Imam Rauf’s plans to build a mosque close to Ground Zero, and acknowledged the tremendous sensitivity of victims of the 9/11 attacks and tragedy, and also acknowledged the fact that the repercussions of 9/11 continue to this day with continued military action.
On the legal issues surrounding the case he made a concise and extremely powerful argument that the decision regarding the mosque rests squarely with the local government in the vicinity of the mosque, and noted the fact that New York authorities have granted permission to Imam Rauf to build his community center.
Clinton shows a grasp of what escapes most Americans, that (1) Al Qaeda purports to speak for Muslims and purports to be doing its Islamic duty, and implicitly acknowledged (2) that Islam and other Muslims do not accept that Al Qaeda speaks for them.
What is so telling is that Clinton showed more wisdom regarding the Park 51 project than its own proponents, saying that “much, maybe even most of the controversy of this decision could have been avoided–and perhaps still can be–if the people who want to build the center were to simply say “we are dedicating this center to all the Muslims who were killed on 9/11.â€
Clinton pointed out that he had not heard anyone talk about that issue, and said “we all forget†that a lot of Muslims were killed on 9/11.
“If they were to do that, they would be sending several important signals–they would be saying, ‘not all Muslims are terrorists, most of us are far from it,’ ‘we died too, we share your pain, we are not insensitive to it,’ and ‘we recognize that Muslims were killed… or murdered.’
“We are dedicating this Islamic center to the memory of the people who were killed on 9/11, who share our faith.â€
If they did this, Clinton explained, many of the objections raised against the project would likely just wipe away.
He suggested that the center give the names of the Muslim victims, and say how many there were, suggesting that that fact would likely surprise many Americans, saying that many Americans still don’t know that a substantial number of Muslims were killed on 9/11.
“David, you’re sounding like an old dude!†Matt Flannery, who runs social-lending website Kiva, couldn’t understand when I explained that, no, I wouldn’t be keeping in touch with him via Facebook. “What are you worried about?†he teased in a break at the PINC conference in Holland. “Only old guys get worked up about privacy.â€
Well, Matt, I admit I’m the wrong side of 30, and that I still avoid using emoticons in formal correspondence. But let me explain why I’m not active on Facebook, nor sharing my credit-card purchases on Blippy, nor allowing Google Buzz to mine my contacts list, nor even publishing my DNA on 23andMe.com. My cautious use of the social networks has nothing to do with paranoia about privacy; and yes, I celebrate the unprecedented transparency and connectivity that these services can empower. But what’s increasingly bothering me is the wider social and political cost of our ever-greater enmeshment in these proprietary networks. Here are half a dozen reasons why.
1) Private companies aren’t motivated by your best interests Facebook and Google exist to make money, by selling advertisers the means to target you with ever greater precision. That explains the endless series of “privacy†headlines, as these unregulated businesses push boundaries to make it easier for paying third parties to access your likes, interests, photos, social connections and purchasing intentions. That’s why Facebook has made it harder for users to understand exactly what they’re giving away — why, for instance, its privacy policy has grown from 1,004 words in 2005 to 5,830 words today (by comparison, as the New York Times has pointed out, the U.S. Constitution is 4,543). Founder Mark Zuckerberg once joked dismissively about the “dumb fucks†who “trust meâ€. I admire the business Zuckerberg’s built; but I don’t trust him.
2) They make it harder to reinvent yourself “When you’re young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff,†President Obama warned high-school students in Virginia last September. “Be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whatever you do will be pulled up later somewhere in your life.†He’s right: anything posted online might come to haunt you permanently, yet all of us need space to grow. As the writer Jaron Lanier said in a recent lecture, if Robert Zimmerman, of small-town Hibbing, Minnesota, had had a Facebook profile, could he really have re-created himself as the New York beatnik Bob Dylan
3) Information you supply for one purpose will invariably be used for another … Phone up to buy a pizza, and the order-taker’s computer gives her access to your voting record, employment history, library loans — all “just wired into the system†for your convenience. She’ll suggest a tofu pizza as she knows about your 42-inch waist, she’ll add a delivery surcharge because a nearby robbery yesterday puts you in “an orange zone†— and she’ll be on her guard because you’ve checked out the library book Dealing With Depression. This is where the American Council for Civil Liberties sees consumerism going — watch its pizza video online — and it’s not to hard to believe. Already surveys suggest that 35 percent of firms are rejecting applicants because of information found on social networks. What makes you think you can control what happens to your personal data?
4) … and there’s a good chance it will be used against you Mark Zuckerberg would like to suggest that, in an ever more transparent world, “you have one identity — the days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly.†That suits his purpose — but in our multi-layered lives it’s just not true. A vindictive ex-partner, or a workplace rival, or a health insurer, or a political opponent, may selectively expose information to your detriment – powerfully re-framing your identity in a way you would consider dishonest.
5) People screw up, and give away more than they realise To understand how much personal information Facebook users are inadvertently sharing, visit youropenbook.org and search for phrases such as “cheated on my wife†or “my new mobile number is†or “feeling horny“. I’ll bet that most of the people whose intimate details you’ll get to read are unaware that their updates are being shared quite so openly. Have they genuinely given Zuckerberg their informed consent?
6) And besides, why should we let businesses privatize our social discourse? Some day you should take time to read those 5,830 words: it’s Facebook that owns the rights to do as it pleases with your data, and to sell access to it to whoever is willing to pay. Yes, it’s free to join — but with half a billion of us now using it to connect, it’s worth asking ourselves how far this “social utility†(its own term) is really acting in the best interests of society.
Don’t take my word, Matt — young internet users themselves are increasingly wary of the social networks’ use of their private data. A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project — a decent sample of some 2,253 Americans — found that 44 percent of Generation Y (aged 18 to 29) now limit their online personal information, compared with 33 percent of internet users between ages 30 to 49. And three-quarters of younger social-networkers have adjusted their privacy settings to limit what they share.
Call me uncool — but that’s a trend I’m happy to share with my friends. In person.
David Rowan is the editor of Wired UK magazine. He also writes The Digital Life, a monthly tech column in our sister Conde Nast magazine, GQ. This column originally appeared in CG’s September issue.
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The most prominent Muslim thinker of our generation born in Egypt in 1928 was buried in Southern California on September 11, 2010 leaving a void that is impossible to fill by his contemporaries. Dr. Fathi Osman bid farewell to our mortal world around Fajr time in his home in Montrose, California on Saturday, Sept 11. The author of more than 50 books in Arabic and English left behind his wife and daughter, a huge Islamic library and an unprecedented legacy that will long be remembered by those who came in contact with him.
He was my mentor, guide, teacher, and almost like a father. I sat at his feet for almost 30 years to learn the Quran, history, hadith, contemporary Islamic thoughts, intellectual trends and above all the etiquettes to acquire and respect knowledge. I cannot recall a single day when he was not in my prayers. What an irony that I could not make to his funeral even though I drove from Las Vegas to Los Angeles as soon as I heard the news from Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi.
When Dr. Siddiqi called me, it was 11:30 in the morning and I was heading to the Federal Court House building to participate in a Peace Rally that Muslims of the state had organized in collaboration with interfaith leaders. I had the choice to leave instantly to attend the funeral at 3 PM or to do what would have pleased my teacher. I decided to follow the teacher in standing for peace and human dignity. I announced the information to those attending the peace rally and offered the funeral prayers together with interfaith leaders. What a way to pay tribute to a teacher who was present even among those who had never met him.
I met Dr. Fathi Osman in 1981 when I moved to London from Jeddah, Saudi Arabic to join the newly launched Arabia, the Islamic World Review, a monthly English language magazine dedicated to Islamic issues. He was the chief editor and I was just a junior journalist. It was the first international Islamic magazine with its correspondents and writers from all over the world including Hussain Haqqani, now the ambassador of Pakistan in Washington, Alija Izzetbegovic, the deceased president of independent Bosnia, Dr. Muhammad Asad, the translator of the Quran, Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed, now the head of International Iqbal institute of Learning and Dialogue in Islamabad and Anwar Ibrahim the one time deputy prime minister of Malaysia. Arabia had a circulation in almost 120 countries of the world and it is perhaps the only Muslim magazine that was repeatedly banned in at least 38 Muslim countries for speaking the truth.
In the next 30 years, we would cross our paths several times even though Arabia was closed down in 1987. He invited me to join the Minaret magazine in Los Angeles in 1989 and in 2008 we both spent some six months in Pakistan on different occasions working on a project that focused on emerging Islamic thoughts in the world. During these years, we traveled together in England, Scotland and Wales as well as India and Pakistan as well as Malaysia and Indonesia. During these years, I worked with him on several of his books.
I still cherish the copies of his autographed books including the Concepts of the Quran, a unique book in Quranic literature.
Dr. Fathi Osman was a pioneer Muslim thinker in many branches of Islamic thoughts. His major focus in his last days was to highlight the distinction between the permanent and temporary in the divine message. He has almost completed this work. It would certainly be a revolutionary book in Islamic intellectual history and game changer. He is one of the few modern Islamic scholars who have passionately elaborated and explained the Quranic concepts of human dignity, peace, pluralism, democracy, freedom of expression, gender equality, interfaith cooperation and social change in an authentic manner collaborated with the Quran and sunnah of the Prophet. He is a modernist with deep respect for traditionalism and he is a traditionalist with a forward looking progressive thinking.
He is the first Muslim thinker in the last three centuries who advocated a jurisprudence dedicated to Muslim minorities. He was of the opinion that Muslims have lagged behind in making full use of the methodology of modern social sciences, thus, creating an intellectual gap between Islamic ideas and ideals and the modern concepts such as democracy, pluralism and human dignity.
Dr. Osman was a hafiz (one who memorizes the Qura) and well versed in hadith literature, Islamic history, Islamic law and Muslim’s intellectual trends. He taught in universities in different parts of the world including Algeria, Morroco, England, USA, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. His students include journalists, professors, social activists, politicians and rulers. For the last 15 years he was associated with the Omar bin Khattab Academy in Los Angeles and prior to that he was with the Islamic Center of Southern California. In his early academic career, he was an assistant editor of a magazine that was edited by Syed Qutb, a prominent commentator of the Quran.
Dr. Osman was a pious man who never missed a single prayer even in his days of serious illness. He was always ready to share his knowledge regardless of his health conditions. While in India in 1983, he would address three or four meetings a day to people ranging from young college students to Islamic movement workers in places far off from big cities. He spent some two weeks in the Indian side of Kashmir during that visit and never objected to traveling to small villages even if he had to walk for miles.
He was always cheerful, always optimistic and always patient in all kinds of adversities. In the thirty years that I spent with him, I never found him talking ill about anyone including even those who apparently hurt him. I remember an incident where what was owed to him by someone was not given. It was a big amount of money that was due to him. Yet he never said a single word about the person who had deceived him. His character was exemplary. I never found him angry or upset. But he was concerned about the quality of Muslim leadership. He was of the opinion that a leader ought to be a sincere and serious thinker besides being an activist. Leadership, he would always say, demands certain specific characteristics with knowledge and sincerity at the top. By knowledge he did not mean only the religious, but modern social and scientific as well.
He was always careful not to listen to those who would criticize others. I distinctly remember that he never encouraged me to say a negative word against others even those who he knew were hurting him. He would always advice me to remember that ultimate justice would be delivered on the day of judgment. He advised me to be respectful to those who are your adversaries and to be magnanimous to those who hurt you.
Seek guidance of Allah with patience and prayer was his motto. His simplicity, sincerity and commitment to Islam resembled that of many companions of the Prophet. I never found him saying anything that resembled expediency or diplomacy. He was a straight forward man. He would always speak the truth regardless of the consequences. However, he never hurt anyone, not even those who called him names. He was always respectful to others even to those officers who would detain him at the airport for hours and question him for his ideas.
He led a simple life. In a small apartment, he lived the last 20 years of his life. Even at the age of 82, he would spend hours in studying new books and thesis. Perhaps there is not a social science subject that is not represented in his library. In his house, you would only find books and magazines and manuscripts in his home. The furniture that he bought in 1990 is still there and the chair that would always sit to study is still there but empty. He was well supported by his wife Aida Osman, an educationist by profession and daughter Ghada Osman, a scholar of early Arabic literature, who were involved in his every intellectual endeavor. They too lived a simple life without demanding anything.
It is a harsh reality of our culture that unless a scholar belongs to a particular school of thought or a particular political or ideological group, he or she is not given recognition and acknowledgment for their intellectual work in his life time. Partisan prejudices has become so rampant in our style of work that independent scholarship is often rejected regardless of its value. people usually promote "their" scholars, "their" writers and "their" leaders as if Islam is a business enterprise. Even though Dr. Osman’s work on contemporary Islamic issues is a masterpiece, yet most Muslim intellectuals in America have not even heard of this work.
For instance, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the world famous translator of the Quran in English died and buried as an anonymous in London. He lived in London amidst Muslims for several years as almost a stranger. He was recognized by a priest in a London hospital who informed Pakistan high commissioner for the plight of this noble scholar of Islam. However, two generations later, his became the most widely read translation. Dr. Hameedullah Siddigi left the world quietly and now the Muslim community has begun to recognize his scholarship.
What Dr. Osman taught and wrote would also one day be recognized by the generations to come and then those of his generation or our generation would say, how come we failed to see his scholarship in our time. Dr. Osman is a scholar whose work would benefit those who, in in the word of Muhammad Iqbal, are working on reconstructing Islamic thoughts. Dr. Fathi Osman, though his writings, has certainly, ignited the spark that is necessary for the renaissance of Muslims. He would live in the social changes that Muslims would go through this century not only in America but all over the world. May Allah rest his soul in peace and give us the inspiration to respect the legacy that he has left behind.
Dr. Fathi Osman was also an adviser to the Muslim Observer.
The Islamic Center of Hatillo, one of several mosques that dot the island of Puerto Rico.
In the difficult climate and contentious debate over ground zero mosques and wayward pastors, it is heartening to hear of Muslims living on the tropical paradise of Puerto Rico who are maintaining exceptionally good relations with their local non-Muslim community.
This ‘Eidul Fitr, about 40 Muslim prison inmates were allowed to visit a mosque together in order to celebrate ‘Eidul Fitr in more religious circumstances than what they could do in their prison.
The imam of the AlFaruq Mosque, a Muslim community in Alta Vega, about 20 miles west of San Juan, Imam Zaid, explained to The Muslim Observer about the Muslim community in Puerto Rico, saying that there is a Muslim community in Puerto Rico of about 5,000 souls, about 3,500 of whom are immigrants, mainly Palestinian but with Lebanese and Egyptians among them. Additionally, he explained to TMO that there are “about 1,500 converts–about 300 converts inside prison.â€
The process by which this happened shows the mysterious way in which God works, since as Imam Zaid explains, “one Muslim or two Muslims were inside, and they kept propagating for the past three years–the work started from within the prison.â€
Then, Zaid explains, “capillanillas, churches, started to request our services†in the same way that Christian outreach groups organize Christian religious ministry to Christian inmates. “We taught them, gave them classes–that’s how the massive conversion to Islam began. We began with two or three here or there, prisoners talked to each other, that’s how people started to enter Islam in more numbers.â€
Imam Zaid speaks fluent Spanish and English. He’s also young, an American from Chicago, who moved to Puerto Rico about 12 years ago. Puerto Rico is a tropical paradise to which Americans can travel with no visa or passport; so with just a driver’s license people are able to visit–and this is in part why some Muslims have gone there.
Imam Zaid explains that “We asked the corrections department, which we worked with as religious people giving religious instruction–can you allow the prisoners to come out and be with us during ‘Eid celebration.â€
Speaking before the ‘Eid, Imam explained, “They accepted that–and not only that, before the ‘Eid, we asked for special arrangements for suhoor, and they accepted that also. Alhamdulillah it worked out, it was something beautiful for the Puerto Rican corrections system to adjust. We were allowed to have 40 prisoners coming out to our mosque–and the secretary of the corrections department will also do ‘Eid–he’s not a Muslim, but he wanted to show a good gesture, to participate.â€
“Puerto Rico is a very beautiful awesome island,†Imam Zaid said. “Allah has blessed this island with animal life, plant life. It’s very small, about 100 miles long, 35 miles wide. The population is big with respect to space, the population is about 5,000,000–it has the only rain forest in American territory, Alyuque.â€
“We have about eight mosques–it is a small community, and the community is spread out.â€
However small and spread out, it appears that the Muslim community in Puerto Rico has manifested the beautiful and peaceful nature of their island through peaceful and warm relations with local non-Muslims, and perhaps this warm relationship is one that we in mainland America can look to as an example during the time of controversy in which we find ourselves.
By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent
Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. ~Barnett R. Brickner
The blessed union of marriage, in many parts of the Middle East, has morphed into a whole other beast that is only a fraction of what it was around twenty years ago. These days, a fetching bride often carries an exorbitant price tag that few men can bear. Granted, just as thoroughbred horses have various degrees of worth, so too do brides carry their own value based on familial ties and wealth.
Kuwait, in particular, has seen an upswing in “spinster†females over recent years with Kuwaiti males often choosing to marry non-Kuwaitis for the sake of saving a king’s ransom in dowry. The bride’s parents are typically staunch in requesting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the groom for their daughter’s hand in holy matrimony. As a result of many grooms refusing to be “fleecedâ€, many Kuwaiti women are left with only two choices – to either marry a non-Kuwaiti or spend their lives unmarried.
In a bid to create incentives for Kuwaiti males to marry their female compatriots, a Kuwait parliamentarian recently proposed doubling the allotment that Kuwait men receive upon getting married. Kuwaiti grooms already receive more than $13,000 upon tying the knot with any bride of his choosing. However, the newly proposed governmental marital grant system recommends doubling that amount if the bride is also a Kuwaiti.
Under the new proposal, a Kuwaiti man can receive more than $27,000 if he marries a Kuwaiti woman. He can also choose to marry up to four Kuwaiti wives, which is in accordance with Islam, and receive the same amount of money per marriage. With over $100,000 cash up for grabs, and if the proposal is actually passed into law, a Kuwaiti man stands to profit exponentially from getting hitched.
The parliamentarian does have his heart in the right place in seeking to help Kuwaiti women get married and start families of their own. However, any time financial gain and even the possibility of love are mixed the result just might prove disastrous. With a divorce rate in Kuwait teetering at more than 50%, throwing a wad of cold hard cash at the problem may not be the right solution. Perhaps pre-marital counseling between couples or a governmental cap on dowries to make them more reasonable could best ensure all Kuwaiti women have a chance to walk down the aisle.
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian forces killed 13 protesters and wounded scores of others Monday in confrontations across Kashmir fueled in part by a report that a Quran was desecrated in the United States, a police official said. A police officer was also killed.
The violence, the worst since separatist protests erupted in June, came as Indian officials debated whether to ease harsh security regulations to try to ease tensions in the disputed territory.
Despite a rigid curfew clamped across the region, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, throwing rocks, torching government buildings and chanting, ”Go India, go back. We want freedom.”
Security forces shot live ammunition at some of the crowds, killing people in at least five different villages, said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with media.
While separatists had planned a new round of demonstrations following the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this weekend, the anger in the streets Monday was far greater than in previous protests over the summer. They appeared to be inflamed by reports on the Iranian state-run channel Press TV that the Quran was desecrated over the weekend in the United States.
Though a Florida pastor called off his plans to burn the Muslim holy book, the channel showed footage of a different man destroying a Quran in Tennessee. Most broadcasters around the world did not prominently report on scattered desecration incidents by a handful of fringe anti-Muslim activists in the United States; the Iranian broadcaster carried the footage repeatedly.
The protesters chanted ”Down with Quran desecrators,” and protest leaders denounced the alleged desecration in speeches to the crowds.
There were also shouts of ”Down with America” and ”Down with Israel” — rarely heard in Kashmir, where anger is normally only directed at India.
As the protests worsened, the station was removed from local cable networks at the insistence of Kashmiri authorities.
U.S. Ambassador Timothy Roemer said the U.S. government was ”dismayed” by reports of the rioting and appealed for calm.
He also condemned any Quran desecration as ”disrespectful, intolerant, divisive and unrepresentative of American values. The deliberate destruction of any holy book is an abhorrent act.”
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India was searching for a peaceful resolution to the summer of conflict.
”We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our constitution,” Singh said in a speech to top army commanders.
Singh’s statement came hours ahead of a meeting of top Cabinet ministers that is expected to decide whether to lift the Armed Forces Special Powers Act — which gives sweeping powers to security forces in Kashmir — as a goodwill gesture in parts of the territory that have been relatively peaceful.
Some government officials strongly oppose the move as premature, pointing to the flare-up in violence in the Himalayan region over the weekend as justification for intensifying the crackdown.
The region has been roiled for months by protests. The demonstrations often descend into clashes with government forces, and though Singh has called for the use of non-lethal force, troops have often resorted to firing on the crowds to quell the unrest. They have killed at least 83 people this summer — mostly teenage boys and young men in their 20s — with the deaths fueling further protests.
In the village of Tangmarg, troops fired on thousands of rock-throwing demonstrators Monday, killing five people and wounding at least 50 others, the police officer said. Earlier, protesters burned at least four government buildings as well as a schoolhouse in the town.
In Budgam, troops tried to disperse demonstrators with tear gas and baton charges but began firing into the crowd after protesters attacked a police station and the government forces with rocks, the police officer said. At least four people including a young woman were killed and at least 30 others were wounded, some critically, the officer said.
A policeman was also killed during the protests in Budgam after he was hit by a vehicle that then sped away, the officer said.
At least four other protesters were killed in three other towns, the officer said.
A doctor at the main hospital in Srinagar said they received at least 25 wounded with bullet injuries. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the government banned health officials from speaking to the media.
Anger at India runs deep in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both countries. The mainly Muslim protesters reject rule by Hindu-dominated India and want independence or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
The current unrest is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict that has so far killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.
Singh said the grievances of the youth of Kashmir have to be addressed.
”We have to ensure better delivery of services and generate avenues for economic advancement for the people of that state,” he said.
However, Kashmiris main complaints are not over economics, but rather the presence of hundreds of thousands of Indian troops in the region, the use of harsh security laws there and the lack of progress toward independence.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a key separatist leader, said lifting the security laws would not satisfy Kashmiris. ”We want end to Indian occupation here and have already laid out our proposal for initiating a dialogue,” he said.
This weekend’s violence began when thousands of protesters marched through the streets of the region’s main city, Srinagar, on Saturday following a special prayer marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Some in the group later attacked and burned a building housing the offices of the state police and electricity department.
In response, police accused separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had called for the march, of treason, further enraging protesters, who then stoned the home of the state education minister.
On Monday, with orders to shoot-on-sight any protesters defying the curfew, armored vehicles patrolled the streets and security forces used steel and barbed-wire barricades to seal off public squares and neighborhoods in Srinagar.
GRAND RAPIDS — As Americans today remember the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Rev. John Geaney — joined by religious leaders, including an imam — on Friday said too many "blinded by fear" blame entire cultures or religions for troubles in the world.
He cited the Florida pastor, Terry Jones, who ignited fury with plans to burn Qurans, and angry debate over construction of a mosque near ground zero.
"When will we be able to say to them, ‘No more?’ No more hatred. … No more blaming all Muslims for the terror of a few," Geaney said at his church, Cathedral of St. Andrew.
Religious leaders gathered for a "Community Prayer Service" to offer prayers to police officers, firefighters and paramedics on the eve of the anniversary of the terror attacks. Bishop Walter Hurley of the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids urged people to "work together to establish that peace and harmony that binds us together in various faiths and various peoples throughout the world."
The ceremony, which featured musicians and Catholic Central High School concert choir, drew fewer than 40 — mostly police, firefighters and paramedics. Hurley doubted that animosity toward Muslims was behind the small turnout.
The only negative response prior to the ceremony was an anonymous message that it should include burning Qurans.
The message of those who gathered was the most important, he said afterward.
"It’s just important to come together as God’s people here in Grand Rapids," he said. "The Islamic community is part of the Grand Rapids community."
Sharif Sahibzada, imam of the Islamic Center and Mosque of West Michigan, shared hopes for peace among all. He asked God to "grant peace to mankind" and provide the "ability to live, with love, harmoniously."
"Oh Lord, save us from … killing each other, and following in the footsteps of Satan … . Depart from evil, seek peace."
Bishop Walter Durham, of Praying Hands Ministry Church of God in Christ United, said he had strong hope in these "turbulent times," but worried that ideology divides too many.
"Unite in peace, not war," Durham said.
The Rev. Anne Weirich of Westminster Presbyterian Church prayed for protectors, and those who have lost lives in the line of duty. "May all of us remember what price our peace is won."
Geaney, the priest at St. Andrew, recalled the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who dreamed of children of all colors walking hand in hand.
"That dream is yet to come to pass," he said.
But he reminded that rescuers responding to the fallen World Trade Center didn’t consider race or religious beliefs in trying to save lifes. In that, and the country’s unity after the attacks, he saw hope.
"It is America’s destiny, I believe, to be the light for other nations."
I’ve been married for some years now, but that doesn’t stop me from taking the occasional stroll down the wedding aisle at Wal-Mart. Amid the cake stands, artificial rose petals and guest books is an assortment of hideous, no, excuse me, “funny†cake toppers. They depict ridiculous scenes of brides clubbing their grooms over the head, or dragging them to the altar. I’m sure these were made in good fun, meant to provoke a good chuckle, but I doubt the designers realize what they are suggesting.
I don’t blame the designers for making them, or even the store for selling them. They are just going along with the popular notion that men hate to be married and would only do it under duress. I blame the society that okays this thinking. We seem to think it’s funny to see a woman literally dragging her man to get married, forcing him to wear the “old ball and chain.†These depictions are meant only to make us laugh, but they shed light on the way our society conditions men and women to view marriage.
Women are taught to crave marriage, to long for the permanent commitment of a man who will always love and care for them. Men, on the other hand, are taught to see marriage as an absolute last resort, the one thing you do after you’ve lived your life and have accepted the fact that the fun part is over. It is this polarizing dynamic that causes some women to stay in unhealthy relationships and some men to sabotage them. This idea, that she absolutely needs him while he only tolerates her, attacks and ravages marriage as all the power is concentrated in one pair of hands.
There is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to get married. There is nothing wrong with a man not wanting to get married. There is something wrong, though, when these two people end up marrying each other. No person, male or female, should have to be dragged to the altar. If it pains a man that much to get married, that’s a sign he’s not ready. If a woman has to go through that much to get him to marry her, that’s a sign he’s not for her. The right man, the one you can establish a beautiful life with, will walk happily into marriage. The idea of it won’t scare him, and the actual act of it won’t feel like punishment. If a man really wants a woman, nothing can stop him from pursuing her. Know this when picking your mate, and know this when buying your cake topper (if you’re into that sort of thing).
–The previous essay can be found in Angail’s book “On All the Things That Make Be Beautiful.†Available for only $10 at www.nadirahangail.com
I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero.
I want it built on Ground Zero.
Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you.
There’s been so much that’s been said about this manufactured controversy, I really don’t want to waste any time on this day of remembrance talking about it. But I hate bigotry and I hate liars, and so in case you missed any of the truth that’s been lost in this, let me point out a few facts:
1. I love the Burlington Coat Factory. I’ve gotten some great winter coats there at a very reasonable price. Muslims have been holding their daily prayers there since 2009. No one ever complained about that. This is not going to be a "mosque," it’s going to be a community center. It will have the same prayer room in it that’s already there. But to even have to assure people that "it’s not going to be mosque" is so offensive, I now wish they would just build a 111-story mosque there. That would be better than the lame and disgusting way the developer has left Ground Zero an empty hole until recently. The remains of over 1,100 people still haven’t been found. That site is a sacred graveyard, and to be building another monument to commerce on it is a sacrilege. Why wasn’t the entire site turned into a memorial peace park? People died there, and many of their remains are still strewn about, all these years later.
2. Guess who has helped the Muslims organize their plans for this community center? The JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER of Manhattan! Their rabbi has been advising them since the beginning. It’s been a picture-perfect example of the kind of world we all want to live in. Peter Stuyvessant, New York’s "founder," tried to expel the first Jews who arrived in Manhattan. Then the Dutch said, no, that’s a bit much. So then Stuyvessant said ok, you can stay, but you cannot build a synagogue anywhere in Manhattan. Do your stupid Friday night thing at home. The first Jewish temple was not allowed to be built until 1730. Then there was a revolution, and the founding fathers said this country has to be secular — no religious nuts or state religions. George Washington (inaugurated around the corner from Ground Zero) wanted to make a statement about this his very first year in office, and wrote this to American Jews:
"The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy — a policy worthy of imitation. …
"It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens …
"May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants — while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid."
3. The Imam in charge of this project is the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.
4. Around five dozen Muslims died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Hundreds of members of their families still grieve and suffer. The 19 killers did not care what religion anyone belonged to when they took those lives.
5. I’ve never read a sadder headline in the New York Times than the one on the front page this past Monday: "American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?" That should make all of us so ashamed that even a single one of our fellow citizens should ever have to worry about if they "belong" here.
6. There is a McDonald’s two blocks from Ground Zero. Trust me, McDonald’s has killed far more people than the terrorists.
7. During an economic depression or a time of war, fascists are extremely skilled at whipping up fear and hate and getting the working class to blame "the other" for their troubles. Lincoln’s enemies told poor Southern whites that he was "a Catholic." FDR’s opponents said he was Jewish and called him "Jewsevelt." One in five Americans now believe Obama is a Muslim and 41% of Republicans don’t believe he was born here.
8. Blaming a whole group for the actions of just one of that group is anti-American. Timothy McVeigh was Catholic. Should Oklahoma City prohibit the building of a Catholic Church near the site of the former federal building that McVeigh blew up?
9. Let’s face it, all religions have their whackos. Catholics have O’Reilly, Gingrich, Hannity and Clarence Thomas (in fact all five conservatives who dominate the Supreme Court are Catholic). Protestants have Pat Robertson and too many to list here. The Mormons have Glenn Beck. Jews have Crazy Eddie. But we don’t judge whole religions on just the actions of their whackos. Unless they’re Methodists.
10. If I should ever, God forbid, perish in a terrorist incident, and you or some nutty group uses my death as your justification to attack or discriminate against anyone in my name, I will come back and haunt you worse than Linda Blair marrying Freddy Krueger and moving into your bedroom to spawn Chucky. John Lennon was right when he asked us to imagine a world with "nothing to kill or die for and no religion, too." I heard Deepak Chopra this week say that "God gave humans the truth, and the devil came and he said, ‘Let’s give it a name and call it religion.’ " But John Adams said it best when he wrote a sort of letter to the future (which he called "Posterity"): "Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it." I’m guessing ol’ John Adams is up there repenting nonstop right now.
Friends, we all have a responsibility NOW to make sure that Muslim community center gets built. Once again, 70% of the country (the same number that initially supported the Iraq War) is on the wrong side and want the "mosque" moved. Enormous pressure has been put on the Imam to stop his project. We have to turn this thing around. Are we going to let the bullies and thugs win another one? Aren’t you fed up by now? When would be a good time to take our country back from the haters?
I say right now. Let’s each of us make a statement by donating to the building of this community center! It’s a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization and you can donate a dollar or ten dollars (or more) right now through a secure pay pal account by clicking here. I will personally match the first $10,000 raised (forward your PayPal receipt to webguy@michaelmoore.com). If each one of you reading this blog/email donated just a couple of dollars, that would give the center over $6 million, more than what Donald Trump has offered to buy the Imam out. C’mon everyone, let’s pitch in and help those who are being debased for simply wanting to do something good. We could all make a huge statement of love on this solemn day.
I lost a co-worker on 9/11. I write this today in his memory.
"The man who speaks of the enemy / Is the enemy himself."
Syria (Damascus) – Syrian is encouraging French investor to set up new tourism projects in the country, Global Arab Network learned.
Syrian Minister of Tourism Saadallah Agha al-Qalaa discussed with a delegation of Accor French Company means of cooperation in tourism investment and hotel management, reports the State-run News Agency.
Minster Agha al-Qalaa underlined the importance of holding more investments in Syria by international companies to develop tourism industry and to match up with the under-implementation new tourism projects.
He called for developing the work mechanism of hotels’ management in various governorates to meet the requirements of the cultural, religious and the internal tourism in Syria.
He indicated that his Ministry will launch several promotion and advertising campaigns at the most important streets and squares of some European countries on the sidelines of its participation in several international tourism expos.
For his part, Head of the delegation, Regional Director of Accor Company in the Middle East Christophe Landias lauded the great developments witnessed by tourism industry in Syria, expressing his Company’s desire to expand its investments in the country in light of that progress and the recent measures which allowed the international companies to enter the Syrian market.
Earlier, the Syrian Ministry of Tourism launched a promotion and advertising campaign for Syria at the main streets and squares of Madrid and Barcelona in Spain to highlight Syria’s cultural image as one of the most important tourist destinations in the world.
Algeria (Algiers) – A delegation of about fifty American businessmen to visit Algeria from 25 to 30 September, seeking investment opportunities in the country, Global Arab Network reports learned.
Algerian Embassy in Washington told media that the six-day trade mission, organized by jointly by the embassy and US-Algeria Business Council (USABC), will offer a great opportunity for US companies operating in the sectors of pharmaceutical industries, food-processing, building, water resources, information and communication technologies (ICTs), engineering services, transports, hydrocarbons, renewable energies, as well as vocational training regarding business management.
US Trade Mission to Algeria will be led by Mr. Paul Mikolashek, Chairman of the US-Algeria Business Council and Vice President of Raytheon International who states: "This year’s US Trade Mission to Algeria offers a great opportunity for US companies to seek new markets for our products and services. Algeria continues to show promise as a destination for US investment and a market for American products and has announced its increased interest expanding mutually beneficial business relationships. I welcome all of you to join me and the USABC team to take advantage of these two events and conduct a board meeting in Algiers during this period, enabling our Algerian members to more fully participate. I encourage to register soon and also encourage other associates to consider participating as well."
The 2010 US Trade & Investment Mission to Algeria is the third annual trade mission of its kind.
According to US-Algeria Business Council, HH Abdallah Baali, Ambassador of Algeria to the United States, remains a key supporter of these trade missions and his ongoing support and leadership have secured numerous high-level meetings for the US delegates participating in the trade missions. The Embassy of Algeria in Washington, DC, under the Ambassador’s leadership, plays a key role in the organization of these trade missions.
The US-Algeria trade relationship is dynamic and each year the trade volume between the two countries increases. Recently Algeria ratified a law concerning US-Algeria trade that will change the way Algerian importers pay for goods.
According to the Ordinance n°9-01 – 29 Rajab 1430, all future transactions for the payment of goods must be conducted by letter of credit. Additionally all imported goods must be new.
Smoke filled the blue skies of New York. Two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, where international businessmen united. Another plane hit the Pentagon, a government building in Washington D.C.
People were running out of crowded exits, covering their mouths from the ash that fell from the sky. Others were jumping from multi-story floors, much like millions on the Great Depression.
Social activist Zain Shamoon had been watching it all on a TV set on September 11, 2001. Others were watching him.
Looking back, the grad student at Michigan State University remembers his then first few days at Novi High School. An upperclassman he had never met, and can’t remember anything about, stuck his foot in Zain’s face as he sat cross-legged in its glossy hallways, waiting for class to admit students.
He was ready to stomp Zain’s face. “Arab,†he muttered to the American-born Pakistani student, as he walked away.
The hardest part is not knowing what would happen next, Zain remembered.
Not knowing, “How your friends will react, how people are; If people are going to back you up, and what can you say and not,†he said.
Zain stuck out like a sore thumb in “white suburbia,†with his unruly black hair, scruffy facial hair and brown skin. He could count off those who shared his ethnicity or religion.
“In a weird way 9/11 gave me a space to decide for what I’m not, who I wanted to be, in terms of my Islamic identity,†Zain said nine years later.
With his lean 5’9 figure, Zain takes a quick look in the mirror and puts on one of his signature scarves, a self-definition piece, over a casual shirt and dark blue jeans before leaving his shared apartment in East Lansing. On some days, he wears the Palestinian Keffiyah, with its striking white background and outstanding black boxy lines symbolizing Palestinian heritage.
He does not share the tradition but he wears it to contribute to one thing; intolerance for injustice.
Zain grabs his laptop bag and planner to begin his 14-hour shift; bouncing back and forth among research studies, doing therapy as an intern at the Human Development and Family Studies, with a specialty in marriage and family therapy at the university. Last semester he lead and directed meetings for the student organizations, Peace Over Prejudice’s “Tunnel of Oppression,†and regularly attended the MSU Poetry Slam team he co-founded in 2007 during his undergrad years.
Born in Royal Oak to parents Ulfat Shamoon and Allah Shamoon, Zain is the youngest of three children – with brother Zafar 13 years his senior and sister Sonia, a decade older.
The Shamoon’s moved to Novi while Zain was young, to get away from their South Asian social bubble and mosque politics.
“My dad didn’t want me to be socialized in that environment. He wanted us to get a good education,†Zain said, about his workaholic father who does management in social work.
That’s exactly what Zain did.
Mother Ulfat said Zain was always a happy baby who loved people and told the truth.
Although Zain’s Pakistani parents spoke Urdu at home and practiced Islam, Ulfat said she never forced religion or culture on her children.
Zain craved to learn Urdu, and Arabic, the tongue of the Quran, more than his siblings.
While the siblings didn’t share a taste for culture, sister Sonia and Zain shared a passion for helping others through psychology.
Sonia, 32, who also graduated from Michigan State University, worked as a social worker in Greater Chicago when Zain called her during his sophomore year, debating whether he could continue studying pre-med.
“I can’t do this. I don’t like the classes,†said Zain, who was pursuing a psychology degree with a bachelor of science. Zain began taking various classes, including theatre, which would later help him express himself.
His sister convinced him to talk to their dad and change his major.
“Abbu is not going to take away your tuition. Why are you even going to school then?†Sonia told Zain, he said.
His parents wanted him to be comfortable with his career plans, Zain said.
Ulfat said Zain was reasonable about his career change; he didn’t have a passion for medicine.
“Since that day we figured he should do what pleases him,†she said.
During junior year in his undergraduate studies, Zain’s grades skyrocketed in theatre and English classes, along with his relationship with his father. He was starting to become himself.
Zain had a quest, to fight off anything that stopped him from succeeding.
His job entailed reversing the smart brown-kid stereotype and simultaneously putting a halt on the South Asian Muslim community’s unnatural production of doctors and engineers.
Zain is pursuing a Masters in marriage and family therapy, putting in 300 hours of counseling before he signs up for a PhD in human development in family services and another 700 hours to tackle the Muslim community’s biggest secret: family problems.
Domestic violence, double-standards against women and misconceptions in the media about Islam are on his list of to-fix.
Muslim people feed into the stereotypes or stay quiet about them, Zain said.
“It’s very understandable where they [media] get these misconceptions from,†he said.
Zain said there are not enough people speaking out or professionally pursuing these topics.
Friend and former roommate Raheem Hanifa said Zain has a strong personality and he always speaks his mind.
“Because of his passion and concern for social issues, he is going into a field where few Muslims go. He is showing young Muslims that it’s not necessary for them to not go into typical fields such as medicine, engineering to fit in or live up to some false standard, but that you should go into a field because you believe you can make a positive impact on society,†Hanifa said.
Ulfat said Zain has had a zeal to overcome injustice since childhood.
“He will either do something or say something against it,†she said.
Hanifa said Zain is “unafraid to tell the truth and immediately speaks out against any type of hate speech and words demeaning any group of people.â€
When Zain is not doing research, therapy or hanging out with the boys, he is putting together another piece of him: poetry and rap.
It’s 2 a.m. Zain’s hands begin to twitch, his head is about to explode with ideas. He has to scribble them down before they vanish.
Zain is not a poet who sits for long sessions and writes out his thoughts. For him the thoughts come and go. When a new idea comes, it consumes him and he contemplates how to make it best-fit the situation and environment.
His heart never fails to stop beating at the hatred against injustice, a pain he cannot bear nor holds to himself. Injustice burns his blood. He needs to squeeze it out.
On May 21, 2008 Zain did just that, as he walked up to the black and silver mike, and tugged on his simple black baseball hat, which he wore backwards. His black scarf, green Michigan State T-shirt and light-blue jeans sported his on-the-go look.
He lets the words pump through him. He pauses. He relaxes. His body releases words: “Extra extra read all about it, women were disserted, left and oppressed. Islam is what took them out of distress…and media gives us much deception, if some do wrong and make connection, equate abuse with Islam? They need correction!,†he said as his hands waved, his eyes closed as the words escaped him.
“Special,†the tie-breaker poem about women’s rights, landed him first place in a local poetry competition, “Voice For Change,†sponsored by the Muslim American Society to encourage youth to listen to and impact positive entertainment.
As Detroit’s winner, he did an opening act in front of thousands for a national tour of Outlandish, a Danish multi-faith pop-culture music group.
Friend Bashir Hakim, 22, said Zain gets emotionally involved in the pieces he does. Hakim, who is the practice dummy before Zain’s performances, has heard most of Zain’s pieces.
“A lot of people can relate to the positive things he talks about,†Hakim said of the friend he’s known for four years.
“He uses his talent to tackle those issues,†he said.
Wayne State grad student, Reem Abou-Samra said Zain is the mastermind behind MAS Detroit Youth’s Expressions group, a faith-based community group which encourages the youth to speak out about their problems. He knows what the youth need, she said.
“During his performances he fluctuates his voice in all the right places and uses stories people can relate to even if they are not poetically inclined,†says Abou-Samra.
Zain says his role models are civil rights’ leaders Prophet Muhammad and Malcolm X.
Peace Over Prejudice, a coalition of organizations built in response to hate groups on Michigan State University’s campus, is another outlet Zain uses to express himself. The group was created to build a positive atmosphere to convey equality among different student groups, what Zain identifies as “promoting love and justice.â€
In the Tunnel of Oppression, an annual show put on by the student group, Zain uses his acting skills to show people in society stereotypes of racial discrimination, homophobia, Islamophobia, domestic violence and this year – worldwide genocide.
Nada Zohdy, one of the first founders of the group said, Zain gives constructive criticism to uphold the group, which has deteriorated from its core group since its start in 2007.
“He is willing to let people know what he thinks is working and isn’t working, and how we can be more effective in what we can accomplish together,†she said.
Zain sees himself working with the youth or teaching in the future.
The grad student hopes to get married while completing his education.
While his parents’ say he can chose the girl, Zain says the matter is up to Allah.
In the presence of the Board of Trustees and Executive Council of the Pakistan Association of Greater Houston (PAGH), Congressman AL Green addressed the community media, including Pakistan Chronicle, Pakistan Journal, Houston Chronicle, Pakistan News, Muslim Observer, and Geo TV-&-Jang-Pakistan, about the consistent and continuing efforts of the Houstonian Community to assist the humanity in dire needs in Pakistan.
Present on this occasion at Pakistan Center located at 12638 Bissonnet Houston (off South Dairy Ashford) were President of PAGH Khalid Khan, Counsel General of Pakistan in Houston Honorable Mohammad Aqil Nadeem, Badar Refaei, Mian Nazir, Tariq Khan, Ghulam Bombaywala, Nargis Fatima, Mian Shabbir, Taslim Siddiqui, Jameel Siddiqui, Gul Sahab, and Manzoor Sahab.
President PAGH Khalid Khan informed that PAGH has already shipped two containers via PIA and things have already reached in Pakistan and distributed through two credible NGOs.
“We are grateful to Congressman AL Green for his untirimng efforts for the people and support of Pakistan,†added Khalid Khan.
“I have written a special letters endorsed by other congresspersons, asking President Obama to continue supporting Pakistan in these disastrous times of need after the unprecedented floods. I urge all my constituents and all Americans to open their hearts and donate generously in-kind or by cash for the victims of Pakistani Floods,†informed Congressman AL Green.
From Pakistan Center, Congressman AL Green went two blocks down to 11955 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77099, to the In-Kind Donation Center of Helping Hand For Relief & Development (HHRD), and helped in the loading of the fourth 40-Feet Container for Pakistan. He was greeted by ILyas Hasan Choudry and Maaz Adil of HHRD and informed him that HHRD will be sending almost $1-Million In-Kind Stuff from Houston, which will cost them $25,000 via sea and will reach the affected people in 45 days. People have donated for sending the In-Kind Donation as well.
Since the catastrophe has displaced 20-Million people and with 114,000 mud homes totally destroyed, these people will need these things being sent by sea containers for several months to come.
Congressman AL Green was happy to see the amount of support from the community and said these effort need to continue for long term recuperation work in Pakistan.
One can visit www.ReliefForPakistan.Org for more information.
Dr. Ali Khan, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at ECSU
Dr. Ali A. Khan is the provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Elizabeth City State University. He formerly served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Dr. Khan has 29 years of extensive experience in teaching, research, and administration at ECSU and has played an active role in the educational leadership of northeastern North Carolina. During his career at ECSU, Dr. Khan has held various positions as a teacher and mentor in the School of Mathematics, Science and Technology and as an administrator: Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs,Interim Dean for the School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Director of Summer School Director of Weekend/Evening, Continuing Education, Graduate Studies, and Pharmacy Programs.
Dr. Khan has served as the Director/Coordinator for many externally funded programs such as: Extramural Associate Research Development Award (EARDA), NIH; Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), NSF; Critical Thinking Through Technology (CTTT), MSEIP, DOE; Health Career Opportunity Program (HCOP), DHHS; Capacity Building and Global Seminar, USDA; and GEAR-UP North Carolina (UNC-GA). Through these federally/state funded projects, he was been instrumental in securing more than 2 million dollars for the institution.
In recognition of his outstanding service and performance, Dr. Khan received the 2005 Tom Joyner Award for Hardest Working Faculty.
Dr. Khan holds a B.S. degree in pharmacy and a M.S. degree in pharmacy from the University of Dhaka and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Grenoble, France.
Florida Jewish, Muslim students unite to combat bigotry
BOCA RATON, FL–Away from the shenanigans of hate mongers a group of Muslim and Jewish students are charting their own course in promoting interfaith understanding, NBC reported.
The Jewish Student Union and the Muslim Student Organization at Florida Atlantic University held a conference Monday.
Both organizations read passages from the Qur’an and Torah that reflect similarities between the two faiths.
The meeting was in response to a Gainsville, Florida pastor that had planned to burn Korans on September 11th.
Rabbi David Steinhardt of the B Nai Tora and Imam Musab Abdulhakeem of Nur-Ul-Islam Academy led the discussion. Steinhardt said, “I think we can agree and we can agree to disagree, but we can do it in a spirit of respect, honor and fellowship.â€
These two groups say holding this event was still needed even though the burning was cancelled.
Monah Hassan, president of the FAU Muslim Student Organization said, “Whether they were going to do it or not is not really the question. The real question is the act of hate has already been promoted in the hearts of people out there to go ahead and burn a book.â€
Lauren Heyman of the FAU Jewish Student Union said, “Bridge that communication on campus and from the connections on a college campus, starting small, so in the future there can be less hated in the world if you start with our generation.â€
Kentucky church reads Qur’an as a mark of respect
WOODFORD,KY–Morning services at the New Union Christian Church in Woodford County took on a different tone, last Sunday, as Minister Nancy Jo Kemper decided she wanted to give some special attention to the national story making headlines involving the burning of the Quran.
“I wanted to have him because there’s been so much media coverage of people hostile to Islam to just say we may not agree, but we respect Islam and we want to respect your sacred text,†said Kemper.
Mehmet Saracoglu, founder of the group on UK’s campus, the Interfaith Dialogue Organization read some passages from the Quran, with the hope to let church members know he and other Muslims are just like them.
Kemper say’s she hopes her members learned some meaningful knowledge during sunday’s service and take back a new outlook on Islam and the Muslim culture.
Reno church gives flowers to Muslims
RENO,NV–On Eid day members of the Summit Christian Church in Spanish Springs presented a gift of flowers to members of the Northern Nevada Muslim Cultural Center.
It was a move well-meant and well-received.
“It really means a lot. We were very, very touched,†said Rafik Beekun, a member of the Muslim center’s board of directors. “It’s beautiful.â€
The decision to send flowers — followed by an e-mail and phone campaign to encourage other churches around the country to follow suit — was made by some members of the congregation a few days back, said Roger Yount, pastor of Summit Christian Church.
There might be differences between the two faiths and those that follow them, but it just seemed like the right thing to do, Yount said.
Amanda Hall, a newly converted Muslim, said she appreciated the gift of flowers to the Muslim center and the spirit that prompted it.
“I think it’s thoughtful,†Hall said. “It’s a good will kind of thing, that people don’t have that animosity. “We have to be tolerant of each other.â€
Muslim shop robbed in Columbus OH
COLUMBUS, OH– A Muslim owned shop was robbed and vandalized last week. The robbers not only robbed but spray painted the business.
“They sprayed, with black color, ‘9/11’ on the window blinds two times and on the counter,†one of the friends of the owners said to NBC 4.
Along with the spray-painting, the front door and cooler doors were smashed, a laptop was stolen and cash was taken from the register.
“We filed a report, and we’re hoping someone would come in and take fingerprints, but it didn’t happen,†the friend said.
Columbus police filed the break-in as a burglary, but officers also noted on the report that a threat was made.
“It is too sad that it happened because, I mean, we shouldn’t get to the point where we start making religion an issue,†the friend said.
By Rachel Lenzi rlenzi@mainetoday.com, MaineToday.com
PORTLAND – At 4:30 in the morning, Mashale Nabi’s teammates are probably still asleep. But for the past four weeks, around that time each morning, Nabi wakes and consumes a breakfast of yogurt, fruit, cereal and plenty of water and Gatorade.
Nabi, a sophomore at Portland High School, isn’t exactly enthralled with the idea of waking up before the sun rises and like many teenagers, she values her shut-eye. But these days, waking up early is a necessity for her to adhere to one of her core religious beliefs.
It is Ramadan, and as a practicing Muslim, Nabi must prepare properly for a day of fasting that begins when the sun rises, which means proper nutrition and hydration. What compounds these days is the fact that Nabi is going through preseason practices with the Portland girls’ soccer team.
For Abshir Horor, observing Ramadan is a chance, as he explains, "for the Muslim people to collect good deeds."
"It’s the month that you clean yourself, erase the bad deeds you have done," said Horor, a junior who runs cross country at Waynflete. "They say evil and Satan are blocked during Ramadan. It’s a good month, like a holiday. You get closer to your family, you have meals with them, and it’s a good month that brings the family and Muslims together."
Nabi and Horor are part of a small group of high school athletes who, while preparing for the fall sports season, are fasting from sunrise to sunset in observance of the Muslim holiday.
Nabi can’t refuel by eating a midafternoon banana or an energy bar. She cannot even have a sip of water. She is the only player on her team who fasts in observance of Ramadan, the holiest month of Islam.
"You feel sorrow for the people who don’t have food," Nabi said of observing Ramadan. "You understand what they are going through and what you might take for granted, like food and water. You do it to be thankful for everything you have."
One of the five pillars of Islam — along with charity, prayer, the profession of faith and the hajj (the religious pilgrimage to Mecca) — Ramadan is observed worldwide, even in the Muslim communities in Maine that are predominantly found in Portland and Lewiston. Ramadan spans the course of 30 days and is observed during the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which varies from year to year. This year, Ramadan ends Thursday and is followed Friday by the Eid al-Fitr, a three-day celebration that marks the end of fasting.
Nabi remembers the first time she observed Ramadan, when she begged and pleaded her mother for a glass of water. She was in middle school and didn’t understand the scope of the holiday. Her mother put it in simple terms for her.
"She said to me, ‘Try it for one day, you’re doing it for God,’ " Nabi recalled. " ‘This is a good thing.’ "
According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, there are nearly 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, including 1.8 million in the United States. According to the Islamic Center of Maine, the state’s Muslim population is about 10,000 and includes Afghanis, Somalians, Kurds, Bosnians, Iraqis, Iranians and Americans.
"Ramadan is more understood now than it was 15 years ago," said Jenan Jondy, the outreach coordinator for the Islamic Center of Maine in Orono. "People are more educated. With the knowledge, there’s more of an increase in education about it and there’s a respect for it."
Jondy, who works with high school and college students in the Bangor area, attributes the growth in understanding to the push for education about Islam, and for the growth of Islam in the American population, as more second- and third-generation Muslims are now in their teens and 20s.
"There are different challenges for different youths," Jondy said of teenagers who observe Ramadan. "For some, it might be second nature to do so. For others it might be a challenge to watch other kids eat. I have a daughter in high school and a son in the eighth grade and they’re fine with it, and they’re the only Muslims in school. But at Ramadan, you are rechecking your priorities. You submit your will to God and you are required to take action."
GOING THROUGH DRILLS
Portland Athletic Director Mike McCullum did not have an exact number of student-athletes who observe Ramadan, but Nabi and her older brother, Fazal, who is on Portland’s boys’ soccer team, are two. Lewiston Athletic Director Jason Fuller estimates there are at least 20 student-athletes at the high school who observe Ramadan, and remembers the issue first arising about eight years ago, when an influx of immigrants settled in Lewiston.
"We understand that every fall, this is something we have to deal with," Fuller said. "What becomes difficult for us is when Ramadan begins, but we’ve dealt with it for so many years and the athletes are open with us about it. All my coaches learn about it directly from the kids."
This year, Ramadan began six days before the start of fall sports practices in Maine. Many who observe Ramadan wake prior to dawn for a meal that is meant to sustain them until sundown.
"In the summer you need sustenance, and you need the energy," Jondy said. "But it’s amazing how little food we need. The first two days are tough, but then your body starts to adjust."
This is the second year Ramadan has fallen during the preseason, at a time when players are working toward earning spots on the team, doing so in hot weather and humidity.
"Last year was extremely hard," Nabi said. "I’d just entered high school and it’s preseason and it’s a lot tougher out there. It was hard going through the drills and (Portland girls’ soccer coach Dave LeVasseur) pushes us. When it got hard, I’d stand there and I’d ask God to give me strength. But if I did something good, I thought, maybe I’ll get something good in return."
TAKING A PRAYER BREAK
At several high schools in Maine, Muslim student-athletes are balancing the observance of their faith with their athletic endeavors. It’s challenging at times — for the athletes who must fast from sunup to sun-down, as well as observe a timetable of prayers; for coaches who may have never worked with an athlete whose religion requires a strict observance schedule; and for athletes who may wonder why a teammate is forgoing a water break or is ducking away from the field and looking away, in the direction of Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad (s).
"I think it’s a great educational experience for the kids who don’t celebrate it," McCullum said. "It teaches the kids another aspect, another culture that they may or may not know about. For other kids, for coaches and for myself, it’s something that needs to be recognized. We need to understand it so we can allow these kids to observe it and to do what we can do from our end to help."
In more than 20 years of coaching boys’ soccer, Waynflete’s Brandon Salway has worked with at least 10 players who observe Ramadan, including four this season.
In years past, Waynflete has played in state tournament games in October and November, in years when Ramadan is observed during the fall. Salway has seen games when players forgo water breaks and postgame meals, and players who have stopped during practices or even during games to find a place to pray.
"Sometimes they go find a place, even on the road, they’ve gone together to pray," Salway said "I’ve actually had a player go at halftime and I told him, come back when he felt as if he could. It’s different. Kids have handled it a little differently. I’ve told them, you tell me what I need to do to accomodate them. It’s never been a distraction or a problem."
Last fall, Horor played soccer at Waynflete and had several teammates who observed Ramadan. He had teammates whom he prayed with, as well as teammates who understood their collective observance and who, like Nabi’s teammates, abstained from eating or asked Horor beforehand if they could eat in front of him.
"That meant a lot because I know people are respecting me and respecting my religion," Horor said. "If someone just comes to your face and eats food in front of you, it’s hard to think about it."
"Last year I fasted during soccer. It affects your training. You get tired, but you get through it. This year, I’m glad Ramadan came early. It’s going to be over by the time school and sports really start."
DOING IT FOR GOD
Nabi began her soccer season Friday, and she is the only player on the Portland girls’ soccer team to observe Ramadan. Her brother, Fazal, has several teammates who observe Ramadan. In the Muslim community at Portland High, Nabi knows of Muslims who observe Ramadan and others who do not. She observes Ramadan independently and prefers not to invade others’ observation of the holy month. At the same time, she is surrounded by friends and teammates who understand and respect her observance.
"I don’t think I ever feel isolated because of it," Nabi said. "It makes me stronger by looking at food, knowing, I can’t have it but I can have it later. But I never feel isolated. The people around me support me."
Horor knows of Muslims who do not observe Ramadan and he does not judge them. He has his reasons for observing Ramadan.
"Some kids don’t do it," Horor said. "But in every religion, you have people who are very serious about it and some who are moderate. It’s the right thing for me. Once you are 15, you are considered a grown man and to Allah, to not do it is to commit a sin. For 11 months you eat every day. For one month, you observe this. I’m doing this for good deeds. I’m doing this to go to Heaven."
French-Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh has only played four games for his new soccer team, Arsenal, in the English Premier League. But his manager, fellow Frenchman Arsene Wenger, as well as his teammates, have stressed the importance of having him on the squad, and have been pleasantly surprised as to how quickly and smoothly Chamakh has assimilated into the team.
Fellow Frenchman and fellow Muslim Bacary Sagna told French newspapers, “He has improved already. When he arrived here he was a bit, well, not scared, but he certainly needed time to settle. That’s happened already and he has found his feet. It’s so important for the team to have a player like him up front. He can keep the ball well and he just wants to play, give his best and work for the team. He’ll get better results with each game he plays. For the team he will be very important. He will become a great player for Arsenal.â€
Chamakh was born and raised in France, but he chose to play international football for his parents’ homeland, Morocco. He made his international debut for Morocco in July of 2003, and has played in three African Cup of Nations tournaments. And he is currently the captain of the Moroccan national team. Professionally, he began his career with Bordeaux in the French league in 2000. He made it to their professional team in the 2002-2003 season, and displayed gradual improvement before signing a four year contract with Arsenal in May of 2010 on a free transfer.
Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and his Indian doubles tennis partner, Rohan Bopanna, have really been making names for themselves in New York this past fortnight at the U.S. Open. But the so-called “Indo-Pak Express†got derailed in the finals of the Men’s Doubles competition by the American brothers Bryan. Bob and Mike Bryan won their third U.S. Open title with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) win on Friday. The post-match ceremonies were punctuated by a heartfelt speech given by Qureshi to the people of New York. “I want to say something on behalf of all Pakistanis,†he said following Friday’s Men’s Doubles finals. “Every time I come here, there’s a wrong perception about the people of Pakistan. It is the wrong perception that Pakistan is being a terrorist country,†he stated over the public address speaker. “We are a friendly, loving, caring people and we want peace as much as you guys want it. May Allah bless us all.†Later he added, “There are extremists in every religion, but just because of them you cannot judge the whole country as a terrorist nation. I just wanted to get this message across as a Pakistani.†And as a silver lining to the loss, the Bryan brothers donated a portion of their championship winnings to the Pakistan flood relief effort.
Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi has seen his world rankings skyrocket further after becoming the first Muslim to make the finals of a Grand Slam tournament twice over at the U.S. Open, in the Mixed Doubles as well as the Men’s Doubles. His ATP world men’s doubles ranking has moved up to 23 overall, with his team ranking, with partner Rohan Bopanna, shooting up to number 6 overall.
Qureshi should be on track for achieving his goal of a top 20 individual doubles ranking by the end of the year, inshallah. And in the process he has brought much needed exposure to the flood relief effort, in addition to bringing an island of positive public relations for Muslims amidst a sea of Islamophobia.
