striving for ONE

assalamu `alyakum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

The Muslim Student Union is hosting a series of events (along with a number of other clubs) on the injustices in Palestine. They’re going to be addressing it from a slew of perspectives (4 of 8 speakers are Jewish!) . They’ve already had Norman Finkelstein speak, but Rachel Corrie’s parents are speaking tomorrow followed by Anna Baltzer and Ilan Pappe on Wednesday

Ilan Pappe really looks like a once in a life time opportunity. He’s an Israeli new historian and he’s going to be discussing the Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine

Looks like its going to be quite a week… not to mention that infamous wall!

peace.

al salamu `alaykum,

THE MEDIA never ceases to be a problem. No matter how you cut it they’re always spewing their propaganda and their agenda constantly and consistently. In fact, they’re so effective that many in our own community start to believe their lies and manipulation.

One the hottest spots of media attention is Iraq and the ongoing occupation. The area is in such chaos with killings and bombings happening left and right that one can’t help but see a dismal situation. Maybe the biggest push by the media on Iraq is the “Sunni, Shi`a divide.” As this article in the Washington Post thoroughly articulates, this is a concept that was brought in and imposed on Iraq with the U.S invasion. The U.S uses this tactic to weaken the enemy and subjugate the people to useless and unfounded quarrels, causing them to help the U.S permeate into society. This is just the same as the U.S has done in minority populations within the U.S. They’ve introduced differences that have not historically existed (such as the Bloods and Crips in the African American community) to cause internal fighting, rendering them ineffective. [Correction: In this case, however, rather than use the media the government has used drugs, alcohol, spies and popular culture to riddle the black community, which was on the forefront of activism in the 60s, with gangs, violence and superficial differences.]

But even with these efforts the U.S is still failing and falling short in their goals. The U.S has created a situation of strife and grief that is compounded by their futile efforts.

Only when the U.S stops imposing on people and allows the people to decide on their own government and system of self-rule, will the region come to peace.

make du`a’ for the oppressed and all Muslims world wide.

jazakum Allahu khayran

assalamu `alaykum,

The following is a commentary by a brother I know. It’s a pretty thought provoking analysis on an economic power scheme to change the way society works. It so funny how often times we look back on history and we see how the rich manipulated the poor and we say “subhana’Allah! that was slick! these guys are punks!”

But then when we have theories for the present issues we dismiss them as “conspiracy theories” or “unrealistic.” The reality of the matter is that those in power have been using media, economics, politics and whatever means necessary to retain their power. New times call for new methods. This is not a singular case, but has been repeated through out history.

peace out.

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I feel that the Grameen Bank’s nearly exclusive attention to women is not being understood correctly. Many of us are thinking, what is wrong with helping poor women? Well, visualize this. There is a poor family in our neighborhood and a rich businessman goes to them to help. He knocks at the door. When the husband responds, the man says I am here to help you. The man is happy. But then he is told to go away and send his wife to receive help. She should come and discuss a business plan for a busines that she will have to run in order to receive the micro credit.

A person who really wanted to help the poor family would have offered the help to the man, whose responsibililty it is to earn a living. But this “helper” is on a social engineering project. His real purpose is to remove the wife and mother from the house and disrupt the family structure. I do not know what is noble about that. He is simply exploiting their poverty to dictate his deplorable terms.

And true to his evil social engineering project, his financial model is based on interest. Islam says if you give a loan, it must be for the sake of Allah and you deserve no more to receive back than what you gave. On the other hand, you can offer a legitimate business proposal by sharing in the business enterprise when you provide the capital and the other person provides labor and management. But then both have to take the risks inherent in business and share in the profit or loss.

The capitalist banker rejects that and wants a guaranteed (and big) return for his loan. This is what the Grameen Bank is doing. But, probably this is the first time that such an unethical business has been praised as a model charitable work. Such is the power of propaganda.

Turning to the issue of women in general. Islam certainly provides women rights to own money, property, etc. Islam prohibits any type of oppression in dealing with anybody and especially with women. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, reminded the men in his Khutbah on the farewell Hajj to be just in their dealings with women.

We also know that this is the same Shariah that generally grants a man twice the share of inheritance to that of a woman. Why? Not because it is nauzubiLlah “unjust” or “discriminatory” or a relic from that time that has no place in today’s “advanced modern” societies. Rather, it is because Islam recognizes that men and women are in some ways different. Thus, it places the economic responsibilities on the man, not on the woman.

A brother mentioned equality. “Equality” is a very vague term. Islam says that both men and women are equal in their accountability to Allah for their actions and their fulfillment of their responsibilities. However, the duties of both are not necessarily the same. Islam never says that men and women are equal in the mathematical sense of the word “equal” ( i.e. man = woman); that would contradict common sense. Obviously, the biological makeup is different. There are other differences. These are present by design not so that we consider one superior to the other, but rather that we realize that both have been created for their own complementary roles in society. If both were exactly equal then there would be no need for two genders.

This may sound strange or even misogynistic to many of us. The media certainly has had a role in our confusion. The constant propagandization of women’s rights has left us feeling weak; so we attempt to respond by showing how Islam also offers the same rights that the West offers. However, let us think more critically. The fact is that the West has gone from one extreme concerning women (where they did not have the right to own property, etc and people even questioned whether they had a soul) to another extreme where it has now forced the woman out of the house and into the workforce to work for total strangers and generate income. This is termed as liberation; it actually is exploitation. The resulting social problems are quite obvious ranging from dysfunctional families, high divorce rates, crimes against women, etc. Unable to solve its own problems, the West is busily exporting them to Muslim countries to try to combat the demographic imbalances that are growing each day.

The Grameen Bank is playing a role in this. For example, one of the 16 Decisions promulgated by the bank includes limiting family sizes (i.e. decreasing population growth), something which the UN and various Western sponsored NGOs have been promoting time and again throughout the Muslim world to deal with the declining populations of the West.

Thus, people within the country are opposing its modus operandi on Islamic grounds as well. An article “Islamic Resurgence in Bangladesh: Genesis, Dynamics and Implications” published by the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in 2004 has the following to say: [this obviously was before the Nobel prize]

“… the proliferation of Western donors aided NGOs in the country, who have been advancing micro-credit to rural women (albeit at very high interest rates, the average being around 32 percent), running schools and generating jobs, mainly for women, polarized the polity between pro- and anti-NGO groups. Broadly, the former represents the so-called secular-liberal-democrat people (often the beneficiaries of the NGOs) and the latter mainly Islam-oriented and anti-West/anti-globalization groups and individuals.

“The controversial and extortionist modus operandi of NGOs, especially the way the Grameen Bank, BRAC and Proshika operate, preferring women to men as their clients in the name of female empowerment and alleviation of poverty, has alienated village elders and others from the NGOs. In the common parlance of the villagers, the various powerful local and foreign NGOs are described as: ‘CAREer gari, BRACer bari, Grameener nari, aar Proshikar barabari’ (CARE [An American NGO] is known for its vehicles, BRAC for its buildings, Grameen for its women and Proshika for its excesses).” ( http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/PagesfromReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsiach3.pdf )

The Nobel peace or literature prize is not awarded for nothing. It is an effective tool of social engineering in the post colonial world. It confers “legitimacy” and “honor” on the most evil projects. Like that of Najeeb Mahfouz in Egypt. On the other hand, can you imagine a truly Islamic enterprise, helping Muslims using an Islamic model getting any recognition from the Nobel committee? It is more likely that, if it is effective, it will be branded as a terrorist organization.

To sum up, my main point of the initial post was to wake us up to the fact that the attacks on Islam being perpetrated throughout the world today can come under many guises, ranging from military to social. Let us be more vigilant.

Jazakumullah Khairan.

Wassalam,

assalamu `alaykum,

so apparently some MSA’s do this cool thing of sending out a du`a’ (supplication) list to the mailing list. One can be found here. They probably do this every end of quarter/semester. Seeing as my quarter is rapidly coming to a close, these can be very useful.

I was thinking though… why is it that we only feel the need to do this AT MOST 3 times a year. I mean really, don’t we need the Help of Allah (swt) whenever we study (or as the page even references, work?). How many of us take a second to make just ONE du`a’ off of that list, or any other list, sincerely in hopes that Allah will Give us what ever is best for us?

This really doesn’t just apply to studying or working, but rather as generality in life.

doesn’t it suck how much we lack in our day to day worship?

So I figure there are a some things that should be a part of everyone’s final studying… I really don’t know them all so I’m going to need some help. Please submit comments with ideas or suggestions on getting the most effective finals week!

1. du`a’

2. appropriate amount of time alloted. Subahana’Allah (all Glory is to Allah) its all too often that a subject is necessarily hard, but that we just don’t give it enough time.

3. qiyam (night prayer). What I think is absolutely amazing is that so many Muslims are awake at the oddest of hours “studying” and we don’t have very many group qiyams (not even two rak`as (units of prayer)!!) . I sincerely hope that anyone up at that time is doing some prayer on their own.

4. diet. Unbelievable the amount of junk that gets injected into our bodies during finals. All standards and restrictions are tossed out the window and no one cares for anything. Fruits, nuts, trail mixes, juices and natural foods are excellent alternatives to highly processed, greased up and overly dosed in salt and sugar fast foods that become abundant.

Any other thoughts? I have to be missing something, no?

peace.

assalamu `alyakum,

Its always good to put things in perspective. We often get lost in our selves, our lives, our school, and our emotions. We often fail to realize the bigger picture and focus on the minute details: someone just cut us off on the freeway; someone said something in the wrong way; we want more money; my dog is getting old; my clothes are out of style; everyone hates me; etc. While these all may be valid concerns at some point in time to some degree we often magnify them out of proportion.

Read the following after you watch the video

I felt pretty worthless after watching this…

Considering a purely materialistic sense…. what are we compared to this Earth let alone the universe? How much do we really affect the outcome of the universe? I’m no astrologist, but my guess is if the Earth was destroyed to dust it would have a slight impact on the stability of the universe, but things would balance out after a little. In the end, what happens on Earth doesn’t matter in the whole of the universe.

I mean really, what does it matter if you pick up a piece of trash, buy an eco-friendly car or recycle something? Who cares if humanity survives so long as I get my pay check, live my life, and drive my $100,000 car to my $1,000,000 home with my supermodel girlfriend?

Some people can see beyond the materialism  and naturally gravitate towards humanitarianism, environmentalism, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, but only after a number of experiences, articles, research or epiphany of some sort. What we fail to see is that because not everyone goes through these realizations, God has already defined these things for us. He has laid out an agenda and methodology to get the best things done in the most effective manner.

If we realize that our accountability comes with God, then everything matters: every piece of trash; every gram of CO2; every word we speak; and every action we take. They hold significant not only in our own small spheres of influence — which, by the way, when joined and added together have an impact — but they also hold significance with the One Creator.

God, in His Justice and Mercy, accepts our feable actions in our limited spheres to be countless times greater than they are. By simply orienting ourselves to this One God and the All-Mighty we have the potential to achieve rewards literally beyond our imagination. We come to realize that in His Grandeur, God created us as insignificant creatures on a small planet in the middle of nowhere, but God’s Compassion extends so far such that our actions hold weight in His Court on the Day when it actually matters.

peace.

assalamu `alaykum,

Remember way back when, an entire 7 months ago? Remember all the talk about how Hizbullah had started the war and it was all Hizbullah’s fault for the death of civilians both in Israel and in Lebanon? Beyond the fact that the Israeli soldiers were on Lebanese territory, this article just goes to show that its more than likely that the Israel was planning a war in Lebanon 4 months before it happened….

I would like to point out though that the PM would have never admitted this if he wasn’t under pressure to prove that the war wasn’t haphazard.

peace.

Israeli PM says Lebanon war was pre-planned: report

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has testified he launched last year’s war against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon in line with a contingency plan he approved four months before, the Haaretz daily said on Thursday.

Olmert, under fire for his handling of the inconclusive 34-day war, told a judicial inquiry last month that Hezbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 triggered the plans for a large-scale attack in Lebanon, the Israeli newspaper said.

The inquiry, known as the Winograd Commission, is expected to publish an interim report this month. Haaretz did not say how it had learned the details of Olmert’s February 1 testimony.

Many Israelis view Olmert’s decision to go to war as a knee-jerk reaction by a leader with little security experience, unlike his predecessor, former general Ariel Sharon. In testimony apparently aimed at dismissing any notion he acted recklessly, Olmert told the commission he asked army commanders in March 2006 if a contingency plan for military action existed in the event soldiers were abducted along the Lebanon frontier, Haaretz said.

Presented with options, Olmert chose what the newspaper described as a “moderate plan” that included air strikes accompanied by a limited ground operation.

Opposition Likud party lawmaker Yuval Steinitz, who was chairman of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee until mid-May 2006, said the Haaretz report had astounded him.

“None of this ever happened,” he told Israel Radio. “There was no intensive preparation for a possible imminent war.”

He said Olmert had cut half a billion shekels ($118 million) from the defense budget two months before the conflict, which was not the action of someone who “believes that in the next few months they will react to the next provocation with a war.”

Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz have seen their popularity slump since the war, in which 158 Israelis, including 117 soldiers and 41 civilians, were killed and thousands of Hezbollah rockets were fired into the Jewish state.

About 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, including an estimated 270 Hezbollah guerrillas.

Only 3 percent of Israelis would vote for Olmert if elections were held now, according to a poll released by Israel’s Channel 10 television on Wednesday. Olmert has also been dogged by political corruption scandals.

In the Lebanon war, Israel failed to achieve its declared goals of retrieving the two soldiers taken in a cross-border raid, and destroying the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group’s rocket arsenal and military capacity.

Haaretz said the United States intervened at the outset of the war to curb the strength of Israel’s response and Secretary of State Condoleezza told Israel that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government should not be undermined.

“Israel understood this to mean Lebanese infrastructure should not be destroyed, even though the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) had originally planned otherwise,” Haaretz said.

Israeli bombing destroyed scores of bridges in Lebanon and devastated Hezbollah’s strongholds in the mainly Shi’ite Muslim suburbs of Beirut and in the south and east of the country.

A U.N.-backed truce halted hostilities on August 14. Since then Hezbollah guerrillas have made way for Lebanese army troops and an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force to deploy in the south. Olmert has cited the deployments as an Israeli gain in the war.

assalamu `alaykum,

so this is definitely one of those moments where I’m skeptical as to whether this is too good to be true or not.

UNICEF apparently has a drive in which you follow the link, sign up for a newsletter and an anonymous person will donate $5 on your behalf….

Can’t really hurt to sign up… can it?

You must sign up for the newsletter you can’t simply register. Make sure you sign up for that newsletter or else its pointless…

SIGN UP! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DEAL WITH ONE EMAIL AND $5 GOES TO CHARITY. DO IT NOW.

peace out

assalamu `alaykum,

One of the many beautiful things about Islam is it causes you to appreciate all good struggles in their totality. Whether it been oppression against the mind, body, soul, environment or whatever it may be, Islam teaches us to take a positive and proactive role in all aspects of life.

The UN Secretary General reports on the severity of the climate change that we are experiencing today. He says, “But the danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming.”

It really a simple equation and the evidence is so obvious.

I have a proposition: can we all make a small tiny effort to reduce energy consumption? Next time you can walk instead of driving can you please follow through with it? Next time you’re leaving your room for “1 min” can you please turn of the lights? Next time your waiting for your friend to come down stairs so you can take him somewhere, can you please shut off the car?

God willing we’ll all be awarded accordingly by the One who matters most.

peace.

assalamu `alaykum,

Check this article out. It is on point. The U.S is on a Cold War campaign against Islam to strip it of its legitimacy and truth. They have been funding and influencing Islamic politics, education and thinking to fit their own agenda.

They are waging a campaign with the capitalistic and imperialistic system that they are imposing on the world.

Just read this:

No more. Today, Washington is fighting back. After repeated missteps since the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government has embarked on a campaign of political warfare unmatched since the height of the Cold War. From military psychological-operations teams and CIA covert operatives to openly funded media and think tanks, Washington is plowing tens of millions of dollars into a campaign to influence not only Muslim societies but Islam itself.

This blatantly shows that U.S does have something to fear of Islam and they know it. Not only do they know it, but they’re so scared of it that they’re willing to invest money and resources to quell it. You should read the article (below). It goes on to list and detail the Washington strategy.

We’re not talking some random news source either. This is U.S News.

peace.

Hearts, Minds, and Dollars

In an Unseen Front in the War on Terrorism, America is Spending Millions…To Change the Very Face of Islam

By David E. Kaplan

Posted 4/17/05

assalamu `alaykum,

The following article just goes to show the prevailing media bias in the United States and the double-standard that the U.S applies in its foreign policy.

This also shows how slow and steady propaganda strongly influence the core set of beliefs and assumptions carried by a people. Over the years, Americans, myself included, (and I guess the world for that matter, but more so Americans) have become desensitized to the idea of war abroad and hundreds of people dying at the hands of U.S soldiers and equipment daily.

As you get in to your car, go to your job or classes, how many times a day do you realize that half way across the world people aren’t worried about education or money or some 1st world comfort, no; they can’t get passed feeding their family day to day let alone the fear of a raid or bomb or missile taking them out.

Isn’t it disgusting how we become so complacent?

peace.

The myth of Muslim support for terror

The common enemy is violence and terrorism, not Muslims any more than Christians or Jews.

By Kenneth Ballen

DEAN ROHRER

WASHINGTON - Those who think that Muslim countries and pro-terrorist attitudes go hand-in-hand might be shocked by new polling research: Americans are more approving of terrorist attacks against civilians than any major Muslim country except for Nigeria.

The survey, conducted in December 2006 by the University of Maryland’s prestigious Program on International Public Attitudes, shows that only 46 percent of Americans think that “bombing and other attacks intentionally aimed at civilians” are “never justified,” while 24 percent believe these attacks are “often or sometimes justified.”

Contrast those numbers with 2006 polling results from the world’s most-populous Muslim countries – Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. Terror Free Tomorrow, the organization I lead, found that 74 percent of respondents in Indonesia agreed that terrorist attacks are “never justified”; in Pakistan, that figure was 86 percent; in Bangladesh, 81 percent.

Do these findings mean that Americans are closet terrorist sympathizers?

Hardly. Yet, far too often, Americans and other Westerners seem willing to draw that conclusion about Muslims. Public opinion surveys in the United States and Europe show that nearly half of Westerners associate Islam with violence and Muslims with terrorists. Given the many radicals who commit violence in the name of Islam around the world, that’s an understandable polling result.

But these stereotypes, affirmed by simplistic media coverage and many radicals themselves, are not supported by the facts – and they are detrimental to the war on terror. When the West wrongly attributes radical views to all of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, it perpetuates a myth that has the very real effect of marginalizing critical allies in the war on terror.

Indeed, the far-too-frequent stereotyping of Muslims serves only to reinforce the radical appeal of the small minority of Muslims who peddle hatred of the West and others as authentic religious practice.

Terror Free Tomorrow’s 20-plus surveys of Muslim countries in the past two years reveal another surprise: Even among the minority who indicated support for terrorist attacks and Osama bin Laden, most overwhelmingly approved of specific American actions in their own countries. For example, 71 percent of bin Laden supporters in Indonesia and 79 percent in Pakistan said they thought more favorably of the United States as a result of American humanitarian assistance in their countries – not exactly the profile of hard-core terrorist sympathizers. For most people, their professed support of terrorism/bin Laden can be more accurately characterized as a kind of “protest vote” against current US foreign policies, not as a deeply held religious conviction or even an inherently anti- American or anti-Western view.

In truth, the common enemy is violence and terrorism, not Muslims any more than Christians or Jews. Whether recruits to violent causes join gangs in Los Angeles or terrorist cells in Lahore, the enemy is the violence they exalt.

Our surveys show that not only do Muslims reject terrorism as much if not more than Americans, but even those who are sympathetic to radical ideology can be won over by positive American actions that promote goodwill and offer real hope.

America’s goal, in partnership with Muslim public opinion, should be to defeat terrorists by isolating them from their own societies. The most effective policies to achieve that goal are the ones that build on our common humanity. And we can start by recognizing that Muslims throughout the world want peace as much as Americans do.

• Kenneth Ballen is founder and president of Terror Free Tomorrow, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to finding effective policies that win popular support away from global terrorists.