Michigan Muslim Views on News

Muslim women sue McDonalds for discrimination

2008-07-28T11:46:00.002-04:00

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/25/Suit_alleges_discrimination_against_hijab/UPI-89191217026591/

Suit alleges discrimination against hijab

DETROIT, July 25 (UPI) -- Two women claim in a lawsuit that a Michigan McDonald's refused to hire them because they wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf.

Toi Whitfield of Detroit and Quiana Pugh of Dearborn say they were both told by managers at a McDonald's in Dearborn they would have to take off their hijabs to work, the Detroit Free Press reports. They filed a discrimination lawsuit Thursday in Detroit.

The Detroit area has one of the biggest Muslim communities in the United States, and the Dearborn McDonald's is one of only two restaurants in the chain that serves halal Chicken McNuggets that meet Muslim religious standards.

"They'll take Muslim dollars, but won't hire Muslim female employees," said Dawud Walid, head of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Michigan.

The suit named McDonald's, the management company at the Dearborn store and the manager who allegedly refused to hire the two women.

A spokeswoman said the management company has a strict non-discrimination policy.

Michigan Muslims feed poor

2007-12-29T06:06:00.000-05:00

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/LIFESTYLE04/712290334/1041

Charities enjoy Muslim holy day tradition of sacrifice
Meat donations for poor increase in year of belt-tightening.
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

At a time of acute need, local food banks and soup kitchens say the tradition of Muslims donating meat from sheep or lambs sacrificed for the holy day Eid al-Adha -- the Feast of Sacrifice -- is particularly welcome this year.

Muslims in Metro Detroit this year collected nearly four times the amount of meat they did three years ago, when the program began. Distribution begins at 10 a.m. today from Gleaners Food Bank.

"There will be a lot of Muslims benefiting from this donated meat as well as a lot of non-Muslims," Dawud Walid of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

"What really increased the donations is that we ran out of meat last year before we met the demand that is out there."

In the first year of the program, spearheaded by the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan, the meat from 167 sheep or lambs was donated, Walid said. Last year, the number was 263. This year, Walid said, the meat comes from 625 of the animals.

For Gleaners, and for operations around the city that feed the poor of all faiths and no faiths, like the soup kitchen at the Muslim Center on Woodrow Wilson in Detroit, the timing of the donation could not be more beneficial. Charities working with the hungry in Metro Detroit are reporting historic shortages of food.

Experts attribute the shortage internationally to rising energy prices and the increased use of corn and grain to create fuel. While charities in Metro Detroit also experience that impact, the dire economy in Michigan is fueling the crisis.(MORE)

Anti-Muslim talk spurs action

2007-11-19T09:48:00.000-05:00

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/LIFESTYLE04/711190366/1041

Anti-Muslim talk spurs action

Advertisers withdraw from radio show 'The Savage Nation,' aired locally on WDTK-AM.

Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

Two companies have withdrawn advertising for "The Savage Nation," a nationally syndicated radio talk show broadcast in Metro Detroit by WDTK-AM 1400, after host Michael Savage repeated hate-filled assertions about Muslims during a recent broadcast.

OfficeMax, of Naperville, Ill., and Citrix Systems, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pulled their advertisements at the urging of religious and civil rights groups, which have long campaigned against the program. The groups have now moved on to other advertisers, including J.C. Penney, urging them to withdraw.

"We have freedom of speech in this nation, and Mr. Savage is free to say what he chooses, just as we as a community are free to support the businesses we choose," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations -- Michigan. Its national office has launched a campaign against the program.

"And it's good to know that corporations such as OfficeMax uphold the principles of diversity and justice and will not advertise on bigoted shows such as Michael Savage's show."

Savage, whose real name is Michael Alan Weiner, vented his rage at Muslims in an Oct. 29 broadcast that critics say is representative of some of his previous statements.

"I'm not going to put my wife in a hijab," said Weiner. "And I'm not going to put my daughter in a burka. And I'm not getting on my all-fours and praying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don't want to hear any more about Islam." (MORE)

Why not allow footbaths?

2007-09-19T13:43:00.000-04:00

Bishop Keith Butler should restrain his suspect motives. Why is he attacking one religion over another? Universities accommodate the Jewish student population by providing Kosher, so what's wrong if a university allows Muslim students footbaths for washing their feet before prayer? Also, educational institutions are full of Christian clubs. Nobody is suppressing the Christians.

Seema Ahmad

Canton Township

Anti-profiling laws protect against discrimination

2007-09-19T13:42:00.000-04:00

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070919/OPINION04/709190335/1068/OPINION

Racist attitude

Rep. Kim Meltzer's proposed Sanctuary Policy Prohibition Act is less about a concern for stemming illegal immigration than a thinly veiled racist attitude toward all immigrants in general. Meltzer wants to penalize municipalities that have passed anti-profiling laws that prohibit police and other city employees from targeting people based on race, ethnicity, physical appearance, religious dress or immigration status.

Rather than applaud the cities that seek to end racial discrimination, she wants to punish them. The anti-profiling laws are against racial profiling and about treating everyone with the same amount of respect. They do not threaten our national security, nor do they support illegal immigration.

Let us not be deceived about the purpose of this proposed legislation; it is about racial discrimination, pure and simple.

Ruqaya Ali
Oxford

Ramadan unites Muslims in quest for spiritual development

2007-09-19T13:35:00.000-04:00

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/OPINION01/709180305/1008

Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi

The Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, began Sept. 13 and will continue until Oct. 12. Every adult Muslim who is not traveling, pregnant or nursing and is healthy is required to abstain from food, water, smoking and sex, from dawn to dusk, during this spiritual month.

The tradition of fasting is practiced among many Christians during Lent and Jews on Yom Kippur. For Muslims, fasting is a requirement and a major tenet of Islam. The greatest gift of Ramadan was the revelation of the holy Quran which was the foundation of God's universal message presented by Prophet Mohammed.

The Quran considers fasting a prescription for "Taqwa" or spiritual self-discipline and protection against all things harmful to our human soul. Fasting leads to piety and total commitment towards goodness and rejection of evil. Thus, we discipline our eyes, ears, and speech, to connect with the presence of God and to distance ourselves from actions that damage our dignity.

The first step in the journey is respect for God's commandments and submission to His teachings. The goal is to move beyond religious laws and establish a loving, spiritual connection with God; moving closer to please God through every intention, expression and action. The fulfillment of this journey is to achieve total trust in God; when the will of man is unified with the will of God!

In this journey, man moves from hatred toward love, from revenge toward forgiveness, from war toward peace, from selfishness toward fairness, from tension toward tranquility and from greediness toward generosity.

The late Edward Earle Purinton encouraged fasting for health and spiritual tranquility.

"Clear your blood of wrong food, your lungs of wrong air, your brain of wrong thought, your nerves of wrong tremors, your heart of wrong fear, and your soul of wrong residue; -- then see how absolutely right the whole world becomes."

We waste enough food to feed more than 33 million people, including 8 million children, who experience hunger or malnutrition in this wealthy nation. We can exhibit solidarity with the suffering citizens and honor the spirit of this season, by sharing our food and charitable deeds with friends, families, and the needy.

During this month, many Muslims fast from media entertainment to move toward seeking truth in their lives through spiritual reflection, reading the Quran, extra prayers, and purifying their hearts from pride, anger, jealousy and suspicion.(MORE)

What's right & what's wrong with Pews recent survey

2007-05-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=8692
By: Dawud Walid / The Arab American News
2007-05-26

A recently released study by the Pew Research Center on the American Muslim community, which does contain several positive findings about the community, is laced with some problematic and troubling statistics.

Pew’s study states that the overwhelming majority of the American Muslim community is happy with life in America and that it reflects mainstream American identity patterns regarding placement of importance of religious identity with national identity. Moreover, Pew's analysis also shows that American Muslims resolutely reject extremism in the name of Islam.

The more problematic portions of the study, however, relate to reported condoning of suicide bombing by Muslim youth in the defense of Islam and significant lowering of the generally accepted number of Muslims in America.

According to Pew, 26% of the Muslim youth answered that suicide bombing even against civilians in the defense of Islam is acceptable ranging from 2% having strong endorsement to 11% stating that it is rarely acceptable. Obviously, if these troubling statistics are fairly accurate within a 5% error margin, then these answers must be placed within context, for the same study also states that these same youth are overwhelmingly satisfied with their lives in America.
Although Pew's study shows that Muslim youth show a higher level of religiosity than their parent generation, those who have the pulse of the community know that the majority of Muslim youth do not regularly attend mosques nor are they involved in receiving consistent education on Islam from qualified teachers. Thus, the lectures that are intermittently given in mosques against extremism, to the explanations of the fatwa given by the Fiqh Council of North America against extremism in 2005, may have escaped a sizeable percentage of the Muslim youth. Clearly, the majority of American Muslims (95%) according to Pew, know that attacking civilians or condoning "collateral damage" in defending Muslim lands is unacceptable. A small percentage of Muslim youth driven by lack of understanding or strong emotions due to political conflicts in the Muslim world probably have not internalized the Islamic basis against such extremism.

Knowing the psyche of the Muslim community, however, I believe Muslim youth answered this question based upon a particular geographical location in which the socio-political environment of Muslims is in a state of desperation. Suicide bombing among Muslims in a historical context has been viewed by some as a means of resistance by Palestinians against Israeli occupation. In reiteration that attacks against civilians is clearly prohibited by virtual consensus of Islamic scholars, American Muslim youth answered this question within the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not within the American context.

In regards to Pew's demographic results, which state that there are approximately 2.35 million Muslims in America, these numbers are extremely low in comparison to other studies and accepted numbers by scholars and organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which estimates the American Muslim community to be approximately 6 million. For instance, Pew states that 37% of the American Muslim population is of Arab background, which would put the population of Arab Muslims at 859,500. However, according to the Arab American Institute's scientific study, there were approximately 3.5 million Arab Americans in 2000 with 24% being Muslim. Factoring in population growth due to birth rate and immigration, there are far more than one million Arab Muslims in America. Other shortcomings in Pew's research includes lack of means of identifying or communicating with Muslims that have names that are not readily known to be traditional names of Muslims such as Muslims who originate from sub-Saharan Africa to converts with legal names such as Robert Smith that do not reflect religious identity. Pew, themselves, admitted this point during their press conference on the report, specifically citing their lack of identification and communication with some Muslims, using Senegalese as their example.

In short, Pew's latest study appears to have some flaws, but there are lessons to be learned from the study. Muslims are progressing in many areas within the society and are truly part of mainstream America. This study, however, should be a wake up call to the Muslim community that it is incumbent for it to invest more in community organizations and think tanks to disseminate more accurate reports about the Muslim community with proper explanation of the community’s sensitivities as well as giving increased support for Islamic institutions that give proper education to Muslim youth about Islamic positions on contemporary issues to help shield them from extreme positions.

The writer is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Michigan.

Michigan Muslim leaders sign pact

2007-05-12T12:54:00.000-04:00

http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=8545

2007-05-12
By Tarek M. Baydoun / The Arab American News

DEARBORN - Over two dozen local Muslim leaders met in Dearborn Heights this week to sign the "Muslim Code of Honor," widely touted as an unprecedented proactive statement of unity between American Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. The signing and press conference were organized by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan (CIOM) and hosted at the Islamic House of Wisdom by . A similar event was recently held by California’s American Muslim population and similar signings are planned across the country.

The signing built upon recent efforts in the community after tragic events in the Middle East were perceived to have strained relationships between local American Muslims. After the bombing of the Askari mosque in Samaraa last February, several local Sunni and Shi’a imams issued a unified condemnation of the sectarian violence and a press conference was held at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. After the execution of Saddam Hussein in January of this year, several acts of vandalism occurred to Shi’a owned centers and businesses on Warren Avenue in Dearborn.

It was widely reported that this was likely a reaction by some Sunnis to the festivities in the local Shi’a community celebrated the execution. According to Dawud Walid of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Michigan (CAIR-MI) law enforcement agencies have not identified the perpetrators and there is no proof that the vandals had a sectarian motive.

A link to the text of the code of honor is available at the website of the Muslim Public Affairs Council at http://www.mpac.org.

According to the preamble of the Code, the effort is aimed at “preventing… sectarianism from spilling over to our Muslim communities in the United States.” The six-point code condemns the practice of “takfir,” or the labeling of fellow Muslims as infidels, calls for respect and dignity between communities and schools of thought, opposes the distribution of inflammatory literature which it states emanates primarily from overseas, and announces the intention to host intellectual discussions to promote dialogue between Sunni and Shi’a scholars to promote understanding. Its primary agenda item is agreement that the members will stress the commonalities between them, which they stated at the press conference far outnumber and outweigh the differences.(MORE)

Story perpetuates McCarthyism against group

2007-04-19T07:07:00.000-04:00

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070419/OPINION01/704190325/1008

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Story perpetuates McCarthyism against group

In a reprint of a New York Times article, which was relabeled as "Muslim group under fire: Mandate of fostering understanding of Islam challenged by critics who allege terrorism links" on April 4 by The Detroit News, the edited version omitted an extremely relevant section that skewed the spirit of the original article.

The original article clearly presented that government officials in Washington, D.C., stated that linking the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to terrorism is akin to "McCarthyism."

Also omitted was the quote from Michael Rolince, a retired FBI official who directed counterterrorism from 2002 to 2005, who stated that "of all the groups, there is probably more suspicion about CAIR, but when you ask people for cold hard facts, you get blank stares."

The News' headline, combined with the omission of such pertinent information, inadvertently perpetuated the McCarthyistic atmosphere elaborated upon by federal law enforcement officials.

Dawud Walid
Executive Director
Council on American-Islamic Relations -- Michigan
Southfield

Islamic group condemns graffiti

2007-04-05T08:39:00.000-04:00

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070405/NEWS05/704050369/1007/NEWS

Islamic group condemns graffiti

The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic civil liberties group, said Wednesday that it condemned the vandalism of the Assyrian Church of the East-St. Mary's Church in Warren.

The group also called on law enforcement authorities to allocate greater resources in investigating hate crimes against houses of worship.

"We offer our sympathy and support to the local Assyrian community and call on law enforcement to investigate this incident, and similar attacks on houses of worship, with a greater sense of urgency," said Dawud Walid, the group's executive director.

The church vandalism was spotted on Monday morning and included black and blue spray-painted graffiti that suggested Arabs aren't Christians and should "Die 2wice."

Assyrians are Christians, and many do not consider themselves Arabs.

Walid said he was particularly concerned that the vandalism occurred during the Christian holy week of Easter.

Metro Detroit groups burn bridges with false of Islam

2007-04-05T08:33:00.000-04:00

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070405/OPINION01/704050304/1008

Metro Detroit groups burn bridges with false images of Islam
Zeinab Chami

A disturbing trend has been picking up steam in Metro-Detroit during the past couple of months: So-called Muslim "reformers" have been invited to speak in Ann Arbor, Detroit and West Bloomfield.

The latest weapon in the Islamophobe arsenal is Tawfik Hamid, who claims to be an ex-terrorist (which apparently makes him an expert on Islam). Hamid was recently invited to speak by the Zionist Organization of America at the Jewish Community Center.

Hamid -- a medical doctor, not any sort of expert on Islam -- said outlandish and inflammatory things about Islam. If the Zionist Organization of America is truly interested in building bridges with Muslims and understanding Islam, why bring someone who degrades Islam with false accusations and ridiculous claims?

For instance, he falsely stated that no top scholars in the Muslim world have issued fatwas (jurisprudential rulings) against Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cohorts. As University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole pointed out on his blog "Informed Comment" back on July 9, 2005, almost all major Shia grand ayatollahs (who represent up to 300 million Muslims) have come out with scathing fatwas condemning bin Laden and al-Qaida. The top scholar of Al-Azhar University in Egypt -- Sunni Islam's most prestigious institution -- has also clearly come out against those terrorists.

Contrary to popular belief, Muslims do not have a problem with progress, but there is a problem with some of the people calling for it. When self-proclaimed "ex-terrorists" are advising Muslims on how to be Muslims, there is a problem.

These people obviously had a very warped idea of Islam. The vast majority of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims would not look to terrorists, former or current, for advice on our faith when we have a number of scholars. The fact that they somehow "saw the light" does not in any way make them experts.

Few non-Muslims truly understand that Islam contains within it a complex system of laws, perhaps more complex than any other faith in the world. People like Hamid and bin Laden have never studied Islamic jurisprudence, nor are they qualified to interpret these laws. But for some reason different groups of people peg them as experts.

There is a much larger issue looming behind Hamid's visit: the fact that groups in the Metro Detroit -- which has one of the most concentrated and vibrant Muslim communities in the country -- are burning bridges instead of building them.

Why are these groups not pushing for interfaith dialogue or respectful debates on issues in academic settings? They know very well that bringing the likes of Tawfik Hamid will alienate Muslims and drive a wedge between our communities.

A word of advice to all Metro Detroiters truly interested in interfaith understanding: Dialogue and progress start from within a community. To understand Islam, go to your local mosque, talk to your practicing Muslim neighbors and co-workers or call the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan.

There is no shortage of Muslims here working for progress. Maybe it's time to reach out to them.

Zeinab Chami is a representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan in Southfield.

Metro Detroit groups burn bridges by with false images of Islam

2007-04-05T08:27:00.000-04:00

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070405/OPINION01/704050304/1008

Opinion: Metro Detroit groups burn bridges with false images of Islam
Zeinab Chami

A disturbing trend has been picking up steam in Metro-Detroit during the past couple of months: So-called Muslim "reformers" have been invited to speak in Ann Arbor, Detroit and West Bloomfield.

The latest weapon in the Islamophobe arsenal is Tawfik Hamid, who claims to be an ex-terrorist (which apparently makes him an expert on Islam). Hamid was recently invited to speak by the Zionist Organization of America at the Jewish Community Center.

Hamid -- a medical doctor, not any sort of expert on Islam -- said outlandish and inflammatory things about Islam. If the Zionist Organization of America is truly interested in building bridges with Muslims and understanding Islam, why bring someone who degrades Islam with false accusations and ridiculous claims?

For instance, he falsely stated that no top scholars in the Muslim world have issued fatwas (jurisprudential rulings) against Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cohorts. As University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole pointed out on his blog "Informed Comment" back on July 9, 2005, almost all major Shia grand ayatollahs (who represent up to 300 million Muslims) have come out with scathing fatwas condemning bin Laden and al-Qaida. The top scholar of Al-Azhar University in Egypt -- Sunni Islam's most prestigious institution -- has also clearly come out against those terrorists.

Contrary to popular belief, Muslims do not have a problem with progress, but there is a problem with some of the people calling for it. When self-proclaimed "ex-terrorists" are advising Muslims on how to be Muslims, there is a problem.

These people obviously had a very warped idea of Islam. The vast majority of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims would not look to terrorists, former or current, for advice on our faith when we have a number of scholars. The fact that they somehow "saw the light" does not in any way make them experts.

Few non-Muslims truly understand that Islam contains within it a complex system of laws, perhaps more complex than any other faith in the world. People like Hamid and bin Laden have never studied Islamic jurisprudence, nor are they qualified to interpret these laws. But for some reason different groups of people peg them as experts.

There is a much larger issue looming behind Hamid's visit: the fact that groups in the Metro Detroit -- which has one of the most concentrated and vibrant Muslim communities in the country -- are burning bridges instead of building them.

Why are these groups not pushing for interfaith dialogue or respectful debates on issues in academic settings? They know very well that bringing the likes of Tawfik Hamid will alienate Muslims and drive a wedge between our communities.

A word of advice to all Metro Detroiters truly interested in interfaith understanding: Dialogue and progress start from within a community. To understand Islam, go to your local mosque, talk to your practicing Muslim neighbors and co-workers or call the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan.

There is no shortage of Muslims here working for progress. Maybe it's time to reach out to them.

Zeinab Chami is a representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan in Southfield.

Robert Fisk speaks at CAIR-MI's annual banquet

2007-03-25T21:49:00.000-04:00

Today in Dearborn, Michigan, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations held it's annual banquet.

Approximately 1,100 people were in attendance including representatives in government and interfaith leaders.

British Journalist Robert Fisk was the keynote speaker.

Cut & paste the following link to listen to Mr. Fisk's speech:http://www.zshare.net/audio/fiskatcair-mi-mp3.html

Muslim activist strives to bridge cultures

2007-03-25T07:53:00.000-04:00

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/NEWS05/703250607/1007/NEWS05

March 25, 2007
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

When Dawud Walid opened the mail one day last June in his Lathrup Village office, he found a torn page of the Quran smeared with feces.

It was an unpleasant reminder of the challenges that face the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which Walid heads.

"We have a lot of work to do," Walid said he thought after opening the letter.

Those efforts are drawing a growing number of supporters in metro Detroit, as evidenced by a sold-out fund-raising dinner in Dearborn today that's expected to attract about 1,100 guests -- compared to 600 two years ago.

"Islam isn't often portrayed correctly," said Nayeem Amin, 18, of Bloomfield Hills, a CAIR supporter. "They're educating the public on what Islam is about."

Walid, a Sunni Muslim, does that by speaking often at universities and churches and to media outlets. Since becoming executive director of the council's Michigan branch in July 2005, Walid has frequently been the public face of Islam in metro Detroit.

His first week on the job, after terrorists struck the London subway on July 7, 2005, Walid quickly organized a group of imams to condemn the attacks at a news conference at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn.(MORE)

Opression ingrained in some youth

2007-03-24T13:47:00.000-04:00

http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1174710013206590.xml&coll=7

Kalamazoo Gazette

Oppression ingrained in some youth

Saturday, March 24, 2007

By John Liberty

jliberty@kalamazoogazette.com

388-8579

Dawud Walid quoted a passage from the Quran to deliver his speech's point on social justice: Oppression is worse than murder.Walid, who is the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Michigan, was the keynote speaker Friday at the eighth semi-annual event called ``Social Justice in Islam,'' organized by the Western Michigan University student organization the Muslim Students Association and held in the Bernhard Center.

Walid, who lives in Detroit, addressed the more than 400 Muslims and non-Muslims in attendance by frequently reciting from the Quran in Arabic and then translating the meaning of the passages into English.

He stressed Islam's teaching about oppression and gave examples of how it harms the psyche of people for generations. He cited the shooting of a mosque on the 1700 block of East Main Street in late February as a local example. Members of the mosque said there is an ongoing problem with violence and drug activity in the area.

``This oppression has ingrained itself in some of our youth through a lack of, not only self esteem, but generations of going through inferior educational systems, not having access to certain economic opportunities,'' Walid said. ``

It has taken certain people within the African-American community outside of their human excellence or outside of the vision of how productive human beings should live within a civilized society. And it's hard to break out of.

This is why oppression is worse than murder.''He said oppression is still being felt around the world, including by Palestinians. Oppression is one reason for civil unrest, he said.(MORE)

2007-03-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

Response to "Islamists remain America's clear and present danger"
featured in Detroit News, Saturday March 17, 2007
View the article: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703170313

Kathleen Parker’s assessment of “Islamists” as a clear and present danger to America, is one in a long series of doomsday opinions that will result in nothing but an increase in the atmosphere of fear that has currently gripped the nation. And her claims that radical Islamist terrorists have an “insidious peaceful component” that is now present in the United States will serve to only increase the rise of Islamophobic sentiment that is so prevalent today.
Even though she makes a disclaimer that “not all of Islam is dangerous …but Islam as distorted and hijacked by radicals”, her claim that “Islamists” are the real danger begs the question: Who exactly is an “Islamist”? Who is dangerous? Will the average American be able to make the separation of a bearded Muslim man, or a Muslim woman who covers her hair from this insidious Islamist? American Muslims already feel that their religion is under siege, but now the idea that they may be viewed as an underground terrorist using “our laws of tolerance against us” can only do more harm. Ms. Parker’s views are also a form of extremism – extreme paranoia. She does not only harm the Muslim American community but adds fuel to the anxiety experienced by the American people as a whole. I agree with Ms. Parker that there is a clear and present danger to our society, but that danger is not Islamism but extremism – in any religion, shape or form.

Ruqaya Ali

Letters to Free Press and Detroit News about Tawfik Hamid

2007-03-18T10:34:00.001-04:00

Response “ISLAM MUST CHANGE” article in Detroit Free Press

I was very disturbed to read your article “Islam must change, Muslim Activist Says” (March 14, 2007). Tawfik Hamid’s suggestion that “Islam must be reformed because [it] allows for hatred against other religions, terrorism and violence against women” not only shows his lack of knowledge of the religion of which he supposed to be an expert, but shows his hatred of it. Nowhere in Islam, which literally means “peace” is there anything that can be used to justify terrorism and the killing of innocents. What is most disturbing though is his message that Islam “threatens the civilized world and must be militarily and theologically defeated before it can be reformed.” Instead of calling for dialogue and understanding, his advice to the American people is that we need to bash someone into submission and then force change on them. His arguments that it will take violence to end violence will only serve to increase the instability in the Muslim world, and help extremism thrive and grow. As a Middle Easterner he knows more than anyone else that the root cause of violence in the Middle East is not religion, but politics. His blaming Islam however, leads one to question his motivation. His distortion of Islam will not serve to increase dialogue and understanding of the religion, his extremist views can only serve to increase the islamophobic environment that exists today. Tawfik Hamid does a disservice not only to the Muslim community but to American society as a whole. He does not serve to build bridges but destroy them.

Ruqaya

Response to “Talk on Islam under Fire” article in Detroit News

I was disturbed to read in your article titled “Talk on Islam under fire”, that people like Tawfik Hamid are invited to speak about Islam. Tawfik Hamid is not representative of the Muslim community in America. You would not invite a former Klu Klux Klan member to talk about Christianity, similarly why would you speak to a “former” extremist about Islam? The fact that he joined an extremist organization in the first place shows his lack of knowledge and understanding of Islam. Muslims have been saying over and over again that the actions of a few do not represent our religion. We have been trying to “take back” our religion from such “experts”. But it is very difficult to do so when people like Tawfik Hamid claim to speak for and misrepresent our community. Islam is a religion of peace, and the nowhere in the sacred Muslim text, the Qur’an, is there any justification for terrorism. If you want to understand Islam and Muslims speak to the average every day Moderate Muslim. Not a former “extremist” and now anti Muslim zealot. He does not represent us nor did he ever.

Ruqaya Ali

A Self-Proclaimed Expert on Terrorism

2007-03-16T23:08:00.000-04:00

Hail freedom of speech, as the dubious self-proclaimed former terrorist, Tawfiq Hamid, was featured in DetroitFree Press on 14th March this year. Again, hail freedom of speech when another self-proclaimed reformer in Islam, Irshad Manji was also featured on March 1 of this year. These islamophobes are part of a new wave of speakers recently being brought to Michigan to speak authoritatively about Islam when they represent the same end of the bell curve that Osama Bin Laden does. One wonders why such extremists, who misinterpret the Qur'an and demonize the religion of Islam, are being sponsored so vehementlyby such sponsors as the Zionist organization of America.
The real focus should be to fight terrorism whenever and wherever they appear. Terrorism, unlike Tawfiq Hamid's claim, is not connected to any religion, if correctly interpreted. What is the point of religion if it doesn't promote peace! Terrorists may selectively use passages of any divine text, whether the Bible, The Torah or the Qur'an,mistranslate it and concoct plans to destroy their enemies regardless of method or means, however inhumane and unjustified.
When Tawfiq Hamid is given a platform in the name of freedom of speech, he and those who sponsor the likes of him risk being labelled as discriminatory or anti-islamic. Again, terrorism can have no religion. None of the monotheistic religions have ever supported terrorism. If Tawfiq Hamid and the sponsoring organizations want to talk about terrorism, let them be fair and bring in former terrorists from judaism and christianity as well. Let's bring Timothy McVeigh to talk about terrorism. I'm sure he would be rolling in his grave if he read about Tawfiq Hamid.
Several points about Tawfiq Hamid. He wrongfully claims that Islam promotes violence, and claims that this teaching of hatred will cause us to lose our freedom one day. He says, "that the most critical aspect of violent Islam...is the threat to our freedom". Firstly, there is no such thing as violent Islam, violent Christianity or violent Judaism. Islam does not teach of violence against any other religion, unless for self-defense. Terrorists and former terrorists, are a splinter in the majority muslim world. They reflect an extreme group without sufficient understanding of any religion. So do we fight the splinter or do we fight the entire muslim world! Also, the divine text of the muslims, the Qur'an declares "that there is no compulsion in religion". It promotes the freedom to chose to follow or not follow the text. Yet, the self-proclaimed expert, Tawfiq Hamid, declares that due to Islam, as understood today, we risk losing our freedom? What does "islam needs to be reformed" mean? How about claiming that judaism and christianity need to be reformed? Rather, Tawfiq Hamid needs to reform himself to allow for more sophistication when analyzing the issue of terrorism, as terrorism has no religion.
In the Detroit News, Tawfiq Hamid was quoted as calling for war upon "violent Islam" both militarily and theologically. Let me elaborate an obvious fact. Any war against any sovreign muslim nation, would actually initiate violence against the war mongers themselves. The case in point is Iraq, a country that never possessed any weapons of mass destruction. Tawfiq Hamid should change his message to promoting the peaceful message of Islam. Islam promotes justice, equality of women and recognize christians and jews as being people of the book whom God has commanded in the Qur'an to respect. Tawfiq Hamid's claim that the growth of the hijab is correlated to the growth of terrorism is false. Mother Mary wears the veil, nuns wear the veil, orthodox jewish women wear the veil. Tawfiq Hamid should respect the right of women to practice their religion as they interpret it.
It is hypocritical to address Tawfiq Hamid as a peacemaker when he is in truth a warmonger. It seems that he is still on the same side of the coin. If he is truly a former terrorist, he must have never read the Qur'an, as God surely commands muslims to respect christians and jews as the people of the Book.

Hurray for Geraldo

2007-03-16T23:05:00.001-04:00

This morning on Fox, Geraldo actually defended the Muslim Imams that are suing Delta airlines and a specific passenger for their humilating treatment. American Muslims do not have to put up with this profiling and public humiliation. As Geralso said, the staff on the wirline reallyy screwed up, ad they will have to pay for it. Its the American way. Please harrass us more so we can sue! God knows our mosques need the money.

The suing game has been effectively by pro-Israeli groups suing Islamic charities for alleged links to Palestinian terror attacks... two can play that game... we need some lawyers to sue Israeli government officials and citizens for terror attacks also...

Hurray for Geraldo

2007-03-16T23:05:00.000-04:00

Khaled Sheikh Confesses to Everything

2007-03-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

Khaled Sheikh Muhammad has confessed to EVERYTHING. The 9/11 attack, Bali bombing, beheading Daniel Pearl personally, plotting against Jimmy Carter, stealing kryptonite, assasination attempt against Paula Abdul (character assassination, not the other kind), the terrorist plot in Katrina which brought down the levies, Michigan's budget crisis (there are a lot of Arabs on medicaid in Dearborn after all), and the loss of Sanjay on American Idol. And if Sanjay hasn't lost by now, Khaled should be released simply to make sure Sanjay DOES lose. Thats all for now.

300 the movie is on Bush's Top 10 list

2007-03-11T23:45:00.000-04:00

The movie 300 was just released. It is an awesome battle movie, but its not the gore that is nauseating: it is the politics. The movie has as its underlying theme the civil, freedom loving, self sacrificing West, represented by the Spartans gallantly fighting the savage, dark, hedon "Asian hordes" who want to kill the men and enslave the women and children. Freedom is not free one of the defenders shout. We should honor the brave soldiers who are risking their lives so you can live in this wonderful society. Wow, all this rhetoric from over 2000 years ago. All great battle movies have their speeches, and the last speech in 300 is quite telling: the Greek general inspires his troops to fight against "the mysticism and tyranny of the East"

This movie was probably financed by the Department of Defense's Division of Creating Rhetoric and Hatred against Persians and other Riff Raff Asian types So We can Invade Them Too.

Panel discussion with Irshad Manji

2007-03-09T23:26:00.000-05:00

http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=793

By Dana Inayah Cann, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

Detroit–March 1–Controversial speaker Irshad Manji, a frequent guest of anti-Muslim journalistic circles, appeared recently in the Detroit area before a skeptical crowd of local Muslims and others.

Through debates, lectures, a documentary and other outlets, this author, journalist, and activist has taken a no-holds-barred approach to Islam.

Last Thursday, Irshad Manji, the author of the book The Trouble with Islam: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith was the topic of a discussion panel held at the Masonic Temple’s Scottish Rite Cathedral in Detroit.

Manji, a Canadian resident and well-known critic of Islam and orthodox interpretations of the Qur`an, was accompanied on stage by her mother Mumtaz Manji, Islamic scholar Saeed Khan, and activist Sofia B. Latif, a Communications Specialist who plays an active role in the Islamic community through her involvement with CAIR, CIOM, and other local Muslim organizations. Steve Spreitzer, the Director of Interfaith Programs for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, was the moderator for the panel discussion.

With nearly 70 in attendance, the audience first viewed Manji’s new film Faith Without Fear, which will air as a part of the week-long PBS series America at a Crossroads from April 15 to April 20. In Manji’s 60 minute film, which also includes her mother, she calls for revolutionary (she terms them evolutionary) changes in Islamic communities. In the film, Manji travels to the Middle East and back home to Canada, capturing images of women who she says has no identity after being completely covered and enduring the punishments Muslims go through for committing crimes. She also travels to different locations describing the different ways that Muslims practice their faith.

Following the film, Spreitzer had a few questions for the panel, and then allowed the audience to direct their questions to Manji.
“In order for me to discover the beauty of Islam, I first needed to have some very basic questions addressed. Questions like ‘Is religion the problem, or is it the manipulation of religion that’s the real problem? How much responsibility are mainstream Muslims to be taken for the horrific crimes that are so often happening under the banner of Islam? Does Islam itself contain the solution to the problem?’ And maybe most importantly, “What would the world be missing if Islam never existed?”
Manji stated that by opening herself up to these questions, she believes that she has undergone a transformation in this journey.

“I continue to speak out against unconscionable crimes, but my anger which is so evident in the book, and which is real and authentic in the book, has itself become transformed into respect, affection, [and] dare I say it, even love for my faith,” said Manji. “I guess you could say that I’m no longer criticizing Islam, I’m now challenging Muslims.”

Spreitzer then asked Manji’s mother, Mumtaz about her faith since being on this journey with her daughter.

“I have always had a very strong faith towards Allah,” said Mumtaz mentioning also that Allah has always helped her when she needed Him and has given her three beautiful daughters. “My faith is very strong from the very beginning until the day that I die.”

Spreitzer, focused his attention over to Sophia Begg Latif and Prof. Saeed Khan, asking them how they’ve maintained their faith living in America.

Latif stated that her parents and her community are supported of her religion and that wearing the hijab has made her a stronger person.

Khan said that he has lived in different parts of the U.S. and has been able to adapt to each situation where he has lived. He also stated that honesty is what helps him to maintain his religion.

Switching the panel discussion over to the audience, one of the questions asked of Manji was about her endorsement of the occupation in Palestine.

“It is quite the opposite,” said Manji, stating that she denounces the military occupation as well as the occupation “of the Palestinian people by their own corrupt leadership.”

Dawud Walid of CAIR Michigan asked Manji, “Don’t you think it could be troublesome for individual Muslims to say ‘I’m going to have my own independent Ijtihad?’ and not base it upon the Qur`an and the Sunna?”

Manji responded by saying that she has no problems with Islamic scholars, but Muslims should think independently on their own.

“We’ve got to give a wide spectrum of Muslims the ability of the opportunity to find their own voices,” said Manji. “I would argue that if we don’t do that then what we are winding up doing by default is reinforcing a pattern of submissiveness.”

Imam Abdullah Al-Amin asked Manji about her widely reported sexual orientation, and whether or not she consumes alcohol.

Manji said that she has never had alcohol and that she is a lesbian. She doesn’t think that people have to accept her as a lesbian, but she does feel that she and others who are lesbians should be harmed because of their choices.

“I don’t agree that the Qur`an is absolutely clear on the homosexuality question,” said Manji. “If God did not wish to make me a lesbian, why did He not use His unparallelled, unmatched powers to create somebody else in my place?”

A young Chinese American woman approached the microphone and asked Manji what was it about her that made anti-Islamic people attracted to her lectures and panel discussions. The questerioner also informed Manji that she had been outside the event’s venue passing out anti-Manji flyers (entitled The Trouble with Irshad Manji)

In a defensive tone, Manji told the woman that she should be glad that she has the freedom to hand out flyers that disrespect her without fearing getting arrested, unlike the Muslim women in Yemen who don’t have the freedom to speak their minds.

Kay Siblani, executive editor of The Arab American News asked Sophia Begg Latif her thoughts about the film.

Latif felt that Manji implied in the film that all Muslims are not trying to fix what is wrong with Islam. Manji disagreed, saying that she has a talk with an imam in the film who mentions finding solutions to correct the wrongdoings in Islam. To Latif, that simply was not enough.

At the end of the session, Manji stressed the need to liberate the entrepreneurial talents of Muslim women, especially in the Middle East as she talks about in Chapter 7 of her book.
“The multiplying affect of investing in Muslim women, and in women in general, cannot be underestimated,” said Manji.

Born in Uganda in 1968, Manji and her family moved to Canada near Vancouver in 1972 after 50,000 Asians were expelled by President Idi Amin. She earned an honors degree in the history of ideas from the University of British Columbia.

Manji has received Oprah Winfrey’s first annual Cutzpah Award for “audacity, nerve, boldness and conviction, while Ms. Magazine named her a “Feminist for the 21st Century.”

Friedman is intentionally malicious: Muslims DO condemn the violence

2007-03-08T22:50:00.000-05:00

In his syndicated column carried by the local Detroit Free Press/News, Thomas Friedman recently writes in Silence That Kills: "Nobody in the Arab world ‘’has the guts to say that what is happening in Iraq is wrong — that killing schoolkids is wrong,’’ said Mamoun Fandy, director of the Middle East program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies."

Huh? Muslims across the world have been condemning and trying to say this but nobody listens. There have been fatwas against terrororism, frequent condemnantions of this seneless violence by all mainstream Muslim scholars, leaders, cooks, moms, institutions, organizations, vidoe game players, boy scouts and football fans. See http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20051209-042227-3029r

Why quote Mamoun Fandy on this? Why not actually ask the leader of a mainstream Muslim organziation in America. For the record, all Muslim leaders of mainstream American Muslim organzations such as CAIR, ISNA, ICNA. MPAC have condemned violence towards civilians and the sectarian violence rampant today. Even overseas, major conferences and summits have been held, including a recent joint statement between Rafsanjani and Qaradawi, both perhaps the most revered leading Shiite and Sunni scholars alive today. Why is this ignored? Is Friedman just stupid (after all, he claims to be an expert on the Middle East) or intentionally malicious?

Friedman and his ilk have constructed a fantasy universe where the only solution is teaching moral lessons to the savage Arabs and Muslims. Please, Friedman, save us, let us be more like you and use F-16s, cluster bombs, fabricated evidence, torture, secret detention camps, military tribunals and lots and lots of pundits to make the world a better place.

Pope remarks are an opportunity to dialogue

2006-09-20T13:42:00.000-04:00

First the Danish cartoonists, and now the Pope?
This was the initial reaction of many Muslims upon learning Pope Benedict XVI insulted their religion and beloved Prophet Muhammad. However, the world of soundbites differs from that of reality. A careful reading of his lecture and a subsequent comments should be seen as an invitation to dialogue, rather than clash.
The Pope was giving an address at the University of Regensburg in Germany on the relationship of faith and reason. The Pope gave an insightful analysis regarding the natural affinity of religion to reason, and argues that this affinity transcends both cultural and geographic traditions.
As a pretext to this discussion, the Pope quotes Dr Theodore Khoury, a Lebanese German, who is known for his interfaith research. Dr Khoury described a dialogue between Manuel II a 14th century Byzantine Emperor and a Persian Muslim scholar. The Pope wished to make a distinction between Christian and Muslim understandings of God by using the example of violent conversions
The Pope feels that there is a difference between Islamic theology and Christian theology on this issue, although many Muslims would disagree. The Pope, recognizing the language of Manuel II as being “startlingly brusque,” quoted the emperor in his remark, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached” The Pope goes on to say that violent conversions are wrong because they are incompatible with God’s nature, who abhors violence and is bound by reason.
The Pope did not explicitly condone the views of Manuel II. He actually remarked upon their hostile tone. However, the example he cited without further explanation was a serious miscalculation in today’s current environment. The Pope did recognize that Islamic law declares, “there is no compulsion in religion,” but the Pope made a disputable qualification, claiming that this command was later abrogated later when Prophet Muhammad came into a position of power.
Most Muslim scholars would disagree that the verse was ever abrogated. At the very least, the Pope should have recognized that these views did not represent the mainstream. Instead, through his lack of clarification he implied agreement that Islamic law allows spilling blood for the sake of conversions and spreading religion.
The Pope and the offices of the Vatican have recognized the offensiveness of the remarks, and clearly stated that the statements of Manuel II do not reflect the opinion of the Pope. The Pope has apologized for any injury his words have caused and has invited further dialogue. Muslims should recognize this conciliatory gesture and engage Roman Catholics.
Unfortunately, this is the sort of opportunity extremists in the Muslim and Western communities exploit to increase tension. Many extremists on both sides of the ocean believe that Islamic and Western worlds must inevitably clash, and that they have deep differences. In America and Europe, the myth that Islam is inherently violent fuels misunderstanding and becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, particularly when accompanied by violent images and statements.
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury correctly stated, “There are elements in Islam that can be used to justify violence, just as there are in Christianity and Judaism.” Islam is not the cause of violence: most major world conflicts of the last century did not involve religion. The great religions can actually be a source of peace and reconciliation with far-sighted leadership. It should be a priority for the great religions to dialogue with each other and show a common front in supporting the value of faith and the importance of tolerance.
Muslims and Catholics, particularly in America, share many common goals. Both are committed to improving the welfare of our society, through services, education and advocacy. Both are fighting to show the important role of faith in forming a prosperous and peaceful community. There is far more to gain with constructive engagement than hotly disputed historical discussions.

Welcome

2006-09-18T14:30:00.000-04:00