Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Female Professor of Neuroscience from USA converts to Islam
This Professor at the University of Texas became a Muslim and made the trip to Mecca to visit the ultimate house of God. She followed the true way of life even though it displeased her family and friends.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Baitul Rahman Mosque, Washington DC - USA
Baitul Rahman MosqueWashington DC
USA
Baitul Rahman Mosque soon after fajr (dawn) prayer.
Community Holds Vigil For Burned Islamic Center
COLUMBIA, Tenn.- A Middle Tennessee house of worship marked with swastikas and set on fire has started the rebuilding process.
Last week, arsonists set the Islamic Center of Columbia ablaze, destroying the building.
This Saturday community members returned to the site of the Islamic Center for a community vigil.
The Islamic Center was a small one, serving about 20 families, but there were more than a 100 people that attended Saturday's event.
The center held its traditional noon prayer, before holding the vigil. It featured a diverse range of speakers that spanned across ethnic and religious boundaries. All of them condemned the act of arson.
Police have arrested three men in connection with the crime. Two of the suspects have been linked to a white supremacy group. On Saturday, supporters of the Islamic Center came from as far as Huntsville Alabama to express their support.
Organizations such as the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, the Islamic Center of Nashville, the Maury Alliance Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Organization for Progress and Education among others were present for the vigil.
Residents and city leaders in Columbia also stressed the importance of making people of all faiths and races feel welcome in the community.
"The message we want to send today that we hope to convey, not just to those who are present, but to everyone in this community and beyond, that this was a hate crime directed at all of us," said Dauoud Abudiab, president of the Islamic center of Nashville.
The group's president ended the vigil by promising the crowd that the Islamic Center of Columbia would rebuild.
Below is the information if you would like to contribute to the rebuilding fund.
Islamic Center of Columbia Rebuilding Fund
Community First Bank and Trust
501 S James Campbell Blvd.
Columbia, TN 38401
931-380-2265
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Nuclear physicist/Muslim cleric fights to get back job, security clearance
Sunday, February 03, 2008By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dr. Moniem El-Ganayni is not the only imam to have served as a chaplain inside a state prison. But he may be the only one who is also a nuclear physicist working on classified U.S. military projects that require a security clearance.
At least, he used to do classified work at the Bettis Laboratory, an advanced naval nuclear propulsion technology lab in West Mifflin operated by Bechtel Bettis Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy.
But in October, the two tracks of his life collided. His security clearance was suspended, barring him from the lab where he has worked for 18 years.
Long a respected member of the Pittsburgh Muslim community and a founder of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh in Oakland, the Egyptian-born Dr. El-Ganayni also was the imam at Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution-Forest in Marienville, Forest County, for five months in 2007. His contract was canceled in August after disputes over Ramadan observance and visiting policies.
Twelve weeks after that, agents from the Energy Department, and later the Pittsburgh FBI, began questioning him about a book he distributed to inmates at the prison as well as speeches he made opposing FBI recruitment at local mosques and prayers he led there.
His clearance was suspended on Oct. 24 pending further review. His pay has been cut in half pending the outcome.
Without his clearance, and at age 57, Dr. El-Ganayni stands to lose much of what he has worked for since arriving in this country in 1980. His job and medical benefits are in jeopardy. A U.S. citizen since 1988, he won't be able to work in his field, and, if his clearance is not reinstated after an upcoming hearing, he says he'll probably return to Egypt with his American-born wife.
Dr. El-Ganayni is the second local imam to run into a wall in recent months. Kadir Gunduz, 48, who has lived in Pittsburgh since 1988 and has raised three children here, was jailed in December on a visa technicality. He was released after a public outcry, but still faces deportation to his native Turkey. His appeal is pending.
An untold number of Middle Eastern immigrants and Muslims across the country have been quietly ensnared by measures aimed at strengthening national security in a post-9/11 world, including some, like Dr. El-Ganayni, who have lost their security clearance.
There is no way of knowing just how many, said Art Spitzer, director of the Washington, D.C., affiliate, of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"We've heard about a number of cases involving security clearances, so there must be a lot more we haven't heard about," Mr. Spitzer said.
The DOE, FBI, Bettis and SCI-Forest all declined comment on Dr. El-Ganayni.
Science or subversion?
It all began with a book, "The Miracle in the Ant," one of numerous volumes published by Harun Yahya, an Islamic creationist from Turkey. The book details ant anatomy and behavior, and argues that these characteristics disprove the theory of evolution.
Dr. El-Ganayni had ordered the book for the Forest prison library and was passing out photocopied chapters for the Muslim inmates housed in segregation to read in their cells. Eventually, he came to the chapter called "Defence and War Tactics," about ants that produce acid, use camouflage or enslave other ants.
Then there's this passage, under the heading "Walking Bombs":
"The ultimate in public service is to destroy enemies by committing suicide in defense of the colony. Many kinds of ants are prepared to assume this kamikaze role in one way or another, but none more dramatically than a species of Camponotus of the saundersi group living in the rain forests of Malaysia."
A quick Internet search shows that this passage and others (minus the creationism) were lifted almost verbatim from "Journey to the Ants," by Pulitzer Prize winning biologists Edward O. Wilson and Bert Holldobler. "Journey" was published by Harvard University Press in 1994, six years before the Harun Yahya version.
Dr. El-Ganayni said he scanned the chapters before passing them out, and the "walking bomb" passage didn't seem problematic because it was a scientific description of an insect. The passage must have raised hackles at the prison, however, because the Rev. Glenn McQuown, the chaplaincy director, was asked to examine the book -- he declined to say by whom.
"In my view, the book was completely benign," said the Rev. McQuown from Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was about to deploy to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. He added that he would be happy to work again with Dr. El-Ganayni anytime and said, "I have him on my list to call for support as I prepare to engage with Muslims in Afghanistan."
Somehow, the prison literature made its way to the DOE. Dr. El-Ganayni is convinced it was sent in retaliation for his dispute with prison authorities, but Sue McNaughton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections in Harrisburg, said any prison employee or inmate could have put a copy in the mail.
In any case, the DOE questioning began. "They asked, 'Would you support killing Americans?' I said, 'Of course not.' 'Are you loyal?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Would you do anything to harm this country?' I said, 'No.' "
Then they asked if he advocated suicide bombing, and if the "walking bomb" passage could be read as promoting attacks against Americans.
"I couldn't believe my ears," Dr. El-Ganayni said. "I am an American. How could I advocate killing myself? I am also a Muslim, a man of peace. I do not advocate killing anyone."
He said he told his questioners that he was against suicide bombing, and explained repeatedly that the passage was about ants, not people.
"You can twist anything to mean something else if you want to," he said.
From his office at Harvard, Dr. Wilson, the world's foremost authority on ants and the real author of passage, said he was startled to learn that his words had become an issue for Dr. El-Ganayni. "My reaction is astonishment at the unfairness of it," Dr. Wilson said.
Dr. El-Ganayni said he was similarly astonished. "I told them, 'Look at my actions. I have been here since 1980; I never had a problem at work; I never broke a law; I never had any trouble except the dispute at the prison.'
"Now they are taking two sentences from a book about ants that anyone can get in the bookstore, and making it more important than [my] 27 years in this country."
FBI interviewers also brought up a passage from the Quran -- Chapter Two, Verse 286, the last few lines (in English translation): "Oh God ... Thou art our protector. Help us against disbelievers."
The line is the Muslim equivalent of the Lord's Prayer's "deliver us from evil," according to Ahmed Rehab, spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.
"It's a standard line that allies Islam with good against evil. It is not meant to be read through the filter of modern conflict," Mr. Rehab said.
The FBI saw it in a different light, said Dr. El-Ganayni.
"They asked me, did I ever pray in the mosque for God to grant victory to the mujahadeen [holy warriors] over kufra [disbelievers]?
"I said I read that passage, it is one of the most common prayers for Muslims, but they were misinterpreting it. It's not about war against Christians or Jews or Americans or any other group."
The agents also asked about Dr. El-Ganayni's speech opposing FBI recruitment at mosques, specifically two flyers from the bureau describing its work and inviting members to consider working for the agency.
Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, U.S. investigators have tried various ways, including flyers and the use of informants, to get inside a community whose language, beliefs and practices are not well understood by most Americans and whose skills the agency sorely needs.
Lillie Leonardi, community affairs coordinator for the Pittsburgh FBI, said her office has arranged meetings with Muslim leaders, but that if flyers were left at mosques, it wasn't by her.
"That would be disrespectful in trying to build a relationship," she said.
The FBI interviewers asked Dr. El-Ganayni if he had attacked the bureau in speeches in the mosques.
"I said no, I attacked only their transgressions against the Muslim community.
"I said it's not good for us to report on each other because it makes a climate of fear in the mosque. No one will feel safe confiding their private problems about money or their marriage if they think it will be reported to the government and used against them. That is not against the FBI and America, it is against intimidation and coercion."
He showed a reporter a 2006 Wall Street Journal article about Yassine Ouassif, a 24-year-old Moroccan living in San Francisco. The FBI took away Mr. Ouassif's green card and threatened to deport him unless he informed on his friends. He refused and was jailed until Homeland Security cleared him.
"I never thought these things could happen here," Dr. El-Ganayni said. "This is not the America I came to in 1980."
Putting security first
There is no Constitutional right to a security clearance, but there's also no forfeiture of nonwork-related free speech by those doing classified jobs.
Hank Van Dyke, a lawyer for the security arm of the Schenectady Naval Reactors Office, said that in 18 years with the agency, he'd never seen anyone's clearance pulled because of conversations unrelated to work.
Yet as the Code of Federal Regulations is written, virtually any statement or "derogatory" information can be used against an applicant. And the Supreme Court has ruled that the courts will not review security denials.
The code directs officials to reach "a comprehensive, common sense judgment, made after consideration of all relevant material, favorable and unfavorable ... consistent with the national interest."
It further states: "Any doubt ... shall be resolved in favor of the national security."
That sentence has cost plenty of people their clearances for reasons that seem insubstantial, according to Mr. Spitzer, of the ACLU.
"The incentive for the agents is always to protect themselves by erring on the side of denial," Mr. Spitzer said.
Prison troubles
Up to now, Dr. El-Ganayni's life has been an immigrant success story.
He left his native Egypt in his mid-20s with a master's degree in nuclear physics from Ain Shams University in Cairo. He enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, earning another master's in the same subject in 1981. The following year, he married Jean Louise Dell'Aquila, then a recent convert to Islam from a large Italian family.
In 1988, he became a U.S. citizen. Two years later, he earned his doctorate in atomic physics at Pitt and was hired at the lab, then run by Westinghouse Electric Corp.
The religious side of his life was an outgrowth of his upbringing, he said -- his father has the equivalent of a doctorate in Islamic law. So, finding few Muslim institutions in Pittsburgh, Dr. El-Ganayni helped found the Islamic Center. Over the years, he's been president, board member, committee chairman, teacher, prayer leader, prison outreach worker and relief-provider for people in need.
His apartment overlooking the Highland Park reservoir attests to his lifelong interest in learning. The walls are lined with shelves holding hundreds of beautifully bound Arabic-language books, arranged by subject matter: The Quran and commentaries; the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad; Islamic beliefs, law and history; Arabic, cultural studies and comparative religions. Other shelves hold many of the same works in English translation, as well as books on physics and math.
There are also signs of the charitable acts he has performed -- notably, a slab of marble bearing the painted image of a rabbi holding the Torah, the holy scroll of Judaism. It was given to him by an ailing, elderly Jewish woman in his building whom he and his wife helped with medical and financial support.
Until the trouble started, Dr. El-Ganayni was a senior scientist at the Bettis lab. Every few years, security agents would interview him. He said the exchanges were always friendly and his clearance was never at issue.
Bettis knew he had a sideline as a prison imam, he said. His first such job was at Belmont Correctional Institution in Ohio from 1999 to 2005. Kathy Cole, a spokeswoman for Belmont, confirmed that Dr. El-Ganayni had no trouble with authorities there.
Then he signed a one-year contract with SCI-Forest, described on its Web site as "a state-of-the-art maximum-security prison" built to house 2,200 adult male inmates.
Things went well enough at first, but during a three-week period in July, relations grew strained.
First, he says, officials at Forest refused to allow him to arrange for donations from the Muslim community to help impoverished inmates pay for a special holiday meal at the end of Ramadan, the month in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk each day. He said he asked five times to meet with the superintendant, to no avail.
The next week, he had a run-in with officials at SCI-Muncy, the women's prison in Lycoming County. Dr. El-Ganayni said he had driven relatives of inmate Karena Dorsey on a four-hour trip to the prison after checking to make sure the family would be allowed to see her, but when they arrived, officials barred the visit. He disputed the decision, again to no avail.
In a letter of warning dated July 23, Muncy Superintendent D. M. Chamberlain said staffers had reported the imam to be "insistent and agitated" as well as "abusive and threatening toward the staff" -- a description he denied.
The week after that, he distributed the passage from the ant book. Then, in a letter dated Aug. 1 and giving no reason, SCI-Forest terminated his contract, seven months early. On Aug. 20, Dr. El-Ganayni and his wife launched a Web site, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Monitor -- pa-doc-monitor.org -- posting criticism of the prison system. Two months later, his clearance at Bettis was suspended. He had hoped it was a misunderstanding that would be cleared up quickly, but that didn't happen.
On Jan. 17, Dr. El-Ganayni received a letter from the DOE offering the option of a hearing to present his side of the story. He took the option and is waiting for a date.
"I will make my case," he said, "but I am not going to beg for mercy. If the government fights me, I get a lawyer and fight back. If I win, I get my job back. If I lose, I leave."
Farooq Husseini, director of interfaith relations at the Islamic Center, called it "astonishing" that two respected imams from Pittsburgh were suddenly in jeopardy.
"These are good men, very kind, very loyal," Mr. Husseini said. "If this can happen to them, it can happen to anybody."
At least, he used to do classified work at the Bettis Laboratory, an advanced naval nuclear propulsion technology lab in West Mifflin operated by Bechtel Bettis Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy.
But in October, the two tracks of his life collided. His security clearance was suspended, barring him from the lab where he has worked for 18 years.
Long a respected member of the Pittsburgh Muslim community and a founder of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh in Oakland, the Egyptian-born Dr. El-Ganayni also was the imam at Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution-Forest in Marienville, Forest County, for five months in 2007. His contract was canceled in August after disputes over Ramadan observance and visiting policies.
Twelve weeks after that, agents from the Energy Department, and later the Pittsburgh FBI, began questioning him about a book he distributed to inmates at the prison as well as speeches he made opposing FBI recruitment at local mosques and prayers he led there.
His clearance was suspended on Oct. 24 pending further review. His pay has been cut in half pending the outcome.
Without his clearance, and at age 57, Dr. El-Ganayni stands to lose much of what he has worked for since arriving in this country in 1980. His job and medical benefits are in jeopardy. A U.S. citizen since 1988, he won't be able to work in his field, and, if his clearance is not reinstated after an upcoming hearing, he says he'll probably return to Egypt with his American-born wife.
Dr. El-Ganayni is the second local imam to run into a wall in recent months. Kadir Gunduz, 48, who has lived in Pittsburgh since 1988 and has raised three children here, was jailed in December on a visa technicality. He was released after a public outcry, but still faces deportation to his native Turkey. His appeal is pending.
An untold number of Middle Eastern immigrants and Muslims across the country have been quietly ensnared by measures aimed at strengthening national security in a post-9/11 world, including some, like Dr. El-Ganayni, who have lost their security clearance.
There is no way of knowing just how many, said Art Spitzer, director of the Washington, D.C., affiliate, of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"We've heard about a number of cases involving security clearances, so there must be a lot more we haven't heard about," Mr. Spitzer said.
The DOE, FBI, Bettis and SCI-Forest all declined comment on Dr. El-Ganayni.
Science or subversion?
It all began with a book, "The Miracle in the Ant," one of numerous volumes published by Harun Yahya, an Islamic creationist from Turkey. The book details ant anatomy and behavior, and argues that these characteristics disprove the theory of evolution.
Dr. El-Ganayni had ordered the book for the Forest prison library and was passing out photocopied chapters for the Muslim inmates housed in segregation to read in their cells. Eventually, he came to the chapter called "Defence and War Tactics," about ants that produce acid, use camouflage or enslave other ants.
Then there's this passage, under the heading "Walking Bombs":
"The ultimate in public service is to destroy enemies by committing suicide in defense of the colony. Many kinds of ants are prepared to assume this kamikaze role in one way or another, but none more dramatically than a species of Camponotus of the saundersi group living in the rain forests of Malaysia."
A quick Internet search shows that this passage and others (minus the creationism) were lifted almost verbatim from "Journey to the Ants," by Pulitzer Prize winning biologists Edward O. Wilson and Bert Holldobler. "Journey" was published by Harvard University Press in 1994, six years before the Harun Yahya version.
Dr. El-Ganayni said he scanned the chapters before passing them out, and the "walking bomb" passage didn't seem problematic because it was a scientific description of an insect. The passage must have raised hackles at the prison, however, because the Rev. Glenn McQuown, the chaplaincy director, was asked to examine the book -- he declined to say by whom.
"In my view, the book was completely benign," said the Rev. McQuown from Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was about to deploy to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. He added that he would be happy to work again with Dr. El-Ganayni anytime and said, "I have him on my list to call for support as I prepare to engage with Muslims in Afghanistan."
Somehow, the prison literature made its way to the DOE. Dr. El-Ganayni is convinced it was sent in retaliation for his dispute with prison authorities, but Sue McNaughton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections in Harrisburg, said any prison employee or inmate could have put a copy in the mail.
In any case, the DOE questioning began. "They asked, 'Would you support killing Americans?' I said, 'Of course not.' 'Are you loyal?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Would you do anything to harm this country?' I said, 'No.' "
Then they asked if he advocated suicide bombing, and if the "walking bomb" passage could be read as promoting attacks against Americans.
"I couldn't believe my ears," Dr. El-Ganayni said. "I am an American. How could I advocate killing myself? I am also a Muslim, a man of peace. I do not advocate killing anyone."
He said he told his questioners that he was against suicide bombing, and explained repeatedly that the passage was about ants, not people.
"You can twist anything to mean something else if you want to," he said.
From his office at Harvard, Dr. Wilson, the world's foremost authority on ants and the real author of passage, said he was startled to learn that his words had become an issue for Dr. El-Ganayni. "My reaction is astonishment at the unfairness of it," Dr. Wilson said.
Dr. El-Ganayni said he was similarly astonished. "I told them, 'Look at my actions. I have been here since 1980; I never had a problem at work; I never broke a law; I never had any trouble except the dispute at the prison.'
"Now they are taking two sentences from a book about ants that anyone can get in the bookstore, and making it more important than [my] 27 years in this country."
FBI interviewers also brought up a passage from the Quran -- Chapter Two, Verse 286, the last few lines (in English translation): "Oh God ... Thou art our protector. Help us against disbelievers."
The line is the Muslim equivalent of the Lord's Prayer's "deliver us from evil," according to Ahmed Rehab, spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.
"It's a standard line that allies Islam with good against evil. It is not meant to be read through the filter of modern conflict," Mr. Rehab said.
The FBI saw it in a different light, said Dr. El-Ganayni.
"They asked me, did I ever pray in the mosque for God to grant victory to the mujahadeen [holy warriors] over kufra [disbelievers]?
"I said I read that passage, it is one of the most common prayers for Muslims, but they were misinterpreting it. It's not about war against Christians or Jews or Americans or any other group."
The agents also asked about Dr. El-Ganayni's speech opposing FBI recruitment at mosques, specifically two flyers from the bureau describing its work and inviting members to consider working for the agency.
Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, U.S. investigators have tried various ways, including flyers and the use of informants, to get inside a community whose language, beliefs and practices are not well understood by most Americans and whose skills the agency sorely needs.
Lillie Leonardi, community affairs coordinator for the Pittsburgh FBI, said her office has arranged meetings with Muslim leaders, but that if flyers were left at mosques, it wasn't by her.
"That would be disrespectful in trying to build a relationship," she said.
The FBI interviewers asked Dr. El-Ganayni if he had attacked the bureau in speeches in the mosques.
"I said no, I attacked only their transgressions against the Muslim community.
"I said it's not good for us to report on each other because it makes a climate of fear in the mosque. No one will feel safe confiding their private problems about money or their marriage if they think it will be reported to the government and used against them. That is not against the FBI and America, it is against intimidation and coercion."
He showed a reporter a 2006 Wall Street Journal article about Yassine Ouassif, a 24-year-old Moroccan living in San Francisco. The FBI took away Mr. Ouassif's green card and threatened to deport him unless he informed on his friends. He refused and was jailed until Homeland Security cleared him.
"I never thought these things could happen here," Dr. El-Ganayni said. "This is not the America I came to in 1980."
Putting security first
There is no Constitutional right to a security clearance, but there's also no forfeiture of nonwork-related free speech by those doing classified jobs.
Hank Van Dyke, a lawyer for the security arm of the Schenectady Naval Reactors Office, said that in 18 years with the agency, he'd never seen anyone's clearance pulled because of conversations unrelated to work.
Yet as the Code of Federal Regulations is written, virtually any statement or "derogatory" information can be used against an applicant. And the Supreme Court has ruled that the courts will not review security denials.
The code directs officials to reach "a comprehensive, common sense judgment, made after consideration of all relevant material, favorable and unfavorable ... consistent with the national interest."
It further states: "Any doubt ... shall be resolved in favor of the national security."
That sentence has cost plenty of people their clearances for reasons that seem insubstantial, according to Mr. Spitzer, of the ACLU.
"The incentive for the agents is always to protect themselves by erring on the side of denial," Mr. Spitzer said.
Prison troubles
Up to now, Dr. El-Ganayni's life has been an immigrant success story.
He left his native Egypt in his mid-20s with a master's degree in nuclear physics from Ain Shams University in Cairo. He enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, earning another master's in the same subject in 1981. The following year, he married Jean Louise Dell'Aquila, then a recent convert to Islam from a large Italian family.
In 1988, he became a U.S. citizen. Two years later, he earned his doctorate in atomic physics at Pitt and was hired at the lab, then run by Westinghouse Electric Corp.
The religious side of his life was an outgrowth of his upbringing, he said -- his father has the equivalent of a doctorate in Islamic law. So, finding few Muslim institutions in Pittsburgh, Dr. El-Ganayni helped found the Islamic Center. Over the years, he's been president, board member, committee chairman, teacher, prayer leader, prison outreach worker and relief-provider for people in need.
His apartment overlooking the Highland Park reservoir attests to his lifelong interest in learning. The walls are lined with shelves holding hundreds of beautifully bound Arabic-language books, arranged by subject matter: The Quran and commentaries; the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad; Islamic beliefs, law and history; Arabic, cultural studies and comparative religions. Other shelves hold many of the same works in English translation, as well as books on physics and math.
There are also signs of the charitable acts he has performed -- notably, a slab of marble bearing the painted image of a rabbi holding the Torah, the holy scroll of Judaism. It was given to him by an ailing, elderly Jewish woman in his building whom he and his wife helped with medical and financial support.
Until the trouble started, Dr. El-Ganayni was a senior scientist at the Bettis lab. Every few years, security agents would interview him. He said the exchanges were always friendly and his clearance was never at issue.
Bettis knew he had a sideline as a prison imam, he said. His first such job was at Belmont Correctional Institution in Ohio from 1999 to 2005. Kathy Cole, a spokeswoman for Belmont, confirmed that Dr. El-Ganayni had no trouble with authorities there.
Then he signed a one-year contract with SCI-Forest, described on its Web site as "a state-of-the-art maximum-security prison" built to house 2,200 adult male inmates.
Things went well enough at first, but during a three-week period in July, relations grew strained.
First, he says, officials at Forest refused to allow him to arrange for donations from the Muslim community to help impoverished inmates pay for a special holiday meal at the end of Ramadan, the month in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk each day. He said he asked five times to meet with the superintendant, to no avail.
The next week, he had a run-in with officials at SCI-Muncy, the women's prison in Lycoming County. Dr. El-Ganayni said he had driven relatives of inmate Karena Dorsey on a four-hour trip to the prison after checking to make sure the family would be allowed to see her, but when they arrived, officials barred the visit. He disputed the decision, again to no avail.
In a letter of warning dated July 23, Muncy Superintendent D. M. Chamberlain said staffers had reported the imam to be "insistent and agitated" as well as "abusive and threatening toward the staff" -- a description he denied.
The week after that, he distributed the passage from the ant book. Then, in a letter dated Aug. 1 and giving no reason, SCI-Forest terminated his contract, seven months early. On Aug. 20, Dr. El-Ganayni and his wife launched a Web site, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Monitor -- pa-doc-monitor.org -- posting criticism of the prison system. Two months later, his clearance at Bettis was suspended. He had hoped it was a misunderstanding that would be cleared up quickly, but that didn't happen.
On Jan. 17, Dr. El-Ganayni received a letter from the DOE offering the option of a hearing to present his side of the story. He took the option and is waiting for a date.
"I will make my case," he said, "but I am not going to beg for mercy. If the government fights me, I get a lawyer and fight back. If I win, I get my job back. If I lose, I leave."
Farooq Husseini, director of interfaith relations at the Islamic Center, called it "astonishing" that two respected imams from Pittsburgh were suddenly in jeopardy.
"These are good men, very kind, very loyal," Mr. Husseini said. "If this can happen to them, it can happen to anybody."
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Muslim Aids Jews Attacked On New York Subway
New York, NY (AHN, 12 Dec 07) - Charges against eight men and two women could be charged with hate crimes after they allegedly attacked four Jewish subway riders in New York City, prosecutors said. The altercation on the Q train bound for Brooklyn has resulted in a friendship between the victims and the Muslim college student who came to their aid.
Walter Adler and his friends were allegedly attacked after they said "Happy Hanukkah" to a group yelling "Merry Christmas."
Hassan Askari, 20, a Muslim from Bangladesh enrolled at Berkeley College in Manhattan fended off the attackers, giving Adler a chance to summon police by pulling an emergency brake, CBS News reported.
Askari suffered a black eye after he was allegedly punched and beaten while Adler, 23, suffered a broken nose and a lip wound.
"A Muslim-American saved us when our own people were on the train and didn't do anything," Adler said.
The suspects are to appear in court on Feb. 7 on charges that include assault, attempted assault, menacing, harassment, unlawful assembly, riot and disorderly conduct, CNN reported.
The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating whether the suspects will be charged with hate crimes.
Walter Adler and his friends were allegedly attacked after they said "Happy Hanukkah" to a group yelling "Merry Christmas."
Hassan Askari, 20, a Muslim from Bangladesh enrolled at Berkeley College in Manhattan fended off the attackers, giving Adler a chance to summon police by pulling an emergency brake, CBS News reported.
Askari suffered a black eye after he was allegedly punched and beaten while Adler, 23, suffered a broken nose and a lip wound.
"A Muslim-American saved us when our own people were on the train and didn't do anything," Adler said.
The suspects are to appear in court on Feb. 7 on charges that include assault, attempted assault, menacing, harassment, unlawful assembly, riot and disorderly conduct, CNN reported.
The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating whether the suspects will be charged with hate crimes.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Sears joined a growing list of advertisers to reject ads in Michael Savage's "Savage Nation" radio program filled with anti-Islam rhetoric
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 -- The Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition (HHA) today announced that Sears, one of the nation's largest retailers, has joined a growing list of advertisers that have stopped advertising or refuse to place their ads on Michael Savage's "Savage Nation" radio program. In an e-mail to HHA, a Sears official wrote: "Sears Holdings will not be advertising on 'The Savage Nation.'" HHA, a group of religious and civic organizations seeking to challenge hate speech on talk radio, was formed as a result of Savage's recent rhetorical attacks on Muslims, Islam and the Quran, Islam's revealed text. Coalition members are calling on advertisers nationwide to stop airing commercials on Savage's nationally-syndicated program.
SEE: Hate Hurts America
http://www.hatehurtsamerica.org/
SEE ALSO: National Radio Host Goes on Anti-Muslim Tirade (CAIR)
Savage has a long history of rhetorical attacks on a variety ofminority groups. He says he has lost at least $1 million in revenue becauseof the advertiser campaign.
SEE: Hate Hurts America
http://www.hatehurtsamerica.org/
SEE ALSO: National Radio Host Goes on Anti-Muslim Tirade (CAIR)
Savage has a long history of rhetorical attacks on a variety ofminority groups. He says he has lost at least $1 million in revenue becauseof the advertiser campaign.
Advertisers that have already stopped airing, or refuse to air commercials on "Savage Nation" include Universal Orlando Resorts, AutoZone, Citrix, TrustedID, JCPenney, OfficeMax, Wal-Mart, and AT&T. The Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition includes public officials and civil rights advocates, as well as representatives of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Latino, and Asian communities.
CONTACT: Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition
Coordinator Sabiha Khan, 407-430-3747, coordinator@hatehurtsamerica.org
SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations
Thursday, November 29, 2007
AS I SEE IT: Hateful words beget hateful deeds
by James A. Everett
24 Nov 07
The Kansas City Star is to be commended for its recent front-page story “Hate-Crime Count Rises.”
However, there is much more that The Star can, and should, do to focus on factors in our own community that contribute to this ugly phenomenon. Hate crimes do not spring out of a vacuum, they germinate and grow out of hate speech and ignorance.
A recent example of hate speech and ignorance occurred on Oct. 29 through the airing of a radio show on KCMO 710 AM. On the syndicated “Michael Savage Show,” Savage said, “I’m not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I’m not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I’m not getting on my all fours and praying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don’t like it.… I don’t wanna hear any more about Islam. I don’t wanna hear one more word about Islam. ”
Savage continued, “I’m sick of you. What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don’t tell me I need re-education. They need deportation.”
These words of rabid bigotry and hate reflect the same venom that Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels spewed out against the Jews in Nazi Germany. At that time Germany was a Christian nation with a respected historical and social heritage. Allowing such hate speech to flourish, millions of Jews and other disrespected persons were systematically killed.
In 2004, Savage said over the air, “I think (Muslims) need to be forcibly converted to Christianity … It’s the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings.”
In 2006 he called for a ban on Muslim immigration and recommended making “the construction of mosques illegal in America.” He attacks other ethnic groups with similar hateful messages.
When Savage’s stupid, outrageous and bigoted inflammatory remarks were brought to the attention of the radio station, there was no apology, just a feeble response saying they run a disclaimer prior to airing the show. Their disclaimer only warns about adult language. The Federal Communications Commission told me that everything Savage said was covered by the right of free speech.
You’ve all heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But they do. In fact, they can kill. A belief in free speech does not give a person the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater.
In a similar sense, our nation’s democratic tradition strongly supports freedom of expression over publicly licensed airwaves, but they should not be used to promote hatred and violence.
James A. Everett is the former executive director of the Kansas City Interfaith Peace Alliance. He lives in Independence.
However, there is much more that The Star can, and should, do to focus on factors in our own community that contribute to this ugly phenomenon. Hate crimes do not spring out of a vacuum, they germinate and grow out of hate speech and ignorance.
A recent example of hate speech and ignorance occurred on Oct. 29 through the airing of a radio show on KCMO 710 AM. On the syndicated “Michael Savage Show,” Savage said, “I’m not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I’m not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I’m not getting on my all fours and praying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don’t like it.… I don’t wanna hear any more about Islam. I don’t wanna hear one more word about Islam. ”
Savage continued, “I’m sick of you. What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don’t tell me I need re-education. They need deportation.”
These words of rabid bigotry and hate reflect the same venom that Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels spewed out against the Jews in Nazi Germany. At that time Germany was a Christian nation with a respected historical and social heritage. Allowing such hate speech to flourish, millions of Jews and other disrespected persons were systematically killed.
In 2004, Savage said over the air, “I think (Muslims) need to be forcibly converted to Christianity … It’s the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings.”
In 2006 he called for a ban on Muslim immigration and recommended making “the construction of mosques illegal in America.” He attacks other ethnic groups with similar hateful messages.
When Savage’s stupid, outrageous and bigoted inflammatory remarks were brought to the attention of the radio station, there was no apology, just a feeble response saying they run a disclaimer prior to airing the show. Their disclaimer only warns about adult language. The Federal Communications Commission told me that everything Savage said was covered by the right of free speech.
You’ve all heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But they do. In fact, they can kill. A belief in free speech does not give a person the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater.
In a similar sense, our nation’s democratic tradition strongly supports freedom of expression over publicly licensed airwaves, but they should not be used to promote hatred and violence.
James A. Everett is the former executive director of the Kansas City Interfaith Peace Alliance. He lives in Independence.
Comment by Marcello:
Thank you so much for speaking out, Mr. Everett! I'm a Christian who has read the Quran from beginning to end. For Michael Savage or anyone else to call it a "book of hate" is supremely ignorant. America's airwaves belong to the American people, and we deserve better than hate speech.
11/26/2007 11:40 PM
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Truth About Robert Spencer: Leader of World's Most Intolerant Bigots and Satanic Terrorists
Below is the comment by a rational and wise American Christian by the name of David Matthews on Robert Spencer. I would say a vast majority of American Christians would be at the side of David Matthews who promotes peace between Christianity and Islam, not on the side of bigot and warmonger, Robert KKK Spencer.
Robert KKK Spencer is a classic American bigot. He wants to provoke a religious war between Christianity and Islam. He spreads all sorts of slanders, lies, bigotry and hatred against Muslims.Robert Spencer's followers want to trample on the Constitution so that they may trample upon the civil rights of American Muslims. They would deny American citizens Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech simply because they are Muslim. Robert Spencer's followers include such luminaries of American bigotry as:
-Tom Tancredo ("nuclear bombs on Mecca and Medina!"),
-Ann Coulter ("kill Muslims leaders and convert the Muslims to Christianity") and
-Michelle Malkin ("Internment camps were great! Let's put all of the Muslims into concentration camps!").
If you visit Robert Spencer's blog and other like-minded blogs (such as Townhall.com) you will discover that many of his followers are warmongers who wish to commit genocide against the Muslims. They would kill 1,000,000,000 Muslims as vengeance against 9/11. I am an American and a Christian and I find people such as Robert Spencer reprehensible. I see American Muslims on a daily basis and they do not deserve abuse from Robert Spencer or anyone else. Those who want peace live peacefully. All of this hatred against Islam is meant to provoke Americans to commit further acts of aggressive war and other atrocities against the Muslim world. Robert Spencer's followers repeatedly and explicitly declare their desire to:
* Fight wars against Islam
* Commit genocide against Muslims
* Deny religious freedom to American citizens who are Muslim
* Deny freedom of speech to American citizens who are Muslim
* Deny citizenship to Americans who are Muslim
* Confine American Muslims in Concentration / Internment camps
* Use force to convert Muslims to Christianity
* Nuclear bomb Mecca and Medina.
These are the things that Robert Spencer's followers express on a daily basis on his blog and other like-minded prejudice rags located on the internet.
Someone asked, please provide evidence of the 'slanders, lies, bigotry and hatred against Muslims' that Mr. Spencer has spread?
Do you really want me to do this? If I do it, I will have to say some really terrible things about Robert KKK Spencer. I will have to reveal his true character. I will have to speak about his middle name and how it wears "KKK" so very well. If you want to know the truth, I consider Robert KKK Spencer bloodthirsty warmonger filled with hate and religious prejudice. If you want to have this argument, we will have it. But if you love Robert Spencer, you will not. I have said enough evil things about this man already. Robert Spencer has an opportunity to redeem himself and he should take it. God has mercy upon the merciful. But woe unto those who would use Christianity as a motivation for perpetual warfare against Islam. God will send Robert Spencer's soul to eternal torment in hell if he actually acheives his goal. Robert Spencer wishes to provoke a war between Christianity and Islam. What he fails to realize is that Christians are not inclined to join his crusade. But if he continues to spread slander, lies, prejudice and bigotry ... I am certain that there is a minority of Americans who will continue to buy this sort of bigotry. He will make a lot of money and his message will likely kill plenty of Muslim civilians. I need not say anything else about this vile man.
Robert KKK Spencer is a classic American bigot. He wants to provoke a religious war between Christianity and Islam. He spreads all sorts of slanders, lies, bigotry and hatred against Muslims.Robert Spencer's followers want to trample on the Constitution so that they may trample upon the civil rights of American Muslims. They would deny American citizens Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech simply because they are Muslim. Robert Spencer's followers include such luminaries of American bigotry as:
-Tom Tancredo ("nuclear bombs on Mecca and Medina!"),
-Ann Coulter ("kill Muslims leaders and convert the Muslims to Christianity") and
-Michelle Malkin ("Internment camps were great! Let's put all of the Muslims into concentration camps!").
If you visit Robert Spencer's blog and other like-minded blogs (such as Townhall.com) you will discover that many of his followers are warmongers who wish to commit genocide against the Muslims. They would kill 1,000,000,000 Muslims as vengeance against 9/11. I am an American and a Christian and I find people such as Robert Spencer reprehensible. I see American Muslims on a daily basis and they do not deserve abuse from Robert Spencer or anyone else. Those who want peace live peacefully. All of this hatred against Islam is meant to provoke Americans to commit further acts of aggressive war and other atrocities against the Muslim world. Robert Spencer's followers repeatedly and explicitly declare their desire to:
* Fight wars against Islam
* Commit genocide against Muslims
* Deny religious freedom to American citizens who are Muslim
* Deny freedom of speech to American citizens who are Muslim
* Deny citizenship to Americans who are Muslim
* Confine American Muslims in Concentration / Internment camps
* Use force to convert Muslims to Christianity
* Nuclear bomb Mecca and Medina.
These are the things that Robert Spencer's followers express on a daily basis on his blog and other like-minded prejudice rags located on the internet.
Someone asked, please provide evidence of the 'slanders, lies, bigotry and hatred against Muslims' that Mr. Spencer has spread?
Do you really want me to do this? If I do it, I will have to say some really terrible things about Robert KKK Spencer. I will have to reveal his true character. I will have to speak about his middle name and how it wears "KKK" so very well. If you want to know the truth, I consider Robert KKK Spencer bloodthirsty warmonger filled with hate and religious prejudice. If you want to have this argument, we will have it. But if you love Robert Spencer, you will not. I have said enough evil things about this man already. Robert Spencer has an opportunity to redeem himself and he should take it. God has mercy upon the merciful. But woe unto those who would use Christianity as a motivation for perpetual warfare against Islam. God will send Robert Spencer's soul to eternal torment in hell if he actually acheives his goal. Robert Spencer wishes to provoke a war between Christianity and Islam. What he fails to realize is that Christians are not inclined to join his crusade. But if he continues to spread slander, lies, prejudice and bigotry ... I am certain that there is a minority of Americans who will continue to buy this sort of bigotry. He will make a lot of money and his message will likely kill plenty of Muslim civilians. I need not say anything else about this vile man.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
US national radio host goes on anti-Muslim/Islam/Quran tirade....Michael Savage, the satan on air
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on radio listeners of all faiths to contact companies that advertise on Michael Savage's nationally-syndicated radio program to express their concerns about the host's recent anti-Muslim tirade.The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Savage, whose "The Savage Nation" airs on more than 300 radio stations nationwide, screamed attacks on Muslims, Islam and the Quran, Islam's revealed text, during his October 29, 2007, program. A number of concerned listeners contacted CAIR about Savage's attacks on Islam.Savage's shouted anti-Muslim attacks included:"I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not gettin 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 wanna hear anymore about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you.""What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don't tell me I need reeducation. They need deportation. I don't need reeducation. Deportation, not reeducation. You can take C-A-I-R and throw 'em out of my country. I'd raise the American flag and I'd get out my trumpet if you did it. Without due process. You can take your due process and shove it.""What sane nation that worships the U.S. constitution, which is the greatest document of freedom ever written, would bring in people who worship a book that tells them the exact opposite. Make no mistake about it, the Quran is not a document of freedom. The Quran is a document of slavery and chattel. It teaches you that you are a slave."To listen to these and other bigoted statements by Savage, go to:http://www.cair.com/audio/savage_102907.asp
Michael Savage has a long history of rhetorical attacks on Muslims and other minorities. In 2004, Savage stated: "I think [Muslims] need to be forcibly converted to Christianity...It's the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings." In 2006, he called for a ban on Muslim immigration and recommended making "the construction of mosques illegal in America."SEE: Savage Says Ban the Construction of US Mosques
http://mediamatters.org/items/200611290005
SEE ALSO: Michael Savage (Media Matters)
http://mediamatters.org/items/200601190009
"Michael Savage obviously cares little about the safety or civil rights of American Muslims, but the stations that carry his hate-filled rants do care about listeners' attitudes toward advertisers who pay to air commercials during his program," said CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin. "Americans of all faiths should take a few minutes to contact any local station that broadcasts Savage's inflammatory tirades to say they will not buy the goods or services of his advertisers."Rubin added that hate-filled words can and do lead to violent actions against American Muslims. She said there have been several recent apparently bias-related incidents targeting mosques, Islamic institutions and Muslim individuals nationwide.In Ohio, Nazi swastikas and the phrase "white power" were spray-painted on a Toledo Islamic school and rocks were thrown at worshipers outside a Columbus mosque. In Texas, a shot was fired into a mosque. In New York, a Muslim woman was badly beaten in a bias attack. In California, arsonists torched one mosque and a group of men attacked another. In Maryland, vandals slashed the tires of vehicles owned by a Muslim activist.CAIR's latest annual report on the status of American Muslim civil rights showed a 25 percent increase in the total number of complaints of anti-Muslim bias from 2005 to 2006.SEE: The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States - 2007
http://www.cair.com/Portals/0/pdf/2007-Civil-Rights-Report.pdf
CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Michael Savage has a long history of rhetorical attacks on Muslims and other minorities. In 2004, Savage stated: "I think [Muslims] need to be forcibly converted to Christianity...It's the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings." In 2006, he called for a ban on Muslim immigration and recommended making "the construction of mosques illegal in America."SEE: Savage Says Ban the Construction of US Mosques
http://mediamatters.org/items/200611290005
SEE ALSO: Michael Savage (Media Matters)
http://mediamatters.org/items/200601190009
"Michael Savage obviously cares little about the safety or civil rights of American Muslims, but the stations that carry his hate-filled rants do care about listeners' attitudes toward advertisers who pay to air commercials during his program," said CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin. "Americans of all faiths should take a few minutes to contact any local station that broadcasts Savage's inflammatory tirades to say they will not buy the goods or services of his advertisers."Rubin added that hate-filled words can and do lead to violent actions against American Muslims. She said there have been several recent apparently bias-related incidents targeting mosques, Islamic institutions and Muslim individuals nationwide.In Ohio, Nazi swastikas and the phrase "white power" were spray-painted on a Toledo Islamic school and rocks were thrown at worshipers outside a Columbus mosque. In Texas, a shot was fired into a mosque. In New York, a Muslim woman was badly beaten in a bias attack. In California, arsonists torched one mosque and a group of men attacked another. In Maryland, vandals slashed the tires of vehicles owned by a Muslim activist.CAIR's latest annual report on the status of American Muslim civil rights showed a 25 percent increase in the total number of complaints of anti-Muslim bias from 2005 to 2006.SEE: The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States - 2007
http://www.cair.com/Portals/0/pdf/2007-Civil-Rights-Report.pdf
CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Several faith groups condemn Oklahoma lawmakers who arrogantly turned down copies of Quran
The Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, president of Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry Board of Trustees, speaks in front of a photo of Mecca during a press conference Friday at the Al-Salaam Mosque. Lavanhar criticized a Sand Springs lawmaker for his comments this week about the Quran.In a show of solidarity with the Muslim community, representatives of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa and several interfaith organizations held a press conference Friday condemning Oklahoma lawmakers who turned down a copy of the Quran. Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, refused a gift of Islam's holy book earlier this week, saying, "Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology." Other lawmakers joined him in refusing the gift, which was offered by the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council as part of the state's centennial celebration. "Today, I'm an American Muslim, speaking for our brothers," said David Bernstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation. "Hateful words inevitably lead to hateful actions," he said at the press conference held at the Al-Salaam Mosque, 4620 S. Irvington Ave. "Sometimes they set in motion a chain of events that turn them into self-fulfilling prophesy." He said hateful words often have an effect that the speaker did not desire or anticipate. Oliver Howard, president of the Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice, said religious intolerance has no place in Oklahoma. "All religious communities have or have had zealots who exploit sacred scriptures for their own ends, including violent and inhumane acts," he said. The Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, president of Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry Board of Trustees, said Duncan's words were disrespectful of his fellow Americans and promoted religious bigotry. "We are one nation, under God, indivisible -- and we will not be divided by politicians who use religious and ethnic rhetoric to enflame bigotry," he said. Keith McArtor, president of the Tulsa Interfaith Alliance, said he hoped the lawmakers who refused the Quran would become "better acquainted with the true tenets of Islam, which are based on brotherhood, love, respect and dignity." Justice Waidner, with the Say No to Hate Coalition, said the lawmakers' refusal to accept the Quran "throws a dark shadow of misunderstanding and bigotry on a segment of our state's diverse population and their religious heritage." Allison Moore, speaking for the Islamic Society of Tulsa, said Islam clearly denounces all forms of terrorism. "Our religion teaches us to be peaceful, tolerant, loving and respectful of neighbors and friends, and to uphold justice for all people," she said. "We are deeply concerned about the rise in Islamophobic rhetoric," she said. "And we are very troubled by individuals who disrespect our holy book, the Quran, and quote verses out of context." Razi Hashmi, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he found Duncan's statement Islamophobic and disturbing, coming from someone who should represent his pluralistic constituency regardless of faith.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Oklahoma's Koran issue: A reply to Rep. Rex Duncan arrogant statement on Quran
"A massive bomb inside a rental truck exploded, blowing half of the nine-story building into oblivion. A stunned nation watched as the bodies of men, women, and children were pulled from the rubble for nearly two weeks. When the smoke cleared and the exhausted rescue workers packed up and left, 168 people were dead in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil."
What happened?
What happened?
Where?
Who did that?
In case the horrific explosion has caused Rep. Rex Duncan to suffer memory loss:
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist attack on April 19, 1995 aimed at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, a U.S. government office complex in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma......(Rep. Rex Duncan own backyard!).
The terrorist is Timothy McVeigh.......he was not a Muslim and nobody called him a Christian terrorist either. Not a single person in his/her right mind (Muslim or non-Muslim) agree with what he did....killing the innocence people. Nodody threw a party or dance on the streets to celebrate.
--------------------
The feeling of every Muslim is deeply hurt when Rep. Rex Duncan wrote to his colleagues that he rejected the gift of a copy of Koran from the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council because:
"most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology".
His statement and action is just a blatant act of religious bigotry. He could has said "No, thanks" or even better "No, thanks. Eid Mubarak!" (Muslims just celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr).
He said that he had researched the Quran on the Internet and believed it supports such killing.....By the way that was how George Bush decided to attack Iraq, he searched the Google Earth on Iraq and saw 4 very tall minarets and told his generals he saw 4 nuclear reactors.....attack now!
Search no more, please watch the series of 7 video clips on Commonly Misunderstood Qur'anic Texts- Dr Jamal Badawi. In the video clips Dr. Jamal Badawi explain the commonly misunderstood Quranic texts particularly on the issues of jihad and Muslim-non Muslim relationship. With true understanding of Quranic message, anyone Muslim and non Muslim should realise that Islam and Quran promote peace and harmony among mankind.
The wise thing to do, Rep. Rex Duncan should aplogise like the wise Pope did.
Editor - QuranForever (http://www.quranforever.blogspot.com/)
Muslim Congressman Took Oath of Office on Thomas Jefferson's Quran
Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison became the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress January 4, 2007. swearing his oath of office on a copy of the Quran that belonged to the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. "Look at that. That's something else," Ellison, D-Minn., said as officials from the Library of Congress showed him the two-volume Quran, which was published in London in 1764.
Ellison took the ceremonial oath with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at his side. So many of Ellison's family members attended the ceremony that it was done in two takes.
Ellison had already planned to be sworn in using a Quran, rather than a Bible. He learned recently about Jefferson's Quran, with its multicolored cover and brown leather binding, and arranged to borrow it.
In a recent interview, Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert said the choice of Jefferson's Quran was significant because it "dates religious tolerance back to the time of our founding fathers."
"Jefferson was ... one of the more profound thinkers of the time, who recognized even then that there was nothing to fear, and in fact there was strength in recognizing religious tolerance," he said.
Although the Library of Congress is right across the street from the Capitol, library officials took extra precautions in delivering the Quran for the ceremony. To protect it from the elements, they placed the Quran in a rectangular box and handled it with a green felt wrapper once inside the Capitol.
Instead of using surface streets, they walked it over via a series of winding, underground tunnels - a trip that took more than 15 minutes. Guards then ran the book through security machines at the Capitol.
The Quran was acquired in 1815 as part of a more than 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000 to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops the year before, in the War of 1812. Jefferson, the nation's third president, was a collector of books in all topics and languages.
The book's leather binding was added in 1919. Inside, it reads, "The Koran", Jefferson marked his ownership by writing the letter "J" next to the letter "T" that was already at the bottom of pages, according to Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library of Congress' rare book and special collections division.
Ellison, the first black member of Congress from Minnesota, was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college. He said earlier this week that he chose to use this Quran because it showed that a visionary like Jefferson believed that wisdom could be gleaned from many sources.
Some critics have argued that only a Bible should be used for the swearing-in. Last month, Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., warned that unless immigration is tightened, "many more Muslims" will be elected and follow Ellison's lead.
Ellison approached Goode on the House floor Thursday, introducing himself and offering to meet for coffee. According to Ellison, Goode said he'd be interested in doing that. The subject of Goode's comments didn't come up, Ellison said.
"Look, we're trying to build bridges," Ellison said. "We're trying to help bring about understanding. We don't want issues of misunderstanding and division to exist if they don't have to."
Jefferson's 6,000-volume personal library was the largest in North America at the turn of the 19th century. He obtained his English translation of the Quran in 1765 as he was finishing his law studies at the College of William and Mary. The translation by British historian and solicitor George Sale first was published in 1734. The Quran, along with the rest of Jefferson's books, became the basis of the Library of Congress after British troops burned the U.S. Capitol, destroying the old congressional collection in the War of 1812.
While Jefferson is best known for writing the Declaration of Independence, he also penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which served as a basis for the religion clauses in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights.
In the Virginia statute, he wrote, "Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry." He went on to say that denying a person the ability to hold an office of trust or declaring him unworthy of public confidence based on his religious beliefs was a violation of natural rights.
The document demanded "that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."
It is believed that Jefferson was inspired by the teaching of the Quran, prohibiting compulsion in religion and forcing religious doctrines. Also the foundation for "all men are created Equal" and "men are born free" are some of the indications for the Quran as a source for guidance "no compulsion in religion" Quran 2:256.
The Qur'an is "definitely an important historical document in our national history and demonstrates that Jefferson was a broad visionary thinker who not only possessed a Qur'an, but read it," Ellison said in an interview with the Free Press. "It would have been something that contributed to his own thinking." Ellison also said that Jefferson's Qur'an "shows that from the earliest times of this republic, the Qur'an was in the consciousness of people who brought about democracy."
The statute was one of Jefferson's proudest achievements. He instructed that his tombstone should not refer to him as president of the United States but should remember him only as the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the founder of the University of Virginia.
Ellison took the ceremonial oath with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at his side. So many of Ellison's family members attended the ceremony that it was done in two takes.
Ellison had already planned to be sworn in using a Quran, rather than a Bible. He learned recently about Jefferson's Quran, with its multicolored cover and brown leather binding, and arranged to borrow it.
In a recent interview, Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert said the choice of Jefferson's Quran was significant because it "dates religious tolerance back to the time of our founding fathers."
"Jefferson was ... one of the more profound thinkers of the time, who recognized even then that there was nothing to fear, and in fact there was strength in recognizing religious tolerance," he said.
Although the Library of Congress is right across the street from the Capitol, library officials took extra precautions in delivering the Quran for the ceremony. To protect it from the elements, they placed the Quran in a rectangular box and handled it with a green felt wrapper once inside the Capitol.
Instead of using surface streets, they walked it over via a series of winding, underground tunnels - a trip that took more than 15 minutes. Guards then ran the book through security machines at the Capitol.
The Quran was acquired in 1815 as part of a more than 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000 to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops the year before, in the War of 1812. Jefferson, the nation's third president, was a collector of books in all topics and languages.
The book's leather binding was added in 1919. Inside, it reads, "The Koran", Jefferson marked his ownership by writing the letter "J" next to the letter "T" that was already at the bottom of pages, according to Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library of Congress' rare book and special collections division.
Ellison, the first black member of Congress from Minnesota, was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college. He said earlier this week that he chose to use this Quran because it showed that a visionary like Jefferson believed that wisdom could be gleaned from many sources.
Some critics have argued that only a Bible should be used for the swearing-in. Last month, Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., warned that unless immigration is tightened, "many more Muslims" will be elected and follow Ellison's lead.
Ellison approached Goode on the House floor Thursday, introducing himself and offering to meet for coffee. According to Ellison, Goode said he'd be interested in doing that. The subject of Goode's comments didn't come up, Ellison said.
"Look, we're trying to build bridges," Ellison said. "We're trying to help bring about understanding. We don't want issues of misunderstanding and division to exist if they don't have to."
Jefferson's 6,000-volume personal library was the largest in North America at the turn of the 19th century. He obtained his English translation of the Quran in 1765 as he was finishing his law studies at the College of William and Mary. The translation by British historian and solicitor George Sale first was published in 1734. The Quran, along with the rest of Jefferson's books, became the basis of the Library of Congress after British troops burned the U.S. Capitol, destroying the old congressional collection in the War of 1812.
While Jefferson is best known for writing the Declaration of Independence, he also penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which served as a basis for the religion clauses in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights.
In the Virginia statute, he wrote, "Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry." He went on to say that denying a person the ability to hold an office of trust or declaring him unworthy of public confidence based on his religious beliefs was a violation of natural rights.
The document demanded "that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."
It is believed that Jefferson was inspired by the teaching of the Quran, prohibiting compulsion in religion and forcing religious doctrines. Also the foundation for "all men are created Equal" and "men are born free" are some of the indications for the Quran as a source for guidance "no compulsion in religion" Quran 2:256.
The Qur'an is "definitely an important historical document in our national history and demonstrates that Jefferson was a broad visionary thinker who not only possessed a Qur'an, but read it," Ellison said in an interview with the Free Press. "It would have been something that contributed to his own thinking." Ellison also said that Jefferson's Qur'an "shows that from the earliest times of this republic, the Qur'an was in the consciousness of people who brought about democracy."
The statute was one of Jefferson's proudest achievements. He instructed that his tombstone should not refer to him as president of the United States but should remember him only as the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the founder of the University of Virginia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)